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by 1850, was the owner of 30 whore houses
Allowed him to operate these institutions as a franchise Didn’t participate in what took place, but when neighbors complained, he simply re-located |
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| prostitution, the 19th century, 5% of women were prostitutes at this time, and some had other occupations, but used prostitution solely for getting through "hard times" |
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| engaged in horse racing, gambling, boxing, Defended prostitution and other forms of extra-marital sex as important activities that increased the freedom of young men |
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| Free blacks created enclaves in many cities such as NYC, and Philadelphia. In the years after the civil war and emancipation, the number of blacks living in urban areas increased. In part, this was a reflection of the overall urbanization of the black population. The total US population went from about 20% urban in 1860 to 40% urban in 1910. |
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| Before 1920, while African Americans desired jobs in industrial cities in the United States, few opportunities were open to them. Many industrial employers accepted and perpetuated stereotypes that depicted African Americans as lazy, incompetent, incapable of caring to industrial work rhythms. The outbreak of WWI changed a lot of this. To begin with, the war itself brought a virtual halt to European immigration. At the same time, American industries increased production to meet the needs of the warring nations in Europe. This meant that for the first time, industrial employers (esp. in northern cities) found that there was a demand for black workers. A result of this was the Great Migration. The impact of this movement on individual cities was profound. Detroit’s African American population increased by 611% |
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| These associations were gatherings of residents of a particular neighborhood, where they would pledge to NOT sell their property to African Americans. City governments also played a role in segregation. In 1910, a number of American cities passed racial zoning laws. These racial zoning laws made It illegal for African Americans to purchase or rent or occupy housing in particular neighborhoods. Segregation was sometimes accomplished through zoning laws. Black neighborhoods tended to be located in the most undesirable sections of the city (near the city center, close to industrial zones) |
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| The index of dissimilarity |
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| score of 0 means even distribution of populations. This would mean complete integration of the blacks and whites. In Chicago, the index of dissimilarity went from 67 to 85. By 1930, 90% of Cleveland’s black population lived in an area called the “ Black Ghetto”. Since much urban housing remained off limits to all blacks, ghettos included not only the working class, but the middle class as well. There were variations of the physical conditions of the ghetto. On the whole, ghettos were marked by poverty, and associated social problems. Like immigrant tenement districts, black ghettos tended to be characterized by poor housing. These patterns of substandard crowded housing contributed to high rates of infectious disease within ghettos. Tuberculosis was a big problem in a lot of ghettos in urban cities. The death rate in Detroit remained steady for whites but increased drastically for blacks. |
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| Division of Negro Economics |
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| gov’t agency in charge of assisting northern companies in their efforts. Various northern black institutions and organizations also helped to coordinate the migration of blacks to the north. Northern black newspapers encouraged the migration of southern blacks. |
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| Assisted migrants in many ways. Founded in 1910 in New York City. Founded by a group of African American social workers and white philanthropists. The goal of the urban league was essentially to aid black migrants in their adjustment to urban life. This particular goal was to be pursued by branches of the national urban league that were established in major urban cities. At this level, these branches helped migrants in several ways. These helped newcomers to the city find housing. The Chicago urban league maintained what it called a certified lodging list-list of reputable lodging places where new migrants could turn. The Chicago urban league also directed homeless migrants to churches that provided shelter. Urban league branches also helped migrants find work. They typically operated employment bureaus. The way this would work is that newcomers would come to the employment bureau and be interviewed by African American social workers and then referred based on their skills and aptitude. This part of the urban leagues’ mission involved cooperation with many industries. In Chicago, meat packing companies, steel mills, railroad shops, directed their needs to the Chicago urban league. Urban leagues also worked closely with newspapers. In 1918, over 10,000 migrants went to the employment bureau of the Chicago league and about 7,000 of them were placed in jobs. The urban league also acted as an intermediary between the migrants and employers.. more generally, urban leagues allowed migrants to adjust to the pace and customs of city life. Representatives of the urban league would set up door to door visits for migrants, informational meetings, Urban leagues stressed attributes like cleanliness, thrift, and sobriety. In these campaigns, the urban league was aided by other organizations- churches, black branches of the YMCA. There were limitations to what groups like the urban league could accomplish. To begin with, the urban league was funded largely by white industrialists and philanthropists. Chicago urban league-1917, only about 17% of the funding for the league came from African Americans. |
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| Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters |
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Definition
| labor organization est. 1925, organized black railroad porters and maids under the leadership of A. Philip Randolph who would become one of the most influential black advocates. Increased wages and working conditions for railroad porters and maids. A Women’s auxiliary was made up of the wives and porters who were in the brotherhood. This auxiliary was focused on raising funds that would help maintain union activities. African American women themselves would organize labor movements (domestic service). |
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| stressed black pride, and racial unity of all people of African descent. He linked the struggle of black Americans to the white colonial domination of Africa. Garvey called for a program of self help and economic advancement. Black men and black women should create their own community organizations. They should create their own independent enterprises. Garvey helped to launch a number of black financed and black operated businesses. For example, a steamship company called the black star line. The Negro World Newspaper. This approach suggested that rather than calling on the broader society to live up to the promises of a true democracy, African Americans should mobilize their own resources to bring about change and advancements. Garveyism and the UNIA was especially popular among urbans. Garveys movement was a symbol of the promise and despair of the ghetto. His appeal to a common black identity wouldn’t resonate with many African American urbanites in the 1920s. after all, the segregation made it so that the blacks existed as a separate nation within the United States. The concentration nature of the settlement in northern cities helped foster black unity. |
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| There were a number of important intellectual and social and cultural forces that drove suburbanization starting in the nineteenth century. In Shopkeeper’s Millennium, Johnson talks about the separation of work and home. By the end of the 19th century, the suburban home had emerged as the ideal dwelling to which most members of the middle class in Middle American aspired. “A separate house surrounded by a yard is the ideal kind of home”. |
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| Thomas Jefferson argued that the rural setting is vital to the functioning of a democracy. Jefferson was part of a larger intellectual tradition that promoted agrarian life with both moral and physical health. Writers from this tradition used to condemn cities, as places of corruption and crowding, human misery. |
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| the daughter of a prominent American minister and was the sister of Harriet Beecher Stowe., who was most famous for writing Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Catharine Beecher believed women were more morally superior to men, but she was not an advocate of gender equality and opposed the women’s rights movement that emerged after 1848 in the US. Instead, what Beecher argued was in a sense the men and women should occupy separate spheres. Men’s primary social functions would play out in the places of marketplace and politics and in line with the evangelical tradition, women would dominate a home. Beecher insisted that this role for women was in no way of less importance than those that were filled by men. Beecher gained national influence when she wrote Treatise on a Domestic Economy. |
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| Like Catharine Beecher, Downing praised the virtues of the private home. He was a landscape designer primarily and felt that country homes would promote healthy Republican citizenship. While a lot of 19th century people associated country homes with English aristocracy, Downing realized that the increasing complex urban economies meant people had to rely on urban environments. He recognized that the advent of railroads would make possible the opening up of new residential options for those who worked in the cities. Among other things, Downing proposed a plan for a suburban development and his plan proposed a commonly owned park in the…. Single family cottages would be built on lots that would have streets that were 100 ft. wide. Broad avenues would be important and would allow the residents of the area could move around while still having the structures far from each other. Downing was not able to bring his ideas to surface but he had a great influence on later architects and city planners and many of those who were influenced by Downing drew on his ideas about country living and his idea that the individual home has a great social value for a people. |
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| Anti Urbanism took on full force as the suburbs developed. To a number of Americans, the presence of industry itself became a liability of city life. A lot of observers complained about the noise and pollution that came along with industry. In addition, the concentration of populations proved troubling with respect issues like public health. In spite of various improvements, better services, in a lot of ways, American cities were unhealthy places. In addition, for many native born white Americans, cities were also problematic because of the large number of working class immigrants, American urban areas by the end of the 19th century, were increasingly the domain of the new immigrants. These cities were especially increasing the number of Jewish and Catholic immigrants. Their children were becoming a political force in a number of major cities like in Boston and New York. There were some native born white urbanites that grew worried that their interests weren’t being served in urban politics. These kinds of developments led to a growing chorus of anti urban voices. All of these intellectual traditions contributed to the creation of the first suburban developments in the united states. Before the last decade of the nineteenth century were preserves of the wealthy. |
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| Built in the eastern foothills of New Jersey. This was a suburban development built about 13 miles by rail from Manhattan. It was situated on an area that was heavily wooded on a terrain of rolling hills. Llewellyn Park was created by a drug merchant Llewellyn Haskell. Haskell and Davis collaborated closely to integrate two important features: to help preserve the scenic beauty of the area: they left a large natural open space at the center of the community. This was the area known as the rampal. A 50 acre space in which Haskell and Davis chose to leave the vegetation in tact. Haskell and Davis utilized curvilinear streets (that would follow the contours of the line). They rejected a grid system. They believed that if you tried to impose streets on a grid system, you’d break up the landscape. Haskell and Davis tried to make sure that the pleasant environment of the Ramal park would not be broken up. Those who purchased property would sign agreements that said no factory or shop or slaughterhouse would be built on your property. Lot sizes averaged over 3 acres. And fences were prohibited. While most critics praised Llewellyn Park, it was clear in the beginning that this was an exclusive enclave of the wealthy. Most of the residents of the Park were successful business people with their families. These people could afford these large expensive lots, and could afford to live their. The exclusivity was added also by a gate house that was added to the entrance of the park. What was significant about the Park was that it was the first suburban neighborhood. For the first time, they tried to create the benefit of rural areas, while still having access to the urban areas. |
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| Treatise on Domestic Economy (1841): |
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| Extremely popular, reprinted dozens of times. Written by Catharine Beecher. It was a practical guide for homemakers and was meant to instruct women on how to do a number of things, care for infants and children, instructions on cooking and cleaning. She then went on to write an expanded version of this Treatise with her sister Harriet Beecher Stowe. This expanded version called “The American Woman’s home” (1869). This also was extremely popular. What was critical about these two books was that they suggested that in order for women to properly carry out their roles as nurturers and promoters of virtue, particular environments were necessary. The treatise on domestic economy was the first work that provided domestic plans for a practical dwelling. What Beecher was suggesting was that the ideal form for these was a substantial cottage of one or two floors. This cottage would contain a number of important rooms, a parlor, a dining room, indoor privies, and throughout her writings, Beecher made the argument that family life could be carried out best in a semi rural setting. For example, yards and gardens should replace city streets as a site for children’s play. What emerged from Beecher’s writing was the idea that the ideal home for raising a family would be a detached cottage surrounded by a yard and set a certain distance from other homes. This would create a tranquil setting where women would be able to shelter men and women form the outside hostile world. At one point, she said that these ideas were chiefly applicable to those living either in the country or those suburban vicinities. |
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| Bought about 400 acres at Llewellyn Park: a retreat for a man to exercise his own rights and privileges. Haskell hired an architect: Alexander Jackson Davis |
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| Friend of Downing, an architect hired by Haskell. He had previously written a book called Rural Residences. Haskell and Davis collaborated closely to integrate two important features: to help preserve the scenic beauty of the area: they left a large natural open space at the center of the community. This was the area known as the rampal. A 50 acre space in which Haskell and Davis chose to leave the vegetation in tact. |
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| Would provide housing especially for destitute or low income families who would come from urban areas. 9 greenbelt towns were proposed. Ultimately, only 3 of these towns were ever built. The three towns were: Greenbelt, Maryland, Greendale, Wisconsin, and Green hills, Ohio. Greenbelt was the largest of the three towns and its proximity to Washington DC attracted the most scrutiny from the press. Tugwell and the other administrators of the greenbelt towns decided to plan and construct entire communities. The plan for greenbelt Maryland owed a lot to precursors like Radburn and the intellectual knowledge of Howard as well. To start with, greenbelt, was to be characterized by low density development. The plan for greenbelt Maryland was to have a density of 4 families per acre. This was especially a low density program compared to others in the New Deal. Greenbelt would physically separate each of these three towns from surrounding built up areas. The planners also believed that having that kind of Green belt would create a semi rural environment for the residents of the town. |
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| Ebenezer Howard, Garden Cities of To- Morrow: |
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| Englishman, visited the US in his 20s. This exposure introduced him to a number of ideas. People like Henry George (late 19th century social thinkers) influenced him. This American way of thinking made Howard think of how to improve human society through alterations of the built environment. In 1898, Ebenezer Howard published a book that would later be published as Garden Cities of To-Morrow. The concern of this book was how the concentration of population in urban areas had led to a deterioration of the quality of life. The solution that Howard proposed was the creation of Garden cities. These were planned suburban communities. The ideal was to combine the benefits of urban and rural living. Howard argued that the size of these garden cities should be limited. He believed these garden cities should be surrounded by a permanent green belt of agricultural land. His idea was that the land within the garden city should be owned in common by the residents. Howard believed that residents in these garden cities should have a say in issues of land use. They should have some say in whether new houses or factories would be constructed in the town. He was specific about how these communities would take shape. Garden and parks in the center area. Roads would lead to this. |
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| Garden Cities Ass’n of America: |
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| founded in 1906 and its founders and members envisioned a creation of a number of these garden cities in the United States but this vision never got off the ground. A financial panic in 1907 made it difficult for the funding of this development to occur. WWI also served as an obstacle to this plan. |
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| Regional Planning Ass’n of America: |
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| a group founded in 1923. Formed by a group of architects and planners centered around the New York City area. This association came to advocate the location of new towns along the lines of what were similar to the garden cities Howard envisioned. By the time this organization was founded, the automobile was on the rise in the United States and this influenced the thinking of the RPAA. They argued that new technologies like the car and the availability of electric power. These kinds of technologies would make it possible to locate enterprises away from the city. They suggested then that metropolitan growth wouldn’t have to be concentrated in a single core area. The association never really put into practice for plans for towns along these lines. Two of the most influential members of the RPAA would have influence on a particular development. Clarence Stein and Henry White were two members of the RPAA and they worked on the development in Radburn New Jersey. |
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| suburban-type development taken under by the city housing corporation. They had planned to build a community of 25,000 residents. The idea was for this community to be divided into three major villages. The ideas of Howard were influential in the planning here, but unlike his proposed garden cities, there wouldn’t be this shared public ownership. The developers of Radburn wanted the project to be more than a suburb that would be open to the wealthy. They tried to find ways to cut costs. The kinds of homes they planned and built for Radburn were relatively modest homes. Theres nothing like a community like Llewellyn park. They believed that you could create a community where the automobile would provide access to the community but it wouldn’t be a prerequisite of living there. The culdesac would give access to those with automobiles, but it wasn’t necessary. They tried to separate various modes of transportation. Bicycle, pedestrian, car paths. In the end, however, Radburn was in some ways a failure. The homes at Radburn were still beyond the reach of the average American company. This was because the housing corporation was for profit. While the depression in ways destroyed Radburn, it paved the way for more radical experiments. |
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| an agricultural economist. Head of Resettlement administration. |
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| Federal Housing Administration |
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• a New Deal agency created in 1934
• the housing industry was dormant during the Great Depression
• addressed the problem of millions of Americans threatened to lose their homes to for foreclosure
• stimulated the construction of new housing units while stabilizing the mortgage industry
The idea was that the fed gov would help underwrite mortgages on new homes
This program enabled the fed gov to help fix existing homes
The fed gov would guarantee these mortgages and homes so that private lenders would be encouraged to extend these loans and mortgages that would otherwise be too risky
• Helped to change basic patterns in the mortgage industry:
FHA helped to make the 25-30 year mortgage the standard
Before this era, mortgages extended from 5-10 years, which meant monthly payments were greater. Made payments lower
Helped make the 10% down-payment the common practice. Before, it was 30%. |
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| Urban “Blight” and Renewal |
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Definition
• These urban land owners and city officials got the help from the federal government
o Local redevelopment authorities could receive various amounts of money for urban renewal projects
o Federal money was channeled to development agencies to purchase these rundown, blighted properties, demolish existing structures, piece it together with the city, then sell it to developers
• Could built a university, apartments, etc.
• Housing built from this property tended to house the urban poor |
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| Louis Wirth. “Urbanism as a Way of Life” (1938) |
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| Sociologist associated with the Chicago School. In urbanism as a way of life, Wirth argued that the urban environment was a cause of social problems and contributed to the deterioration of community life. In moving to cities, people lost their contacts that made life socially rewarding. People lost their close connections based on kinship or intimate neighborhoods. According to Wirth, city life did in fact involve a lot of personal face to face contact. Wirth said these relationships tended to be superficial and impersonal. He argued that the large size and density as well as the diversity of urban populations created the conditions of an urban declining community. Wirth wrote “in a community composed of a larger number of individuals that can know one another individually, it becomes necessary to communicate through indirect mediums..” others have made a contrary argument that says that cities actually promote a healthy life. This argument that city itself can promote healthy community life, became visible after the second World War. This intellectual development has to be considered in the context of post war mass suburbanization population. A growing number of critics after the second world war that argued that it was the city not the suburb that held the most promise for social ties. |
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| Lewis Mumford, The City in History (1961) |
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| Wrote on a variety of topics. Cities captured his interest and he wrote extensively about urban life. Mumford is included in MP. Unlinke Wirth, Mumford felt that cities contained potential for meaningful relationships. The city was the source of the most rewarding intercourse that civilization makes possible. In this book, Mumford also wrote that as indirect forms supplement face to face intercourse, the personality of the person themselves becomes multi-faceted. Desegregation and the need for re-integration. Mumford seems to recognize that cities demand to interact beyond their circle of kin and close friends. Unlike Wirth, Mumford suggests that this kind of interaction has potential for disorientation but suggested that in the environment of the city people had to forge voluntary relationships. In that way, city life could be rewarding. Mumford believed that the large cities after WWII were harmful to social life. He also saw post WWII suburbs as a disaster. In addition, Mumford decried the cultural uniformity. Even worse than that sort of role was the fact that suburbs tended to isolatepeople for the human diversity of the metropolis as a whole. In suburbs, people wouldn’t have to come in contact with the poor and mumford believed that in that situation there was a great potential to make great suburbanites. He observed that child rearing seemed to be the primary function of the suburban neighborhood. In fact, Mumford made the argument that not only were parents intensely concerned about raising their children, but their own lives became childish. Country clubs and golf courses became more and more evident in suburban life. |
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| Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1961) |
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| Argued that neither the built environment or social aspect of suburbia did anything to encourage community life. The car centered nature of suburbs according to Jacobs took away the pedestrian based sociability of urban neighborhoods. In addition, according to Jacobs, all residential zones were not as diverse as mixed land use areas. She also worried how the privatized life of suburbanites influenced the raising of children. Jacobs observed that while suburbs were held to be these healthy environemtnts, they were actually difficult places in which to raise kids. For example, Jacobs asked how it would be possible to properly socialize children if they weren’t exposed to the diversity of human life. Some scholars argued that in suburban neighborhoods, community life and the creation of social orgs actually flourished. One scholar who made this observation was : |
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| Herbert Gans, The Levittowners (1967) |
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Definition
| Based on his observations of life in Levittown New Jersey. According to Gans, the people who moved to Levittown NJ experienced an accelerated social life. What Gans concluded was that the increase in visiting neighbors was due to a lot in common between neighbors. |
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| William Whyte, The Organization Man (1956) |
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Definition
| White looked at the suburb of Park Forest in Illinois. What wihyte found in whie forest was marked by an intense community life. Neighbors tended to just drop by eachothers homes, and would share lawnmowers and watch eachothers shows. Whyte concluded that Lake Forest was a hotbed of participation. He concluded that these patterns of neighborliness weren’t positive aspects of suburban life. Whyte concluded that the organizations and groups created by suburbanites were the same from one suburb to another. What Whyte suggested was that suburbanites were so transient that they would go from one suburb to the next. Part of Whyte’s observations were based on this organization man who cherised the group above all. This was someone who believed that belonging to a group and pleasing that group are the roles of one. The end result according to Whyte was the createion and maintanence of suburbs were almost a interchangeable. |
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| One of the series of race riots in American history. The riot in Chicago occurred in July of 1919 and the triggering event was the death of an African American teenager named Eugene Williams. Eugene Williams and a group of his black friends had gone to a beach at Lake Michigan and they were swimming in an area between the recognized black beach and the white beach. When Williams and his friends drifted into waters that were adjacent to the white beach, a white man threw stones in their directions. Williams drowned from a rock striking him in the head. In spite of the pleads of William’s friends, a white police man refused to arrest the man that threw the rock that hit Williams. The subsequent arrest of an African American man further angered the black crowd at the beach. Widespread fighting erupted at the beach and soon throughout all of Chicago. For a period of 5 days, white Chicagoans terrorized the blacks. Blacks defended their homes and their businesses. In some instances, African Americans sought revenge on white merchants and shopkeepers. By the time the state militia put an end to the riot, 23 African Americans and 15 whites were dead. Over other 500 other Chicagoans were injured. The root causes of the riot had to do with issues of housing and labor. Since the onset of the great migration, property owners grew dismayed by the swelling black population in Chicago. Chicago African Americans had attempted to move into other parts of the city. In one neighborhood (Hyde Park), adjacent to Chicago’s Black Belt, this neighborhood was perceived to be “in decline”. Like the black belt, Hyde park was located near industrial parks, high rate of vacancy, property value decline, etc. As African Americans began to move in, a group called the Hyde Park Kenwood Property Owners Association initiated a campaign to make Hyde Park white. White property owners feared an influx of black migrants would further decline value. The arrival of African Americans was referred as an invasion. They urged the homeowners to resist the temptations to sell to black migrants. Some of these called for the use of force to prevent the arrival of m ore African Americans in Hyde Park. This kind of rhetoric contributed to violent attacks on black occupied homes. From March1918, to July 1919, there were 25 bombings of black homes and offices of realtors who sold to black migrants. This conflict in Chicago was vital context for understanding the Race Riot of 1919. Apart from the racist reactions of white residents, the riot must be understood also as labor relations. African American workers’ willingness to cross picket lines enraged many white workers. In addition, many Chicago companies recruited African Americans as strike workers. In the minds of many white workers, black workers were always associated with “scab labor”. Black workers were well aware of the racism on the part of most white union members. Clashes between white workers and black workers, and black responses to them, developed the politics within the black urban communities. In some ways the black response to the riot, demonstrated a growing assertiveness on the part of black urbanites. During the riot itself, African Americans defended their homes and lives and this kind of response was possible in part because of the significance of the urban black population. The ghetto itself had many levels of black solidarity and race conscienceness that wasn’t as likely among black rural communities. WWI in 1917, African Americans enlisted in the army both voluntarily and drafted as well. The officials promised more complete citizenship after the war was over. This would make it more difficult for whites to deny rights to the whites. After the war, however, white resistence after the war persisted. The wartime experience and post-war experience helped to form the concept of the New Negro. |
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Definition
| Black leaders and intellectuals argued that in the post-WWI years, the New Negro would emerge. In contrast to white stereotypes, the new negro would be assertive, not passive. The new negro would actively demand equal rights and would defend himself and his family. The new negro was specifically a masculine figure. Significantly, the new negro was an urban figure. Political activist- the NAACP had a strategy of legal challenges to discrimination. Integration strategy working from within American legal system. WE Dubois believed educated elite should lead fight. |
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| Universal Negro Improvement Association |
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Definition
| An organization established in 1914 by a Jamaican native named Marcus Garvey. The urban race riots would suggest to many urban blacks that a strategy of appealing to whites’ sense of justice would be exercising futility. Garvey’s appeal was due not to just urban despair, Glat?? Urbanization created some degree of hope. In northern cities, there was a greater degree of social freedom than had existed in southern rural areas. Cities made possible a small but growing black middle class. Large black urban populations created the markets for African American business enterprises like newspapers, cosmetic companies, restaurants. Urban populations made possible certain cultural and entertainment venues that were patronized by African Americans. (Black baseball teams for example). The creation of black enterprises among other things suggested that the ghetto was a sight of poverty and deprivation, but by the 1920s, the black community began to reach a level of material development that could allow for a growth of economic power. |
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Definition
| Assisted migrants in many ways. Founded in 1910 in New York City. Founded by a group of African American social workers and white philanthropists. The goal of the urban league was essentially to aid black migrants in their adjustment to urban life. This particular goal was to be pursued by branches of the national urban league that were established in major urban cities. At this level, these branches helped migrants in several ways. These helped newcomers to the city find housing. The Chicago urban league maintained what it called a certified lodging list-list of reputable lodging places where new migrants could turn. The Chicago urban league also directed homeless migrants to churches that provided shelter. Urban league branches also helped migrants find work. They typically operated employment bureaus. The way this would work is that newcomers would come to the employment bureau and be interviewed by African American social workers and then referred based on their skills and aptitude. This part of the urban leagues’ mission involved cooperation with many industries. In Chicago, meat packing companies, steel mills, railroad shops, directed their needs to the Chicago urban league. Urban leagues also worked closely with newspapers. In 1918, over 10,000 migrants went to the employment bureau of the Chicago league and about 7,000 of them were placed in jobs. The urban league also acted as an intermediary between the migrants and employers.. more generally, urban leagues allowed migrants to adjust to the pace and customs of city life. Representatives of the urban league would set up door to door visits for migrants, informational meetings, Urban leagues stressed attributes like cleanliness, thrift, and sobriety. In these campaigns, the urban league was aided by other organizations- churches, black branches of the YMCA. There were limitations to what groups like the urban league could accomplish. To begin with, the urban league was funded largely by white industrialists and philanthropists. Chicago urban league-1917, only about 17% of the funding for the league came from African Americans. |
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Term
| Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters: |
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Definition
| labor organization est. 1925, organized black railroad porters and maids under the leadership of A. Philip Randolph who would become one of the most influential black advocates. Increased wages and working conditions for railroad porters and maids. A Women’s auxiliary was made up of the wives and porters who were in the brotherhood. This auxiliary was focused on raising funds that would help maintain union activities. African American women themselves would organize labor movements (domestic service). |
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Definition
| stressed black pride, and racial unity of all people of African descent. He linked the struggle of black Americans to the white colonial domination of Africa. Garvey called for a program of self help and economic advancement. Black men and black women should create their own community organizations. They should create their own independent enterprises. Garvey helped to launch a number of black financed and black operated businesses. For example, a steamship company called the black star line. The Negro World Newspaper. This approach suggested that rather than calling on the broader society to live up to the promises of a true democracy, African Americans should mobilize their own resources to bring about change and advancements. Garveyism and the UNIA was especially popular among urbans. Garveys movement was a symbol of the promise and despair of the ghetto. His appeal to a common black identity wouldn’t resonate with many African American urbanites in the 1920s. after all, the segregation made it so that the blacks existed as a separate nation within the United States. The concentration nature of the settlement in northern cities helped foster black unity. |
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Term
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Definition
| practice used mostly by real estate agents and developers to encourage property owners to sell by giving the impression that a neighborhood is changing. In this practice, an agent or developer persuades white people to sell their houses at low prices by telling them that people of color are moving into their neighborhood, exploiting their fear of lowered property values. Then, the real-estate agent raises the price of the house and sells it to a person of color. The term may have originated in Chicago, where, in order to accommodate the out-migration of economically successful residents to better neighborhoods outside ghettos, people were hired to create a visual presence in the restricted neighborhoods, encouraging residents to sell their properties and move to still more restrictive suburbs. |
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Definition
Omnibus and Horsecar
The first important form of urban mass transit was the horse-drawn omnibus. This was a means of transportation that originated in France and was first used in the US in NYC in 1837. The omnibus was pulled by 2 horses and seated about 12 people. They ran on a fixed schedule and at a fixed fare. There were usually privately owned and were transportation systems that would run for a profit. By the 1850s, the omnibus was popular in American cities, but as a technique of mass transit, the omnibus had some problems. It contributed to congestion on city streets that were crowded already. It was not always a pleasant means of transportation (bumpy, hot in summer, cold in winter). As many as 20 people would try to cram in. the New York Herald described riding this: “modern martyrdom might be described as riding in an omnibus. The passengers and driver quarrel. Ladies are disgusted and frightened. Thus the omnibus rolls along…” the omnibus was slow. It typically traveled at 3-4 miles per hour. It was also expensive. A one way fare on an omnibus ranged from 6-12.5 cents. For those who could afford this, the omnibus did expand the range of possible commuting. It made it more possible to live at some distance away from the city center. Also, the omnibus in carrying people according to a set schedule and on a regular route, regularized urban transportation and improved intracity communication |
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| nickel theater in the early 20th century that allowed for social class mixing and served as a liberation for women. Middle class reformers feared that nickel theaters would serve as too much familiarity between the sexes. |
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| a process of social and economic change caused by the removal or reduction of industrial (capacity or activity) in a country or region, especially heavy industry or manufacturing industry. High tech and service oriented jobs taking over industrial jobs, urban changes. |
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| a landmark, sweeping expansion of the federal role in mortgage insurance and issuance and the construction of public housing. It was part of Harry Truman's program of domestic legislation, the Fair Deal. |
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| the horse-drawn street car. |
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| This was a means of mass transit that was developed in the 1830s and came into widespread use by the 1850s. a horse car utilized steel rails. This made the ride much smoother and made it faster. The horsecar typically traveled the speed twice the speed of and omnibus. The use of rails made it possible for horses to pull heavier loads so horse cars made it to use that would carry 30-40 passengers per car. The horse car was cheaper (about 1/5 of what the omnibus would charge). Like omnibuses, horsecar companies were generally privately owned. Because these systems involved tracks that were laid on municipal streets, the drivers and owners had to get a franchise from the city that would grant a particular horsecar…these franchises would set a maximum fare that the horsecars could charge. Most workers couldn’t use horsecars to travel to work on an everyday basis. The horse car did expand more to the middle and upper classes. One scholar has estimated that under ideal circumstances that the horse car would increase the potential residential area of a city from about 13 miles under the omnibus to 28 miles with the horse drawn street car. The street car made mass transit routes entirely fixed. When combined, the growing importance of clock time and growing prevalent… |
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| a black newspaper that urged migration. One defender editorial said” anywhere in God’s country is far better than the southland. Every spot in the south where his worth is not appreciated enough should leave”. In making the choice to leave the south, African Americans had to face opposition from southern whites. For some southern blacks- they were still tied to white landlords. Some potential migrants had to find a way to get out of these economic arrangements. In some cases, they would pay off remaining debts or obligations. In some cases migrants got away from these by fleeing. As the migration intensified, some white southerners tried to urge African Americans to not leave the south. |
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| Division of Negro Economics: |
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| gov’t agency in charge of assisting northern companies in their efforts. Various northern black institutions and organizations also helped to coordinate the migration of blacks to the north. Northern black newspapers encouraged the migration of southern blacks. |
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| mens sporting, prostitution, only entertainment was in home |
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| directly directed towards women joining the working class, blending of men and women in social aspects. Dance halls, Coney Island |
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| groups that formed to prevent black migration into their suburbs. |
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| way to ensure neighborhoods could restrict unwanted changes |
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| single lever, not larger than previous homes, but floor plan suggested openess and spaciousness, very different from Victorian homes |
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| rooms separated by distinct functions |
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| the lack of need for skilled laborers like the strike became less powerful because of the surplus of workers, because of the new immigrants from southern and eastern europe |
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