Great Migration to Philadelphia

Great Migration to Philadelphia refers to the massive movement of African Americans from the rural South to Philadelphia during the 20th century, particularly during two major waves: the First Great Migration (1910-1940) and the Second Great Migration (1940-1970). These migrations transformed Philadelphia from a city with a relatively small Black population—descendants of those who had arrived before the Civil War—into one of America's major African American urban centers. Migrants came seeking economic opportunity, escape from Jim Crow oppression, and the hope of a better life in the North. They settled in neighborhoods like North Philadelphia, West Philadelphia, and South Philadelphia, established churches and community organizations, and contributed to Philadelphia's economy as workers in wartime industries and peacetime manufacturing. By 1970, African Americans comprised over one-third of Philadelphia's population, fundamentally reshaping the city's demographics, culture, and politics.

Causes of Migration

The Great Migration was driven by both "push" factors in the South and "pull" factors in the North. In the South, African Americans faced systematic oppression under Jim Crow laws: segregation, disenfranchisement, economic exploitation through sharecropping and debt peonage, and the constant threat of racial violence including lynching. Agricultural changes—including the boll weevil infestation that devastated cotton crops and increasing mechanization that reduced the need for labor—undermined the economic basis of rural Southern life. For many African Americans, remaining in the South meant accepting a future of poverty, degradation, and danger.

The North offered what seemed like better alternatives. World War I created labor shortages as European immigration halted and white workers entered military service, opening industrial jobs to Black workers for the first time. Northern wages, though often lower than those paid to white workers for the same work, far exceeded what could be earned in the Southern agricultural economy. Northern cities promised freedom from the most oppressive aspects of Jim Crow—the right to vote, access to better schools, and at least the possibility of advancement. Word of these opportunities spread through personal networks, Black newspapers like the Chicago Defender and the Philadelphia Tribune, and labor recruiters sent South by Northern employers. The migration became a self-sustaining phenomenon as earlier migrants sent home reports of their success and helped relatives and friends make the journey north.

Settlement Patterns

African American migrants to Philadelphia settled in distinct neighborhoods, often displacing earlier residents or moving into areas of available housing. North Philadelphia, particularly the area around Columbia Avenue (later Cecil B. Moore Avenue), became the center of Black Philadelphia by mid-century. South Philadelphia's Black community, which had roots going back to the 18th century, expanded with new arrivals. West Philadelphia, particularly the area around Lancaster Avenue and later further west, developed significant Black populations. The settlement patterns reflected both choice—migrants often followed family and friends to particular neighborhoods—and constraint, as housing discrimination limited where African Americans could live.

Housing conditions in the neighborhoods where migrants settled were often poor. Landlords who rented to Black tenants frequently maintained properties inadequately while charging premium rents, knowing that discrimination limited tenants' alternatives. Overcrowding was common as families doubled up in apartments designed for smaller households. The combination of poor housing, limited city services, and overcrowding created public health challenges. Yet migrants also built vibrant communities in these neighborhoods, establishing churches, businesses, and social organizations that served the growing population. The neighborhoods might be poor, but they were also centers of Black cultural and social life.

Work and Economy

Migrants found work in Philadelphia's diverse industrial economy, though discrimination limited their opportunities. During World War I and World War II, when labor was scarce, Black workers gained access to jobs in shipyards, arsenals, and factories that had previously excluded them. The Philadelphia Navy Yard, Baldwin Locomotive Works, and manufacturing plants throughout the city employed Black workers during wartime. After each war, however, Black workers often found themselves "last hired, first fired" as white workers returned from military service and competition for jobs intensified. The deindustrialization that affected Philadelphia from the mid-20th century onward would hit Black workers particularly hard.

Women migrants often found work in domestic service—as housekeepers, cooks, and laundresses for white families—continuing patterns established in the South but under somewhat better conditions. The expanding service economy also provided opportunities in hotels, restaurants, and hospitals. Professional opportunities were limited by discrimination but not entirely absent; Black teachers staffed segregated schools, Black doctors and lawyers served the community, and a Black middle class developed that provided leadership for civil rights efforts. The economic diversity of the migrant community—from factory workers to professionals—created a complex social structure within Black Philadelphia.

Community Institutions

Churches were the most important institutions in migrant communities. Baptist and Methodist denominations that migrants had known in the South established new congregations or expanded existing ones to serve the growing population. Mother Bethel, the founding church of African Methodism, saw its congregation grow. New storefront churches appeared throughout migrant neighborhoods, often led by ministers who had themselves migrated from the South. Churches provided not only spiritual sustenance but also practical support: help finding housing and jobs, assistance in times of crisis, and social networks that helped migrants navigate their new urban environment.

The Philadelphia Tribune, founded in 1884 and the oldest continuously published Black newspaper in America, served the migrant community with news, commentary, and advocacy. Community organizations like the Philadelphia branch of the NAACP, established in 1913, fought discrimination and advocated for civil rights. The Urban League helped migrants adjust to urban life and find employment. Social clubs, fraternal organizations, and neighborhood associations created community bonds across the diverse population of migrants from different Southern states. These institutions gave African Americans a voice in city affairs and laid the groundwork for the civil rights struggles that would intensify in subsequent decades.

Legacy

The Great Migration fundamentally transformed Philadelphia. A city that was less than 5 percent Black in 1910 became over one-third Black by 1970. This demographic transformation had profound political implications, as Black voters became an increasingly important constituency that neither party could ignore. The civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s drew strength from the community institutions that migrants had built. Black political power eventually achieved major breakthroughs including the election of W. Wilson Goode as Philadelphia's first Black mayor in 1983. The neighborhoods migrants created—despite continuing challenges of poverty, crime, and disinvestment—remained centers of African American life and culture.

The migration also brought cultural contributions that enriched Philadelphia. Musicians, artists, and writers who came north contributed to Philadelphia's cultural life. The city's distinctive sound—from jazz clubs to soul music—owed much to migrants and their descendants. Food, religious practices, and cultural traditions from the South became part of Philadelphia's character. The Great Migration created the Black Philadelphia that exists today, with all its achievements and continuing struggles. Understanding modern Philadelphia is impossible without understanding the migration that reshaped the city during the 20th century.

See Also

• Free Black Community
• Mother Bethel and the AME Church
• Civil Rights Movement in Philadelphia
• North Philadelphia