Newark and the Great Migration
Central issue, problem, or question: Why did African Americans migrate to
Newark during to the first decades of the twentieth century? How did the Great
Migration affect life in Newark?
Significance: This lesson focuses on the cultural and economic significance of
the Great Migration and particularly its impact on Newark between 1917 and
1920.
New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards for Social Studies:
Standard 6.4 (United States and New Jersey History). High School: I-4
(Describe the major events, personalities and decisions of World War I); I-8
(Compare and contrast the social, cultural, and technological changes in the
inter-war period).
Objectives: After learning about the Great Migration and analyzing primary
source documents, students will be able to:
• Explain why African Americans migrated to Newark and other northern
cities during the early decades of the twentieth century.
• Describe the economic and social impact of this migration.
• Assess the benefits and disadvantages of migration for African Americans.
Abstract: Middle school students will learn about Newark and the Great
Migration and write two postcards, one from the perspective of an African
American migrant from the South and the other from the perspective of a
European immigrant. High school students will read and analyze a document
describing the migrants’ living conditions and recommending improvements. For
homework, they will design a monument celebrating the migrants and depicting
the hardships they endured.
Duration: Two 45-minute class periods.
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Sources
Secondary Sources
Clement Price online lecture: “Newark and the Great Migration,” July 2005;
available in the “Great Migration” section of the New Jersey History Partnership
Project website, http://nj-history.org.
Clement Price, ed. Freedom Not Far Distant: A Documentary History of AfroAmericans in New Jersey (Newark, 1980).
The Progressive Banner, program 9, New Jersey Legacy television series, coproduced by the New Jersey Historical Commission and New Jersey Network,
2003, videocassette.
Primary Sources
Helen Pendleton, “Cotton Pickers in Northern Counties,” Survey, 17
February 1917.
http://nj-history.org/proRef/greatMigr/pdf/greatMigrDoc1.pdf
Report of a Survey of African Americans in New Jersey, 1932.
http://nj-history.org/proRef/greatMigr/pdf/greatMigrDoc2.pdf
Materials: Teachers will need copies of worksheets and the primary source
documents listed above.
Background: During the period between World War I and World War II black
and white southerners migrated in large numbers from rural areas in the South to
the urban north. More than ten million African Americans left the South for the
North between 1910 and 1965; this was the greatest demographic shift in
twentieth-century America.
Both economic and political goals drove the migrants to seek a better life in
northern cities. Racial violence and discrimination were major push factors.
Between 1880 and 1930, 3,200 Africans were lynched, mainly in the South.
Racial segregation was codified in Jim Crow laws, and despite the Fifteenth
Amendment to the United States Constitution outlawing racial disfranchisement,
most African Americans could not vote in the South. Agricultural decline and a
boll weevil epidemic also prompted the migrants to seek better jobs in the North.
Black newspapers promoted the migration as an opportunity to acquire political
rights and to earn higher wages. And during World War I, when European
immigration was temporarily interrupted, northern factory owners recruited cheap
labor from the South.
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Proportionate to its population, New Jersey—and particularly the cities of
Newark, Jersey City, Trenton, Camden, and Paterson—became home to more
black migrants than any other northern state. The cities were unprepared for the
new arrivals, and the migrants were often unprepared for city life. Used to
warmer climates, their clothing was often inadequate for winter weather. Many
had worked on farms and were not prepared for the rhythm and demands of
industrial work. Even those who came with industrial skills suffered from racial
discrimination and found themselves relegated to the poorest paying jobs.
Health and housing, however, were their greatest challenges. In Newark, the
migrants were crowded into the city’s Third Ward, where they lived in overpriced
and poorly maintained apartments. Due in part to poor housing conditions, the
migrants also suffered from high rates of diseases like pneumonia and
tuberculosis.
Many in Newark’s African American community sought to aid the migrants.
Social worker William Ashby, for example, founded the Negro Welfare League of
New Jersey (later the Essex County Urban League) dedicated to helping the
migrants adjust to city life. Among its many activities, the League investigated
the limited housing available to black migrants and purchased a building to
provide shelter and assistance to single women whom the reformers feared
might otherwise end up in brothels. Some of the assistance and advice took on a
condescending tone, like a pamphlet entitled “Welcome My Colored Brother” by
funeral home director James Churchman, which counseled the migrants on how
to dress and comport themselves. Many of the older black residents worried that
the new arrivals would tarnish the image of Newark’s black community.
Key Terms:
Migration
Immigration
Segregation
Lynching
Boll Weevil
Negro Welfare League/National Urban League
Middle School Procedures
For homework the night before this lesson, students should read the section of
their textbook on the Great Migration. The teacher should begin the lesson by
showing a video segment on Newark and the Great Migration from the New
Jersey Legacy television series, available in the “Great Migration” section of the
New Jersey History Partnership Project website, http://nj-history.org. As they
watch the video, students should take notes on the advantages and
disadvantages of migration using the “Best of Times, Worst of Times” worksheet.
http://nj-history.org/proRef/greatMigr/pdf/greatMigrMSWS.pdf
Afterwards, the teacher should pose the following questions to the class:
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Why did African Americans migrate from the South to northern cities like
Newark? What were the push factors? What were the pull factors?
How were the migrants treated when they arrived in Newark?
What types of jobs did they find?
Do you think the migrants were better off in the South or in northern cities
like Newark?
On the following day, the teacher should hand out Helen Pendleton’s “Cotton
Pickers in Northern Counties.”
http://nj-history.org/proRef/greatMigr/pdf/greatMigrDoc1.pdf
The teacher should read through the document with the students, highlighting
relevant passages and explaining any difficult words. Before reading this
document, the teacher should explain that Helen Pendleton was a white social
worker and a critic of racial discrimination. She was actively involved in the Negro
Welfare League (later the Essex County Urban League) and worked as a
supervisor of casework in the Newark Bureau of Associated Charities.
Afterwards, the teacher should lead a discussion of the documents, focusing on
the questions:
• What is the tone of this document?
• To whom was it addressed?
• What did you learn from it?
• How do you think the migrants felt about Newark when they first arrived?
How do you think they felt a year later?
• What difficulties did the migrants encounter?
• Why did they stay?
• How did Helen Pendleton and the Negro Welfare League try to help?
• Would you revise your notes on your “Best of Times, Worst of Times”
worksheet after reading this document? If so, how?
For homework, the teacher should assign students to create two different
postcards, one from the perspective of an African American migrant from the
South, the other from the perspective of a European immigrant. Both postcards
should be dated January 1918 and both should be addressed to persons living in
the communities the migrants left behind. What might be pictured on each of the
postcards? How might their messages differ? Do you think there would be any
similarities? On the following day, the teacher should invite students to present
their postcards to the class.
High School Procedures
For homework the night before this lesson, students should read the section of
their textbook on the Great Migration. The teacher should begin the lesson by
showing a video segment on Newark and the Great Migration from the New
Jersey Legacy television series, available in the “Great Migration” section of the
New Jersey History Partnership Project website, http://nj-history.org.
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Afterwards, the teacher should pose the following questions to the class:
• Why did African Americans migrate from the South to northern cities like
Newark? What were the push factors? What were the pull factors?
• How were the migrants treated when they arrived in Newark?
• What types of jobs did they find?
• Where did they live?
The teacher should then assign students to cooperative groups of 3-4 to read
and analyze Report of a Survey of African Americans in New Jersey.
http://nj-history.org/proRef/greatMigr/pdf/greatMigrDoc2.pdf
Each group should fill out that attached worksheet and be ready to share their
answers with the class.
http://nj-history.org/proRef/greatMigr/pdf/greatMigrHSWS.pdf
The teacher should ask students to consider whether the report’s
recommendations have been successfully implemented even now. Finally the
teacher should ask students, based on what they learned about migrants in New
Jersey and what they already knew about the Jim Crow South, whether they
think African Americans made a good decision when they left the South to live
and work in New Jersey.
For homework, students will design a monument celebrating the migrants and
depicting the hardships they endured. Students should turn in detailed verbal or
visual sketches of the monument, including proposed plaques and statuary. On
the following day, students should share their designs with the class.
Comments and Suggestions: Teachers might take students on a field trip to
Newark. Points of interest include the Newark Museum, the New Jersey
Historical Society, and the Pennsylvania Railroad Station.
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