Slide 1
Suit Case Science
By: Paloma Perroni Andrew Mendes Suitcase Science
We are learning about the change in African American culture
that blossomed during the 1920s in Harlem, New York. We utilized
maps to understand and interpret their journey to change. We used
US Census Data to analyze this population shift. Our presentation
shows where the African Americans migrated to when they were in
search for a better life they moved from the south to the north. We
placed Screen tips on southern states to show the population shifts
over time ( 1900-1930s).
1900
1910
1920
1930
6We rose before dawn and hurried to the railroad station in the
darkness. Stars shone faintly in the sky and the night air around
us felt cool against our skin. The station was crowded with other
families from our town. Mothers held crying babies in their arms.
Fathers carried bags of food and clothes. Suddenly the sound of a
train whistle split the air. The rain roared into the station, we
were traveling to our new lives in the North.Exoduster
In Search for A New Life
Life in the South was difficult for African Americans. They
begin leaving in great numbers in search of a better life in the
North. There was a shortage of workers in northern factories
because many had left their jobs to fight in the First World War.
Northern industries offered southern blacks jobs as workers and
lent them money, to be repaid later, for their railroad tickets.
Nature had ravaged the South. Floods ruined farms. The boll weevil
destroyed cotton crops. The war had doubled the cost of food,
making life even harder for the poor. Railroad stations were so
crowded with migrants that guards were called in to keep order.
Although slavery had long been abolished, white landowners treated
the black tenant farmers harshly and unfairly. The promise of
better housing could no longer be ignored. Source:
http://www.inmotionaame.org/
The Great Migration
The Great Migration
The railroad stations were crowded with migrants. In the South
there was little opportunity for education, and children labored in
the fields were wasting their life. In Chicago and other cities
they labored in the steel mills and on railroads. Southern
landowners, stripped of cheap labor, tried to stop the migration by
jailing the labor agents and the migrants. Although life in the
North was better, it was not ideal. Although they were promised
better housing in the North. Some families were forced to live in
the overcrowded and unhealthy quarters. Many northern workers were
angry because they had to complete with the migrants for housing
and jobs. Life in the North brought many challenges, but the
migrants live had changed for the better. The children were able to
go to school, and their parents gained the freedom to vote. Source:
http://www.inmotionaame.org/
As we rush, as we rush in the train, The trees and the houses go
wheeling back, But the starry heavens above the plain Come flying
on our track.
