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Great Migration: Quick Facts

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Facts

Date 1916 - 1970

Photos and Videos

Map of the United States showing the major migration routes taken by African Americans during the Great Migration from 1916 to 1970. Southern states are shaded in orange, with wide green arrows illustrating movement from the South to northern, midwestern, and western destination cities such as Chicago, Detroit, New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Oakland. Major receiving cities are marked with blue dots.
Scott and Violet Arthur with their family, including children and grandson, stand in a row wearing coats and hats with suitcases at their feet at Chicago's Polk Street Depot in 1920.
An African American family gearing up for a life-changing road trip
The Chicago Defender reports on race riots
The influential Chicago Defender
Map of the United States showing the Great Migration, with major routes depicted as wide green arrows moving from Southern states, highlighted in orange, to cities in the North and West such as Chicago, Detroit, New York City, Los Angeles, and Oakland. Black dots mark key destination cities, illustrating the movement of about six million African Americans from the rural South to urban centers between 1916 and 1970.
Rapper Roy Kinsey on the Great Migration
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