Apple Lamps@lamps_apple
1950s Black Community Life
"I grew up in South Philadelphia. We didn't realize it was segregated. All we knew is that our neighborhood was all black, and we weren't even that conscious of color.
Because the people who owned the store down the street were black, the tailor, the restaurant owners, the undertaker, everybody in the neighborhood. And it was a very small street, everybody worked blue collar, essentially. Very close-knit neighborhood.
Everyone had over four children. We played in the streets together. On Saturday morning, our parents came out, and the hucksters came around, and our parents purchased things.
We had to go buy ice because there were no refrigerators then. We had a coal stove, so the younger kids were responsible for putting wood and coal into the stove and keeping it going.
And the level of interest in education was just profound. I mean, even to this day, I don't think I've ever had such a positive educational experience that I did my first six years.
Because school was an integral part of the community. We had a black superintendent, a black principal, all the teachers were black. Many of them didn't live in the neighborhood either, contrary to popular belief.
They were middle-income people who lived elsewhere. But their hearts and their souls were into those kids. I remember that third grade and fourth grade plays were always conducted in the evenings so that parents could attend. And an auditorium that seated maybe 400, 500... people was standing room only for third and fourth grade play."
