ABSTRACT
The pattern of life among rural blacks in the South after Reconstruction, the particular aspirations they brought with them to the North, and their opinions of Pittsburgh as a new home and as a place of work produced a unique variation on the country-to-city theme. Seasonal migration in the South might have worked this way: a young male or female member of the black rural family would leave the rented farm and travel to the nearest town or city where a job could be found. Seasonal migration entailed important economic consequences for southern blacks. As a device to overcome the precarious marginal position of tenant families, migration readjusted the family resources. The work histories of former migrants who have been interviewed show how the tides of seasonal migration carried them to Pittsburgh. Seasonal migration within the South and between North and South, brief periods of work in northern industry, and frequent trips home all expressed this commitment.
