The great migration's unspoken legacy

Between 1916 and the 1970s, more than 7 million African Americans left the South, with Chicago emerging as one of the primary destinations.

Chicago's promise

For many, the city represented a land of opportunity, a place to escape the horrors of Jim Crow and find better lives. 'There is a promise. There is a tale. There is a word of mouth that this is a better place, this is a better land of opportunity,' said Danny Dunson, curator and historian at the DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center.

Leaving the South took incredible courage, given the psychological and emotional toll of life under segregation. 'Sometimes we don't think that deeply about the implications, the emotional associations with making that decision,' said Loyola University Chicago history professor Tikia K. Hamilton.

A city within a city

Chicago did not disappoint in its segregation tactics. Black residents were relegated to deplorable housing, such as one-room kitchenettes, and confined to a 'city within a city.' But this hardship paradoxically fueled the growth of a thriving Black community.

'Segregation had this two-edged identity,' Dunson said. 'It was horrible, but also through segregation, those limits created talent and economic growth.' The city became a hub for journalism, with Ida B. Wells and the Chicago Defender leading the way, as well as an incubator for the arts, from blues and jazz to the Chicago Renaissance's literary luminaries like Richard Wright, Gwendolyn Brooks, and Lorraine Hansberry.

The Great Migration's legacy extends far beyond Chicago, laying the groundwork for the Civil Rights Movement. 'The idea of becoming a citizen with full rights as everyone else,' Dunson said, 'Chicago was a great center for that, because so many people were here.' It's a testament to the power of the human spirit to persevere and push for change.