Establishing Segregation in Northern U.S. Cities from 1880 to 2000: New Evidence from New York, Chicago, Cleveland, New Orleans and Elsewhere

Andrew A. Beveridge, Queens College and Grad Ctr -- CUNY
Susan Weber, Queens College
Charis Ng, Vanderbilt University and Queens College
Michiyo Yamashiki, Queens College

Segregation, particularly with respect to African Americans or Blacks was seen as gathering force during the “great migration” of African Americans from the rural South to the “big cities” of the North. This paper will examine the genesis of that segregation and factors that exacerbate or erode it. “Classic” analyses of segregation by the Taeubers and the Duncans analyze patterns in the 1950s and 1960s. This paper will extend such analyses in time and space by examining patterns of segregation and settlement spatially using maps and analytically using segregation indices from as early as 1880 through the present. The North Atlantic Population Project data from 1880 Census for selected cities will be tabulated and used to compute segregation indices at this early date. We will use data from the National Historical Geographic Information System, including data and preliminary maps from 1910 to 2000 to assess the later periods.