User:Cjr100B/Saunders Johnson

Saunders Johnson (born c. 1882/83) was born to an African American family in Eastern North Carolina. He worked at, and eventually oversaw, the operations of several different sawmills and farms at different towns in the Johnston County area. On October 10, 1938, Johnson was interviewed by William Foster for the Federal Writers’ Project, and this document is now housed at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Southern Historical Collection.

Early life
Saunders Johnson was born in Eastern North Carolina near Johnston County around the years 1882 or 1883 (exact date is not known). Johnson was an African American man who stood about five feet, eight inches tall and weighed around one hundred and fifty pounds once fully grown. Saunders Johnson had one brother, Ed Johnson, that he grew up with and was also most likely born around the Johnston County area. Both brothers began working in the sawmill industry around the age of 17 and worked primarily in the towns of Fayetteville, Kinston, Goldsboro, and Smithfield.

Life at the Allen house
The Johnson brothers worked for the Allen family since 1935 to the time of Saunders Johnson’s interview for the Federal Writers’ Project and probably for some time after. The brothers and their families both lived in the Allen house starting in the late 1930s, a four story, eight-roomed house belonging to the Allen family, a prominent rural white family. When Mr. and Mrs. Allen died and their three sons moved out and started their own families, the last son offered the house to Ed Johnson and his wife for rent. The house was located in Smithfield, about seven and a half miles North-East of Four Oaks and a quarter mile away from the sawmill that the brothers worked at. The house is also not far from the Allen’s farm, which Ed primarily worked at.

William Foster interviewed Johnson while he was living in the Allen house and working at the sawmill. At that time his main job at the mill was controlling the saw and log-frame and seeing to repairs and upkeep. Making $2.50 a day for 11 hours a day, Johnson did not have enough money to even buy the discounted lumber from the mill that he wanted to use to build his family a house. However, the Allen family treated their workers with respect and paid fairly well, although the mill didn’t get much business and was not open to work at every day of the week.

The sawmills of that time also had somewhat of a job progression within the mills, as the workers got older. The progression started with hauling logs, then hauling lumber, stacking lumber, firing the engine, and becoming “sawyer” – who controlled the saw and log-frame. Lastly, workers would see to repairs and upkeep.

Family
Aside from his brother Ed, Johnson was married to Sally Johnson, born around 1907/08, and together they had a daughter named Sophie, born in 1924/25.

Race relations
During the time of Saunders Johnson’s interview, inequality was still very evident between blacks and whites, although the Allen family respected their workers. Sawmill workers were considered “illiterate and superstitious blacks” by white men, along with African American workers on the railroads and steamboats. African Americans of the time were still subjected to disrespectful name-calling and discrimination in the workplace and in housing.

Workers of color were looked down upon by many whites during the early 1900s, although Johnson didn’t speak about it because of the way he was treated by the Allen's. The Allen family offered a house to Johnson's family and treated them with respect, which was considered exceptional treatment of blacks at the time. Johnson even comments on his treatment by the family in his interview when he says, “I have worked mostly for Mr. John Allen and his father and now I’ve begun with young Mr. Sam. He treats me just as good as his pappy and grandpappy did."

Differences in labor markets
During the early 1900s and 1930s, discrimination regarding race was common in the work place, where blacks and whites were offered different jobs and received different wages for their work. On average, African Americans made just under half as much as whites for the same job, and the main reason for this, besides racism, was education. According to Claudia Goldin, “In 1940 black males 26 to 35 years old had only 60 percent the years of schooling that whites had. Of course, however, discrimination still played a role in the jobs that African Americans were considered for. Many black men worked for sawmills and on farms, because they knew it was steady, cheap work and would not have a high chance of getting fired. One white man of the time period described black men as “patient as oxen, and as reliable as steam engines,” making them more desirable for drudgery work." Although this was the opinion of many farm and mill owners, this quote highlights the racist and discriminatory thinking of the time period.

Federal Writers' Project
The Federal Writers’ Project was a relief program that started during the New Deal era in the 1930’s. Franklin Roosevelt created the program to give writers without jobs an opportunity to work, but the outcome was far greater that intended. The program “produced groundbreaking publications and research in African American culture, including slave testimonies, African American history and folklore."

The FWP’s main focuses was to document the history and culture of African Americans at the time and also to make sure that reflections were collected from those who actually experienced the struggle that African Americans had. However, one of the problems with the program was that the African Americans might have been misrepresented in the interviews. In Johnson’s interview, some of his southern dialect was apparent in the write. This may have come across as a man without education, or other racial stereotypes. The program also gave more jobs to African Americans than any other program at the time.