1880s –1970s
The Great Migration of Black individuals and families from former slave states in the South to large cities in the Northeast, Midwest, and West coast begins. As they arrive, they are pushed into overcrowded, segregated housing.
U.S. History
1870s
When first used in the United States in the 1870s, the term “homelessness” was meant to describe itinerant “tramps” traversing the country in search of work. After declining briefly after the Civil War, homelessness first became a national issue in the 1870s. Facilitated by the construction of the national railroad system, urbanization, industrialization, and mobility … Continued
1870s
Jim Crow laws were a collection of state and local statutes that legalized racial segregation. Named after a Black minstrel show character, the laws—which existed for about 100 years, from the post-Civil War era until 1968—were meant to marginalize African Americans by denying them the right to vote, hold jobs, get an education or other … Continued
1865-1877
Reconstruction Act of 1867 shepherd in a short era of “Radical Reconstruction,” where interracial democracy begins to take hold as Blacks are voted into elected offices, ambitious economic development programs and more equitable tax structures are established, and laws against racial discrimination take hold. The reassertion of white supremacy in the South and the official … Continued
1870s-1890s
From the 1870s until the 1890s one could purchase morphine and heroin with syringes from Sears and Roebucks catalogues. The Civil War was the first war where the newly discovered painkiller morphine was used. Now people with amputated limbs could survive. Opiate addiction became rampant with 100s of thousands of war veterans addicted. Many rural … Continued
1865
Black emancipation officially came to Texas on June 19, 1865. On this day, a Union military MajorGeneral stationed in Galveston, Texas read General Order No. 3, which declared that “all slaves are free.” The occasion of this order has come to be known and celebrated by African Americans and others across the nation as Juneteenth. … Continued
1863
After the Emancipation Proclamation, free Blacks experience homelessness on the edges of Union Army Camps and in Northern cities.
1862-1863
President Lincoln issued his preliminary Emancipation Proclamation September 22, 1862, and his final Emancipation Proclamation January 1, 1863.
1850s
The 1850s brought the first documented cases of homeless youth, many of whom were kicked out of their homes because their providers could no longer afford to raise them. Poor safety regulation caused a lot of physical disability and death. Those disabled and widows, many with dependent children had no means to provide for themselves … Continued
1830
President Andrew Jackson signs the Indian Removal Act, displacing tens of thousands of Creek, Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole and other native people who suffered from deadly disease, starvation, and exhaustion as they migrated west. This is the first major federal legislation to create mass homelessness.