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| In the 1930s racism
and segregation were still prevalent throughout the United States.
The Boulder Canyon project was no exception. Although commissioned
by the federal government, Hoover Dam was a privately run job subject
to the vagaries of the owners and foremen.
"There weren't hardly any Negroes in this area anyhow until they started Basic Magnesium. Then they brought a lot of Negroes to work at Basic Magnesium. There were a few over in West Las Vegas, but not many. And of course, we hadn't started all the hotels and all those things, so there wasn't any reason for them to be here." Erma Godbey In hiring workers, Six Companies agreed to give preference to veterans of the Spanish American and First World Wars. In addition, only American citizens would be eligible for hire and the hiring documentation expressly restricted the hiring of "Chinamen." Many blacks made their way to Boulder Canyon with hopes of finding a good job only to be turned away. Government jobs on the dam were highly desirable to all workers making them the hardest to get. Although mandated by the federal government to hire more black workers, Six Companies only made a token effort and probably no more than 30 blacks total worked on construction of the dam. Blacks worked on jobs that most whites saw as demeaning such as hauling away debris. To make matters worse, blacks weren’t allowed to live in Boulder City and had to commute every day from Las Vegas. "A man by the name of Charlie Rose had a black crew, a black man crew . . . he was an individual [who was] very strong, and his black men were just powerful men." Richard "Curley" Francis The few Native Americans that worked on the job were very lucky or unfortunate, depending on point of view. All of the Native Americans worked as high scalers – clearing the canyon face of rock and debris in anticipation for the pouring of the dam. As the most dangerous job on the project, high scalers were the highest paid general laborers. In addition, the Native American workers were allowed to live in Boulder City. |
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