Moving In, Moving On: Changing Lives in a Southern City, 1900-1930

Regina M. Bures, University of Florida

Southern cities experienced significant changes in the early 20th century. Yet the impact these changes, particularly the effects of the Great Migration, on family and residential patterns in the South have not been fully studied. This paper examines population change in Charleston, SC, over the 1900 to 1930 period. I begin by describing the processes used to link multiple samples of residents using census records from the 1900-1930 US Censuses. I then present preliminary analyzes of the linked data. While the primary focus of these analyzes is mobility within the city, substantial migration in and out of the city occurred during this period as well. Immigration to Charleston was low, but the Great Migration brought many rural residents to the city. The strategy of linking multiple samples over an extended period allows us to observe the characteristics of the population in relation to their migration status (inmigrants, outmigrants, stayers).