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North to Boston tells the life histories of ten Black individuals who moved from the southern United States to Boston, Massachusetts, during the Great Migration. Based on extensive oral history interviews and a creative narrative structure, Gumprecht illuminates this singularly important event in the making of Boston as it exists today.
List of contents
- Preface
- 1. The Great Migration in New England
- 2. Charles Gordon, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 1943
- 3. Thomas Lindsay, Birmingham, Alabama, 1951
- 4. Lucy Parham, Morven, North Carolina, 1957
- 5. Ollie Sumrall Jr., Quitman, Mississippi, 1959
- 6. Elizabeth Hall Davis, Columbia, South Carolina, 1963
- 7. Willie Pittman, Shady Grove, Alabama, 1963
- 8. Geraldine Walker, Clay County, Alabama, 1963
- 9. Barbra Hicks, Bradford, Alabama, 1964
- 10. Al Kinnitt Jr., Brunswick, Georgia, 1964
- 11. Elta Garrett, Sun, Louisiana, 1969
- 12. Ten Lives, What They Teach Us, and Why They Matter
- Notes
- Additional Reading
- Index
About the author
Blake Gumprecht taught geography for more than two decades at the University of New Hampshire, the University of South Carolina, and the University of Oklahoma. He is the author of two previous books, The Los Angeles River: Its Life, Death, and Possible Rebirth and The American College Town, both of which won the American Association of Geographers' J. B. Jackson Prize. He now lives and writes in El Paso, Texas.
Summary
North to Boston tells the life histories of ten Black individuals who moved from the southern United States to Boston, Massachusetts, during the Great Migration. Based on extensive oral history interviews and a creative narrative structure, Gumprecht illuminates this singularly important event in the making of Boston as it exists today.
Additional text
North to Boston tells the important stories of ten of the tens of thousands of African Americans who were part of a till-now unexplored migration from the South to a northern city. Through the greater freedom and opportunity that they found and the work ethic and faith that they brought, these ten people built better lives and helped make 'cold roast Boston' a richer and warmer place.
