Between 1915 and 1970 almost 7 million African Americans fled the U.S. South for northern and western cities. In the process, they transformed America. Standard accounts pigeonhole the Great Migration into the American immigrant myth of searching for jobs and opportunity. However, the movement of Black migrants speaks to a much broader quest for freedom, even though calls for equality were answered with racial violence, redlined neighborhoods, and inferior schools. The Great Migration is also a Boston story that includes families who settled in Newton. Following the routes and roadblocks of Black migrants, this talk by Davarian Baldwin, author and professor at Trinity College, speaks to the hopes and limits of the American Dream for us all. Register in advance to join us for this Zoom talk co-sponsored by Historic Newton and the Newton Free Library.
