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Samuel Baker of Columbia, South Carolina, wrote this letter to Kansas governor St. John requesting information about housing for freed blacks. Apparently, there were around 10,000 blacks in South Carolina wanting to escape racial oppression in the South, and Baker desired more information and advice about relocating these people to Kansas. In addition to his service as governor, St. John also served on the Board of Directors of the Kansas Freedmen's Relief Association.
Creator: Baker, Samuel
Date: March 7, 1882
This source demonstrates black Southerners' desire to leave their home states, which relates to the rise of Jim Crow laws in the South. Also, it provides an important glimpse of the black perspective on emigration.
KS:7th:3.5:Exodusters (2005)
Item Number: 210540
Call Number: Governor's Records, St. John, Correspondence Received, Box 13 Folder 19
KSHS Identifier: DaRT ID: 210540
Collections - State Archives - Governor's Records - St. John, John Pierce
Community Life - Clubs and organizations - Charitable - Relief - Freedmen's Relief Association
Curriculum - 7th Grade Standards - Kansas History Standards - 1860s to 1870s (Benchmark 3) - Exodusters (Indicator 5) - Emigrant aid organizations
Curriculum - 7th Grade Standards - Kansas History Standards - 1860s to 1870s (Benchmark 3) - Exodusters (Indicator 5) - Jim Crow laws in the South
Curriculum - 7th Grade Standards - Kansas History Standards - 1860s to 1870s (Benchmark 3) - Exodusters (Indicator 5) - Reasons behind emigration
Date - 1880s - 1882
Government and Politics - State Government - Governors - St. John, John Pierce
Objects and Artifacts - Communication Artifacts - Documentary Artifact - Letter
People - African Americans - Discrimination
People - African Americans - Exodusters
People - Notable Kansans - St. John, John Pierce, 1833-1916
Places - Other States - South Carolina
Thematic Time Period - Immigration and Settlement, 1854 - 1890
Type of Material - Unpublished documents - Letters
http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/210540