Excerpt from Mortality Among Negroes in Cities: Proceedings of the Conference for Investigations of City Problems, Held at Atlanta University, May 26-27, 1896 In 1860, only 4. 2 per cent of the colored population of the United States were living in the cities. By 1880, the number had increased to per cent oi the whole colored population, while by 1890, it had increased to 12 per cent. This process of concentration in the cities has been relatively much more rapid among the colored people than-among the whites, the figures for whites during the same period being per cent in 1860, and per cent in 1890, or an increase of per cent, as against percent for colored. How rapid this increase in the city population really is, may be illustrated by the growth of the colored population in the city of At lanta, where the increase has been at a rate three times as great as for the country at, large. For the decade 1870 - 80, the increase was 64 per cent; for 1880 - 1890, 72 per cent; while the average increase of colored pop ulation for the whole country during the same period was only 20 per cent in each decade. In taking up the study of city problems, we feel that we cannot do bet ter than begin by'an inquiry into the physical and moral condition of the people. It is a line of inquiry Which has not been previously pursued on any systematic or extensive scale. Up to the, present time, students and investigators of the problems confronting the colored race have confined themselves principally'to the study of problems of country life or directed their attention towards economic or educational questions. Of the phy sical condition of the Negro under the trying conditions of city life, we have little accurate information. Many of the Southern cities have not had, until within a few years, any city boards of health, and, as a result, there has not been hitherto sufficient official data from which any broad generalizations could be drawn, and such data as have been obtainable have not yet been brought together in available form. We have, however, some few data that, are sufficient to prove the necessity of the inquiry upon which we have begun. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.