In the early 1900s, Black Americans were largely moving away from many Southern states, including Texas, as part of the Great Migration. This mass movement primarily took place from around 1916 to 1970 and involved millions of African Americans leaving the rural South for urban areas in the North and West in search of better economic opportunities and to escape Jim Crow laws and racial discrimination.
While some Black individuals and families did move within Texas during this period, often to cities like Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio for job opportunities, the broader trend was a migration away from the South. Many sought to escape oppressive social conditions and pursue industrial jobs in cities like Chicago, Detroit, New York, and Los Angeles, where they hoped to find more equitable treatment and a higher quality of life.
However, there were also Black settlers who came to Texas earlier as part of the post-Civil War reconstruction and some who remained in Texas during this time period, but overall, the dominant trend was migration out of the state during the early to mid-1900s.
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