Kent and company,

Another ranking system for occupations occurs in: 

Hershberg, Theodore
1973	Free Blacks in Antebellum Philadephia.  In The
Peoples of Philadelphia: A History of Ethnic Groups
and Lower-Class Life, 1700-1940, edited by Allen Davis
and Mark Haller, pp.111-133.  Temple University Press,
Philadelphia.

However, I would also reiterate Bill Lockhart's
warning about taking census occupations at face value.
I have been working on a study of the 1850 New Orleans
census, cross-referenced with the City Directory,
newspapers, etc. While the "Merchant" category is
often regarded as a high-status occupation, I have
been finding whole flophouse boarding houses full of
23-year-olds from Kentucky or Ireland (and who also
show up in the papers as 'notorious characters' or
'incorrigible vagrants'), who are identified as being
"merchants", just to name one example. Of course, some
interesting discussions of identity that come out of
this...

Ryan Gray
Earth Search, Inc.
New Orleans, Louisiana
      

--- Kent Taylor <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Thanks Melissa.  Yes, I need to be able to place
> them into larger economic categories and determine
> low and high-status occupations as you suggest. 
> I'll track down the Thernstrom reference which
> sounds like it might be very helpful.
> 
> 
> Kent
> 
> Meli Diamanti <[log in to unmask]> wrote: If you
> are looking at the occupations listed in census
> records, you 
> might be interested in a study that sorted them into
> larger economic 
> categories, such as skilled or unskilled blue collar
> workers, or low or 
> high-status white collar workers.  See Thernstrom,
> referenced below.  
> The classification of occupations into
> socio-economic ranks that 
> Thernstrom developed was also used by V. Cowin in
> her study of 
> Pittsburgh and to by M. Weber is his study of
> Parren, Pennsylvania.  I 
> have found it useful in my on-going study of
> historic communities around 
> Pittsburgh.  but I found that not all the
> occupations I find were 
> included in Thernstrom's original classification, so
> I have had to make 
> some guesses of my own about where additional
> occupations would fit into 
> his ranking system.
> In my case, I included "gentleman" with "none,"
> "retired," and blank 
> entires for occupation, in an "Other" category and
> did not try to rank it.
> References:
> Stephen Thernstrom, The Other Bostonians: Poverty
> and Progress in the 
> Maerican Metropolis 1880-1970.  Harvard University
> Press, 1973.
> Verna L. Cowin, Pittsburgh Archaeological Resources
> & National Register 
> Survey.  Carnegie Museum of Natural History,
> Pennsylvania Historical and 
> Museum Commission, and Pittsburgh Department of City
> Planning.  Report 
> on file at the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum
> Commission, 
> Harrisburg, PA.
> Michael P. Wber, Social Change in an Industrial
> Town: Patterns of 
> Progress in Warren, Pennsylvania, from Civil War to
> World War I.  
> Pennsylvania State University Press, Univeristy
> Park, PA.
> 
> Melissa Diamanti
> Archaeological & Historical Consultants, Inc.
> 
> Kent Taylor wrote:
> 
> >In looking through censuses, directories, and other
> historic documents, I
> >sometimes come across types of occupations that are
> not easily defined by
> >our modern standards.  Does anyone have a list of
> occupations for the entire
> >historic period and exactly how they were defined
> during their period of
> >use?  For example, the occupation of "gentleman." 
> How was that defined? 
> >Was he a retired person?
> >Thanks in advance,
> >Kent Taylor
> >
> 
> 
> 
> Kent C. Taylor, M.A., RPA 
> Project Archaeologist 
> Commonwealth Cultural Resources Group, Inc. 
> Phone (248) 362-3038 
> Fax (248) 362-3038 
> E-Mail [log in to unmask]
>  		
> ---------------------------------
> Stay in the know. Pulse on the new Yahoo.com.  Check
> it out. 
> 


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