Negro Migration during the War
of the negro problem in Detroit. This survey showed that the negro
population of the city has grown from 5,000 in 1910 to 21,000 in 1917.
The negro churches of the city are utterly inadequate to take care of
the religious needs of the race here, it was shown.

CHAPTER XIITHE SITUATION AT POINTS IN THE EAST
No less conspicuous as attractions to the negroes of the South were
the various industries of the State of Pennsylvania. Although not so
closely connected with the Black Belt of the South as are so many
of the industrial centers of the West, Pennsylvania nevertheless was
sought by many of these migrants because of the long accepted theory
that this commonwealth maintains a favorable attitude toward persons
of color. It drew upon this population too because of the very urgent
need for workers in its numerous industries during the labor crisis
resulting from the falling off of the foreign immigration. When,
moreover, manufacturing establishments of the State multiplied as
elsewhere because of the demand for the manufacture of munitions of
war, this need became more urgent than ever.According to the census of 1910, the State of Pennsylvania had 193,919
inhabitants of negro blood, 84,459 of whom lived in the city of
Philadelphia. During the recent rush to that commonwealth, however,
investigators are now of the opinion that the negro population of that
State is hardly less than 300,000. These migrants were, of course, not
all settled in the city of Philadelphia. Here we see another example
of a rerouting point, a place where the migration broke bulk,
scattering itself into the various industrial communities desiring
labor. Among the other cities and towns receiving this population were
practically all of those within a radius of about one hundred miles of
Philadelphia, such as Lancaster, Pottsville, York, Altoona, Harrisburg
and certain other towns lying without the State, as in the case of
Wilmington, Delaware, a site of a large munitions plant. In some cases
the negro population in these towns increased more than 100 per cent
in a few days.The chief factors in the bringing in of these negroes from the South
were the leading railroads like the Erie and Pennsylvania. During
the shortage of labor, these corporations found it impossible to keep
their systems in repair. In this situation, they, like the smaller
concerns further west, sent labor agents to the South to induce
negroes to supply this demand. Unfortunately, however, so many of the
negroes who had their transportation paid by these firms counted it
more profitable to leave their employ immediately after arriving,

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