William Leabs, Jr., an African American businessman, stands before his store, the Marquette Shoe Shining Parlor, listed in the Lansing City Directories of 1902 and 1904. (Courtesy photo)
Three years later, the 1850 census listed 13 African Americans in Lansing, out of a total population of 1,229. Some, like James Little, came from New York. Most of Lansing's early white residents were also from New York, so it's likely these black pioneers traveled with them.
The remaining black residents hailed from Virginia and North Carolina. {mosimage}
The African American population increased slowly during the remainder of the 19th century. Many black settlers came from other Northern states and from the upper South. Some were Canadians descended from escaped slaves. Others came from elsewhere in Michigan, with the majority of those hailing from Cass County, as freed slave communities had been established there before the Civil War. Most early arrivals were single and 19 or younger. As more families arrived, a clear black community began to develop.
Initially, clusters of black households sprung up in otherwise white neighborhoods. By 1900, most of Lansing's African Americans lived on the west side, within a district bound by Ionia Street to the north, Logan Street (now Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard) to the west, Isaac Street (now Olds Avenue) to the south and Townsend Street to the east. This was an established African American area before the Oldsmobile plant was erected nearby.
To what degree were the residents forced into segregation? Like other ethnic groups, African Americans often liked to be near friends, relatives and work places. There was thus at least some voluntary element to the clusters' formations. However, the clusters also reflected the limited incomes and occupational opportunities available to blacks.
In the early 1900s, African Americans in Lansing tended to be more educated and skilled than blacks in large urban areas. Sixty percent of Lansing's African Americans were homeowners, and a few owned businesses. Nonetheless, discrimination forced most to seek jobs in the service industries, where they worked as waiters, cooks and domestic servants.
A large-scale migration of African Americans from the Deep South to the North began around 1915, and blacks arrived in Lansing in greater numbers than ever. Their Deep South origins distinguished them from older, more established families, who began to disassociate themselves from the more recent arrivals. Some older residents moved out of the neighborhood around the Oldsmobile plant and formed smaller clusters elsewhere.
Meanwhile, whites began to more actively enforce segregated housing — common methods included restricting deeds and refusing to sell to blacks.
The 1920s brought a housing boom, and with it came the first “white flight” to outlying areas.
In 1929, Malcolm X's parents, Earl and Louise Little, were sued for purchasing property in the Westmont Subdivision on the northwest side. Westmont property deeds explicitly forbid sales to anyone “not of the Caucasian race.” The Littles' house burned to the ground in November 1929.
In his autobiography, Malcolm X claimed that white arsonists caused the fire.
Segregation became even more pronounced during the Great Depression. African Americans suffered high unemployment rates, and racial segregation limited available housing. Many had to live with relatives. The neighborhood near the Oldsmobile plant became increasingly crowded during the 1920s. Lots in African American neighborhoods were often small and poorly surveyed. Housing shortages during and after World War II only exacerbated the situation, as did the influx of more newcomers after the war.
With the 1960s came a new catchphrase: “urban renewal.” In Lansing, this began with the construction of Interstate 496 through the heart of the city. It bisected the city's largest black neighborhood, and 890 dwellings — many occupied by African Americans — were demolished to complete the highway. An Oldsmobile expansion project eliminated even more housing. Two urban renewal projects around the Capitol destroyed another 372 dwellings, with African Americans again occupying the majority of them. New housing projects presented alternative living spaces, but they lacked quality and were too few in number.
In 1970, after the urban renewal pro-jects, about 11,000 African Americans lived in Lansing.
According to the 2000 census, that number rose to approximately 26,000.
The black population of African Americans continues to grow as Lansing becomes more modern and diverse. James Little would not recognize the town he helped to established.
(Robert Garrett is an archivist for the Archives of Michigan.)
