The Rise Of Chicago's Black Metropolis, 1920-1929 (new Black Studies Series)

During the Roaring '20s, African Americans rapidly transformed their Chicago into a "black metropolis." In this book, Christopher Robert Reed describes the rise of African Americans in Chicago's political economy, bringing to life the fleeting vibrancy of this dynamic period of racial consciousness and solidarity. Reed shows how African Americans rapidly transformed Chicago and achieved political and economic recognition by building on the massive population growth after the Great Migration from the South, the entry of a significant working class into the city's industrial work force, and the proliferation of black churches. Mapping out the labor issues and the struggle for control of black politics and black business, Reed offers an unromanticized view of the entrepreneurial efforts of black migrants, reassessing previous accounts such as St. Clair Drake and Horace R. Cayton's 1945 study Black Metropolis. Utilizing a wide range of historical data, The Rise of Chicago's Black Metropolis, 1920–1929 delineates a web of dynamic social forces to shed light on black businesses and the establishment of a black professional class. The exquisitely researched volume draws on fictional and nonfictional accounts of the era, black community guides, mainstream and community newspapers, contemporary scholars and activists, and personal interviews. During the Roaring '20s, African Americans rapidly transformed their Chicago into a "black metropolis." The author describes the rise of African Americans in Chicago's political economy, bringing to life the fleeting vibrancy of this dynamic period of racial consciousness and solidarity. He shows how African Americans rapidly transformed Chicago and achieved political and economic recognition by building on the population growth after the Great Migration from the South, the entry of a significant working class into the city's industrial work force, and the proliferation of black churches. Mapping out the labor issues and struggle for control of black politics and business, he gives a view of the entrepreneurial efforts of black migrants, reassessing previous accounts such as St. Clair Drake and Horace R. Cayton's 1945 study Black Metropolis Cover......Page 1 Title Page......Page 4 Copyright Page......Page 5 CONTENTS......Page 6 Introduction......Page 10 1. Demography and Ethos......Page 18 2. "The Whirl of Life": The Social Structure......Page 43 3. The Golden Decade of Black Business......Page 86 4. Labor: Both Fat and Lean Years......Page 133 5. The Struggle for Control over Black Politics and Protest......Page 161 6. Transformed Religion and a Proliferation of Churches......Page 201 7. Cultural and Aesthetic Expressions......Page 216 Conclusion and Legacy......Page 224 Notes......Page 228 Bibliography......Page 268 Index......Page 280 Illustrations follow page 70......Page 80