Letter from Cleveland Gailliard of Mobile, Alabama, to the Bethlehem Baptist Association in Chicago, Illinois, April 1, 1917

    Letter from Cleveland Gailliard of Mobile, Alabama, to the Bethlehem Baptist Association in Chicago, Illinois, April 1, 1917
    Courtesy of Library of Congress, Gailliard, Cleveland, "Letter from Cleveland Gailliard of Mobile, Alabama, to the Bethlehem Baptist Association, Chicago, Illinois," 1 April 1917

    Description

    The Chicago Defender, a weekly newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, was successful in encouraging African Americans to migrate from the South to the city, often listing names of churches and other organizations to whom they could write for help. As a result, thousands of African Americans wrote letters to African-American churches which assumed the task of helping them find housing and employment. In this April 1, 1917, letter, a 31-year-old African-American man from Mobile, Alabama, wrote to the Bethlehem Baptist Association for assistance in travel to Chicago and employment upon arriving there.

    Transcript of Letter from Cleveland Gailliard to the Bethlehem Baptist Association

    Source-Dependent Questions

    • What was Cleveland Gailliard's purpose in writing to Chicago's Bethlehem Baptist Association?
    • Use evidence from the letter to explain the feelings and emotions behind it.
    • What does Gailliard's letter suggest about how many African Americans handled the racism and discrimination of the South?

    Citation Information

    Gailliard, Cleveland, "Letter from Cleveland Gailliard of Mobile, Alabama, to the Bethlehem Baptist Association, Chicago, Illinois," 1 April 1917. Courtesy of Library of Congress

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