Between World War II and 1980, tens of thousands of Black people moved
to Boston from the South as part of the Great Migration, one of the most
consequential mass movements of people in American history. Black
migration from the South transformed the city, as it did urban areas
across the country. North to Boston is the first book to examine that
important subject.
Blake Gumprecht traces the history of this migration and explores its
impacts in greater depth through the lives of ten individuals, each the
subject of one chapter. Those chapters are short biographies based on
extensive interviews by the author and are told in an engaging style
that reflects the author's background as a journalist.
The ten people featured came from six southern states. They fled racism,
limited opportunity, and hopelessness, and moved north in pursuit of
better jobs, equal treatment, and greater freedom. They settled in
neighborhoods such as Roxbury, Dorchester, and Mattapan. They worked as
teachers, factory workers, welders, and security guards. Their stories
are emblematic of the experiences of Black people everywhere who left
the South, and provide a rare glimpse into the lives of ordinary people
living in one city's Black community.
North to Boston brings to life the history of the Great Migration,
revealing a hidden aspect of New England's history and shining a
spotlight on a singularly important event in the making of Black
Boston.
