Perspectives on “The Transformation of Hartford through the early 21St
Century: Local, Regional and Global Perspectives”
Great Migration of AfricanAmericans to Hartford
1900 - 1930
Kurt Schlichting
Professor of Sociology
Fairfield University
February 8, 2008 Trinity College Hartford, Connecticut
I.
Introduction
• Innovative use of GIS to do historical sociology
• When analyzing Great Migration focus on inner-city - post
WWII
• Less well understood is the historical process of migration
Ex.
At beginning of Great Migration (1900 – 1930) where
African-American migrants residentially isolated?
When did distinctly African-American neighborhoods
emerge?
Within the African-American population which subgroups
had high/ low socio-economic status and resided in ghetto
areas?
II.
GIS Methodology
• Build digitized street maps of Hartford, CT
Resources: contemporary digitized street map
City Directory – 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930
Plat maps
Insurance maps
• Geocode: create address range file for each street segment
– verify address ranges with City Directories
Step 1 - Remove
contemporary streets
Restore 1920 streets
Step 2 – adjust
addresses ranges on
street segments to
1910 & 1920 address
ranges
III. African-American Population – 1900 - 1930
• 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930 Census – National Archive
• Ancestry.com
• Record & code data for all African Americans
1900
N = 1,878
1910
N = 1,812
1920
N = 4,248
1930
N = 6,453
• Coding scheme: IPUMS – University of Minnesota
• Add 1910 & 1920 Registration & Voting Data - males 21+
Source: City of Hartford archives
IV. Residential Patterns – GIS Analysis
•
Use 1910/ 1920 digitized map and geocoded address records for
African-American population
•
Analyze residential patterns at individual level & by spatial
units.
•
African-Americans concentrated in Wards near city center
(Wards: 2, 3, & 5).
•
African-Americans living in the affluent Wards 9 & 10 are
servants living in White households.
•
GIS analysis allows for examination of “clustering” of
population by neighborhood & street and by sub-groups within
African – American population.
V.
Change in Residential Patterns
from1910 to 1920
• Dramatic increase in population - New migrants from
Georgia
• Georgians recruited to work on tobacco farms – move to
Hartford
• “Chain migration” from Americus Georgia (Master
Thesis: “They Must Make Good: The Migration of
African Americans to CT During WWI)
• National Urban League: “The Negro Population of
Hartford” C. Johnson – Dept. of Research, 1921 150
pages
• Define 6 African-American neighborhoods
Urban League Districts
• 3,4,5 “oldest…most deteriorated – crude Southern
Laborers…ne’er-do-wells…Little attention…to home
life…least advanced…criminal…not…uniformly
bad…occasional blocks…striking contrast ”
• 1,2 “distinct improvement in their general aspect…more
home owners…new Negro churches…larger proportion of
modernly equipped homes”
• Create digital map – add to GIS
• Code all African-Americans by Urban League Districts
VI.
GIS Analysis of Residential
clustering – major subgroups 1920:
• Connecticut, Georgians, Virginians
• Use radius program/ proximity analysis:
– 1. draw radius around each individual ( .1 mile)
– 2. count individuals within radius by subgroup
– 3. determine average proportion of residents, within radius
around each individual, who are members of same subgroup
Analysis limited to heads of households, boarders, lodgers & roomers
N = 1570
Residential Clustering Analysis
Connecticut
Average %
subgroup within
.1 mile radius
23.2 %
Connecticut
% of subgroup in
population
13.7 %
Virginians
27.0 %
Virginians
16.5 %
Georgians
56.9 %
Georgians
37.0 %
Residential Clustering - Georgians
• Georgians most recently arrived AfricanAmericans
• Clustered – live in close proximity to other
Georgians
• 58.1% of Georgians live in Urban League Districts
4, 5, 6
• Similar pattern to “chain” migration among
European immigrants
VIII.
Conclusions
• Significant change in African-American population in
Hartford from 1900 to 1930
• Increase in population includes many migrants from
Georgia
• Overall residential segregation.
• Within black population – Georgians are spatially
clustered, living near other members of subgroup. Live in
worst of the 6 defined African-American neighborhoods.
• Research illustrates use of GIS for historical study.