The Great Migration was a period between 1910 and 1940 of rapid population shift when hundreds of thousands of southern African Americans resettled in the North hoping to find better employment, housing, and education for their children, and less racial discrimination. However, upon arrival in the North, blacks found hard, dirty, industrial employment, poor housing, mediocre schools, and racial discrimination. Yet, African Americans continued to flock to the North’s urban centers until the 1960s. Albany, New York, similar to other northern cities, experienced an influx of southern migrants during this time that changed the face of the city forever.