Physicians in the Great Migration: A Longitudinal GIS Analysis of Black Doctor Relocation, 1906–1940

Ben Chrisinger, Tufts University
Sean M. Smith, Rice University

This paper investigates the spatial dynamics of the Black medical workforce during the Great Migration (1906–1940) by leveraging a novel longitudinal dataset derived from American Medical Directories (AMDs). While the mass movement of the African American population from the rural South to northern urban centers is a foundational subject of historical sociology, the specific migratory trajectories of Black medical doctors remain underexplored due to the previous inaccessibility of large-scale archival records. Utilizing a geocoded database of physician practice locations linked to decennial Census data, this study employs Historical GIS methodologies to map the relocation of individual practitioners over four decades. We analyze the relative rates of mobility among Black physicians compared to the general Black population, testing whether professional migration mirrored broader demographic shifts or followed distinct patterns of institutional opportunity. Central to this inquiry is the impact of medical school locations on physicians' subsequent relocations. Furthermore, the paper examines the correlation between these migratory shifts and the emergence of racial health disparities, considering how the uneven geographic distribution of Black practitioners affected healthcare access in both declining southern rural districts and rapidly expanding northern urban enclaves. By tracing these individual career trajectories through a period of intense professionalization and de jure segregation, this research highlights the agency of Black doctors in navigating racialized economic structures. This work ultimately contributes to the SSHA 2026 theme of "Decentering Modernity" by challenging unidirectional narratives of professional development and highlighting the resilience of Black medical infrastructures amidst global political and economic reconfiguration.

No extended abstract or paper available

 Presented in Session 42. Settlement Patterns and Inequality