Chapter 8, "From Philadelphia to Atlanta" Summary and Analysis

Desperate to get out of Wilberforce, Du Bois accepts a temporary job assignment at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia where the largest black community in the North is located. This town has long accepted blacks in jobs as caterers and sail makers, and has treated African Americans with respect. However, mill work is now attracting unskilled whites, mostly Irish people into the region, and they are taking over traditionally African American jobs. Blacks are forced to ride outside the train cars where they used to hold jobs as conductors.

Many poor Southern Blacks have joined the Philadelphia residents in the city's 7th Ward alongside a smattering of rich white families. Progressive reformers disagree with conservative reformers about what to do about this situation. Many reformers look at the blacks like...