Fly Away: The Great African American Cultural Migrations

by Peter M. Rutkoff, William B. Scott

Overview

The Great Migration—the mass exodus of blacks from the rural South to the urban North and West in the twentieth century—shaped American culture and life in ways still evident today. In Fly Away, Peter M. Rutkoff and William B. Scott trace the ideas that inspired African Americans to abandon the South for freedom and opportunity elsewhere.

Black southerners fled the Low Country of South Carolina, the mines and mills of Birmingham, Alabama, the farms of the Mississippi Delta, and the urban wards of Houston, Texas, for new opportunities in New York, Pittsburgh, Chicago, and Los Angeles. They took with them the South’s rich traditions of religion, language, music, and art, recreating and preserving their southern identity in the churches, newspapers, jazz clubs, and neighborhoods of America’s largest cities. Rutkoff and Scott’s sweeping study explores the development and adaptation of African American culture, from its West African roots to its profound and lasting impact on mainstream America.

Broad in scope and original in its interpretation, Fly Away illuminates the origins, development, and transformation of national culture during an important chapter in twentieth-century American history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781421418476
Publisher:	Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication date:	01/15/2016
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	432
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Peter M. Rutkoff is a professor of American studies at Kenyon College. He is a coauthor of New York Modern: The Arts and the City.

William B. Scott is professor emeritus of history at Kenyon College. He is a coauthor of New York Modern: The Arts and the City.

Table of Contents

List of Maps and Illustrations ix

Acknowledgments xiii

1 Out of Africa: West African Origins 1

2 New Africa: South Carolina Low Country 15

3 Negro Capital of the World: Harlem 55

4 Mules and Men: Birmingham 104

5 Blues Pianos and Tricky Baseballs: Pittsburgh 137

6 Walkin' Egypt: Mississippi Delta 171

7 Bronzeville's Pinkster Kings: South Side Chicago 205

8 Dixie Special: Houston 244

9 California Dreaming: South Central LA 284

10 Circle Unbroken: Three Stones and a Conclusion 335

Notes 349

Index 399

What People are Saying About This

Bernard E. Powers Jr.

This wide-ranging, epic study begins by showing how distinctive African American cultures, reflecting different degrees of African influence, developed in the South Carolina Low Country, the Mississippi Delta, Birmingham, and Houston. The authors then show how the transmission of these cultures to northern cities during the Great Migrations of the twentieth century led to new African American cultural adaptations in the areas of dance, music, recreation, clothing, and spirituality. The end results dramatically transformed African Americans, the urban landscape, and modern America at large.

— Bernard E. Powers Jr., College of Charleston

From the Publisher

An exceptionally well documented portrait of African American migration. Peter Rutkoff and William Scott's Fly Away is a deeply moving account of black families and their journey out of the American South.
—William Ferris, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Rutkoff and Scott have worked together for years, arming themselves with insight into the flow and deep nature of black tradition. This book is the quintessence of their expertise—clear, brilliant, thrilling. It is destined to become a classic in the field. Unreservedly recommended.
—Robert Farris Thompson, author of Tango: The Art History of Love

Fly Away offers a fresh angle of vision on twentieth-century American culture. Peter Rutkoff and William Scott explain how African American urban cultures emerged from a sequence of migrations, eventually influencing the everyday lives of a wide variety of Americans. This is a book infused with imagination, inspiration, and a deep commitment to uncovering new meanings for our past.
—James Grossman, author of Land of Hope: Chicago, Black Southerners, and the Great Migration

This wide-ranging, epic study begins by showing how distinctive African American cultures, reflecting different degrees of African influence, developed in the South Carolina Low Country, the Mississippi Delta, Birmingham, and Houston. The authors then show how the transmission of these cultures to northern cities during the Great Migrations of the twentieth century led to new African American cultural adaptations in the areas of dance, music, recreation, clothing, and spirituality. The end results dramatically transformed African Americans, the urban landscape, and modern America at large.
—Bernard E. Powers Jr., College of Charleston

Robert Farris Thompson

Rutkoff and Scott have worked together for years, arming themselves with insight into the flow and deep nature of black tradition. This book is the quintessence of their expertise—clear, brilliant, thrilling. It is destined to become a classic in the field. Unreservedly recommended.

— Robert Farris Thompson, author of Tango: The Art History of Love

William Ferris

An exceptionally well documented portrait of African American migration. Peter Rutkoff and William Scott's Fly Away is a deeply moving account of black families and their journey out of the American South.

— William Ferris, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

James Grossman

Fly Away offers a fresh angle of vision on twentieth-century American culture. Peter Rutkoff and William Scott explain how African American urban cultures emerged from a sequence of migrations, eventually influencing the everyday lives of a wide variety of Americans. This is a book infused with imagination, inspiration, and a deep commitment to uncovering new meanings for our past.

— James Grossman, author of Land of Hope: Chicago, Black Southerners, and the Great Migration

Editorial Reviews

[A] well-written, thought-provoking book. The authors have created a broad-ranging study that is well worth reading. It provides many new ways of thinking about and interpreting the impact of African American migration both on the migrants and the nation.

Journal of American History - Spencer R. Crew

A grand work . . . An engaging and entertaining volume that ought to be of interest to anyone with a curiosity about African American migration and African American cultural contributions to American culture.

Geographical Review

Adds considerably to our understanding of this national exodus . . . The authors, who teach history at Kenyon College, argue that the black migrants preserved many of their West African roots and customs in the move north, just as they had during the Middle Passage from Africa to the Americas. These authors stress the cultural freedom afforded by holding on to a vision of Africa as the homeland. In preserving their African roots, the black migrants could take pride in where they came from and in who they were in their new circumstances.

Wall Street Journal

"Illuminating and impressive cultural history... Highly recommended."

Choice

"Adds considerably to our understanding of this national exodus... The authors, who teach history at Kenyon College, argue that the black migrants preserved many of their West African roots and customs in the move north, just as they had during the Middle Passage from Africa to the Americas. These authors stress the cultural freedom afforded by holding on to a vision of Africa as the homeland. In preserving their African roots, the black migrants could take pride in where they came from and in who they were in their new circumstances."

Wall Street Journal

A grand work . . . An engaging and entertaining volume that ought to be of interest to anyone with a curiosity about African American migration and African American cultural contributions to American culture.
—Geographical Review

As Rutkoff and Scott take the reader to Chicago’s Bud Billiken Day or Houston’s Juneteenth, August Wilson’s Pittsburgh, or Walter Mosley’s Los Angeles, 'the flashes of the West African spirit that black rural southerners brought north' are rendered visible.
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Adds considerably to our understanding of this national exodus . . . The authors, who teach history at Kenyon College, argue that the black migrants preserved many of their West African roots and customs in the move north, just as they had during the Middle Passage from Africa to the Americas. These authors stress the cultural freedom afforded by holding on to a vision of Africa as the homeland. In preserving their African roots, the black migrants could take pride in where they came from and in who they were in their new circumstances.
—Wall Street Journal

Fly Away represents a useful contribution.
—Brian Ward, Journal of World History

Fly Away is intended for an academic audience and its footnotes display the depth of the research. However, the authors' engaging style also should appeal to the general reader with an interest in African-American cultural history.
—Charleston Post and Courier

[A] well-written, thought-provoking book. The authors have created a broad-ranging study that is well worth reading. It provides many new ways of thinking about and interpreting the impact of African American migration both on the migrants and the nation.
—Spencer R. Crew, Journal of American History

Rutkoff and Scott's book is likely to become a staple in undergraduate courses in African American and American Studies.
—Luther Adams, American Historical Review

Illuminating and impressive cultural history . . . Highly recommended.
—Choice

From the Publisher

Fly Away represents a useful contribution.

Journal of World History - Brian Ward

Fly Away is intended for an academic audience and its footnotes display the depth of the research. However, the authors' engaging style also should appeal to the general reader with an interest in African-American cultural history.

Charleston Post and Courier

Rutkoff and Scott's book is likely to become a staple in undergraduate courses in African American and American Studies.

American Historical Review - Luther Adams

Fly Away: The Great African American Cultural Migrations is a grand work... An engaging and entertaining volume that ought to be of interest to anyone with a curiosity about African American migration and African American cultural contributions to American culture.

Geographical Review - Robert Brown

Rutkoff and Scott's book is likely to become a staple in undergraduate courses in African American and American Studies.

— Luther Adams

American Historical Review

Fly Away represents a useful contribution.

— Brian Ward

Journal of World History

[A] well-written, thought-provoking book. The authors have created a broad-ranging study that is well worth reading. It provides many new ways of thinking about and interpreting the impact of African American migration both on the migrants and the nation.

— Spencer R. Crew

Journal of American History