Feb 15, 2024
181. Hartford and the Great Migration, 1914-1950
In the February 4, 2024 issue of the New York Times, journalist Adam Mahoney describes the Great Migration as a time when millions of Black people left the South to escape segregation, servitude and lynching and went North in search of jobs and stable housing. In this episode, host Mary Donohue will discuss Hartford and the Great Migration with Dr. Stacey Close. Connecticut Explored’s book African American Connecticut Exploredpublished by Wesleyan University Press has just celebrated its 10th anniversary. Dr. Close served as one of the principal authors for this groundbreaking volume of essays that illuminate the long arc of Black history in Connecticut.
A native of Georgia, Dr. Close has worked in higher education for more than 25 years. A professor of African American history at Eastern Connecticut State University, Close received his Ph.D and M.A. from Ohio State University and his B.A. from Albany State College, a Historically Black College in Georgia. He is currently working on a book project entitled “Black Hartford Freedom Struggle, 1915-1970.”
Thanks to my guest Dr. Stacey Close. Read his article published in Connecticut Explored here:
https://www.ctexplored.org/southern-blacks-transform-connecticut/
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Was your family part of the Great Migration? Be sure to listen to GTN episode 127 to find out how to put your family’s history together for future generations with Black family historians Jill Marie Snyder and Hartford’s Orice Jenkins.
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This episode of Grating the Nutmeg was produced by Mary Donohue and engineered by Patrick O’Sullivan at https://www.highwattagemedia.com/
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Image: Shiloh Baptist Church women's group, 336 Albany Avenue, Hartford, Connecticut Museum of Culture and History.