Introduction

INTRODUCTION
The economic contraction in the 1930s, propelled by the collapse of the economies in industrialised states, had a ripple effect on the small vulnerable economies of the Caribbean. During the 1930s, the region started to experience economic recessions due to a decline in exports. The repercussions were even greater for those countries locked into monocrop production and dependent on the trade relations that existed between them and the developed countries of Europe and the U.S. The Caribbean countries had become so dependent on the foreign markets that from the onset of the Depression they suffered many of the symptoms experienced by industrialised countries. Between 1928 and 1933 the prices of West Indian exports were on average almost halved, which contributed to; forced wage reductions, increased taxation and unemployment.
A general understanding of the severity of the impact of the Great Depression on Caribbean territories may be illustrated through a description of the conditions in Jamaica. During the 1930s Jamaica was undoubtedly the most economically developed of all the English-speaking Caribbean countries. Its geographical layout covered 4,450 square miles, and a comparative assessment with other countries in the region placed Jamaica among the largest and most affluent with its bountiful resources. While other territories depended exclusively on sugar, cocoa or citrus, whose prices had dwindled considerably during the late 1920s, Jamaica could count also on her bananas. Arthur Lewis states that bananas accounted for 55 per cent of the value of domestic exports, while sugar accounted for 18 per cent. Jamaica was able to combat the impact of falling sugar prices due to the cushioning effect the export of bananas had on the economy. Nonetheless, the sugar industry, though not the highest earner, was the greatest employer, and the problems of the industry affected the entire country.
The general consensus is that the Great Depression was very pronounced and affected every member of the Jamaican society. A considerable amount of literature about the 1930s has consistently shown that the decade was a defining period in the history of Jamaica. However, most scholars, including Richard Hart and Arthur Lewis have only focused on the labour rebellions and their impact on the social and political transformations in Jamaica, with little reference to women. Furthermore, they have tended to over-generalize, and the social disequilibrium in the country shows that the experiences of various groups were not uniform. There were great variations. Those who belonged in the upper echelon of society continued to engage in their ‘high society’ activities while the middle and lower-classes struggled to achieve bargaining rights along with political and economic enfranchisement. The situation of the lower-class remained constant and deteriorated as the government did little to remedy their situation. Limited access to social mobility, restricted emigration along with unemployment and underemployment, which resulted in widespread poverty, further exacerbated the plight of the lower-class. According to the Royal Commission Report, “The position of women [however, was] more unfortunate.” They were no doubt the first to be targeted once the economy started to feel the strain of the Depression. Moreover, women’s roles continued to depend on the Victorian ideals which restricted them to certain types of occupations such as domestic servant or agricultural labourer, which Barry Chevannes classifies as “female work.”
So far, little attention has been paid to women’s experiences and their responses during this period in Jamaica. In fact, no single study exists which adequately covers the experience of women in Jamaica during that period. To date, scholars who have conducted studies on women (and have taken this time period into their study) often refer to them as one group and their diverse experiences are not always emphasized. Although women in general were subjected to underemployment and unemployment, little is known about the effects of the Depression on lower-class women.
Far too little is known about the ways women responded to the economic crisis. Even though the focus of their work is not specific to the effects of the Depression on women, historians such as Barry Higman, Michelle Johnson and Brian Moore reveal that the educational level of black, lower-class women restricted them to low paying and intermittent occupations including agricultural labour and domestic service. In their independent research on domestic service in Jamaica, Higman and Johnson show that between 1921 and 1943 there was a significant increase in female domestic servants, especially in Kingston. However, a detailed explanation for the reasons many women relocated to occupy work in domestic service in Kingston was not given. The focus is mainly on the pull factors including better wages and a demand for domestic servants rather than push factors such as irregular employment in the agricultural sector. Ken Post and Gisela Eisner, however highlight that irregular employment in agriculture along modernisation of the sugar industry forced many to the towns.
Migration has been generally viewed as a strategy used to adjust to periods of crisis. In The Population of Jamaica, George Roberts shows that between 1921 and 1943 a significant number of women migrated from one parish to another. Still, the historiography remains silent about the class to which those women belonged. Although Roberts’ work does not reveal the class females belonged to, the works of Eisner and Post, on aspects of the 1930s suggest that a significant number of them belonged to the lower-class.
Joan French and Honor Ford-Smith however, show that lower-class women established a variety of coping mechanisms in order to overcome the economic conditions. Interviews conducted by French and Ford-Smith illustrate that these strategies ranged from extending work obligations to children, to higglering. According to Gisela Eisner there was a preponderance of female higglers. Despite the number of women who were concentrated in this area it is difficult to state whether or not it was a coping mechanism as higglering had always been common source of revenue that emerged during slavery.
In recent years there has been an increasing interest in the contribution of women in protests during the period. However, when the 1930s is revisited, the focus is particularly on the 1938 Frome Riot. Although Ahmed Reid shows the presence of women in the labour rebellions in 1938, his focus was only on their militancy – throwing stones and marching with sticks. French and Ford-Smith however, show that many women also went on strike and demanded more pay. And, although Reid shows that the historiography has consistently placed men as the emerging figures, he also followed the historiographic trend by focussing on prominent women including Lady Gladys Bustamante and Agnes ‘Aggie’ Bernard. He also failed to state that although the names of other women were not identified, they too played a role by supplying food and water to the strikers at the waterfront.

Purpose of the Study
Comparisons are being inevitably made between today and the 1930s. During the 1930s Jamaica was in social and economic turmoil. The turmoil was caused by a world-wide economic depression, the ruin of the banana industry, falling sugar prices, growing unemployment aggravated by the restriction of migration opportunities and a steeply rising population. The situation therefore presented challenges to Jamaican people, especially women.
Today, there is a similar picture as women are being faced with the challenge of overcoming the economic and social deterioration of Jamaica. Women’s resourcefulness in times of crisis has been part of the history of Caribbean people. To continue to rely on the exploitation of women in this way is to perpetuate the conditions which have prevented the full development of the country. In order to understand the problems which we are currently facing it is imperative that we highlight the strategies which were employed in the past. In fact,
“Studies of women in society are needed to help women […] to understand and clarify their past and present situations as well as to lead to a more balanced equation of the roles of women in their societies.”
There is a gap in the history of women in Jamaica due to little research done on the 1930s. It is most appropriate to focus on women as they played a vital role in the historical development of Jamaica. Focussing on women’s experiences during this period helps to provide answers that we not only want to know but also profit from knowing by giving us a better perspective of the present situation. And, it is this which has prompted the researcher to focus on the 1930s crisis and the impact it had on women in Jamaica.
This research seeks to investigate the extent to which the economic crisis contributed to the changing role of women during the 1930s. The particular focus of this study is on lower-class women in the Jamaican labour force and the strategies they employed to cope with the economic crisis during the 1930s. The aim of the study is to determine whether or not their status deteriorated and to see if the economic crisis significantly altered the roles of lower-class women.

Sources and Methodology
The reader should bear in mind that this research is interpretive and exploratory in nature. As such, a variety of primary and secondary sources including reports, journals, newspapers, and books were used to examine the effects of the Great Depression on women.
This study relies heavily on labour statistics. However, due to practical constraints, the paper cannot provide a comprehensive interpretation of statistics for the 1930s. This is due to the fact that no census was taken during the decade. As a result, I have had to rely on the censuses of 1921 and 1943 to interpret statistics for the 1930s. Even so, the imprecise categorisation of females in employment appears to be underestimated. Despite the problem of categorisation, the Census reports are used to show the changing role of females in the workforce over time.
Note also that two unemployment surveys conducted during the 1930s focused only on Kingston and St. Andrew and reveal that the ‘genuinely’ unemployed were males. Officials claim that these statistics were limited to the city due to the fact that collecting data for the whole island was too challenging a proposition. In addition, the Blue Book for the Island of Jamaica (1930 – 1935) provides a wide range of data on the population, employment, wages and criminal statistics. Nonetheless, there is an issue of reliability as the statistics remained unchanged for some categories over a six year period. These statistics are used in this study, however, to compare with other sources to determine if they provide the same information that will aid in our understanding of the effects of the economic crisis on women.
Surveys conducted by H. P. Jacobs and E. P. Carter are also used also give an insight on lower-class women and the economic conditions. However, these statistics were specific to 1938. Despite this shortfall, the authors show that wages were not sufficient to purchase basic foodstuffs during the 1930s. The surveys also reveal that women, particularly banana carriers, were employed part-time and had to supplement their income. Consequently, a qualitative approach has to be taken to supplement the gaps in female labour statistics for the 1930s.
Various newspapers of the time including the Gleaner, Plain Talk, Public Opinion and the Jamaica Standard are utilized in the study to ascertain the ways women responded to the economic crisis. It should be noted however, that it was the experience of working-class women that was aired. Moreover, the writers tend to address women in general although there is evidence that their focus was rarely on the plight of the lower-class. Despite class biases, newspaper accounts, particularly letters to the editor, help to give the opinion of persons of the time while at the same time preserving some truth based on the frequency of similar concerns in numerous articles. These accounts provide a vast amount of information which is unattainable in any other source.
Oral history has also proved beneficial in filling the gap. Newspaper accounts and official government statistics are juxtaposed with the eye-witness accounts given in interviews presented in Not for Wages Alone. Although the interviews were specific to 1938, they give additional perspective on the conditions in the decade as some interviewees extended their recounts to the entire decade. These stories corroborate those presented in newspapers.
The aim of this study is not to criticise the validity of labour force statistics. The use of the statistics is imperative to the study as they help to fill the gap and add to the historiography. As such, they provide the basis to investigate whether or not the economic crisis affected the role of women, particularly those in the lower-class.