’Christian compounds for girls’: church hostels for African women in Johannesburg, 1907–1970

Abstract

Compounds in the mining industry gave Rand and Kimberley capitalists a vital means of industrial and police control of their labour force, as well as enabling them 'to provide amenities such as recreation and health supervision',' no less important for the smooth running of the mines. Local authorities adapted this idea in open compounds for casual labourers and, as Davenport has noted, 'it was a short step from the municipal compound to the native hostel, which became a common feature of municipal locations in the larger centres under the stimulus of the Urban Areas Act of 1923,.2 This article examines three hostels for African women which were established in Johannesburg by missionaries of the Anglican and Methodist Churches, and the American Board Mission. These hostels were, in a sense, attempts to set up Christian compounds for girls, 3 centres of accommodation which would limit the free movement (especially at night) and supervise the employment of African females, most of whom were domestic servants. There were, however, key differences between these church efforts; which were duplicated in other large urban centres like Pretoria and Cape Town, and mine compounds. For one thing, 'recreation and health supervision' was a priority in church hostels on moral and religious grounds, rather than for reasons of industrial efficiency; that is, African women and girls were to be kept sexually chaste by means of safe accommodation, regular spiritual teaching, constructive use of leisure, and