Black Maid Forced into 30 Years of Involuntary Servitude
How an adult white teacher took advantage of a young Black girl’s freedom.
Back in the day growing up in Mississippi came with lots of racial challenges in everyday life. Even young children were not exempted. When I was a teenager, the neighborhood was alerted for all their girls to be aware of a young white couple scrawling the neighborhood to snatch young Black girls for servitude or sex slaves or whatever they deemed.
While this was my reality, there are similar stories around the country very similar, some surface while others remained buried until someone opens that reality door. Here, seventy-five years ago, a similar situation occurred in California where a maid was forced into involuntary servitude.
The truth always has a way to resurface, telling the truth about how slavery has perpetuated itself in such an ugly manner. Seventy-five years ago, a white couple took advantage of a Black young girl and was charged with involuntary servitude.
In Coronado, California in the summer of 1947, Alfred and Elizabeth Ingalls, a white couple in their 60s were arrested. Upon arriving from Boston, they were charged with keeping their Black maid, Dora Jones, in involuntary servitude for 30 years. Jones was forced to perform menial tasks that she never received pay for practically 24/7 and if she complained was beaten. They even clothed her in rags.
After the Ingalls’ arrest, the court case received lots of public attention from the public and media. Many stood in lines for hours hoping to get into the courtroom to view the case firsthand.
Jones’ parents had been slaves. She was born in 1890 in Athens, Alabama. To continue her schooling, Jones sought work to pay for her schooling at the missionary schools where she performed domestic work. One of her teachers, Elizabeth Kimball, years later moved to Washington, DC, and Jones ended up in Washington also.
Kimball now married to Walter Harmon was now pregnant and Jones took care of her and the baby for years until Jones was impregnated by her husband, Walter Harmon, who had forced himself on her regularly for three years.
After Jones became pregnant, Elizabeth Harmon arranged an abortion for her. Jones suffered much guilt while Elizabeth Harmon made her feel more beholding to her by saying, “You owe me your life now because you have ruined mine.”
The Harmons divorced and Elizabeth quickly remarried Alfred Ingalls and relocated to the Boston area. By now another daughter was born. Jones continued to work for the family. Visitors and neighbors saw how inhumane she was treated and reported it to the federal authorities.
All complained about how she worked for long hours, slept on a kitchen floor, and was forced to work outside in the freezing cold without gloves or a jacket. When she tried to escape, they would lock her in the cellar.
The Ingalls retired in 1946 and moved to Coronado, California bringing Jones with them. By now the Ingalls children are grown and one daughter, Helen Roberts, came to visit her parents at the motel where they were staying during their trip across the country to California. She and her husband noticed that Jones was sleeping in the Ingalls’ car, crammed in among the suitcases in the backseat.
The Roberts contacted the police and took Jones with them and the next day the Ingalls reported her missing. After much investigation, with all involved parties, via much prodding from Elizabeth Ingalls, Jones made the decision to remain with the Ingalls out of guilt for coming between her and her first husband.
The Ingalls continued their trek to Coronado and in the meantime, someone alerted the FBI and an investigation ensued. On February 24, 1947, the Ingalls were arrested and Jones went into protective custody. A month later the couple was indicted and charged with violating the constitutional prohibition against slavery.
During the trial, as many witnesses who had been privy to such cruelty against Jones by the Ingalls including their two daughters testified against them. Testimonies convey now only how she slept in the car when the Ingalls traveled and slept on the kitchen floor but was subjected to a menu of bananas and candy. She was practically malnourished.
July 18, 1947, after three hours of closing arguments, the jurors took 30 minutes to convict Elizabeth Ingalls. By this time, Jones had returned to St. Louis to live with a brother. Elizabeth Ingalls was put in jail facing a maximum of five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
At the end of the day, Elizabeth Ingalls was fined $2,500 and sentenced to five years probation, and was banned from harassing witnesses. The Ingallses had to compensate Jones in back pay of $6,000.
By this time, Jones had been set free and for once in her life since being a young girl, experienced freedom, as strange as it was. She resisted any notoriety from the case and remained in St. Louis until she died at the age of 82.
In conclusion, while this is a horrific story of slavery or involuntary servitude, it is not isolated from back in the day and current day. This one case just happened to get nationwide attention. Hopefully, this case will serve as a warning for society.
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