Old Atlanta StoriesHistory & Facts
When washerwomen used a world's fair as leverage
In 1881, Black laundresses organized for better pay as Atlanta prepared to welcome the world.
In 1881, Black laundresses organized for better pay as Atlanta prepared to welcome the world.
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In July 1881, twenty Black laundresses organized Atlanta’s Washing Society and demanded a uniform rate of one dollar per twelve pounds of laundry. Within weeks, the movement counted roughly 3,000 members and threatened to disrupt the city just as leaders prepared for the International Cotton Exposition.
Officials answered with arrests, fines and a proposed license fee. The women countered that they would pay the fee if it protected their right to control the trade. Their campaign revealed how much Atlanta’s celebrated “New South” depended on Black women’s labor—and how collective action could make that dependence visible.
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