s of articles under
the caption, "Make East St. Louis a Lily White Town." It was a
simple matter of touching off the smoldering tinder. In the riot that
followed over a hundred negroes were killed. These, for the most part
lived away from the places of the most violent disturbances, and were
returning home, unconscious of the fate that awaited them. The riot
has recently been subject to a congressional investigation, but
few convictions resulted and those whites convicted escaped serious
punishment.[109]

[Footnote 102: A segregation law was passed by an overwhelming
majority. Negroes secured an injunction and the matter rested there
until the United States Supreme Court declared the segregation laws
invalid.]

[Footnote 103: St. Louis School Reports, 1916 and 1917.]

[Footnote 104: Johnson, _Report on the Migration to St. Louis_.]

[Footnote 105: Ibid.]

[Footnote 106: _Reports of the National Urban League_, 1916, 1917.]

[Footnote 107: Johnson, _Report on the Migration to St. Louis_.]

[Footnote 108: See _Congressional Report on the Massacre of East St.
Louis_.]

[Footnote 109: See _Congressional Report on the Massacre of East St.
Louis_.]

CHAPTER X

CHICAGO AND ITS ENVIRONS

Chicago, the metropolis of the West, remembered in the South since
the World's Fair as a far-away city of hope from which come all great
things; unceasingly advertised through its tremendous mail order and
clothing houses, schools and industries until it became a synonym for
the "North," was the mouth of the stream of negroes from the South. It
attracted all types of men, brought them in, encouraged them and
cared for them because it needed them. It is estimated that within
the period of eighteen months beginning January, 1916, more than fifty
thousand negroes entered the city. This estimate was based on averages
taken from actual count of daily arrivals.

There were at work in this city a number of agencies which served to
stimulate the movement. The stock yards were sorely in need of men. It
was reported that they had emissaries in the South. Whether it is true
or not, it is a fact that it was most widely advertised throughout the
States of Mississippi and Louisiana that employment could easily be
secured in the Chicago stock yards district. The report was circulated
that fifty thousand men were needed, and the packers were providing
houses for migrants and caring for them until they had established
themselves. The Ill