BETWEEN 1930 AND 1970, almost fifteen million Americans left their
homes and farms to seek new opportunities in other states, one of the largest
population movements in American history.1
When popular literature
and television documentaries describe this migration, the story usually involves
black migrants who ride the Illinois Central out of the Mississippi
Delta in a desperate escape from the malevolent effects of the mechanical
cotton picker.2
Yet this population movement involved more white migrants
than black, and they headed to destinations all over the country.
These migrants were searching for better jobs rather than fleeing mechanization.