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How Dorothy Bolden Inspired the National Domestic Workers Bill of Rights
Her advocacy for those who work in isolation in others’ homes cannot be understated
The connections between Black women, domestic work, and the South are long and deep. Some of the first domestic workers in this country were enslaved African and Afro-Caribbean women. Oftentimes, their children would also take on this task, creating a lineage of domestic work. Dorothy Bolden was the granddaughter of enslaved people, a third-generation domestic worker, and also built a legacy of her own as a civil rights and labor justice leader. In her home of Atlanta, Georgia, in the heart of the South, Bolden organized more than 13,000 domestic workers, founded the National Domestic Workers Union, and fought for better wages and working conditions for all domestic workers.
Dorothy Bolden was born in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1923, and was just nine years old when she began domestic work by washing diapers after school for just $1.25 per week. Her education was difficult due to poor vision and she left school in the ninth grade to work full-time as a domestic worker, which she would continue for the rest of her working life. As a domestic worker, she would wake each day at 4 a.m., leave her home at 6 a.m., and take public transport to her employer’s home to arrive…
