Most, if not all of us are where we are today because of the act of migration. Either we migrated or our ancestors migrated at some point. I, myself am a product of migration. To escape the racial discrimination and lack of opportunities for a Black woman in Fredericksburg, VA during the 1960s, my grandmother packed up my mother and aunt, then 6 and 10, and left “home” for New York City. They settled in Harlem with relatives who migrated decades earlier. And this is a typically how the Great migration story is told. A person leaves the South and arrives in a city in the North, West, or Midwest.

What The Great Migration Project seeks to do is focus on the personal stories and experiences of Black travelers who traveled during the Great Migration. More specifically, this project seeks to document the moments in-between places, and focus on the spaces and experiences along the journey—while in-transit.

Of course, I want to know when you arrived and why you came to Cleveland but I really want to know how you got to Cleveland. Was it by bus, car, plane or train? How long did it take to get to Cleveland? What did you wear during your journey? What did you experience during your journey? Where did you sit during your journey? What did you eat during your journey? How did you feel during your journey? What did you see during your journey? What did you hear during your journey? And what did you smell during your journey?

My grandmother migrated from Fredericksburg to New York City by Greyhound bus which is more than five hours including scheduled stops along the way, which is a relatively short bus ride. These hours and hours of Black life, moments, and experiences traveling in-between places, while in-transit deserve to be documented and preserved just as they would had they taken place inside of a building or historical site.