At the turn-of-the-century, very few women work outside the home. The traditional jobs for professional women are teaching, nursing, and secretarial work. The majority of working class women in Charlotte work in a laundry or in textile mills. Click to see the different kinds of occupations women had according to the 1908 Charlotte City Directory followed by the number of Charlotte women in that profession and a brief definition.
American Federation of Labor Central Labor Union
Bartender’s League No. 211
Bricklayers & Masons Lodge, No. 3
Brotherhood of Painters, Paperhangers and Decorators Union, No. 329
Carpenters and Joiners Union, No. 558
Charlotte Printing Pressmen & Assistants Union, No. 41
Charlotte Typographical, Union No. 338
There are over 150 grocers, bakers, and butchers listed in The Charlotte City Directory in the early 1900s. Every neighborhood in the city has its own corner grocer.
The Berryhill Grocery Store in Fourth Ward (Today, the building is the Alexander Michael's Restaurant at 401 W 9th St.)
Banking has always been very important to Charlotteans. A good financial center enables small businesses to grow and attracts other businesses to the area.
American Trust Company, 222 South Tryon Street - Chartered 1901. Capital: $300,000.
Charlotte National Bank, 109 E. Trade Street - Chartered January 1897. Capital: $125,000, Surplus and Undivided Profits: $60,000.
This is a list of jobs or occupations that men and some women had. All of these jobs are listed in the local city directory by occupation. Many disappeared after the invention of the automobile and the manufacturing of other appliances such as gas/electrical stoves, air conditioning, refrigerators, washing machines, vacumn cleaners as well as computers.
There are all kinds of different jobs at the turn of the century, many of which no longer exist. Learn about the different kinds of work that men and women did then and compare that to the job market today. One thing you will learn is many jobs require hard, physical labor. Some people work for ten to twelve hours a day, six days a week just to provide the very basics for themselves and their families.
