A history of internal migration

[Docere]

I came across this remarkable resource, the Great Migrations Project. It shows birthplaces of both those born out of state and in other countries, broken down by race, running from 1850 to 2018. It's particularly useful for internal migration because that's harder to come by than foreign born populations.

For example, you can compare birthplaces for whites and for blacks in California in 1960. The top state of birth for whites born out of state was Illinois while for blacks it was Texas. 2.9 million white Californians were born in the Midwest. And you can see how the western South (Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma) was more heavily represented in California's Black population, reflecting train routes.

https://depts.washington.edu/moving1/California.shtml

[Docere]

Comparing the Great Migration of Black Americans, some differences between Atlantic, Central and Western South. From 1960:

New York

South Atlantic 461,900
East South Central 74,300
West South Central 20,500

3 leading states: South Carolina (143,700), North Carolina (111,000), Virginia (78,700)

Michigan

South Atlantic 101,100
East South Central 182,800
West South Central 58,900

3 leading states: Alabama (76,900), Mississippi (61,900), Georgia (58,200)

Illinois

South Atlantic 44,600
East South Central 300,600
West South Central 95,000

3 leading states: Mississippi (190,000), Arkansas (56,300), Alabama (50,000)

California

South Atlantic 45,100
East South Central 85,100
West South Central 339,700

3 leading states: Texas (129,700), Louisiana (118,500), Arkansas (61,300)

[Klippenstein]

Very interesting. This confirms my personal experience that the ancestors of a lot of Black people in Chicago come from Mississippi. The City of New Orleans train is still running, which I'm guessing was the route a lot of them took.

[Docere]

In California among whites, there were two major migration groups: Midwesterners and "Okies." This allows us to get a sense of their numbers. I assigned whites born in Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas and Texas to the "Okie" category. Midwest excludes Missouri. Also included the sizeable number of Northeasterners.

https://americanexperience.si.edu/wp...-Migration.pdf

Midwesterners 2,541,000
Okies 1,361,300
Northeasterners 1,041,800

A significant number of Jews moving to Los Angeles as well, both from the Northeast and Midwest.

White Midwestern Protestants were the "establishment" in Los Angeles between say 1920 and 1970.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by Klippenstein

Very interesting. This confirms my personal experience that the ancestors of a lot of Black people in Chicago come from Mississippi. The City of New Orleans train is still running, which I'm guessing was the route a lot of them took.

If you haven't read it already I recommend The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson. The book chronicles the stories of several migrants of the Great Migration up until the Obama era. One of those chronicled is a woman who moved from Mississippi to Chicago in the 1930s. The book also talks a lot about the most common patterns of origins and destinations for Black people fleeing the Jim Crow states of the South.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by Docere

Comparing the Great Migration of Black Americans, some differences between Atlantic, Central and Western South. From 1960:

New York

South Atlantic 461,900
East South Central 74,300
West South Central 20,500

3 leading states: South Carolina (143,700), North Carolina (111,000), Virginia (78,700)

Michigan

South Atlantic 101,100
East South Central 182,800
West South Central 58,900

3 leading states: Alabama (76,900), Mississippi (61,900), Georgia (58,200)

Illinois

South Atlantic 44,600
East South Central 300,600
West South Central 95,000

3 leading states: Mississippi (190,000), Arkansas (56,300), Alabama (50,000)

California

South Atlantic 45,100
East South Central 85,100
West South Central 339,700

3 leading states: Texas (129,700), Louisiana (118,500), Arkansas (61,300)

I'd be curious to see these stats for Ohio and Pennsylvania, to see if the general "directly north" pattern holds across the rust belt.

[Klippenstein]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

If you haven't read it already I recommend The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson. The book chronicles the stories of several migrants of the Great Migration up until the Obama era. One of those chronicled is a woman who moved from Mississippi to Chicago in the 1930s. The book also talks a lot about the most common patterns of origins and destinations for Black people fleeing the Jim Crow states of the South.

I haven't read it, but I've heard of it. I'll look for it. I did read Ida B. Wells' autobiography. She was born in Mississippi, narrowly missed a yellow fever epidemic that killed most of her family, became a teacher in Memphis, was kicked off a train when the south started enforcing segregation, sued the government, started a newspaper, reported on lynching and eventually fled the South due to threats, went on an international speaking tour and ended up in Chicago. One of the greatest people in Chicago history in my opinion.

[Docere]

Michigan and Illinois in 1880. Interesting to compare where the "back east" migrants come from.

Michigan is dominated by "Yankees." 17% of the state population was born in New York State and New England. Canadians (mostly crossing over from Ontario) were also significant at 8% of the population.

In Illinois, more mixed. 5.3% born in New York and New England, 3.3% in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and 4.8% born in the Upland South (mostly Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia). The Yankees presumably were more common in Chicago (weren't they "the establishment" in Chicago?) and Upland Southerners downstate. Most common state for migrants was Ohio.

https://depts.washington.edu/moving1/Illinois.shtml

https://depts.washington.edu/moving1/Michigan.shtml



Interestingly too the German states are separated out

[austlar1]

Good stuff, Docere! I'll probably spend lots time parsing all this information.

[Docere]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

If you haven't read it already I recommend The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson. The book chronicles the stories of several migrants of the Great Migration up until the Obama era. One of those chronicled is a woman who moved from Mississippi to Chicago in the 1930s. The book also talks a lot about the most common patterns of origins and destinations for Black people fleeing the Jim Crow states of the South.

I have yet to read it. I do have her book Caste in my stack of "to read this year" books.

[eschaton]

I cannot find a good historic rail map right now, but I have read multiple times that the paths of the Great Migration were mostly dictated from the most direct passenger rail travel available from the south to the north.

You could get a direct rail ticket (with no transfers) from the Carolinas to New York, so people traveled that way. Similarly, you could get a direct ticket from Mississippi to Chicago. Cross-region travel (from say MS to NYC, or SC to Chicago) was harder/more expensive, so it was rare.

This is also supposed to be part of the reason why Pittsburgh was largely skipped over by the Great Migration - there was no direct rail traffic between Pittsburgh and points south. You'd have to travel past established black communities in Ohio or on the Eastern Seaboard to get there.

[AviationGuy]

I really appreciate Docere's posts.

[Docere]

Originally Posted by AviationGuy

I really appreciate Docere's posts.

Thanks!

[Docere]

So the Migrations Project does have Black populations for all states:

https://depts.washington.edu/moving1...n_states.shtml

Pennsylvania, 1960

South Atlantic 281,300
East South Central 34,700
West South Central 7,100

Lead states: Virginia (67,900), South Carolina (65,400), Georgia (54,300)

Going back to 1930, you can see those from Virginia got to Philadelphia earlier (in the 1910s/1920s Great Migration). There were actually more born in Virginia (74,198) and Maryland (27,559) in 1930 than in 1960.

[Docere]

Also can be organized by state of birth. What were the most common states for those who left the state? From 1960:

Virginia

New York 79,200
Pennsylvania 46,300
DC 46,300

North Carolina

New York 111,500
Virginia 64,400
Pennsylvania 50,200

South Carolina

New York 144,400
Pennsylvania 65,400
North Carolina 64,800

Georgia

Florida 155,700
New York 69,400
Ohio 67,900

Florida

New York 33,500
Pennsylvania 14,600
New Jersey 12,000

Kentucky

Ohio 24,000
Indiana 22,600
Illinois 11,800

Tennessee

Illinois 48,900
Ohio 33,700
Michigan 33,500

Alabama

Ohio 90,000
Michigan 77,000
Illinois 50,300

Mississippi

Illinois 190,000
Tennessee 69,800
Michigan 61,900

Arkansas

California 61,900
Illinois 56,400
Missouri 32,900

Louisiana

California 120,800
Texas 81,500
Illinois 27,000

Texas

California 131,000
Oklahoma 16,300
Arizona 10,000

Oklahoma

California 30,900
Kansas 9,100
Missouri 6,600

[Crawford]

I have heard AAs claim that Chicago blacks are more "country" in speech/mannerisms than NYC blacks. I don't know the exact context but wonder if the Mississippi roots have some legacy differences relative to the Carolinas roots (or more accurately, Carolinas-Carribean roots).

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by Crawford

I have heard AAs claim that Chicago blacks are more "country" in speech/mannerisms than NYC blacks. I don't know the exact context but wonder if the Mississippi roots have some legacy differences relative to the Carolinas roots (or more accurately, Carolinas-Carribean roots).

The Caribbean element played a strong role. West Indians were well established in the city by the 1920s, making up about 13% of the population. But NYC also was one of the only northern cities (along with Philadelphia) with a considerable black community even before the Great Migration. This likely played a role, as the old-timers were less likely to be swamped by a tidal wave of recent southern migrants.

[jd3189]

^^^ Yeah, NYC's Black population is a mix of African Americans, Afro-Caribbean/ Latin American ( Haitian, Guyanese, Dominican, Jamaican, etc), and those straight from Africa.

[3rd&Brown]

Originally Posted by Crawford

I have heard AAs claim that Chicago blacks are more "country" in speech/mannerisms than NYC blacks. I don't know the exact context but wonder if the Mississippi roots have some legacy differences relative to the Carolinas roots (or more accurately, Carolinas-Carribean roots).

At this point, I think of New York's black population as being primarily Carribean slash West Indian. Most of my black friends in NYC are 2nd generation American, their parents having immigrated from Haiti, Jamaica, Trinidad, etc.

For all intents and purposes, though I know its not exactly true, culturally it feels as though the black population that is descendant from the great migration sorta stops at Philadelphia (at least along the NE Corridor). It obviously holds for Great Lakes cities like Buffalo, Cleveland, Chicago, etc. While Philly has less West Indian migration than NYC, on the surface it seems as though a more significant portion of Philly's black population consists of African Immigrants. Lots of folks from Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Senegal, Nigeria, Cameroon, and the DRC.

[muertecaza]

Cool data. The interesting thing for me as someone having deep native Arizonian roots is the changes in Arizona-born population over time, which I equate with being a "real" state and not a transplant destination.

Starting in 1940, there is a clear trend downward in percentage of Arizona-born residents during the post-war population boom: we were 40% Arizona-born in 1940, 39% in 1950, 36% in 1960, 34% in 1970, and we hit a nadir of 33% in 1980.

Then all those transplants apparently started having kids, because we've been increasing in Arizona-born percentage since then--34% in 1990, 35% in 2000, 38% in 2010 and back up to 40% with their 2018 numbers.

Maybe with a little more time we'll even be able to shout down Laker fans when they come to town to play the Suns.