Woman carrying laundry bundle on head
Woman carrying laundry bundle on head,
Natchez, Mississippi, U.S., August, 1940.
Photo by Marion Post, Farm Security Administration
Black women turned their knowledge of washing, gardening, and cooking into sources of income for themselves and their families. They dominated the laundering trade well into the twentieth century. In Brazil, the Caribbean, and cities of the American South, they also gained control of significant parts of the food market, selling fresh or prepared foodstuffs. This tradition continues today in Bahia, Brazil, and in many Caribbean nations, as it does in Africa.