What is The Great Migration
The Great Migration between 1916 and 1970 saw six million African Americans move from the American South to urban centers in the Northeast, Midwest and West. One of the largest movements of people in history, this migration was motivated by poor economic conditions, racial prejudice and segregation, and violence used against Black southerners who attempted to exercise their legal rights or were seen as threatening the status quo in some way. African Americans who settled in the nation's large industrial cities, while continuing to be segregated where they lived, played, worked, and prayed, established vibrant communities of their own.
Despite, for many, the real sadness for many in leaving the South, and all the barriers faced by the migrants in their new homes, the migration was an act of individual and collective agency. It changed the course of American history, and became a "declaration of independence" written by their actions, as noted by Isabel Wilkerson in her article, The Long-Lasting Legacy of the Great Migration, in the September 2016 issue of Smithsonian Magazine.
Despite, for many, the real sadness for many in leaving the South, and all the barriers faced by the migrants in their new homes, the migration was an act of individual and collective agency. It changed the course of American history, and became a "declaration of independence" written by their actions, as noted by Isabel Wilkerson in her article, The Long-Lasting Legacy of the Great Migration, in the September 2016 issue of Smithsonian Magazine.
About the Project
The Great Migration Oral History Project, conducted for the William Trent House Museum by the Trent House Association, collects interviews with individuals whose families moved to Trenton from the South during the Great Migration. The interviews ask about the families’ history in the South and elsewhere before moving to Trenton, their reasons for moving to Trenton and their life experiences here. Recordings and transcripts of the interviews will be maintained on the Trent House website and eventually also in the archives at the Trenton Free Public Library.
The project was initially funded by a 2021 grant from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities. Since then many people have contributed to the project as interviewees, interviewers, transcribers, website designers, and content researchers and writers.
The project was initially funded by a 2021 grant from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities. Since then many people have contributed to the project as interviewees, interviewers, transcribers, website designers, and content researchers and writers.
Stories From Trenton
Samuel Floyd
George Palmer
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Acknowledgements
We are especially grateful to those who have shared their families' Great Migration Stories:
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Trent House Association trustees Patricia Atkins and Jocelyn Francis-White initiated and are leading the project. In 2020 they participated in the first cohort of the Community History Program offered by the NJ Council for the Humanities, holding focus groups with community members to test out ideas for the project and designing the interview protocol. Through their close connections in the Trenton community, they identified and recruited interviewees and conducted the initial in-depth interviews.
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In 2021 the NJ Council for the Humanities awarded the Trent House Association an action grant to engage youth in history through research and development of public history products. insert logo and disclaimer
Beginning in the 2022-2023 academic year, students in the Bonner Scholar Program at the College of New Jersey have selected the project as their community service assignment. Ms. Althia Muse, Director of the Bonner Institute at the Center for Community Engagement at the College, has provided guidance and support to the students and to the Trent House project team. INSERT HEAD SHOT Students participating on the project have been:
2022-2023
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2023-2024
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Robert McGreevey, Professor of History at the College of New Jersey, assigned students in his xxx XXXX class and his xxx XXXX class to conduct brief interviews with groups of long-time Trenton residents, many of whose families came to the city during the Great Migration. Transcripts of these interviews are also included in this archive.
