Peots of the the Harlem Renaissance: The Poems That spoke on their own
The Great Migration
The Migration of the Negro, Panel no.1, painting by Jacob Lawrence
What was the Great Migration ?
The Great Migration was a significant migration occurring in the 20th century, consisting over six million African Americans fleeing to North & West cities from the South.
Map of Great Mirgration, Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc.
A grand majority of African Americans followed the Great Migration to escape poverty, Jim Crow Laws, and hate groups particularly, the Ku Klux Klan. Moreover, at the finalization of World War I, industrial work became an open opportunity to them.
"The Great Migration drew to Harlem some of the greatest minds and brightest talents of the day, an ashtonishing array of African American artists and scholars. "
~ A New African American Identity: The Harlem Renaissance, National Museum of African American History & Culture
Union Terminal Colored Waiting Room (Great Migration), State Archives of Florida , c. 1921
Coleman Hawkins playing the saxophone at a wedding, Britannica Image Quest, c.1940
Impact on The Harlem Renaissance
The Great Migration allowed for a major dominance in Harlem for African Americans, as it became a community to an overflowing amount of 200,000 African Americans, dominating this once "all-white" neighborhood. This laid an essential foundation for significant population allowing many to change the "looks” of African Americans through the Harlem Renaissance.