Southern Black Population Changes

• Estimated rate of lynchings in the South between 1883 and 1905: about one per week⁵
• Number of Black registered voters in Louisiana in 1894: 130,000
• Number of Black registered voters in Louisiana in 1904: 1,342¹
• Percentage of national Black population living in the South on the eve of World War I: about 90%
• Estimated number of Blacks that left the South between 1910 and 1920: about half a million⁶
• Estimated number of Blacks that left the South for the North between 1950 and 1970: about three million¹⁰

Record Sales

• Estimated rate of blues record releases in 1921-1922: about one per week⁷
• Estimated rate of blues record releases in 1927: about ten per week⁸
• Total record industry sales in 1927: over $100 million
• Estimated percent of 1927 sales consisting of "race" records: about 5%⁹
• Cost in 1920 dollars of a recording of Mamie Smith's "Crazy Blues," the first record by a Black blues singer and the first big blues hit: $1⁴
• Estimated number of copies that Robert Johnson's best-selling record sold in his lifetime: 4,000
• Estimated number of copies that Robert Johnson: The Complete Recordings sold in the first six months of release in 1990: 400,000³
• Estimated ratio of blues songs recorded since 1920 that deal with sexual relationships: about 3 out of 4²