Knock at the Door of Opportunity: Black Migration to Chicago, 1900-1919

410 Pages·2014·3.051 MB·English

by  Christopher Robert Reed

Knock at the Door of Opportunity
Slaughter family. Author’s collection.
at the Door of
Knock
Opportunity
Black Migration to Chicago, 1900–1919
Christopher Robert Reed
Southern Illinois University Press
Carbondale
Copyright © 2014 by the Board of Trustees,
Southern Illinois University
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
17 16 15 14 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Reed, Christopher Robert.
Knock at the door of opportunity : black migration to Chicago, 1900–1919 /
Christopher Robert Reed.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8093-3333-2 (hardback)
ISBN 0-8093-3333-3 (cloth)
ISBN 978-0-8093-3334-9 (ebook)
ISBN 0-8093-3334-1 (ebook)
1. African Americans—Illinois—Chicago—History—20th century.
2. African Americans—Migrations—History—20th century. 3. Migration,
Internal—United States—History—20th century. 4. Chicago (Ill.)—Race
relations—History—20th century. 5. Chicago (Ill.)—Social conditions—
20th century. I. Title.
F548.9.N4R4445 2014
305.896'073077311—dc23 2013036578
Printed on recycled paper.
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of
Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
Contents
List of Illustrations vii
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction 1
1. The Fabric of Society 21
2. Black Chicago and the Color Line 55
3. The Structure of Society 72
4. Housing along an Elastic Streetscape 93
5. Religion and Churches 112
6. Labor and Business 138
7. Politics and Protest 183
8. The Reuniting of a People: A Tale of Two Black Belts 217
9. Employment and Political Contention 257
10. Martial Ardor, the Great War, and the Race Riot of 1919 281
Epilogue 304
Notes 311
Bibliography 365
Index 381

Illustrations
Slaughter family frontispiece
Buford Slaughter and childhood friends 28
Malinda Chappell residential mobility 39
S. Laing Williams 62
Fannie Barrier Williams 63
Dr. Daniel Hale Williams 65
Marching Eighth Infantry Regiment, Illinois National Guard,
1908 74
Prominent black Chicagoans 76
Black choral group 81
Black orchestra 82
The black Chicago community 99
Quinn Chapel AME Church 104
Amanda Smith 134
Provident Hospital 135
Firemen from Engine Company Twenty-One on their way to a
fire 143
Growth of African American population and businesses,
1860–1921 166
Jesse Binga 173
vii
viii Illustrations
First Binga Bank 173
Anthony Overton 179
Overton Company employees 179
Oscar De Priest 185
Edward H. Wright 185
Maj. John R. Lynch 189
Rev. Lacey Kirk Williams 243
Olivet Baptist Church 245
Better housing 251
Tenement housing 252
Eighth Infantry Regiment (370th) returning home from
France, 1919 285
Black stockyards employees receiving wages during Chicago
Race Riot of 1919 299
People buying ice from a freight car during Chicago Race Riot
of 1919 300