Black Migration Builds Northern Political Power; Chicago Elects Oscar De Priest

On November 6, 1928, Oscar De Priest became the first Black congressman elected from a Northern state, representing Chicago's South Side Black Belt. His election reflected the political transformation wrought by the Great Migration: Black voters concentrated in Northern cities could register and vote, and their numbers had grown large enough to elect Black representatives. De Priest's election — and his persistent use of congressional privileges to challenge segregation in Washington, D.C. — demonstrated that the Great Migration was not only an economic and demographic event but a political realignment that would ultimately reshape American politics.