This painting by African-American artist Jacob Lawrence depicts the mass exodus of blacks out of the rural south to urban areas in the North and Midwest between 1915 and 1970. What do historians call this period of dramatic population shift?

At the turn of the 20th century, 90% of African Americans still lived in the South, the vast majority in rural areas. By the Great Migration's end in 1970, only 53% remained in the South. Across the nation, 80% of African Americans now lived in cities. Why did millions of black migrants leave the South? To seek better economic opportunities, away from the racially oppressive structure that persisted there in spite of slavery's abolition 50 years earlier.

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