Great Migration Swells Harlem to 175,000 Black Residents by 1925

In the early 1920s, the Great Migration of African Americans from the rural South to Northern cities accelerated, bringing over a million Black migrants to New York, Chicago, Detroit, and Pittsburgh. Harlem's Black population grew from under 50,000 in 1910 to over 175,000 by 1925. This demographic transformation created the audience, consumer base, and cultural critical mass that made the Harlem Renaissance possible.