The Great Migration gets underway: A comparison of black southern migrantsand nonmigrants in the North, 1920

Objective. This article examines the characteristics of black southern migr ants in the North near the beginning of the Great Migration and compares th em with northern-born African Americans. Methods. Data from the newly avail able 1920 Integrated Public Use Microdata Series file are used to conduct o rdinary least squares regression and binary logistic regression analyses th at compare migrants and native northerners on: residential characteristics, economic activity, and family patterns. Results. On the one hand, southern migrants, males and females alike, were more likely to report gainful occu pations than native northerners. On the other hand, migrants experienced de nser housing conditions and held lower-status jobs than indigenous northern ers. No significant differences in home ownership or family patterns were f ound. Even the statistically significant differences between migrants and n orthern-born blacks were quite modest. A supplemental "generational analysi s" suggests that the relatively minor disadvantages experienced by migrants in 1920 were probably due to a temporary period of adaptation and dislocat ion resulting from their geographic mobility. Conclusions. When combined wi th evidence from later stages in the Great Migration, these findings indica te that black southern migrants fared quite well in the North, relative to native northerners. Thus, the generally negative descriptions of migrants b y contemporary observers, and some later researchers, should be viewed skep tically.