The Black Migration to Detroit
Black Population in Detroit, 1870-1930

Increase in Black Population in Detroit 1910-1930 Compared to Other Cities

Race and Politics in Detroit

Race and Housing in Detroit

 

Increase in Black Population of Detroit Compared to Other Cities, 1910-1930

 

CITY % INCREASE, 1910-30 BLACK POP. IN 1910 BLACK POP. IN 1920 BLACK POP. IN 1930
DETROIT 1,991% 5,741 40,838 120,066
CLEVELAND  751%  8,448 34,451  71,899 
 CHICAGO  430% 44,103  109,458  233,903 
NEW YORK  257% 91,709 152, 467 327,706
PHILADELPHIA 160% 84,459 134,229  219,599 
PITTSBURGH   115%  25,623  37,725 54,983 
 BIRMINGHAM 89%  52,305  70,230   99,077
 MEMPHIS  84%  52,441 61,181   96,550
 ATLANTA  74%  51,902 62,796  90,075 


Black Population in Detroit, 1870-1930

 

Race and Politics in Detroit

Detroit's 1924 Mayoralty Election

Candidate Primary Issues Main Supporters Votes Received Votes Received in 6 most heavily black precincts
John Smith  Control of Klan, more and better services  Recent immigrants, Catholics, blacks   116,775 4,355 
Charles Bowles  Strict law enforcement, American values  KKK, white lower and middle-class Protestants  102,602** 
Joseph Martin   Clean government, better services Businessmen  84,462  Not reported in source 


** Bowles was a write-in candidate. Had ballots with misspellings of his name been counted, he would have won the election by over 1,000 votes.

Bowles and Smith faced off again in the 1925 Mayor's race. Smith won, this time by a vote of 140,000 to 110,000.


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