Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, General Research and Reference Division

Kelly Miller and Joseph R. Gay, Progress and Achievements of the Colored People (Washington, DC: A. Jenkins, 1917)

One result of the movement north was a dramatic increase in professional employment - doctors, lawyers, realtors, and preachers were among the most popular occupations. "The minister," according to the Chicago Race Commission, "is a recognized leader, legal advisor and school teacher." Many professionals came from the South. They left when the departing flow of their patients and clients became so strong that they could hardly make a living at home. As one funeral director from Georgia wrote, "The colored people are migrating from here so rapidly that it will be necessary for me to find another field, and in view of that fact I have about decided to try Detroit."