The Great Migration
Overview
Leaving the South
Migration Fever
The Journey North
Networks and Media
A New Industrial Landscape
Hard Life in the North
The Red Summer
The Quest for Political Power
Legacies
References
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< Leaving the South The Journey North >

As reports spread of plentiful job opportunities that existed above the Mason-Dixon line, the workers' situation began to change. They heard fantastic promises but were cautious and awaited reports from pioneers who went north to test the waters. One worker said, "Of course everything they say about the North ain't true, but there's so much of it true, don't mind the other."

Every conceivable method was used to draw the black labor supply from the South. Labor agents from northern companies stood on street corners offering train passes to the young, male, and strong. It soon sparked a migration fever. Black newspapers carried job advertisements touting good wages and other advantages of living in the North. They also published success stories about recent migrants already making more money than they had ever dreamed possible. Their letters confirming success were read out in churches, barbershops, and meeting halls. Southerners soaked up all the information available: Was this real? Would they pay? What was it like up North?

Black Labor is the Best Labor: Southern White Reactions to the Great MigrationBlack Exodus: The Great Migration from the American SouthBlack Labor is the Best Labor: Southern White Reactions to the Great Migration from Black Exodus: The Great Migration from the American South by James R. Grossman and Alferdteen Harrison, ed.
The Labor Problem and Negro MigrationThe Southern Workman, vol. 49, no. 11 (November 1920)The Labor Problem and Negro Migration from The Southern Workman, vol. 49, no. 11 (November 1920) by Robert W. Bagnall
From Peasant to Proletariat: The Migration of Southern Blacks to the Central Appalachian CoalfieldsThe Journal of Southern History, vol. 55, no. 1 (February 1989)From Peasant to Proletariat: The Migration of Southern Blacks to the Central Appalachian Coalfields from The Journal of Southern History, vol. 55, no. 1 (February 1989) by Richard L. Lewis

Still, not everyone wanted to go north, and in fact the migrants were not typical southerners in many ways. Over half came from cities and towns and had long abandoned work on the land. The great majority departing from the Alabama steel towns of Birmingham and Bessemer were experienced miners heading for the coal fields of Kentucky, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. Despite the rural nature of the South, the migrants came from a variety of nonfarming occupations. Surveys done in Pittsburgh and Chicago showed that only a quarter of the migrants in those cities came from agricultural backgrounds.

The Black Migration to Philadelphia: a 1924 ProfilePennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography (July 1984)The Black Migration to Philadelphia: a 1924 Profile from Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography (July 1984) by Fredric Miller

Rarely did young and old, able-bodied and dependent, parent and child migrate together. It was too expensive. Young men between eighteen and thirty-five who had worked as unskilled industrial laborers were usually the first to go. Many were married and had children and expected to reunite with their families as soon as they had "made their way."

The reasons for leaving varied: "freedom and independence," better wages, educational opportunities for their children. Still others intended to stay only long enough to save some money and return. One migrant, asked why she left the South, replied: "I left Georgia because I wanted better privileges." Did that mean mixed schools and association with white people generally? "No," she responded, "I don't care nothing about that, but I just want to be somewhere where I won't be scared all the time that something is going to break loose."

The migrants headed to the large industrial centers - Detroit, Pittsburgh, New York, and most of all, Chicago. Leaving home was a wrenching experience, though mitigated by exhilaration as hope for the future in some instances drowned out the accustomed sounds of the past. A migrant from Gulfport, Mississippi, reported from Chicago, "I'm tickled to death over this place. Sorry I was not here years ago."

Number of African Americans in Northern Cities And Percentage Increase from 1910 to 1920 (table)Number of African Americans in Northern Cities And Percentage Increase from 1910 to 1920 (table)

Though many influences surrounded them, migrants made their own decisions about when and where to go, what type of job to take once they got there. They constantly attempted to control the world around them by negotiation, bargaining, and compromise.

Juanita Tucker: Teacher and PrincipalBridges of Memory: Chicago's First Wave of Black MigrationJuanita Tucker: Teacher and Principal from Bridges of Memory: Chicago's First Wave of Black Migration by Timuel Black

< Leaving the South
The Journey North >