The Making of Black Metropolis

Abstract

Black Metropolis, an exemplary monograph about the South Side of Chicago, was written mainly by St. Clair Drake and Horace R. Cayton and was published in 1945. Both authors had former experience in research and field work. Black Metropolis was initially a Works Progress Administration project in collaboration with Lloyd Warner to use the money coming from federal funds. Drake and Cayton divided the work of studying different social components of the black community. Cayton was familiar with upper class and Drake with lower class and churches. A large team was set up to undertake the Cayton-Warner project from 1936 to 1941. There was no initial project for a book, and the expectations of the different members of the team were highly diverse. It was not until 1940 and 1941, once the study had been completed, that the three main researchers had the idea of publishing a book based on it.