Labor and Black Women's Mobility in Prerevolutionary Havana

Black women interacted with social and physical boundaries as they moved throughout Havana during the prerevolutionary period. Domestic workers’ status as laborers, for instance, enabled them entry into the homes of wealthy whites, while racial hierarchies maintained the marginalization of professional blacks from housing in many prominent neighborhoods. Poor families of African descent settled into communities like Vibora, Jesús María, and Jesús del Monte—which became known for maintaining African cultural traditions and producing musical forms like son. Black women also maneuvered throughout the city to socialize, protest, attend sporting events, and give performances. Yet much of the literature glosses over their presence in the city’s evolving landscape. This paper examines labor and urbanization from the standpoint of women of African descent.

The paper uses organizational records, city directories, and advertisements to identify where these black women and their families lived, worked, and socialized; it compares these locations to city officials’ broader urbanization projects. What do the lives of laboring black women reveal about officials’ mission to construct a modern city following the U.S. Occupation? How did African-descended women engage these projects? The paper answers these questions through an exploration of community configuration, particularly that of blacks professionals, artisans, and street vendors. It considers the interaction of elites and non-elites through geography. By exploring the movement of black women, the paper contributes to the historical study of race, gender and labor in Cuba, as well as the Caribbean.