The Rise of Chicago's Black Metropolis, 1920-1929 (New Black Studies Series) - Hardcover

Reed, Christopher Robert

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0252036239 ISBN 13: 9780252036231

Publisher: University of Illinois Press, 2011

Synopsis

During the Roaring '20s, African Americans rapidly transformed their Chicago into a "black metropolis." In this book, Christopher Robert Reed describes the rise of African Americans in Chicago's political economy, bringing to life the fleeting vibrancy of this dynamic period of racial consciousness and solidarity. Reed shows how African Americans rapidly transformed Chicago and achieved political and economic recognition by building on the massive population growth after the Great Migration from the South, the entry of a significant working class into the city's industrial work force, and the proliferation of black churches. Mapping out the labor issues and the struggle for control of black politics and black business, Reed offers an unromanticized view of the entrepreneurial efforts of black migrants, reassessing previous accounts such as St. Clair Drake and Horace R. Cayton's 1945 study Black Metropolis. Utilizing a wide range of historical data, The Rise of Chicago's Black Metropolis, 1920–1929 delineates a web of dynamic social forces to shed light on black businesses and the establishment of a black professional class. The exquisitely researched volume draws on fictional and nonfictional accounts of the era, black community guides, mainstream and community newspapers, contemporary scholars and activists, and personal interviews.

About this title

Book Description

Assessing the roles of religion, politics, and class in the golden decade of black business

About the Author

Christopher R. Reed is a professor emeritus of history at Roosevelt University and the author of "All the World is Here": The Black Presence at White City and The Chicago NAACP and the Rise of Black Professional Leadership, 1910–1966.

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Illinois Press
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0252036239
• ISBN 13: 9780252036231
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288