From Freetown to the City Up North: Mapping Rural to Urban Migration in Early Twentieth Century Austin, Texas

Summary

The mobility patterns of rural black southerners who relocated to southern cities during the early 1900s is an often-overlooked topic in discussions of early twentieth century rural to urban migration. Using geographic information systems (GIS) software to map and analyze census records, city directories, and other historical documents, this paper presents a micro-level case study of the migration and settlement patterns of former residents from Antioch Colony, Texas between the years of 1900 and 1940. A sizeable number of these migrants relocated 15 miles north to Austin, Texas and were descendants of landowners, complicating prevalent narratives of black mobility during this period. However, as with the move north or west, migration provided a level of socio-economic mobility that initially made the city of Austin an attractive prospect. In using GIS to closely examine migration histories, this project extends archaeological approaches to re-evaluate African American mobility and settlement in the city.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions) 2018   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2018

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 962