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The history of people's daily lives can often be difficult to discover. Exciting information about work, school, and family life often lies within seemingly unexciting sources like census reports and City Council records. Such documents can provide a composite portrait of employment and family patterns and neighborhood life. They enable historians to see personal stories of daily life as part of larger patterns of change.
One of the best sources of information collected about African-Americans living in Lower Town is the 1894 Michigan census. This census collected information on everyone living in the state, listing each person by name, address, age, sex, occupation, birthplace, and parents' birthplace. The census pages on Lower Town reveal significant information about African-Americans in the neighborhood. African-Americans made up more than ten percent of Lower Town's population (80 people out of 731 residents). Most lived with members of their immediate family. Interestingly, none of Lower Town's African-American residents lived west of Broadway, where more than a third of Lower Town's population lived. African-Americans lived throughout eastern Lower Town, especially on Wall Street, Maiden Lane, and Broadway.
African-Americans living in Lower Town came from several different regions. Almost 50% were born in the Midwest, mostly in Michigan or Ohio. Another 25% emigrated from the South. Finally, 25% of the African-American residents of Lower Town listed Canada as their birthplace. Most of the older Canadian-born African-American residents give a Southern state as their parents' birthplace. These residents may be the people, or descendants of people, who escaped to Canada on the Underground Railroad, perhaps passing through Ann Arbor on their journey.
African-Americans in Lower Town had various jobs. The census lists two farmers, a barber, and two stonemasons. Most, however, worked as day laborers, poorly paid and often underemployed. In addition, a relatively high number of African-American women worked outside the home. The census lists fourteen such women. Six worked as common/day laborers, five as cooks, two as domestics cleaning homes, and one who took in washing. The high number of African-Americans working as common/day laborers and the high number of working women (in an era when this was discouraged by middle-class sensibilities) probably reflect a relatively low level of income for African-American households.
Understanding the social status of African-Americans in Lower Town can help us make sense of information that comes from other sources. While the census helps us understand the lives of African-Americans more completely, it cannot replace the voices of African-Americans who grew up and lived in Ann Arbor. Local historians like Lola Jones have preserved the memories of people who lived in Ann Arbor early in the twentieth century. The links in this next section will let you hear African-Americans describe the Ann Arbor they experienced. While African-Americans lived in several parts of the city, this did not prevent a cohesive African-American community from developing. Lucille Porter describes the atmosphere of this community. Martha Graham describes the role African-American churches played in forming this community.
The census reveals that almost all African-American children attended school until they were fifteen. Although schools in Ann Arbor were not segregated like many throughout the United States, Ann Arbor students almost never saw African-American teachers until after the 1940s. Lettie Wickliffe describes why she did not teach in Ann Arbor.
As these examples demonstrate, African-Americans in Ann Arbor were still second-class citizens in many ways. African-Americans even found it difficult to purchase a home in Ann Arbor. African-Americans were reminded daily (in Martha Graham's words) that they were "different" and unwelcome in certain places.