CHAPTER IX

THE STATISTICS OF THE MIGRATION

The apparent effect of the migration in the light of the advanced reports of the census of 1920 has been the movement of the Negro population from the southern cities to northern industrial centers, while there was going on at the same time a movement of the rural Negro population from the rural districts in the South into the thus depleted southern cities to take the places of those migrating to the North. Statistics show, therefore, a small increase or stability in the cities of the South, whereas the Negro population of the State increased less, remained about the same, or decidedly decreased.

Delaware, for example, although a southern State, economically connected with the North, suffered a decrease in its population, having lost during the decade 846 Negroes, or 2.7 per cent, as against an increase from 1910 to 1920 of 484, or 1.6 per cent. Delaware had 492,614 whites and 30,341 Negroes in 1920. Wilmington, however, had 99,381 whites and 10,751 Negroes, showing an increase in the white population of 26.9 per cent and in Negro population of 18.4 per cent.

In Alabama, out of the total population of 2,248,174 there are 900,652 Negroes, whereas in 1910 the Negroes numbered 908,282, showing a decrease in numbers of 8,282, or a decrease of eight-tenths of one per cent. In 47 of the 60 counties there was also a decrease in its number of Negroes. Statistics further show that this decrease in the Negro population was largely among the males and accounts for the change in the sex ratio of the total population of Alabama. The white population during this decade increased by 17.8 per cent. Yet the cities of Alabama did not thus fare. In Birmingham the increase in the white

population during the decade between 1910 and 1920 was 28,193, or 35.1 per cent, while the corresponding increase in the Negro population was 17,912, or 34.2 per cent. In Mobile the white population increased during the same period 8,132, or 28.3 per cent, whereas the Negro population increased 1,130, or 5 per cent, as compared with an increase of 5,718, or 33.5 per cent, from 1900 to 1910. In Montgomery the increase in the white population was 4,828, or 25.7 per cent, while the Negro population increased 504, or 2.6 per cent.

In 1920 the population of the State of Mississippi included 853,962 whites and 935,184 Negroes. In 1910 there were 786,111 whites and 1,009,487 Negroes. The white population increased 8.6 per cent as compared with 22.6 per cent for the previous decade, while the Negro population showed a decrease of 7.4 per cent as against an increase of 11.2 per cent during the preceding decade. The proportion of Negroes in the total population declined from 56.2 per cent in 1910 to 52 per cent in 1920. In most counties of the State the percentage of Negroes decreased and in 68 of the 82 counties there was also a decrease in the number of Negroes.

The population of the State of Louisiana, according to the last census, is 61 per cent white and 38.9 per cent Negro. In 1910 the percentage of Negroes was 43.1 per cent. The Negro population, which was 713,874 in 1910, decreased to 700,257 in 1920, a decrease of 1.9 per cent. The white population during the same period increased from 941,086 to 1,096,911, or 16.5 per cent. In most of the parishes of the State the percentage of Negroes decreased and in 41 of the 64 parishes there was also a decrease in the number of Negroes. In the city of New Orleans, however, the development was the other way. In 1920 the city had 285,913 whites and 100,918 Negroes. The white population constituted 73.8 per cent of the total in 1920 and 73.6 per cent in 1910 while the Negro population constituted 26.1 per cent of the total in 1920 and 26.3 per cent in 1910. The increase in the white population since 1910 was 36,510, or

14.6 per cent, while the corresponding increase in the Negro population was 11,656, or 13.1 per cent.

Statistics place South Carolina in middle ground. In 1920 there were in that State 818,538 whites and 864,719 Negroes. The corresponding figures for 1910 were 679,161 whites and 835,843 Negroes. The rate of increase in the white population was 20.5 per cent as compared with 21.8 per cent for the period from 1900 to 1910. The percentage of increase between 1910 and 1920 in the Negro population was only 3.5 per cent, a rate slightly more than half as great as the corresponding one for the decade from 1900 to 1910, when it was 6.8 per cent. The proportion of Negroes in the total population declined from 55.2 per cent in 1910 to 51.4 per cent in 1920. In the city of Charleston there were 35,617 whites and 32,292 Negroes. The white population constituted 52.4 per cent of the total in 1920 and 47.2 per cent of the total in 1910 and 52.8 per cent in 1900. The increase in the white population since 1910 was 17,853, or 28.3 per cent, while the corresponding increase in the Negro population was 1,236, or 4 per cent.

Some other Southern States did not have the usual increase in the Negro population, but nevertheless did not report a loss in 1910. In 1920 there were found in Maryland 1,204,737 white persons and 244,479 Negroes. The white population increased by 13.4 per cent while the Negro population increased by 5.3 per cent. In almost every county in the State the percentage of Negroes decreased and in 19 of the 24 counties there was also a decrease in the number of the Negroes. In Baltimore, on the other hand, the tendency was the other way. The white population was 625,074 and the Negro population 108,390, whereas in 1910 there were 473,387 whites and 84,749 Negroes. Both the white and Negro populations, therefore, had increased since 1910, that of the whites being 32 per cent as compared with 10 per cent of the previous decade, and that of the Negro being 27.9 per cent as compared with 6.9 per cent of the previous decade.

The population of Virginia was 1,617,909 whites and 690,017 Negroes. In 1910 there were 1,389,809 whites and 671,096 Negroes. The white population increased 16.4 per cent while the Negro population increased only 2.8 per cent. Lynchburg had 21,714 whites and 8,355 Negroes. In 1910 there were 20,023 whites and 9,456 Negroes. The white population showed an increase since 1910 of 1,691, or 8.4 per cent, while the Negro population showed a decrease of 1,111, or 11.7 per cent. In 1920 Norfolk had 72,243 whites and 43,377 Negroes. In 1910 the figures were 42,353 whites and 25,039 Negroes. The increase of the white population since 1910 was 29,890, or 70.6 per cent, while the corresponding increase in the Negro population was 18,338, or 73.2 per cent. In 1920 Portsmouth had a white population of 31,104 and 23,242 Negroes. In 1910 this city had 21,560 whites and 11,617 Negroes. The increase in the white population since 1910 was 9,544, or 44.3 per cent, while the corresponding increase in the Negro population was 11,625, or 101 per cent. Richmond had 117,565 whites and 54,057 Negroes in 1920. In 1910 the city had 80,879 whites and 46,733 Negroes. The increase in the white population since 1910 was 36,686, or 45.4 per cent, while the corresponding increase in the Negro population was 7,314, or 15.7 per cent. Roanoke had 41,530 whites and 9,300 Negroes while in 1910 the figures were 26,945 whites and 7,924 Negroes. The increase in the white population since 1910 was 14,585, or 54.1 per cent, while the corresponding increase in the Negro population was 1,376, or 17.6 per cent.

North Carolina had some increase in its Negro population. The total population of 2,559,123 included 1,783,779 whites and 763,407 Negroes. In 1910 there were 1,500,511 whites and 697,843 Negroes. The increase in the white population was at the rate of 18.9 per cent, while that of the Negro population was 9.4 per cent. In most counties of the State the percentage of Negroes decreased and in 37 of the 100 counties there was also a decrease in the number of Negroes.

In Georgia the total population of the State comprised 2,895,832, having 1,689,114 white persons and 1,206,365 Negroes. The white population increased by 18 per cent and the Negro by 2.5 per cent. Augusta had a white population of 29,894 whites and 22,576 Negroes, showing an increase during the decade of 32 per cent for the white population as compared with an increase of 8.3 per cent during the previous decade, while the Negro population showed an increase of 23.1 per cent as against a decrease of less than 1 per cent from 1900 to 1910. The white population of Macon increased 32.8 per cent, while the Negro population increased 27.2 per cent. In Rome there was an increase of 19 per cent for the white population as compared with 87.1 per cent of the period before but a decrease in the Negro population of 11.5 per cent against an increase of 32.8 per cent from 1900 to 1910. In Savannah while the white population increased 38.5 per cent, the Negro population increased 17.9 per cent. The statistics of the counties of Georgia show that the percentage of Negroes decreased and that in 82 of 155 counties there was also a decrease in the number of Negroes.

The total population of Florida in 1920 was 968,470. 638,153 of these were white and 329,487 were Negroes, whereas corresponding figures for 1910 showed 443,634 whites and 308,669 Negroes. This indicates that the white population increased by 43.8 per cent and the Negro population by 6.7 per cent. Jacksonville then had 50,031 whites and 41,479 Negroes. The increase in the white population since 1910 was 21,702, or 76.6 per cent, while the corresponding increase in the Negro population was 12,186, or 41.6 per cent. The city of Tampa had a population of 40,057 whites and 11,520 Negroes. The increase in the white population since 1910 was 11,267, or 39.1 per cent, while the corresponding increase in the Negro population was 2,569, or 28.7 per cent. In almost every county of the State the percentage of Negroes decreased, and in 28 of the 54 counties there was also a decrease in the number of Negroes.