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Black Milwaukee: The Making of an Industrial Proletariat, 1915-45
Some wear, highlighting and pencil marks.
302 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1985
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 12, 2026
Joe William Trotter Jr. is Professor of History and Carnegie Mellon University and the author of 10 publications on African-American Labor in the United States. Black Milwaukee: The Making of an Industrial Proletariat 1915-1945 sat on my shelf for quite some time before I decided to read it. Originally I purchased the book from the University of Ohio Library because I was teaching a unit on Bronzeville in Milwaukee. I ended up using some parts of Trotter’s book for the course, but never read straight through it until now.
Black Milwaukee is a technical read for historians. It’s thoroughly researched and provides a lot of statistical primary source information regarding percentages of African American men and women in occupational roles. Trotter explains that the population of African Americans in Milwaukee remained relatively low until the great migration from the rural south to the industrial north. However, while some cities like Chicago, Cleveland, and Detroit experienced far greater surges in their African American population, Milwaukee was relatively slow in its growth. This, according to Trotter, was mostly due to the low availability of semi-skilled and skilled labor in the industrial sector. Compared to other industrialized northern cities at the time, Milwaukee did not expand as rapidly in industry and had a larger, white, immigrant population which took most of the semi-skilled and skilled labor positions that African-Americans would have taken in other cities. Trotter goes on to detail the growth of the African-American working class from the 1930s to the end of World War II.
Trotter originally published this study to move scholarship on the African American middle and working class experience away from analyzing it through the lens of “ghettoization.” Trotter criticized prior work in the area of African American History as focused too exclusively on the effect of de jure and de facto housing segregation on the formation of black working class consciousness. While this is one aspect in the creation of the black working class consciousness in Milwaukee, Trotter examines how the Milwaukee African American population was negatively impacted by exclusion not only in housing, but in unionization and in skilled labor positions. Trotter examines how racism within industry, housing, and unionization had created a complex environment in Milwaukee where industrial employers did not hire African Americans for higher paying skilled industrial jobs but were willing to use them as strike breakers to undermine unionized white immigrant workers striking for better working conditions and wages. As a result, racial antagonism became a hallmark in Milwaukee between white and black working class. This trend of using the black working class as a tool to benefit various groups continues between the period of 1930s-1940’s. Whether this was to break strikes, garner votes for the socialist mayors of Milwaukee, or to work war-time industries; only to be let go when their white counterparts came home from the war the black working class faced exclusion and exploitation that followed economic and racial lines.
The only criticism of the research that appears in Trotter’s work is his focus on mainly the male, African American, working class experience. There is not much examination or analysis of the African American female in Milwaukee. Trotter acknowledges that African-American females were often regulated to domestic occupations but did not examine their development in the working class as thoroughly as their male counterparts. It could be argued that the amount of primary source documentation concerning men was far greater than women.
Overall, Trotter’s work provides a thorough examination of the African American working class during the period of early 1900s to 1940s in Milwaukee. I will emphasize though that this is a work of scholarship. For those only slightly interested in historical analysis I would argue that you will find this book dry and not an easy read. However, I do not cite this as a criticism. We live too much in a world where we give up on knowledge because it does not keep our engagement. Not everything that we read should be, sometimes to understand the dynamics of history as it applies to day, we have to challenge ourselves to live in boredom to learn something.
Black Milwaukee is a technical read for historians. It’s thoroughly researched and provides a lot of statistical primary source information regarding percentages of African American men and women in occupational roles. Trotter explains that the population of African Americans in Milwaukee remained relatively low until the great migration from the rural south to the industrial north. However, while some cities like Chicago, Cleveland, and Detroit experienced far greater surges in their African American population, Milwaukee was relatively slow in its growth. This, according to Trotter, was mostly due to the low availability of semi-skilled and skilled labor in the industrial sector. Compared to other industrialized northern cities at the time, Milwaukee did not expand as rapidly in industry and had a larger, white, immigrant population which took most of the semi-skilled and skilled labor positions that African-Americans would have taken in other cities. Trotter goes on to detail the growth of the African-American working class from the 1930s to the end of World War II.
Trotter originally published this study to move scholarship on the African American middle and working class experience away from analyzing it through the lens of “ghettoization.” Trotter criticized prior work in the area of African American History as focused too exclusively on the effect of de jure and de facto housing segregation on the formation of black working class consciousness. While this is one aspect in the creation of the black working class consciousness in Milwaukee, Trotter examines how the Milwaukee African American population was negatively impacted by exclusion not only in housing, but in unionization and in skilled labor positions. Trotter examines how racism within industry, housing, and unionization had created a complex environment in Milwaukee where industrial employers did not hire African Americans for higher paying skilled industrial jobs but were willing to use them as strike breakers to undermine unionized white immigrant workers striking for better working conditions and wages. As a result, racial antagonism became a hallmark in Milwaukee between white and black working class. This trend of using the black working class as a tool to benefit various groups continues between the period of 1930s-1940’s. Whether this was to break strikes, garner votes for the socialist mayors of Milwaukee, or to work war-time industries; only to be let go when their white counterparts came home from the war the black working class faced exclusion and exploitation that followed economic and racial lines.
The only criticism of the research that appears in Trotter’s work is his focus on mainly the male, African American, working class experience. There is not much examination or analysis of the African American female in Milwaukee. Trotter acknowledges that African-American females were often regulated to domestic occupations but did not examine their development in the working class as thoroughly as their male counterparts. It could be argued that the amount of primary source documentation concerning men was far greater than women.
Overall, Trotter’s work provides a thorough examination of the African American working class during the period of early 1900s to 1940s in Milwaukee. I will emphasize though that this is a work of scholarship. For those only slightly interested in historical analysis I would argue that you will find this book dry and not an easy read. However, I do not cite this as a criticism. We live too much in a world where we give up on knowledge because it does not keep our engagement. Not everything that we read should be, sometimes to understand the dynamics of history as it applies to day, we have to challenge ourselves to live in boredom to learn something.
January 26, 2019
In Black Milwaukee, Joe Trotter seeks to posture his study of Milwaukee as the narrative of a positive proletarianizaiton—something quite divergent from standard Marxist thought. In providing vivid snapshots of Milwaukee during three crucial and transitional periods (Pre-World War I, Great Migration, and Great Depression/Word War II) Trotter argues that an Afro-American industrial working class emerges despite racial and capitalist impediments. Trotter breaks with the historiographical theme of early twentieth century Black ghettoization in this work; and while the study is rich with Marxist terminology, it is clear that this work is only Marxist in a revised context.
Despite a small Black population, Trotter has chosen to study Milwaukee for a variety of reasons. Perhaps most intriguing is the clear influence and popularity of socialism during the years 1912-1940. The socialist context of Black Milwaukee emerges out of the city’s early twentieth century industrial expansion, small but unified black population, relative economic depression, and proximity to Chicago; despite white racial and capitalist hostility. (Trotter, 8)
The significance of labor—specifically racial and capitalist dynamics—is clearly the strongest point argued in Black Milwaukee. Pre-Great Migration Blacks suffered from being relegated to domestic labor, personal service, or common labor; a Black narrative not uncommon. The advent of industrial expansion, World War I, and the Great Migration fueled the transformation that Trotter so delicately portrays. In newly industrialized Milwaukee, Blacks are still relegated to what can be perceived as bottom level posts in iron and steel mills, tanneries, meat-packing plants, and in construction. (Trotter, 47) Enter the socialist paradox: “proletarianizaiton created opportunities for Blacks while simultaneously fueling the racism that limited choices.” (Grossman, Reviews in American History, 228) Black labor organizations, segregated and operating under the umbrella of white socialist politicians such as D.W. Hoan, thrive in industrial Milwaukee. (Trotter 63-73) Trotter’s conclusion is that the Black labor movement evidences Blacks “shaping their own urban economic experience.” (Trotter, 73)
While Trotter’s descriptions of the black proletariat and middle classes come across as legitimate, the fact that Black Milwaukee is somewhat of a microscopic study strikes the reader as problematic. In one particular instance Trotter discusses the “decline” of legal professionals in the city. However, Trotter shortly reveals that said twenty-five percent decrease in Black lawyers represents a change from four to three between 1910 and 1930. (Trotter, 96) While on this particular topic, Trotter is successfully demonstrating the disproportionate growth of white versus Black professionals, the statistical implications of using such a small sample size threaten to limit any claims the study might aspire to make regarding applying finding in Milwaukee to a larger populous.
Concerning gender, the reader has to carefully weigh the near total absence of women from Trotter’s piece with two competing facts: the grossly disproportionate number of young Black males living in Milwaukee (Trotter, 58) and the higher percentage of Black dual income families compared to whites (Trotter, 60). Trotter attempts to buttress his assertion that women held an important role in the community with unemployment data from 1930 showing three times the unemployment rate among black women compared to white women. While these figures and a few others sporadically placed throughout the text might suggest the importance of gender in Trotter’s proletariat evolution, the lack of decisive evidence (as he provides on the topic of labor/capital relations) raises the flag of gender omission.
Despite a small Black population, Trotter has chosen to study Milwaukee for a variety of reasons. Perhaps most intriguing is the clear influence and popularity of socialism during the years 1912-1940. The socialist context of Black Milwaukee emerges out of the city’s early twentieth century industrial expansion, small but unified black population, relative economic depression, and proximity to Chicago; despite white racial and capitalist hostility. (Trotter, 8)
The significance of labor—specifically racial and capitalist dynamics—is clearly the strongest point argued in Black Milwaukee. Pre-Great Migration Blacks suffered from being relegated to domestic labor, personal service, or common labor; a Black narrative not uncommon. The advent of industrial expansion, World War I, and the Great Migration fueled the transformation that Trotter so delicately portrays. In newly industrialized Milwaukee, Blacks are still relegated to what can be perceived as bottom level posts in iron and steel mills, tanneries, meat-packing plants, and in construction. (Trotter, 47) Enter the socialist paradox: “proletarianizaiton created opportunities for Blacks while simultaneously fueling the racism that limited choices.” (Grossman, Reviews in American History, 228) Black labor organizations, segregated and operating under the umbrella of white socialist politicians such as D.W. Hoan, thrive in industrial Milwaukee. (Trotter 63-73) Trotter’s conclusion is that the Black labor movement evidences Blacks “shaping their own urban economic experience.” (Trotter, 73)
While Trotter’s descriptions of the black proletariat and middle classes come across as legitimate, the fact that Black Milwaukee is somewhat of a microscopic study strikes the reader as problematic. In one particular instance Trotter discusses the “decline” of legal professionals in the city. However, Trotter shortly reveals that said twenty-five percent decrease in Black lawyers represents a change from four to three between 1910 and 1930. (Trotter, 96) While on this particular topic, Trotter is successfully demonstrating the disproportionate growth of white versus Black professionals, the statistical implications of using such a small sample size threaten to limit any claims the study might aspire to make regarding applying finding in Milwaukee to a larger populous.
Concerning gender, the reader has to carefully weigh the near total absence of women from Trotter’s piece with two competing facts: the grossly disproportionate number of young Black males living in Milwaukee (Trotter, 58) and the higher percentage of Black dual income families compared to whites (Trotter, 60). Trotter attempts to buttress his assertion that women held an important role in the community with unemployment data from 1930 showing three times the unemployment rate among black women compared to white women. While these figures and a few others sporadically placed throughout the text might suggest the importance of gender in Trotter’s proletariat evolution, the lack of decisive evidence (as he provides on the topic of labor/capital relations) raises the flag of gender omission.
December 16, 2022
This was a very dry, detail look at Blacks in Milwaukee. It's heavy on statistics. But I felt it was lacking in HOW it became an Industrial Proletariat. It had some interesting stats but I felt it didn't have narrative to provide any conclusions.
January 27, 2025
The second edition, which I read, features several essays on the significance and value of this book. Start with Appendix 7 to understand how Black Milwaukee changed academic research on African American urban communities in the North.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews