Legions of black Americans left the South to migrate to the jobs of the North, from the meat-packing plants of Chicago to the shipyards of Richmond, California. These essays analyze the role of African Americans in shaping their own geographical movement, emphasizing the role of black kin, friend, and communal network. Contributors include Darlene Clark Hine, Peter Gottlieb, James R. Grossman, Earl Lewis, Shirley Ann Moore, and Joe William Trotter, Jr.

After an introduction from the artist about the migration of blacks from the rural areas in the South to the urban, industrialized North, there follows a collection of paintings that capture images of these events. A brief text connects the pictures, which were painted in the early 1940s. These are powerful images showing the difficulties of the journey as well as the strong support of families & friends. Many audiences will want to examine this visual history. A poem, "Migration" by Walter Dean Myers, follows the illustrations.

In this beautifully written masterwork, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Isabel Wilkerson chronicles one of the great untold stories of American history: the decades-long migration of black citizens who fled the South for northern and western cities, in search of a better life. From 1915 to 1970, this exodus of almost six million people changed the face of America. Wilkerson compares this epic migration to the migrations of other peoples in history. She interviewed more than a thousand people, and gained access to new data and official records, to write this definitive and vividly dramatic account of how these American journeys unfolded, altering our cities, our country, and ourselves.

Why did African Americans move from the rural South to the metropolitan North? Scholars have shown that African Americans took part in the urbanization of American society between the Civil War and the Great Depression, but the racial dimensions of their migration have remained unclear. A Little More Freedom is the first study to trace African American locational choices during the crucial period when migrants created pathways that would shape mobility through the twentieth century and beyond.

The other great Renaissance of black culture, influence, and glamour burst forth joyfully in what may seem an unlikely place--Pittsburgh, PA--from the 1920s through the 1950s. Today black Pittsburgh is known as the setting for August Wilson's famed plays about noble but doomed working-class strivers. But this community once had an impact on American history that rivaled the far larger black worlds of Harlem and Chicago. Mark Whitaker's Smoketown is a captivating portrait of this unsung community and a vital addition to the story of black America.

The monumental American Guide Series, published by the Federal Writers' Project, provided work to thousands of unemployed writers, editors, and researchers in the midst of the Great Depression. Featuring books on states, cities, rivers, and ethnic groups, it also opened an unprecedented view into the lives of the American people during this time. Untold numbers of projects in progress were lost when the program was abruptly shut down by a hostile Congress in 1939. One of those, "The Negro in Pittsburgh," lay dormant in the Pennsylvania State Library until it was microfilmed in 1970. The WPA History of the Negro in Pittsburgh marks the first publication of this rich body of information. This unique historical study of the city's black population features articles on civil rights, social class, lifestyle, culture, folklore, and institutions from colonial times through the 1930s.