Still further, when the designated Negro quarters in Pittsburgh became congested, there grew up new colonies in various places elsewhere.[150] In many instances the houses in these colonies were those which had been abandoned by foreign whites at the outbreak of the European War. Some of these structures had been formerly condemned by the City Bureau of Sanitation, but were opened again to accommodate the migrants from the South. For these inadequate dwelling places Negro occupants were compelled to pay comparatively high rents, which ranged from $10 to upwards of $25 per month.
An investigation made in Cleveland in 1917 revealed the fact that Negroes were living in cramped unsanitary quarters two or three families per suite, and that in this regard there was very little relief in sight. Rents had increased far out of proportion, ranging from 50 per cent to 75 per cent higher for Negro than for white tenants. There were instances in which rents had jumped from $25 to $45, from $16 to $35 and the like.[151] An examination into conditions of housing in Detroit indicated that a majority of the houses were in very bad repair, many of them being actual shanties. Less than one-half of these houses were equipped with bath-rooms or inside toilets. Rents were also exceedingly high. The average rent a room of houses occupied by Negroes was $5.90, whereas the average rent a room for the city at large was only $4.25. The prevailing rent a Negro family ranged between $20 and $44 per month. It was estimated that the increase in rent of houses occupied by Negroes during eighteen months was all the way from 50 per cent to 350 per cent.[152]
A study of 407 families in Detroit, moreover, showed that 209 of them kept lodgers as a means of procuring money to pay the high rents. One hundred of these kept no lodgers; the other 98 were doubtful or unknown. The prevalent size of each family was from two to four persons, exclusive of lodgers; and 146 families were found living each in two or more rooms. Thus when the size of the families, consisting each of two or three persons, including lodgers, and the number of rooms occupied per family were considered, it was found that there was much overcrowding, which meant a serious hindrance to healthy and decent family life.[153]
In regard to the housing situation in Chicago, the Secretary of the National Urban League reported that the Negroes were living in a limited area similar to that of the most Negroes in Harlem, New York City. In the former place, the houses occupied by the migrants were the old one-family type, were unsanitary, and in a serious state of disrepair. Two years previous to the exodus 300 or more of these houses were vacant; but during the migration of the Negroes they all became occupied, many of them having been converted so as to house two or more families. The report further states that the Negro newcomers had pushed over into the white residential section and were occupying houses, vacated by the whites, at an increase of 20 per cent or more in rent. No new houses were being built, in spite of the serious demand for them. The result of this, therefore, was further excessive increases in rental rates, which greatly enhanced the tendency to overcrowd.[154]
Finally, we are informed that the housing conditions among Negro migrants in Hartford were very poor. These people were for the most part settled on the east side of the city and lived in tenements formerly used by the foreigners. These dwellings were without modern conveniences and comforts, and were, therefore, very unsanitary. Some of the migrants, however, were more fortunately situated; but were paying exceedingly high rents. The rents averaged from $20 and $25 for three rooms to $30 for four or five rooms. These high rents caused the Negroes to overcrowd in order to be able to pay the same. The owners of these houses, moreover, took advantage of the tenants by doing very little repairing; sometimes just enough to comply with the law.[155]
FOOTNOTES:
[124] Woodson, C. G., A Century of Negro Migration, p. 190.
[125] Tyson, F. D., Negro Migration in 1916-17, Rep. U. S. Dept. Lab., pp. 126-27.
[126] Epstein, A., The Negro Migrant in Pittsburgh, p. 22.
[127] Ibid., p. 23.