Figure 1.-. American blacks by the 1930s were on their way toward becoming a largely, northern urban people. This rather charming picture showing a Harlem boy and his two sisters dressed for church in 1939 has considerable charm. The children are dressed "to the nines." The boy (about 12) wears a double breasted dark knicker suit with dark long stockings, a natty white shirt and striped tie, a felt fedora hat with a black band, and black Oxford shoes. Note the slightly flamboyant pocket handkerchief. His sisters wear short dresses with overcoats decorated with white buttons and long white stockings and white shoes. Notice the girls' hats This is black American middle-class respectability on parade illustrated in the way the family chooses to dress its children. This is a good illustration of children's dress in the period just before World War II.

The migration of agrarian southern blacks to the urban, industrial North during the 20th century is one of the most important demographic and cultural events in American history. At the time of emancipation, black Americans were a rural, mostly southern people. More than than 90 percent of blacks lived in the rural south, many on plantations. There were blacks in the north, but relatively small numbers. In contrast to the South, northern blacks primarily lived in cities. This demographic pattern did not change significantly after Emancipation, but some southern blacks did move into cities, mostly southern cities. Few blacks moved north. This did not change until the 20th century. Large numbers of blacks first began moving north during World War I. This became known as the Great Migration. Rural blacks headed to northern cities. Blacks left the South for a range of reasons. The Jim Crow system stripped blacks of basic civil rights and constricted most to eking out a miserable existence through sharecropping. Blacks wen resisted the system in any way risked extra-legal violence and the lynch mob. The North offered basic rights, decent paying jobs and living conditions as well as educational opportunities. Some 6 million blacks made the journey. And they created their own communities in the big cities cities of the industrial northeast and Midwest which fostered the growth of the new, urban African-American culture. Migration continued after World War I. After the Depression, World War II opened opportunities in the North never before available. The Great Migration transformed the black population in America from a southern rural people to a northern urban population. It also brought political power to black Americans. Black urban voters often swing state elections

Southern Rural Population

At the time of emancipation, black Americans were a rural, mostly southern population. There were northern free backs, but more than than 90 percent of American blacks lived in the South, mostly in rural areas, often on plantations in the Deep South. It is one reason why Lincoln could justify emancipation as a war measure damaging the Confederate economy. There were blacks in the North, but relatively small numbers. In contrast to the South, northern blacks primarily lived in cities. This demographic pattern did not change significantly after Emancipation. At the turn of the 20th century, blacks continued to live primarily in the rural South. A good example is an unidentified Savannah, Georgia family in 1907. Some southern blacks did move into cities, mostly southern cities. Relative few blacks moved north in the 19th century. But there was a degree of movement within the South, such a movement west to Texas. The Great Migration of southern blacks in the 20th century was part of a much wider process by which southern blacks first began migrating within the South in search of economic, social, and political justice. [Reich] We are not entirely sure why the movement North did not begin earlier. It may relate to increasing racial violence associated with the new Klu Klux Klan (KKKK).

The West

Some blacks attempted to move West after the Civil War. The most notable effort was the movement about 60,000 blacks into Kansas and others settled into the Oklahoma Indian Territories (1879-81). Moving west was not always easy. Some Western territories placed limits on blacks. Some for example did not allow them to attend public school.

Jim Crow

The Jim Crow system stripped blacks of civil rights and constricted most to eke out a miserable existence through sharecropping. Blacks who resisted the system in any way risked extra-legal violence and the lynch mob. Thus even though blacks were emancipated, many faced very restricted opportunities. Problems existed throughout the country, but were most severe in the southern states. The hope of real freedom for the emancipated slaves after the Civil War was quashed by racist state governments after the withdrawal of Federal troops in the 1870s. The gains achieved by blacks were gradually eroded by racist Jim Crow legislation and extra legal terror fomented by the KKK. Lynchings and mob violence throughput the South cowed blacks into submission and prevented them from voting.

Schools

Northern schools were not segregated by race. Before the Civil war some northern communities did not allow black children to attend public schools. But this practiced declined even before the Civil War. Schools in the North were integrated. We note black children in several northern schools archived on HBC. An example is the Sunnyside School in Carlinville, Illinois. There is one African American child in a 1922 class. All the other pupils are white. This was a time when many black families in the South as part of the Great Migration were headed north. By the 1930s we see norther schools with large numbers of African American students. A good example is the Hancock School in Philadelphia during 1932.

Migration Begins (1910s-20s)

The concentration of blacks in the South did not change until the 20th century. Rural blacks began heading to northern industrial cities both in the Northeast and Midwest. Blacks left the South for a range of reasons. We are not entirely sure why this dd not begin earlier. While white racism was not absent in the North, the North offered vastly improved consitions. There were basic civil rights, decent paying jobs, and improved living conditions as well as educational opportunities. Discrimination certainly existed, but Government imposed segregation, and government tolerated extra-judicial violence did not. Eventually 6 million rural blacks would migrate north as part of the Great Migration. In addition to the improved conditions and job opportunities, the upsurge of racism including the revived KKK and rising violence were factors. World War I would also be a factor. The drafting of large numbers of workers created an acute labor shortage in industrial cities-- meaning job opportunities that did not exist before. At the same time, the War hugely reduced European migration. And after the War, Congress acted to sharply reduce immigration, also increasing job opportunities in the industrial North. .

Important Northern Communities

Important black communities developed throughout the North where a new urban African-American culture blossomed. The most important was Harlem in New York City. The Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s produced perhaps the most important explosion of black artistic culture in America. Harlem was a formerly all-white white New York city neighborhood. Some 0.2 million blacks were living in Harlem by the 1920s. An important aspect of the Harlem Renaissance was the black experience theme. Also important based on these new communities was a new era of political activism. This was not possible, even dangerous in the South, but it was in the North. And blacks found a potent place for themselves in public life for the first time.

World War I

Large numbers of blacks began moving north after the turn of the century. The pace increased dramatically during the World I era. This was the beginning of the Great Migration. Precise statistics are not available. Historians estimate that 0.3 1.0 million blacks moved north during the 1910s and early 20s. The participation of black American soldiers in the War helped build black confidence and expose them to European society where racism, while certainly not non-existent, was not nearly as deep rooted and toxic. The increase in the numbers of blacks migrating appears to be due to a combination of factors. A lower level of migration had meant that black communities existed in most northern cities which meant that migrants had family or acquaintances to contact. World War I was a period of economic expansion, creating a need for factory workers. And the resurgent Klu Klux Klan was making life increasingly difficult for southern blacks. America's mobilization for World War I not only promoted the migration, but sharpened the political sensibilities of black Americans and accentuated a desire for change..

Agricultural Bust (1920s)

American farmers continued to feed Europe in the early-1920s. American food not only saved defeated Germans from starving, but people in most other European countries. This included the new Soviet Union. As Europe recovered from the Great War, agricultural production throughout the Continent gradually recovered and returned to more normal levels. In fact because of the World War I food crisis, many Governments wanted to promote added agricultural output in case of any future emergency. This left American farmers who had so significantly expanded production without the markets needed for their significantly expanded output. Farm prices thus declined precipitously. The U.S. Government which encouraged farmers to expand production did not plan how to help farmers adjust to a more normal demand structure. There was simply no need for the huge harvests that American farmers were now producing. Thus the American farmer came on hard times almost a decade before before the Wall street crash (1929). The South as the country's most rural area and blacks as a largely rural southern population were disproportionately affected.

The Depression (1930s)

Black migration north declined during the Depression. The cause of course was that factories were closing or reducing production. Thus jobs were no longer availanle. The New DEal did not foicus in black America, but the New Deal programs offered substantial relief to black Americans. Mrs. Roosevelt in particular was partcularly sensitive to the plight of black Americans.

World War II

The Great Migration fundamentally changed the demographics of black America. By the time of World War II, African Americans were no longer a largely rural southern population. There was now a substantial black population in northern cities. After the Depression, World War II opened opportunities in the North never before available. The New Deal's civil rights record leaves much to be desired, but for the first time, range of programs provided substantive aid to families living on the brink of subsistence. A major accomplishment was an Executive Order which prohibited determination in Federal contracts. Although not fully implemented it had an important positive impact. The American mobilization for war resulted in an economic miracle beyond what the Axis or America's allies believed possible. It was the greatest industrial mobilization in history. This required an enormous economic expansion creating a vast number of jobs that simply cold not be filled without expanding the work force and replacing men conscripted for military service. Blacks were hired in jobs and at salaries well above beyond what they had preciously experienced. As a result, the War continue to draw blacks north. This fired the migration north. There were racial issues, most prominently the Detroit Riots (1943), but the situation was still so much better than the South. Even more than World War I, the military experience created a demand for change and the belief that changes were possible. World War II involved many more black Americans than World War I both in war industries and in the military. And it lasted three times as long.

School Trends

You can follow the Great Migration in our websites because of the popularity of school portraits which became standard in the late-19th century. African Americans were primary a rural southern population until the Great Migration began. African-American families headed for the big cities wear decent paying jobs were available for the first time. Suddenly we begin see more black children in big city schools. And you can follow this decade by decade in our website which also provide clues as to where they were headed. A good example is Souderton School near Philadelphia.

Assessment

The migration of southern blacks to the urban North and Far West during the 20th century is one of the most important demographic and cultural events in American history. The rural blacks who came north were ill-educated and desperate. They presented a challenge to assimilate. It was an challenge that the big cities to which they flocked largely failed, in large measure because of race. The Great Migration, however, transformed the black population in America from a southern rural people to a northern urban population. It also brought political power to black Americans that was unobtainable at the time in the South. About 90 percent of American blacks now live in the Northern, about 95 percent in cities. Black urban voters often swing state-wide elections in Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania, and other important states.

Sources

Lemann, Nicholas. The Promised Land: The Great Black Migration and How It Changed America (1991).

Reich, Steven A. (ed.) Encyclopedia of the Great Black Migration (Greenwood Milestones in African American History, 2006).

Created: 3:58 AM 11/24/2006
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