HIST 90.07 The Great Migrations in American History

In the decades between the 1910s and the 1970s, millions of southerners left the rural South for the booming cities of the North and West, in what was inarguably one of the most significant demographic events of the 20th century. From the Chicago blues to the Bakersfield Sound; The Grapes of Wrath to Black Boy; the Black Panthers to the Southern Baptist Convention—the influence of the southern migrations can be seen everywhere in American society during these years. Rather than treating the experiences of black and white migrants separately, this course takes a comparative approach to these simultaneous and parallel migrations, focusing on the political and economic factors that drove out-migration from the South; the impact that southern migration had on race relations and labor markets in northern and western cities; the diasporic communities formed by southern migrants in their new homes; and the impact of the migrations on American culture and politics over the course of the 20th century.

Degree Requirement Attributes

Dist:SOC; WCult:W

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Department-Specific Course Categories

Class of 2023 and Before Major/Minor Dist: US; Class of 2024 and Beyond Major/Minor Dist: US, modern.