Between 20,000 and 40,000 poor blacks mainly from Border and Deep South states migrated to Kansas, a land of opportunity, in 1879. This “Exoduster Movement,” by foot, wagon, train, and river boat, helped transform Kansas society.

The movement reflected a quest for freedom and economic independence. Democrats opposed “the Exodus,” spreading rumors of Republican-paid transportation and aid for migrants. But its primary organizer, ex-slave Benjamin “Pap” Singleton of Tennessee, had eyed Kansas as a refuge from oppression and place to own land since 1869. He had led a group of 300 there in 1875. Churches and protective societies in migrants’ hometowns and the National Emigrant Aid Society provided temporary housing, food, and medical supplies. Exodusters endured poverty, illness, and white backlash, yet during the first few years they acquired more than 20,000 acres, built churches and 300 homes, and formed social organizations.