Liberty Ships, Closed Doors · Episode 3 of 13 · 39 min
The Second Great Migration: The South to the Coast
More than a million Black Southerners left the South in the 1940s, pushed by collapsing cotton economics and Jim Crow, pulled by war jobs, as part of a Second Great Migration of over five million. For the first time the West Coast opened its industrial doors. The wages were a revelation, but the welcome included segregated housing, unions that took dues but not members, and hostile neighbors.
Where it happens
- Richmond, California+1 more episodeWartime destination for tens of thousands of Black migrants
- Los Angeles, California+13 more episodesMajor West Coast destination
- Oakland, California+2 more episodesMajor West Coast destination
- Portland, OregonWartime destination
- Seattle, Washington+7 more episodesWartime destination
Timeline
- 1910-1940First Great Migration of about 1.6 million, mostly to the Northeast and Midwest
- June 25, 1941Executive Order 8802 bans discrimination in defense industries
- 1940-1950About 1.45 million Black Southerners leave the South
- 1941-194546,000 Black Americans move to the Bay Area
- 1950-1970Another two million leave; the migration passes five million
Still debated
Historians debate how much mechanization pushed versus opportunity pulled, since the mechanical cotton picker spread mainly after the wartime surge. The second emancipation framing is a lens rather than a settled verdict.
← PreviousThe Arsenal Calls: How War Factories Remade the American MapNext →Executive Order 8802: How Randolph Forced FDR to Open the Door
Connected episodes in other series
Built by Land and Light: The Strange Economics of the StreetcarWho Tore Up the Tracks? · Episode 2
The Panama Canal Opens: World War One and the Gold vs. Silver Color LinePanama: Crossroads of Empires · Episode 10
The CCC's Jim Crow: 250,000 Black Men, Segregated by OrderRoosevelt's Forest Army · Episode 9
How the Supreme Court Legalized Jim CrowThe Least Dangerous Branch? · Episode 5