Way up North in Louisville: African American Migration in the Urban South, 1930-1970

摘要

The migration of blacks from the south to the urban north is a familiar story, but this book differs from most books on the subject: it focuses on black migration from rural areas and small towns in the south to the southern city of Louisville. Adams's sources are manuscript collections, including newspapers and magazines in the Kentucky Historical Society, Louisville Metro Archives, and Ekstrom Library at the University of Louisville; 40 nterviews conducted from 1977 to 2001; government reports, dissertations, and published studies of black migration. Adams tells the story of those blacks who decided to stay in the south despite oppressive conditions which required their day to day struggle to improve their social and economic conditions. The number of blacks who moved to Louisville between 1930 and 1970 was much smaller (fewer than 40,000) than the millions who migrated to cities in the north. Despite their small numbers many blacks arrived in Louisville highly politicized and brought with them a tradition of fighting for equality within the south (p. 12). Notwithstanding the belief of many whites that Louisville was a progressive southern city in the area of race relations, blacks were treated unequally by whites and were forced to use a variety of strategies, from negotiation to direct action, in the struggle for desegregation in public accommodations and equal access to employment and housing.