Methods
Read an Occupation as a Clue, Not a Class Label
This field note is part of the FOBA learning stream. It is meant to orient readers and point toward better source work.
Key points
- Occupation labels can open a source path: employer, route, industry, skill, gendered labor, union, institution, or business network.
- They can also be incomplete, seasonal, imposed, outdated, or shaped by the person collecting the record.
- The public page should use occupation to ask better questions, not to rank community value.
Next steps
- Record the source type and exact occupation wording.
- Search the occupation with city directories, newspapers, labor records, tax records, maps, and oral history.
- Avoid turning occupation into identity, legal status, wealth, class, descent, tribe, nationality, DNA, or membership proof.
Source trail
- FOBA Black Business and Occupational Clues – Internal occupation and business source guide.