the great migration (1910-1930)
Post WWII, industrial jobs were more than abundant in the northern and midwest states. African-Americans in the Deep South saw this as an opportunity to start a new life free of the plantation culture that plagued them in the south (Cayton, Drake).
"Recruiting agents traveled south, begging Negroes to come north...for the first time, southern Negroes were actually being invited, even urged, to come to Chicago" (Cayton, Drake, 58).
This feeling of invitation to Chicago was short-lived, however. Between the years of 1910 and 1920, over 50,00 black migrants came to Chicago, meaning the city's colored population grew 148 percent in ten years. This lead to intense overcrowding. Construction of buildings in Chicago essentially ceased during the war so there was a deficiency in housing for the new migrants (Cayton, Drake).
"This tremendous demand for houses resulted in an immediate sky-rocketing of rents for all available accommodations and in the opening of a new residential areas for Negroes...And so the spread of the Negro areas of residence began, with the whites fleeing before them. Artificial panics were sometimes created in white areas by enterprising realtors who raised the cry, 'The Negroes are coming,' and then proceeded to double to rents after the whites fled" (Cayton, Drake, 62).
The tremendous influx of African-Americans worried the white population which led to White Flight, a phenomenon when the white population of a city flees and eventually creates suburbia. It became increasingly clear that the African-Americans were far from welcomed in Chicago. In 1919, a race riot broke out for five days and left 38 dead, over 400 injured, $250,000 in property damage, and over one thousand people homeless (Cayton, Drake).
Because of the negative sentiments that were being harbored against the black population, the African-Americans didn't spread out in the city. Rather they stayed in one area, creating what is known as the Black Belt, Bronzeville, or South Side. In its early days, the Black Belt was spread from 22nd to 31st streets along State Street. Since it has expanded and now extends from 39th to 95th Streets (Encyclopedia of Chicago).
"Recruiting agents traveled south, begging Negroes to come north...for the first time, southern Negroes were actually being invited, even urged, to come to Chicago" (Cayton, Drake, 58).
This feeling of invitation to Chicago was short-lived, however. Between the years of 1910 and 1920, over 50,00 black migrants came to Chicago, meaning the city's colored population grew 148 percent in ten years. This lead to intense overcrowding. Construction of buildings in Chicago essentially ceased during the war so there was a deficiency in housing for the new migrants (Cayton, Drake).
"This tremendous demand for houses resulted in an immediate sky-rocketing of rents for all available accommodations and in the opening of a new residential areas for Negroes...And so the spread of the Negro areas of residence began, with the whites fleeing before them. Artificial panics were sometimes created in white areas by enterprising realtors who raised the cry, 'The Negroes are coming,' and then proceeded to double to rents after the whites fled" (Cayton, Drake, 62).
The tremendous influx of African-Americans worried the white population which led to White Flight, a phenomenon when the white population of a city flees and eventually creates suburbia. It became increasingly clear that the African-Americans were far from welcomed in Chicago. In 1919, a race riot broke out for five days and left 38 dead, over 400 injured, $250,000 in property damage, and over one thousand people homeless (Cayton, Drake).
Because of the negative sentiments that were being harbored against the black population, the African-Americans didn't spread out in the city. Rather they stayed in one area, creating what is known as the Black Belt, Bronzeville, or South Side. In its early days, the Black Belt was spread from 22nd to 31st streets along State Street. Since it has expanded and now extends from 39th to 95th Streets (Encyclopedia of Chicago).