The link below will take you to citations for some very good material concerning the black exodus to Kansas. I recently read two of the articles in the list by Glen Schwendemann on the impact of the migration on St Louis, MO & Wyandotte, KS and found them fascinating. One of the most interesting aspects of the articles was their mention by name of the numerous steam ships that were going back and forth bringing the masses up the Mississippi & Missouri Rivers. I found a newspaper article a week or so ago in a black weekly by a relief agency person that remarked that many of the migrants did not want handouts and were sent on to surrounding states where there was employment in several industries, including the coal mines of Iowa. I was so proud when I read that since we got characterized so often during that era following the end of slavery as being lazy and not willing to work.

The St Louis article can be downloaded in pdf format via JSTOR. If you are unfamiliar with JSTOR, just Google it and you should get their homepage.

Tim