What was Employment Like in 1915 Kansas?
It is 1915. You have recently migrated to Kansas. What jobs are available to you? Most of you are thinking that it is a farmer. Everybody in Kansas is a farmer, why would it change? What if you had no interest in farming? Well, actually, it might be surprising to you, but that was not the only job, even though it might have seemed that way. In early twentieth century Kansas, you could become a miner. You could be an employee for the Smith Automobile Company. You could also be an aviation engineer. The Union Pacific was always looking for workers as well. This is just a small sample of various types of work available to men and women in the early days of the twentieth century in Kansas.
Let's talk about miners in Kansas. Did you know that most of the Kansas economic growth has been based on abundant mineral deposits during the late 19th and early 20th centuries? Miners in Kansas mostly work in coal, zinc, lead, oil, natural gas, and salt mines. the The “tri-state mining district” located in southeast Kansas, southwest Missouri, and northeast Oklahoma is where miners mostly went to get zinc and lead. Zinc and lead were important minerals for the U.S. war efforts in World War I and World War II. According to Kansapedia, “Coal mining in Kansas peaked between 1917 and 1918. Bituminous coal deposits were widely distributed in eastern Kansas. Deep mining and surface mining methods were used in at least 20 coal beds but the bulk of the mines were in southeastern Kansas in the counties of Cherokee, Crawford, and Bourbon as well as one large area in Osage County.” The Hutchinson Salt Company underground mine is more than 600 feet deep while the Lyons Salt Company operates at a depth of over 1000 feet. In the Hutchinson area, one salt mine that is no longer used has been turned into an underground paper storage warehouse and another has become the Kansas Underground Salt Museum. But for every job you have dangers like cave-ins. According to Wiki “A cave-in is a collapse of a geologic formation, mine or structure which may occur during mining or tunneling. Geologic structures prone to spontaneous cave-ins include alvar, tsingy and other limestone formations, but can also include lava tubes and a variety of other subsurface rock formations.” Miners also face gas explosions, chemical leakage, vehicle or equipment collisions, fires, and electrocution. Being a miner you would get around 30 dollars and 85 cents per week.
Now I bet you're wondering, “what is an aviation engineer?” Well, aviation engineers work with the science of designing, developing, and assembling aircraft. Aviation engineers focus on aerospace development, airport design, aircraft navigation technologies, and aerodrome planning. According to AIP Sponsor Guide “Aerodrome planning is a systematic process used to establish guidelines for the efficient development of airports that is consistent with local, state and national goals. A key objective of airport planning is to assure the effective use of airport resources in order to satisfy aviation demand in a financially feasible manner. Airport planning may be as broad based as the national system plan or more centrally focused as an airport master plan for a specific airport.” Being an aviation engineer in Kansas, you would probably be working for E.M. Laird Airplane Manufacturing Co. and your boss would be Jake Moellendick. Jake Moellendick, according to Kansapedia “Went to Wichita, Kansas, in 1914, the discovery of oil under the surrounding countryside led to a local oil boom, and Wichita suddenly became rich. In 1919, a gutsy Wichita oil man who'd struck it rich in the local oilfields, Jake Moellendick, gambled his small fortune on a partnership with young barnstormer "Matty" Laird and mutual friend Billy Burke.”
So you are thinking of becoming an employee for the Smith Automobile Company. At the beginning of the 20th century, Terry Stafford ran a bicycle shop in Topeka. An article in Scientific American intrigued Stafford and he decided to construct an automobile, even though he had never seen one in person. According to Kansapedia “The Smith brothers specialized in manufacturing artificial limbs, orthopedic and surgical instruments, and trusses. They saw an opportunity to expand their products and hired Stafford as the general manager of the new Smith Automobile Company. In 1902 they began producing the small, lightweight Smith Surreys.” The business relocated to a larger, “state of the art” building with more than 150 employees. Focusing on quality, their motto stated: “Build an automobile at the lowest price at which it can be done well, make it light and strong, and put out no inferior grade.” So you want to be one of those 150 employees? Your best bet is to be a mechanical engineer, in which your monthly salary would be about $129 your weekly salary would be around $32.25. But there are always dangers being a mechanical engineer. Developing and testing prototypes is an exciting part of the job but you are always pressing the boundaries of what your tools, equipment, and machinery can handle. Mechanical engineers must test the limits to make sure things are working properly. They often use combustion engines and power tools to build and test engines and machines. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics “Sharp blades, running belts, high-powered equipment, metal cutters, and drills expose mechanical engineers to many types of injuries and accidents on the job.”
So it is 1915. You have recently migrated to Kansas. You don’t want to be a farmer? Well then you can become a miner if that interest you or an Aviation Engineer. If you don’t like that you can always be an employee at the Smith Automobile Company. If you don’t like those options you can find your own job!
