The Great Migration served as the vehicle for the mass exodus out of the South. For single, young, and adventurous African American women, passing the civil service examinations, enabled them to join White women in various federal agencies by helping to support the war effort. These new federal civil service employees traveled from the Jim Crow South to seek other employment in the Treasury, Navy, War, Pentagon, and other federal agencies. As Government Girls accepted government jobs, these positions served to lift them out of domestic service and poverty into professional careers and middle-class lives. Watch a clip here.
Until now, few knew the story of the African American Government Girls. A 30-minute documentary film in progress being produced by Dr. Aura Wharton-Beck in collaboration with iDream.tv will start to tell their story. Support the 30-minute documentary here.
