African Americans in Lansing

The photo above depicts William Leabs, Jr., an African American businessman. He’s standing in front of his store, the Marquette Shoe Shining Parlor. This business is listed in the Lansing City Directories of 1902 and 1904, and the photo presumably dates from about that same time frame.

1847-1900

Lansing’s African American heritage is as old as the city itself. Lansing’s first black resident of record is James Little, a freed slave from New York state. Little came to Lansing in 1847 (the year of the city’s founding) and started a farm.

Lansing’s black population increased slowly during the remainder of the nineteenth 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 (Freed slave communities had been established there before the Civil War.).

1900-1929

As more families came, a clear African American community began to develop in Lansing. By 1900, most blacks lived on the city’s west side, close to where the Oldsmobile plant would one day stand. They 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. Discrimination did force most to seek jobs in the service industry, however, and many worked as waiters, cooks and domestic servants.

The Malcolm X historical marker in Lansing (Photo taken February 5, 2012).

A large-scale migration of African Americans from the Deep South to the North began around 1915. Blacks moved to Lansing in greater numbers than ever, while whites began to more actively enforce segregated housing.

Malcolm X’s parents, Earl and Louise Little^[1], were among the victims of discrimination. In 1929, they were sued for buying property in Lansing’s Westmont subdivision. Westmont property deeds explicitly forbid sales to anyone “not of the Caucasian race.” The court ordered the Littles to move, and a fire (believed by the Littles to be caused by white arsonists) soon destroyed the property (For more on Malcolm X’s experiences in Lansing click Malcolm X in Michigan.).

1929-1970

Segregation became even more pronounced during the Great Depression. With a growing African American population and fewer housing opportunities, Lansing’s main black neighborhood (still located by the Oldsmobile plant) became increasingly crowded. Housing shortages during and after World War II exacerbated the situation.

In the 1960s, the city began practicing urban renewal. Interstate 496 was constructed through the heart of the city, bisecting the main black neighborhood. The project claimed 890 dwellings, many of which were occupied by African Americans. An Oldsmobile expansion project and two urban renewal projects around the Capitol destroyed even more housing.

1970-Today

The urban renewal projects ended by 1970. That year, about eleven thousand blacks lived in Lansing. By the year 2000, that number had grown to twenty-six thousand. The number continues to grow, as Lansing itself becomes more modern and diverse.

[1]As far as is known, Earl Little is not related to James Little, Lansing’s first black resident. Malcolm X was born in Nebraska in 1925, and his family relocated to Michigan in 1928.