Location
Watch online at: (many events are posted for later viewing on the ESL YouTube Channel)
Up South
The migration of 2,000,000 African Americans from the South between 1910 and 1930 led to profound changes in their lives and in the lives of all working people, setting the stage for the industrial union movement of the 1930s, the New Deal, and the Civil Rights Movement.
Narrated by a Mississippi barber and a sharecropper woman who organized migration clubs to Chicago, “Up South” tells the dramatic story of African-American migration to industrial cities during World War I. Letters, oral histories, songs, photographs, and art convey how southern black culture and traditions helped sustain migrants as they rejected the oppression and indignity of the Jim Crow South. But the migrants encountered new problems and challenges in the “promised land.” Among the issues and events explored are the rise of black politics, women’s club and church activities, the July 1919 race riot, the industrial workplace, and the emergence of the “New Negro” movement.
East Side Freedom Library
The East Side Freedom Library is a non-profit private library located on the east side of St. Paul that has a non-circulating research collections. It is associated with but not part of the St. Paul Library. Its mission is to inspire solidarity, advocate for justice and work toward equity for all. It frequently hosts events, which are now offered online.
