What was the Great Migration where did it take place?

Contributor: Spencer R. Crew

For the Sunny South. An Airship with a “Jim Crow” Trailer.

On the eve of World War I, living conditions for African Americans in the South were oppressive. Segregation and discrimination dominated nearly every aspect of their lives. Jim Crow laws and outright intimidation dictated where they went to school, where they sat on public transportation, where they lived, and whether they could assert their right to vote. In Virginia, their political status was clearly impacted by the Virginia Constitution of 1902, which included a poll tax provision and an “understanding” clause—additional layers of screening for citizens who would otherwise qualify to vote. Under these provisions, local registrars were given the authority to charge a fee (a tax) to voters, as well as to ask random questions of potential voters in order to determine their qualification to vote. African Americans rarely passed these “tests,” and therefore were not allowed to register. The Virginia Constitution, consequently, dramatically reduced the number of African Americans who qualified to vote and essentially removed them from the political process.

Other statutes in the state further reinforced the lower status of African Americans. Virginia state law required the separation of riders in railroad cars, on steamboats, and in streetcars. It also barred black and white children from attending the same schools and authorized the creation of “segregation districts” in cities. Under this law city councils were to prepare maps showing the boundaries of the segregated areas and detailing the numbers of white or black persons living within each segregation district. African Americans were not to move into white districts and whites were not to move into African American districts.

In the years leading up to the Great Migration, two-thirds of African Americans in the South lived in rural areas, working in lumber camps, as farm laborers, or as sharecroppers who rented land on which they grew crops to make a living. While cotton was the primary crop in most southern states, it did not dominate in Virginia, which was more agriculturally diversified through the cultivation of tobacco, wheat, and vegetables. This work provided a meager existence for most black laborers, who were fortunate when they earned enough merely to cover expenses for the year. But employment options were limited since access to the better-paying industrial jobs was not available to them.

Lynching of Jesse Washington

The threat of violence also hung over their lives. African Americans were expected to accept their status at the bottom rungs of the social and economic ladder humbly and deferentially. Challenges to the system could result in serious consequences ranging from threats to physical beatings to death as a way of reminding African Americans of their “place.” Lynching—an almost ritualized act of torture and murder—was widespread throughout the South between 1890 and 1930. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People recorded more than 2,000 lynchings during this period. Virginia had a relatively lower number of these occurrences than did other southern states, but they did take place. Two men, for example, were lynched in 1917 and one in 1918. These incidents stood as a powerful warning to African Americans across the state of the possible consequences of defying their unequal status. This reminder was reinforced through numerous additional non-fatal, but highly intimidating actions directed toward African Americans. For example, in July 1910, black Norfolk citizens who were celebrating the victory of African American boxer Jack Johnson over his white opponent Jim Jeffries were pulled from streetcars and beaten for “being insolent.” This combination of physical intimidation, social control, and economic restriction left African Americans struggling to carve out a productive and relatively safe place for themselves within southern society.

At the start of World War I, large numbers of African Americans made the decision to leave the South and to take advantage of new opportunities in the North. It is estimated that between 1910 and 1920 more than four hundred thousand people left, and that between 1920 and 1930 at least another half million people relocated north. A majority of these migrants were residents of Deep South states such as Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, and Louisiana, where living conditions were particularly harsh. Floods, boll weevil attacks on cotton, lynchings, and segregation were among factors pushing them to leave. These migrants traveled either by boat up the Mississippi River or used the Illinois Central Railroad to go to Saint Louis, Missouri; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Chicago. Residents of Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and West Virginia who made the decision to leave used the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the Southern Railway, or boats on the Ohio River for transport to Gary, Indiana; Cincinnati and Cleveland, Ohio; Pittsburgh; and Detroit, Michigan.

Residents of the Atlantic seaboard migrating from Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, or Maryland also had several options. They could travel by boat using the ports of Savannah, Georgia; Charleston, South Carolina; Norfolk, Virginia; or Baltimore, Maryland; to go to Philadelphia,; New York; Newark, New Jersey; or Boston, Massachusetts. The Old Dominion Line ran boats twice a week from Virginia to New York, and in the 1920s a family of four could make this trip for about $25. This was not inexpensive, but a family’s commitment to saving for such an important purpose made the trip achievable. They also had the option to travel on the Atlantic Coast or the Southern railroads to Washington, D.C., where they could transfer to the Pennsylvania Railroad, whose lines ran north toward New York or west toward Pittsburgh. Train fare from Virginia to New York was about $7.50. During this twenty-year period, more than two hundred thousand African Americans from Virginia left the state.

The pathway north was not usually a straight journey from southern rural locations to northern cities. Migrants made several stops along the way, often during the course of several months, before they reached their final destination. Most often the first move in this process of “step migration” was to towns and cities within their home state, particularly to places where job opportunities were expanding because of the war. In Virginia, Richmond and Norfolk experienced significant increases in African American residents during this period. Richmond’s population grew by 12 percent and Norfolk’s by more than 70 percent. Richmond was home to one of the largest locomotive plants in the world, a major flour mill, significant tobacco operations, and important iron manufacturing companies. Early in the war Norfolk was selected as one of the key embarkation points for troops and supplies going to Europe. As one of the primary naval bases on the Atlantic Coast, it needed workers. Norfolk Shipbuilding and Drydock, Texas Oil, and British-American Tobacco, among others, sought dock workers and laborers to help them manufacture and ship materials.

The chance to make more money and improve one’s circumstances was a strong draw. African American workers hoped in the process to gain access to jobs in well-established companies that might stretch out into the future. For some this move met their expectations and they settled into their new lives for the long term, but for others this proved to be only a temporary stop. Whatever those residents found in these cities did not provide enough incentive to stay. A number of issues impacted the decision whether to stay or to go.

Along with increased wages, migrants hoped to find better living conditions in their new locations. They were frequently disappointed. African American sections of southern cities suffered from poorly maintained roads, dilapidated housing, poor sanitation, and subpar educational facilities. A 1927 report on housing for African Americans in Richmond described conditions as horrible. African American residents of Norfolk also complained to city officials about lack of streetlights, sewers, and paved streets. Parents further complained about a dearth of decent playgrounds for their children. They were frustrated by the modern facilities built in white neighborhoods while their facilities steadily deteriorated.

While some residents chose to protest to city officials, others decided to seek a new life elsewhere. For them the offer of better wages was just one of many factors that drew them north. Better educational opportunities and greater personal freedom also proved enticing. These factors made potential migrants more open to the encouragement of relatives, friends, and others in the North who suggested they relocate.

Recruiting Workers for the Hog Island Shipyard