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. 2015 Feb;105(2):477-503.
doi: 10.1257/aer.20120642.

The Impact of the Great Migration on Mortality of African Americans: Evidence from the Deep South

Dan A Black  1 , Seth G Sanders  2 , Evan J Taylor  3 , Lowell J Taylor  4
Affiliations

The Impact of the Great Migration on Mortality of African Americans: Evidence from the Deep South

Dan A Black et al. Am Econ Rev. 2015 Feb.

Abstract

The Great Migration-the massive migration of African Americans out of the rural South to largely urban locations in the North, Midwest, and West-was a landmark event in U.S.

History: Our paper shows that this migration increased mortality of African Americans born in the early twentieth century South. This inference comes from an analysis that uses proximity of birthplace to railroad lines as an instrument for migration.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Proportion of African Americans Migrating out of the Deep South as of their 40s, Birth Cohorts 1891–1955
Source: Authors’ calculations using 1940–2000 U.S. Census data for black men and women born in the Deep South. For birth cohorts 1891–1899, we measure those living in the North in 1940; for birth cohorts 1900–1909 we measure those living in the North in 1950; and so forth. Thus we record migration as of ages approximately 40–49. The dark-colored data points are for our primary cohorts of study, 1916–1932.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Illinois Central Railroad Stops in Mississippi, 1892
Source: Rand McNally & Co., Engravers, Chicago. Library of Congress Call Number G4041.P3 1892 .R3 RR431.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Migration of Blacks from Mississippi Counties along the Illinois Central to Chicago and from Mississippi Counties along the Mobile and Ohio to St. Louis
Source: Authors’ calculations from the Duke-SSA data, birth cohorts 1916 through 1932. In Panel A the proportion of the black population in a county migrating to Chicago is indicated by shading, from light to dark: <0.10, 10–0.14, 0.14–0.18, 0.18–0.22, and >0.22. Also in Panel A the Illinois Central line is highlighted. In Panel B the proportion of the black population in a county migrating to St. Louis is indicated by shading, from light to dark: <0.04, 0.04–0.06, 0.06–0.08, 0.08–0.10, and >0.10. Also in Panel B the Mobile and Ohio line is highlighted.
Figure 4
Figure 4. Migration within the South and to the North among African Americans Born 1916–1932
Source: Authors’ calculations for blacks in the 1920–1990 Decennial Census born in the Deep South, 1916 through 1932.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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