The House
Servant's Directory
“A Monitor for Private Families”
by Robert Roberts
with an Introduction
by Graham Russell Hodges
"In order to get through your work in proper time,
you should make it your chief study to rise early
in the morning; for an hour before the family
rises is worth more to you than two after they
are up."
Thus begins Robert Roberts' The House Servant's
Directory, first published in 1827 and the standard
for household management for decades afterward.
It is remarkable for several reasons: It is one
of the first books written by an African American
and issued by a commercial press, and it was written
while Roberts (ca. 1780-1860) was in the employ
of Christopher Gore (1758-1827), a U.S. senator
and governor of Massachusetts. Roberts worked
for Gore at Gore's country estate, Gore Place,
from 1825 to 1827.
As portrayed in Graham Hodges' introduction, Roberts'
own story is a unique window into the work habits
and thoughts of America's domestic workers and
into antebellum African American politics. Of
particular note is Roberts' contribution to the
emergence of new self-perceptions of black manliness.
Written at a time when male Americans in general
were reconsidering the construction of masculinity,
Roberts' advice to his fellow servants fostered
black dignity for work that few felt merited respect,
and his counsel to employers on proper treatment
of their servants insisted on their humanity and
respect for their skills.
This edition is a completely new resetting of
the 1827 edition that brings Roberts' original
sage recommendations to a contemporary audience,
demonstrating that, in spite of the passage of
170 years, good advice never goes out of style.
GRAHAM RUSSELL HODGES is a Professor of Early American
history at Colgate University. Among his many
books are The Black Loyalist Directory: African
Americans in Exile After the American Revolution
(1995); Slavery and Freedom in the rural North:
African Americans in Monmouth County, New Jersey,
1665-1870 (1997); an edition of Henri Gregoire's
An Enquiry Concerning the Intellectual and Moral
Faculties, and Literature of Negroes (M.E. Sharpe,
1997); and Slavery, Freedom, and Culture Among
Early American Workers (M.E. Sharpe, 1998).
“The House Servant's Directory” is available
in paperback and hardcover editions from the
Gore Place Museum Shop.
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