VISUAL ACTIVITY

African Americans Migrate North Wearing their Sunday best and carrying the rest of what they owned in two suitcases, this southern family waits to board a northern-bound train in 1912. In Chicago, the League on Urban Conditions among Negroes, which became the Urban League, sought to ease the transition of southern blacks to life in the North by distributing cards such as the one shown here (front and back).

READING THE IMAGE: This photograph captures the migration of a family. How many generations are represented?

CONNECTIONS: Why do you suppose the “Self-Help” card emphasizes hard work, cleanliness, and quiet?

Photo: Schomburg Center, NYPL/Art Resource, NY; cards: Arthur and Graham Aldis papers (APF_0001_0006a-01 a/b), Special Collections, The University Library, University of Illinois at Chicago.