Chicago Black Population Triples During WWI as Great Migration Transforms the City

Chicago's Black population grew from 44,000 in 1910 to 109,000 by 1920, a 148% increase driven by the Great Migration. Migrants were recruited by meatpacking companies and steel mills facing labor shortages due to WWI. Black newcomers were crowded into the South Side 'Black Belt' through restrictive covenants and violence against those who moved outside designated areas.