Curated OER
History Matters: Seven Letters From the Great Migration
These seven letters to the Chicago "Defender," a black newspaper, offer accounts from individuals who chose to leave the South from 1916-1921 in search of better opportunities as a part of what is now known as the Great Migration.
PBS
Pbs: The West Benjamin "Pap" Singleton
From the critically acclaimed PBS series, "The West," this site provides a brief biography of Benjamin "Pap" Singleton, a leader of the "Great Exodus" which brought thousands of African Americans west from the post-Reconstruction South.
Other
Socialist Worker: Causes of the 1919 Race Riots
Read about the racism in unions throughout the United States after World War I, culminating in race riots in 1919, especially in Chicago.
Other
Postbellum African American Society and Culture: Black Migration
From the Encyclopedia of American Social History. Read about the black migration to the West, primarily Kansas and Oklahoma after the end of Reconstruction and the institution of black codes in the South.
University of Groningen
American History: Outlines: Outlines: Clash of Cultures
Although brief, this discussion of the clash of cultures in the 1920s covers all the reasons for cultural discordance.
PBS
Pbs the West: Exodusters
Contains a description of the Exodusters and their impact on the American West through their immigration.
PBS
Pbs: Archives of the West: Photo: Exodusters Wait for Steamer
Photo of exodusters waiting for a steamboat to take them to the west in late 1870s.