The Negro Migrant in Pittsburgh: A Review of the Conditions 100 Years Ago

Abstract

In 1918, economist Abraham Epstein conducted and published a study of the experiences and conditions of life among southern African American migrants in Pittsburgh. Epstein was a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, earning a bachelor of arts in social economy in 1917 and a graduate degree the following year. His graduate work centered on the topic of African American migrants and the sociological study was his thesis. Over the next 100 years, his work became an authority for understanding the conditions faced by African Americans during the Great Migration. Epstein analyzed various aspects of the migrant experience and offered statistical data to drive home certain points that outlined the influx of African Americans, mainly to the east side of the city.
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