The construction of Hoover Dam was proof of human progress on many levels. Progress on civil rights and race relations, however, could not be counted among them.
Still, by 1933 only 24 African American workers, less than one percent of the total work force, had been hired and none were allowed to live in Boulder City.
Hiring African Americans
In May 1931, the Colored Citizens Labor and Protective Association of Las Vegas complained that none of the first 1,000 workers placed on Six Companies’ payroll for the dam project were African American.
The U.S. government’s contract with Six Companies stipulated that American citizens be hired for the job. No race, except for “Mongolians” were specifically excluded. The term American citizen, however, came to be defined as white American citizen.
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