As World War I cut off much of the usual immigration to U.S. industries, many northern employers looked for new workers. This shift helped create job openings that made moving north more realistic for Black Southerners facing Jim Crow segregation and violence. The Chicago Defender would soon use these conditions to argue that the time was right to relocate.
By 1916, The Chicago Defender had built a large readership, including in Southern communities where copies were shared widely. The paper’s reach mattered because it could spread news about northern jobs, living conditions, and travel plans beyond Chicago itself. This audience set the stage for an organized pro-migration campaign.
Beginning on October 7, 1916, the Defender ran a prominent editorial call—often remembered by its “Farewell, Dixie Land” headline—urging Black Southerners to leave the South. The paper framed migration as a practical response to unequal treatment and limited opportunity. This marked a more direct, campaign-like effort to encourage relocation to Chicago and other northern cities.
The Defender often listed names of Chicago churches and organizations that migrants could contact for help. Records highlighted by the Library of Congress show that people in the South wrote to groups such as the Bethlehem Baptist Association seeking housing and job assistance. This links the newspaper’s campaign directly to the growth of community institutions that helped newcomers settle.
Surviving letters from 1917 show prospective migrants writing for help after reading the Defender, including questions about jobs and the timing of travel. These letters demonstrate how the newspaper functioned as more than news: it connected readers to information networks. They also show families coordinating moves around the Defender’s widely discussed “drive” dates.
The Defender helped turn migration into a coordinated idea by publicizing a specific start date for a mass move north. Setting a date created urgency and made the plan feel shared rather than individual. It also encouraged people to prepare together—saving money, arranging travel, and contacting northern contacts.
By 1919, the Defender’s circulation had grown dramatically, with Southern readers making up a large share. This expansion reflected both the paper’s popularity and its influence during the peak years of World War I–era migration. Wider circulation also meant the campaign’s messages and practical guidance reached more towns and rural areas.
As migration increased, the Defender also tried to help newcomers navigate life in northern cities. A May 17, 1919 article titled “Some Don’ts” offered practical rules about behavior, cleanliness, and avoiding conflict. This shows the paper shifting from recruiting migrants to also supporting community stability and day-to-day adjustment.
In late July 1919, Chicago experienced a major outbreak of racial violence that lasted for days. The riot underscored that northern cities were not free from racism, even as they offered new jobs and political possibilities. For migrants and institutions on the South Side, the violence became a turning point that intensified demands for protection, fair housing, and equal treatment.
After the 1919 violence, Illinois created an interracial Chicago Commission on Race Relations to study what happened and how to prevent similar events. The commission’s work reflected growing public attention to migration-related pressures such as housing shortages and job competition. The Defender’s founder, Robert S. Abbott, served on this commission, linking the paper’s civic role to formal policy discussion.
In September 1922, the commission published The Negro in Chicago, a detailed study of race relations, migration pressures, and the 1919 riot. The report documented how setting dates like the “Great Northern Drive” could intensify travel and congestion, and it discussed the wider social tensions surrounding migration. This publication helped fix the Defender’s campaign within an official historical record.
By 1925, the Defender’s early Great Migration campaigns had already helped expand Chicago’s Black community networks, including churches and other organizations that assisted newcomers. Even as migration continued beyond this period, the 1916–1925 campaigns left a durable model: a Black newspaper using both persuasion and practical guidance to shape movement and settlement. The legacy was a more connected set of cultural and community institutions that supported migrants in Chicago.
Chicago Defender's Great Migration Campaigns (1916–1925)