Residents by Race

As the early twentieth-century progressed, the concentration of African-American residential and commercial populations within the Blocks’ increased significantly. Recording a total of 167 residents and business owners, the 1930 Federal Census denotes 150 individuals, approximately 90% of the area’s population, as “Negro.” The Census recorded the remaining 10% of the population as “White.” Unlike the Department of Commerce’s previous 1920 “Instructions to Enumerators” which directed Enumerators to record individual race as “white,” “black,” and “mulatto,” the Department of Commerce instructed the 1930 Federal Census Enumerators to record individuals of mixed white and negro blood or Indian and negro blood as Negro, without distinction. This change in terminology and reclassification of race may account for some statistical increase in African-American population. However, according to the Federal Census, white individuals and businesses still accounted for more than 38% of the Blocks’ population in 1920, demonstrating a 28% decrease in white populations from 1920 to 1930.