‘I was a Sociological Stranger’: Ethnographic Fieldwork and Undercover Performance in the Publication of The Taxi‐Dance Hall, 1925–1932

From 1926 to 1928, Paul G. Cressey, a graduate student in sociology, assumed the role of ‘sociological stranger’ and frequented Chicago's taxi‐dance halls on a nightly basis. Under the guise of a paying customer, Cressey purchased dances, engaged in conversations and documented the life stories of many taxi dancers. In 1932, his revised thesis was published as The Taxi‐Dance Hall: A Sociological Study of Commercialized Recreation and City Life. This article seeks to re‐read Cressey's original notes, research journals and ‘life histories’ of taxi dancers to show how class, ethnic and gendered power relationships often distorted his empirical investigation, which were reliant on undercover performance, subjective observations and misleading interviews. Finally, this essay seeks to ‘surface’ taxi dancers’ counternarratives to illuminate women's own perspectives on the nature of their work, as well as their interpretations of workplace strategies, negotiations and personal motivations.