African American Shoe Makers, Repairers, Shiners - Louisville, KY

In the table below are the names of many African Americans who were employed as shoemakers, repairers, and shoe shiners in Louisville, KY during the year 1920. Louisville had the largest population of African Americans in Kentucky, and hundreds were employed in the shoe care business prior to 1920 and after 1920. There were quite a few shoemakers in Louisville, but the majority of them were not African Americans. In Louisville, the making of shoes was a skill possessed by a few African American men, and there were many more descendants of immigrant families who were also skilled shoemakers. In 1920, there were about 15 African American shoemakers and repairers in Louisville, which was a little less than the 20 or so in Lexington and Paducah. All three cities had the highest concentration of African American shoemakers in the state (not counting those in the prisons). 

As was happening in other locations around the state, the African American shoemakers in Louisville were transitioning over to shoe repairers. The business of handmade shoes was competitive, plus, there were at least five shoe manufacturers and four shoe wholesalers [source: p.2237 in Caron's Directory of the City of Louisville for 1920]. These were businesses that did not depend on prison labor contracts in order to maximize their profits, as was the case in the shoe factories in Frankfort and Eddyville.

In Louisville, the employees at the shoe manufacturer and wholesale businesses were people from the general public, including a few African American men hired as laborers and even fewer women laborers (listed below). African Americans were also hired as porters, maids, and janitors in shoe stores and shoe shine parlors. More African American teen boys were employed as shoe shiners in Louisville than in any other city or town in Kentucky. In Louisville, African American shoe shiners did not tend to stay in the business very long, according to the census records and city directories. But in spite of the turnover and regardless of age, there continued to be more African American shoe shiners in Louisville than any other Kentucky location because the size of the population afforded the labor supply and demand, and shining shoes was one of the more readily accessible lines of employment for African American men and boys.

One other note, in Louisville, African Americans and family members did not stay in the shoemaking or shoe care business the 35-40 years to half a century or more as seen in Lexington and a few other cities. In Louisville, they got into the business, and they got out of the business when there was better employment. Those who stayed on longer included Robert Clayborne, 32 years; John G. Hayes, 26 years; Edward Partee, 25 years; and Jessie Baker, 22 years.