Great Migration & Early Civil Rights Leaders

Active learning works well for this topic because it helps students grasp the human dimensions of history. Moving from abstract push-pull factors to personal stories makes the scale and impact of the Great Migration real and memorable.

• 8th Grade
• American History
• 3 activities
• 30 min–40 min

Learning Objectives

1. Analyze the primary 'push' and 'pull' factors that motivated African Americans to migrate from the rural South to Northern cities.
2. Compare and contrast the strategies proposed by Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois for advancing racial equality.
3. Evaluate the opportunities and challenges faced by African Americans upon their arrival and settlement in Northern urban centers.
4. Explain how the Great Migration contributed to the development of new African American cultural centers and communities.
5. Synthesize information from primary sources to describe the lived experiences of migrants during the Great Migration.

Jigsaw

⏱ 35 min·Small Groups

Mapping Activity: Push and Pull Factors

Small groups work with maps of the US, marking Southern states with documented push factors such as lynching rates, specific Jim Crow laws, and crop failure data, and marking Northern cities with pull factors including industrial wages and community institutions. Groups trace specific migration routes using primary source accounts and discuss which factors were most frequently cited by migrants themselves.

Prepare & details

Explain the 'push' and 'pull' factors that led to the Great Migration.

Facilitation Tip: During the Mapping Activity, have students use different colored markers for push and pull factors so the contrast is visually clear on their maps.

Setup: Flexible seating for regrouping

Materials: Expert group reading packets, Note-taking template, Summary graphic organizer

• Understand
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Relationship Skills
• Self-Management

Jigsaw

⏱ 40 min·Pairs

Comparative Document Analysis: Washington vs. Du Bois

Pairs read excerpts from Washington's 1895 Atlanta Exposition Address and Du Bois's 1903 'The Souls of Black Folk.' Students identify each man's proposed path to equality, the underlying assumptions about what was politically possible at the time, and the specific historical context, including year, audience, and political climate, that shaped each argument.

Prepare & details

Analyze the challenges and opportunities faced by African Americans in Northern cities.

Facilitation Tip: For the Comparative Document Analysis, assign each student one paragraph from Washington and one from Du Bois to annotate before discussing in pairs.

Setup: Flexible seating for regrouping

Materials: Expert group reading packets, Note-taking template, Summary graphic organizer

• Understand
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Relationship Skills
• Self-Management

Gallery Walk

⏱ 30 min·Individual

Gallery Walk: Harlem in the 1920s

Stations feature photographs, music descriptions, newspaper headlines, and poetry from the Harlem Renaissance. Students identify how African American cultural production in Northern cities both reflected the Great Migration experience and created new forms of political and artistic expression, noting specific connections between migration and cultural output.

Prepare & details

Compare the approaches of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois to achieving racial equality.

Facilitation Tip: During the Gallery Walk, position students in small groups at each station to discuss what they see in the images before rotating.

Setup: Wall space or tables arranged around room perimeter

Materials: Large paper/poster boards, Markers, Sticky notes for feedback

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Create
• Relationship Skills
• Social Awareness

Teaching This Topic

Teachers often start with the human stories before explaining the broader trends. This builds empathy first, then layers in analysis. Avoid presenting the Great Migration as a simple success story; instead, highlight both progress and persistent barriers. Research shows that when students analyze primary sources about resistance to migration, they better understand systemic racism beyond individual prejudice.

What to Expect

Successful learning looks like students explaining both structural forces and individual choices behind the Great Migration. They should connect economic, social, and political factors to the lived experiences of migrants and civil rights leaders.

Watch Out for These Misconceptions

Common Misconception

During the Mapping Activity, watch for students who assume the Great Migration ended racism entirely. Redirect them by asking them to plot the locations of the 1919 Chicago Race Riot on their maps and discuss why such violence occurred even in Northern cities.

What to Teach Instead

During the Comparative Document Analysis, remind students that Washington’s focus on vocational training was a strategic response to the violent constraints of the 1890s South. Ask them to find evidence in his writing that shows his goals went beyond accommodation to tangible improvements in students’ lives.

Assessment Ideas

Exit Ticket

After the Mapping Activity, collect students’ Venn diagrams and assess their ability to identify at least two push factors and two pull factors, noting whether they recognize how economic and social pressures interacted.

Discussion Prompt

After the Gallery Walk, facilitate a class discussion where students use the images and captions to support arguments about whether the North provided genuine opportunity, referencing specific challenges like housing covenants and employment discrimination.

Quick Check

During the Comparative Document Analysis, circulate to listen for students identifying one key difference between Washington’s and Du Bois’s philosophies, such as Washington’s emphasis on economic progress versus Du Bois’s focus on political rights.

Extensions & Scaffolding

• Challenge early finishers to create a short social media post from the perspective of a migrant explaining why they left the South.
• Scaffolding for struggling students: provide sentence starters for comparing Washington and Du Bois, such as "Both leaders wanted ______, but they disagreed on ______."
• Deeper exploration: invite students to research a specific city’s response to the Great Migration and present findings on how local policies shaped migrants' experiences.

Key Vocabulary

Great Migration	The mass movement of African Americans from the rural South to Northern, Midwestern, and Western cities, occurring in two major waves from roughly 1910 to 1970.
Jim Crow Laws	State and local laws enacted in the Southern United States that enforced racial segregation and discrimination against African Americans.
Sharecropping	A system where a farmer cultivates land owned by someone else and receives a portion of the crop as payment, often trapping farmers in cycles of debt.
Urbanization	The process of population shift from rural areas to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change.
NAACP	The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, an organization founded in 1909 to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate racial hatred and discrimination.