A Movement Without Marches: African American Women and the Politics of Poverty in Postwar Philadelphia

Contents

Contents Acknowledgments xiii Introduction: The Multidimensionality of Poverty in a Postwar City 1 One ‘‘Tired of Being Seconds’’ on adc 31 Two Hard Choices at 1801 Vine 63 Three Housing, Not a Home 89 Four ‘‘Massive Resistance’’ in the Public Schools 121 Five A Hospital of Their Own 157 Conclusion 181 Appendix: Note on First-Person Sources 193 Notes 201 Bibliography 259 Index 285 This page intentionally left blank Illustrations, Tables, and Maps Illustrations In the 1950s, North Philadelphia was the poorest neighborhood in the city, but it maintained a vibrant street life 10 Poplar Street in North Philadelphia had some shops and businesses in the 1950s 14 A mother irons with one baby balanced on her hip and another child on the floor in her apartment in North Philadelphia in 1954 25 The Philadelphia Municipal Court at 18th and Vine Streets was modeled after government buildings in Paris 67 White police o≈cers frisking young black men suspected of belonging to a gang 80 A courtyard at James Weldon Johnson Homes in 1949 93 The floor plan for a two-bedroom apartment in Richard Allen Homes 95 Raymond Rosen Homes housed 1,122 families in stark high-rise buildings surrounded by row homes 97 Two-parent families like this one at James Weldon Johnson Homes in 1951 were given preference in admissions to public housing 99 A protest at a meeting about the Philadelphia Housing Authority ’s 1956 proposal to build public housing on twentyone new sites scattered throughout the city 101 This apartment at James Weldon Johnson Homes was carefully decorated, showing a personal touch 105 When first constructed, public housing o√ered clean and modern apartments like this one at Norris Homes in North Philadelphia in the mid-1950s 106 Boys play on a slide at Richard Allen Homes in the mid-1950s 115 Block groups frequently organized ‘‘clean-up, fix-up’’ days when neighborhood residents cleaned their windows and streets and attempted to clear vacant lots 117 In 1958, the Philadelphia Board of Education demolished Benjamin Franklin High School and replaced it with a modern structure 131 A chemistry class at the selective Philadelphia High School for Girls reflected the makeup of the student body, with a majority of whites and a small contingent of African Americans 133 A mother helps one of her ten children with homework while her toddler amuses herself at the table in their North Philadelphia home in the 1950s 145 West Philadelphia High School at 48th and Walnut Streets 148 Philadelphia General Hospital’s administration building 161 Children in the rehabilitation ward at Philadelphia General Hospital celebrate the Christmas holiday in 1964 165 Philadelphia General Hospital’s new high-tech nursery for premature babies opened in 1956 176 On February 25, 1976, protesters marched from Philadelphia General Hospital to City Hall to oppose the closing of the hospital 187 Tables i.1 African American Population of Philadelphia, 1930–1960 9 i.2 African American Labor Force Participation in Philadelphia, 1960 16 2.1 Cases of Fornication and Bastardy and Nonsupport, Philadelphia Municipal Court, 1940–1960 69 2.2 Cases in Which Plainti√s Returned to Court to Report Nonpayment of Support Orders, Philadelphia Municipal Court, 1940–1960 74 3.1 Philadelphia Public Housing, 1938–1956 92 4.1 1961 Philadelphia High School Graduates’ Future Prospects, Excluding ‘‘Other’’ and ‘‘Unknown’’ 125 4.2 1961 Philadelphia High School Graduates’ Future Prospects, Including ‘‘Other’’ and ‘‘Unknown’’ 126 4.3 Percentage of African American Students in the Philadelphia Public Schools, 1944–1964 127 4.4 Racial Composition of Philadelphia Schools, 1963 128 4.5 Black and White Student Enrollment in Philadelphia Senior High School Curricula, May 1963 134 4.6 Dropout Rates for Students Who Enrolled in Philadelphia Public Schools in 1949 137 5.1 Percentage of Black Patients on Wards, Philadelphia General Hospital, March 28, 1949, and July 20, 1955 164 Maps 1 Postwar Philadelphia xviii 2 Racial Composition of Philadelphia, 1950 Census Tracts 12 3 Racial Composition of Philadelphia, 1960 Census Tracts 13 4 Percentage of African American Students in Elementary School Zones in Northwest Philadelphia, 1961 129 This page intentionally left blank ...