It’s known as the Great Migration.
An estimated 6 million Black people left the South through much of the 20th century for better-paying jobs in the North, Midwest and West. A number of them came to Erie, helping to boost the city’s Black population from 749 in 1920 to 13,086 in 1990, according to U.S. Census data.
By the turn of the 21st century, Erie’s Black community estimated that about 1,000 of the “migrants” had come to Erie from just one southern city, Laurel, Mississippi, many at the urging of two Erie pastors.
During Black History Month, the staff of the Erie Times-News and GoErie teamed with the staff of the Hattiesburg American to retell the stories of why so many moved north and how their migration shaped both communities.
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🔒 The Laurel, Miss.-to-Erie pipeline of the Great Migration links the communities even now
Armendia Dixon earned $200 a month teaching part-time and working part-time as a school librarian in Laurel, Mississippi.
It was 1965, and Dixon’s father had just suffered a series of massive strokes.
“I needed to make more money. I needed to help my family more,” Dixon said.
Dixon moved to Erie to teach. She and family members who followed are among more than 1,000 Black people estimated to have come to Erie during the Great Migration from the South for better jobs and opportunities in other parts of the country, mostly from 1930 through the early 1970s.
Laurel to Erie:The Laurel, Miss.-to-Erie pipeline of the Great Migration links the communities even now
🔒 Erie pastors shepherded Black families from Laurel, Mississippi, to Erie during Great Migration
It’s known as the Great Migration.
An estimated 6 million Black people left the South through much of the 20th century for better-paying jobs in the North, Midwest and West, according to the National Archives. A number of them came to Erie, helping to boost the city’s Black population from 749 in 1920 to 13,086 in 1990, according to U.S. Census data.
By the turn of the 21st century, Erie’s Black community estimated that about 1,000 of the “migrants” had come to Erie from just one southern city, Laurel, Mississippi, many at the urging of two Erie pastors.
The Rev. Ernest Franklin Smith and the Rev. Perry Keys Sr. regularly went south to recruit workers for jobs in Erie, especially at General Electric, Erie Malleable Iron, Bucyrus Erie and Hammermill Paper.
Smith and Keys:Erie pastors shepherded Black families from Laurel, Mississippi, to Erie during Great Migration
🔒 Oak Park gave Black students educational opportunities, friendships they will never forget
Oak Park High School in Laurel, Mississippi, was the center of the Black community for nearly 50 years. The teenagers who studied, played and ate together formed bonds that endured long after the school closed its doors.
To stay in touch, former students started the Oak Park Alumni Association with chapters across the country, including one in Erie, Pennsylvania.
“I was one of the ones that went to Erie to help get the chapter organized,” alumna Lula Cooley said. “We used to have about 15 chapters.”
Some of the other chapters are located in Georgia, Texas and on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, she said.
“Like the rest of them, the Erie chapter hasn’t been (active) with the pandemic and everything,” Cooley said.
An Erie connection:Oak Park High gave Black students educational opportunities, friendships they will never forget
🔒 Laurel-to-Erie migration: Why some people stayed, why others left. Has anything changed?
Altair is a small community that sits along a windy road that meanders through rolling hills about 20 miles east of Laurel. Horses, goats and cattle graze in lush fields, seemingly unconcerned with passing motorists.
Everyone who lives in Altair knows each other, even if their nearest neighbor lives a few miles away.
It is the charm of living in the country that kept George MacDonald “Mac” Arrington in Mississippi when others left to pursue new opportunities.
“You see, I don’t like confinement,” he said. “You got all those little apartments (in a city) that you might be living, but the dwelling areas are so close together.”
Laurel-to-Erie migration:Why some people stayed, why others left. Has anything changed?
Who’s who in Laurel? Surprising celebrity list and facts about this Mississippi city
Laurel, Mississippi, has plenty of real-life notables, but it was perhaps a fictional character that brought the town to a national stage.
Tennessee Williams’ play, “A Streetcar Named Desire,” featuring Jessica Tandy, Marlon Brando, Karl Malden and Kim Hunter, debuted on Broadway in December 1947. The play was turned into an iconic film in 1951, with Vivien Leigh replacing Tandy in the role of Blanche Dubois.
Although the story is set in New Orleans, Dubois and her sister, Stella Kowalski, grew up in Laurel. After losing everything, Dubois moves into the fictional seedy Flamingo Hotel in Laurel, where her character is asked to leave for alleged immoral behavior.
Who’s who in Laurel?:Surprising celebrity list and facts about this Mississippi city
