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TH 5253

W

lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

301820 0174

This is to certify that the

dissertation entitled

Black Self Help and Community Development

in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1830-19h5

presented by

Pamela Smoot

has been accepted towards fulfillment

of the requirements for

Ph.D.

'

History 

degree in

 

Date

7-23-99

 

Major profesfl

MSU is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Institution

0-12771

 

 

 

LIBRARY

Michigan State

University

 
  

R 5 E ' mild-.3511”? ”Tin 133M

PLACE IN RETURN BOX to remove this c eckout from your record.

TO AVOID FINES return on or efore date due.

MAY BE RECALLED with earlier due date if requested.

 

DATE DUE

DATE DUE I DATE DUE

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

   
 
  

 

1m chIHCJDatoDmpflS—p.“

 

“SELF HELP AND INSTITUTION BUILDING IN PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA,

1 830-1945”

VOLUME I

BY

Pamela Annette Smoot

“A DISSERTATION”

Submitted to

Michigan State University

in partial fitlfillment of the requirements for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Department of History

1998

ABSTRACT

BLACK SELF-HELP AND COMMUNITY BUILDING IN PITTSBURGH,

PENNSYLVANIA, 1830-1945

BY

Pamela Annette Smoot

Black Pittsburgh is an integral part of Pittsburgh’s general history, but has not been

treated as such based on an array Pittsburgh histories. With the exception of Pittsburgh

studies by Peter Gottleib and John Bodnar which focus primarily on the Great Migration of

blacks from the South, black urbanization, and industrialization, this neglect persists.

Pittsburgh’s black history goes beyond the confines ofthese respective boundaries, extending

to similar depths of black life in the migratory cities of New York, Cleveland, Chicago, and

Milwaukee as blacks struggled to develop communities of their own. Beginning in 1830,

this detailed study sheds new light on the building of Pittsburgh’s black community, its

relationship and contributions to the city, and Black History.

The methodology used in the completion of this study included a plethora ofprimary

and secondary source materials, government documents, theses and dissertations. Primary

sources includes several manuscript collections; unprocessed papers; minutes of

organizations, social service, and government agencies; oral history interviews; newspapers,

newsletters, and vertical files; various types of programs; pamphlets; church anniversary

souvenir booklets; photographic collections; financial, monthly, quarterly, and annual

reports; and correspondence. It is from these sources that the intimate details of black

Pittsburgh were extracted and the larger part of the dissertation constructed.

Several important points have resulted from this comprehensive study on black

Pittsburgh.

Despite the non-portrayal of Pittsburgh blacks by many scholars, the city’s

blacks established a solid community by the third decade of the 19th century by creating a

socially organized life against the racial prejudices of whites. Second, it brings to fore issues

of race, class, and gender. This study describes the formation, significance, and activities

of numerous black religious, social welfare, and educational institutions; the establishment

of early black business; and social and political organizations. During the early decades of

the 20‘h century, it tells the story of the city’s black leadership successfully fought for black

civil rights in employment, transportation, and public places like other northern black

communities.

Pittsburgh’s black history is as important as that of other northern urban

communities and deserves a place in Pittsburgh’s general history where it rarely appears.

Copyright by

PAMELA ANNETTE SMOOT

1999

DEDICATION

Throughout the trials and tribulations associated with eaming a Ph.D. and especially,

completing this work, the doctoral dissertation is humbly dedicated to my maternal

grandmother, the late Olivia “Sister” Mannings Washington, especially, Chapter Two,

because she was undoubtedly an example of “noble womanhood;” my parents, Ruby Luease

Washington Smoot and the late Thomas A. Smoot, Sr.; my brothers Thomas A., Timothy L.,

and Jamison L. Smoot whose love, patience, moral and financial support, and sense of humor

enabled me to persevere; and my maternal grandfather, Samuel E. Washington, whose

stubbornness would not allow me to quit, although the thought often crossed my mind.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The completion of this work would not have been possible without the guidance and

cooperation of my dissertation committee: David T. Bailey, Darlene Clark Hine, Richard

W. Thomas, David Robinson, and Wayne State University’s, Philip Mason. My support

system at Michigan State University also included Ms. Linda Werbish, Mary Reid, Karen

Van Atta, Nancy Ashley, Dale Land, Dr. Decolious Johnson; and fellow graduate students,

Bobby Blake, Renee Hannibal, and Jacqueline “Coach” McLeod.

In Pittsburgh, the staff of Carnegie Institute’s Pennsylvania Department, Ann Loyd,

Audrey Iacone, Barry Chad, Mark Anderson, Marilyn Holt, and the Microfilm Department,

Carolyn McCoy and Sylvia Wilson; the University of Pittsburgh’s Archives of Industrial

Society staff members, David Rosenberg and Miriam Meisilik; and reference librarian Anne

Kenderson. Recognition is also rendered to the archivists at John Heinz Regional History

Center; Harvard University Archives; the Catholic and Episcopalian Diocese. Archives of

Pittsburgh.

A number of librarians, archivists, and other staff members were instrumental in the

completion of this historic work: Nancy Hunter, the Greater YWCA of Pittsburgh; Mrs.

Norris, Madie Harris, and Kay Logan, the YWCA Archives of the USA, New York; Ruth

Hodge, Pennsylvania State Archives, Harrisburg, PA; and the YMCA Archives of the USA,

Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Pittsburgh’s church community also played an invaluable role: Reverend Ronald

Peters, Bidwell United Presbyterian Church; Ms. Dee Sanders, Mt. Ararat Missionary Baptist

vi

Church; Mr. Paul Nelson, Homewood A.M.E. Zion Church; Reverend Jason A. Barr,

Macedonia Baptist Church; Alice Pondexter, St. James AME. Church; Mrs. Reed, Holy

Cross Church.

The senior citizens of Pittsburgh whose unselfishness provided various types of

information unavailable in the nation’s repositories: Anna Brooks Gary; Alma Thompson;

Mrs. Rudy Pettis; Alma Thompson; Ruth Pace; Edna McKenzie; Dorthea Mason; Brazier

Myrick, George Barbour; and Marie Charles. I am also indebted to: Elbert Hatley and

Tracey Dyer, Hill District Community Development Corporation; Bill Strickland, Jesse Fife,

Yvonne King, Mary Ann Terrick, and Benny Wilson Bidwell Training Center; Linda

Johnson and Latisha Taylor, Pittsburgh City Clerk’s Office; “Bolo;” Darryl Pettway; Ernest

J. Ruffin, Sr. the late Andrew Powell, Anna Pearl, and Myra Powell; the late Herbert Bean;

Jeannette R. Poole; Bruce E. Barnes; and Thomas Gmiter, Jr.

Special thanks to Ms. Lois C. McDougald who played an important role in my early

development as a historian at Tennessee State University; my mentor and friend, Darlene

Clark Hine for her commitment, guidance into the profession and affording me an

opportunity to coalesce with some of the most renowned historians in this country. David

T. Bailey deserves added thanks for his undying faith in my work and never hesitating to

defend me during departmental politics. The compassion of the late Steve Botein was also

an asset to my survival in the Ph.D. program, because he provided guidance when nobody

else would.

vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. v

LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... vi

INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 1

BRIEF OVERVIEW OF PITTSBURGH ......................................................................... 12

CHAPTER 1

Black Pioneers: When We Wuz’ Called Free People of Color ......................................... 13

CHAPTER 2

A Noble Womanhood: The Black Women’s Club Movement in Pittsburgh .................... 86

CHAPTER 3

Black Female Leadership in the Pittsburgh Urban League and Black Female

Migrants .......................................................................................................................... 1 72

CHAPTER 4

-

The Colored YWCA, White Women, and the Black Community .................................. 226

CHAPTER 5

Struggling Hard, But Struggling Strong: Black Institution-Building, A Necessity ...... 273

CHAPTER 6

Local Black Politics: Leadership or Leaderless? ........................................................... 343

CHAPTER 7

Protest: The Fight for Racial Equality and Economic Respect ....................................... 378

CHAPTER 8

Black Pittsburgh’s Claim to Fame: Negro League Baseball, An Institution .................. 418

BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................... 478

viii

LIST OF TABLES

Free Colored Males in Pittsburgh, 1830 ........................................................................... 17

Free Colored Females in Pittsburgh, 1830 ....................................................................... l7

Negro Females in Pittsburgh, PA 1890-1930 .................................................................. 225

Negro Females in Pittsburgh By Age, 1890-1930 ........................................................... 227

Number of Cases Referred to the Morals Court, Delinquent Girls, 1918-1926 .............. 238

Number of Cases Referred to the Morals Court, Delinquent Boys, 1918-1926 .............. 240

Black Female Occupations in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1910-1920 ............................... 244

Official Vote for Presidential Electors, Pittsburgh, PA, 1928-1944 ............................... 356

ix

LIST OF FIGURES

Map of Pennsylvania Counties ........................................................................................ 14

Map of Underground Railroad in Pennsylvania .............................................................. 16

Map of Pittsburgh............................................................................................................ l9

Reverend Lewis Woodson ............................................................................................... 26

Charles Avery .................................................................................................................. 31

Little Bethe] Church .................................................... 45

Grace Memorial Presbyterian Church ............................................................................. 52

Fourth Avenue Baptist Church ........................................................................................ 55

Martin Delany .................................................................................................................. 68

Susan Paul ........................................................................................................................ 77

William Randolph ................................................................ ........................................... 80

William Stanton............................................................................................................... 82

Cumberland Posey, Sr ..................................................................................................... 82

Gertrude L. Brooks .......................................................................................................... 94

Harriet I.S. Lee ............................................................................................................... 111

Daisy Lampkin ............................................................................................................... 124

Winona Idell Lincoln ..................................................................................................... 129

Harriet Tubman Club ..................................................................................................... 131

Harriet Tubman Terrace House ..................................................................................... 139

Pennsylvania State Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs ......................................... 154

Charity Stamp Campaign ............................................................................................... 156

Sadie Black Hamilton .................................................................................................... 162

Frederick Douglass House ............................................................................................. 165

Laura A. Brown ............................................................................................................. 167

‘Colored’ YWCA, Wylie Avenue Branch 1920 ............................................................ 190

Jean Hamilton................................................................................................................ 195

Girl Reserves Corps Advertisement, Centre Avenue Branch ....................................... 198

Jessie L. Vann ................................................................................................................ 201

Cora B. Jones ................................................................................................................. 204

YWCA Centre Avenue Branch, 1924 ........................................................................... 213

John T. Clark ................................................................................................................. 232

Christina Jeffries ............................................................................................................ 253

Margaret Mann .............................................................................................................. 259

Dr. Marie S. Kinner....................................................................................................... 263

Georgina Pierce ............................................................................................................. 269

Beulah Mason............................................................................................................... 281

Luella Coleman ............................................................................................................ 285

Coleman Industrial Home for Colored Boys ................................................................ 288

Davis Home .................................................................................................................. 292

Fairfax Baby Home ...................................................................................................... 295

J .C. Austin................................................................................................................... 309

Steel City Banking Company, Advertisement .............................................................. 311

xi

Modern State Banking Company, Advertisement ........................................................ 317

Centre Avenue YMCA 1893 ........................................................................................ 325

Centre Avenue YMCA, 1923 ....................................................................................... 330

W.T. Poole .................................................................................................................... 333

Pittsburgh Ward Map .................................................................................................... 349

Robert L. Vann ............................................................................................................. 351

Homer S. Brown ........................................................................................................... 364

Marcus Garvey ............................................................................................................. 381

Ebenezer Baptist Church .............................................................................................. 389

Ebenezer Baptist Church Deed .................................................................................... 391

The Affidavit ............................................................................................................... 393

Paul Lawrence Peeler ........................................................... ......................................... 406

Cum Posey, Jr .............................................................................................................. 430

The Homestead Grays ................................................................................................. 432

Gus Greenlee ............................................................................................................... 439

Greenlee Field .............................................................................................................. 442

Pittsburgh Crawfords ................................................................................................... 429

Negro League Umpires, John Craig and Mo Harris .................................................... 454

Josh Gibson ................................................................................................................. 461

Greater Pittsburgh Baseball Commission Official Contract ....................................... 472

xii

INTRODUCTION

“Black Self-Help and Community-Building in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1830—1945,”

is the title of this dissertation. The history of black Pittsburgh, particularly, in the Hill

District, remain untold by historians as their attention has focused on the Great Migration,

black urbanization, and industrialization. Black life in Pittsburgh goes beyond the confines

of these respective boundaries, extending to similar depths of black life in the migratory

cities of New York, Cleveland, Chicago, and Milwaukee, as blacks struggled to develop

communities of their own.

The purpose of this dissertation is to provide a detailed study of black Pittsburgh

highlighting the black settlement, black women, the formation of black organizations,

businesses, and institutions, politics, black leadership, and black life, in general, all of which

have gone unnoticed or given scant attention by scholars. Using the three themes in Afro-

American history--struggle, resistance, and survival, this study depicts and analyzes the

contributions of blacks in developing Pittsburgh’s black community. Specifically, “Black

Self-Help and Community Building in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania” sheds new light on this city

and presents a broader picture than the recent studies of historians, Peter Gottlieb and John

Bodnar, and the earlier studies of sociologists, Ira De Reid and Abraham L. Epstein.

In this present work, is a seven chapter narrative interspersed with analysis. Chapter

One, “Black Pioneers: When We Wuz Called Free People of Color The Early Years,” deals

with the first real settlement of blacks in Pittsburgh and the efforts of the city’s early black

1

leadership, John Vashon, a black abolitionist, who organized an anti-slavery society; Lewis

Woodson, an Afiican Methodist Episcopal minister and founder of the Lewis Woodson

School;

John Peck, a wig maker and abolitionist; and Martin Delany, publisher of

Pittsburgh’s first black newspaper, The Mystery to establish a community of their own. It

focuses on the creation of viable community organizations, black institutions, and the early

roles of black women in helping to sustain the same. Also of importance is the struggle for

basic black civil rights, the role of black Pittsburghers in the Civil War and the development

a social life among the city’s blacks which eventually leads to a black middle-class.

Chapter Two, “A Noble Womanhood: the Black Women ’s Club Movement in

Pittsburgh,” discusses the history and significance of black women’s clubs and their impact

on the black community. This includes their ability to mobilize the black masses, direct the

lives of young black women and mothers, their intense struggle for civil and women’s rights

and more importantly, the strategies used to “lift as they climbed.” Pittsburgh’s black club

women engaged politics, education, social service, and self-help. To enhance their

initiatives, these women formed clubs on the local, county, state and national levels where

they demonstrated their leadership skills.

The Young Women’s Christian Association was significant to the lives of white girls

and women beginning in the mid-18603, but soon became viable in those of black women

and girls as ‘colored’ YWCAs emerged during the first decade of the 20th century. Chapter

Three, Black Women and the Pittsburgh YWCA, explores the history of Pittsburgh’s ‘colored’

YWCA, identifies the women who made it possible, the struggles of the city’s black female

leadership to make it a successful endeavor including the fight against racial discrimination

2

within their YWCA’s local and National bodies. Although this discussion should be

included in Chapter Five as one of Pittsburgh’s black social welfare and recreational

institutions, the wealth of information warranted a chapter of its own.

“Black Female Leadership in the Pittsburgh Urban League and Black Female

Migrants,” comprises the fourth chapter. It examines the roles of four black women who

were responsible for many of the Pittsburgh Urban League’s successes. Focusing on a close

examination of the lives of these same women, is in part, the result of a cry for more gender

studies by scholars of women’s history. Black women volunteers as well as salaried

employees of Pittsburgh’s Urban League are important for a number of reasons: they

demonstrate black female leadership “outside” the Black Women’s Club Movement; the

impact they had on migrant women which effectively changed their lives and those of

migrant families to Pittsburgh; and the successful coalition-building with and cooperation

white social service institutions and businesses in the city.

Chapter Five, “Struggling Hard, But Struggling Strong, Black Institution-Building,

A Necessity,” concentrates on black self-help efforts of individual black Pittsburghers to

provide numerous social service, recreational, and financial services to the city’s blacks,

because they were forced to react to white racism and discrimination. Pittsburgh’s black

leaders, both male and female, established various types of institutions relative to the needs

of the black community including homes for the aged, orphanages, working girls homes, a

hospital recreational and housing facilities, and banking institutions, eminent to the survival

of the race. The need for these institutions became exceedingly great at the onset of the

Great Migration. focuses on the need to establish Negro hospitals to provide better health

3

care, financial institutions for economic stability, and social services institutions to support

the indigent. The organizational and individual efforts of the city’s blacks, many of them

professional, presented an opportunity for dialogue on ways to improve the quality of black

life which eventually, produced tangible results.

During the second wave of the black migration from the South to Pittsburgh, black

Pittsburghers engaged local and state politics; became involved in Marcus Garvey’s

Universal Negro Improvement Association; civil rights protests became commonplace as

blacks began to use the courts to end black injustice, employment discrimination, and

segregation in public places; and the formation of organizations such as the Pittsburgh

Housewives Cooperative League a campaign by to encourage the Negro community to

patronize Negro businesses, and the initiatives of the Young Negro Consumers Cooperative

League in providing instruction to Negroes on how to manage their money and understand

their buying power, and Citizens Coordinating Committee to deal with the economic issues

of Pittsburgh’s black community. In short, Chapter Six, “Politics and Protests,” examines

the initiatives of Negro voters to participate in the electoral process and their struggle to exert

some control over the activities in the Pittsburgh community.

Sporting events were a large part of Pittsburgh’s black history which includes the

Negro Baseball League. “Black Baseball: Pittsburgh’s Claim to Fame,” tells the story of the

Pittsburgh Crawfords and Homestead Grays, two of the most recognized Negro League

Baseball teams. An integral part of the black community, these teams created employment,

entertainment, and impacted the city’s black economy. The Crawfords and the Grays,

however, were not the only baseball teams in Pittsburgh as the Negro Interplant Baseball

4

League, organized by the Pittsburgh Urban League, played a significant role to black

industrial workers and their families.

The League, comprised of Negro employees of

Pittsburgh’s steel mills and manufacturing plants, was created with hopes of deterring

southern black migrants from illegal activities by providing organized recreation. This

chapter delves into the significance of these teams and their importance to Pittsburgh’s black

community.

This particular study makes several contributions to African-American History. First,

recent debates among historians have pointed to the need for more local studies on African-

American communities and organizations. Kenneth Kusmer’s “The Black Experience in

Urban America,” in The State ofAfio-American History: Past Present and Future, (1986)

edited by Darlene Clark Hine, also expresses a need for additional local studies, because

earlier studies written by sociologists and not historians, were pathological, and often poorly

researched. This research on black Pittsburgh definitely responds to this need.

Second, while studies on black women are increasingly on the rise, no gender studies

exist on black women in Pittsburgh, who were a viable segment of the community as

individuals and within the movement among black club women. For example, they

responded to the complicated social welfare demands of the community by establishing and

supporting black social welfare institutions designed to uplift the race through education and

self-help. Black women in Pittsburgh also established businesses and participated in the

same reform movements as white women which included temperance and suffrage.

Third, during the period 1875-1915, a critical period in the development of (A

Pittsburgh’s black history, few, if any, scholarly works have been produced. Most are post-

5

1915, studies and deal with the pains of the Great Migration: living conditions such as,

overcrowded housing; crime; poor health;

residential segregation; and industrial

employment. Surely, the lives of black Pittsburghers represent a reputable significance to

the history of black Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh in general, as they settled mainly in the Hill

District, but also established communities on the North Side; in East Liberty, Homewood,

Lawrenceville, and Beltzhoover.

This study is important, because it demonstrates that blacks in Pittsburgh initiated the

same kinds of social welfare and self-help programs, and economic development strategies

as other cities with large concentrations of blacks.

“Black Self-Help and Community

Development Building in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1830-1945,” contributes to the fields of

Afiican-American, urban, social, and women’s history, as well as open new avenues for

comparative studies on local Afiican-American communities.

Research for this dissertation includes a variety of primary materials, secondary

sources and government documents. In the proposed discussion of black women, the

Frances Harper League Papers, will be an asset to this project. Mrs. Brooks was a charter

member of the Frances Harper League, Pittsburgh’s first black women’s club, established

November 20, 1894. The papers in this collection which cover the period 1894-1950,

contain 108 documents totaling 3,145 pages and include minutes, reports of the League’s

City-County and Pennsylvania State Federations of Colored Women’s Clubs, the League’s

constitution and by-laws, financial records, correspondence, letters, newspaper clippings,

speeches, biographical sketches of League members, pamphlets, programs, essays, National

Notes, the monthly magazine of the National Association of Colored Women, the Women’s

6

Era Newsletter, the official organ of the Negro Federation of Afro-American Women, and

black and white still photographs. Similar records are available for the Haniet Tubman

Guild, the Lucy Stone Civic League, but not of the same magnitude.

The Urban League was a major organization in northern and mid-western cities,

particularly, during the migration. In Pittsburgh, the Urban League was established in 1918,

and provided a wide range of social services to blacks including employment, training, and

education. Its papers are housed in the Archives of the Industrial Society, Hillman Library,

University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania They contain an abundance of valuable

information

about Pittsburgh blacks and various aspects of their established black

community. Lists of black institutions, black businesses, organizational histories, ‘colored’

recreational facilities, prominent blacks, and blacks in the professions, all appear in these

records.

The Pennsylvania State Archives is also important as a source for information. In its

African-American collection are materials on blacks in Pittsburgh: “The Negro in Pittsburgh,

1939-1941,” “The Early Negro Community of Pittsburgh, 1815-1861,” “The Later

Community, 1863-1940,” “The Church School and Press,” “The Abolition Years 1820-1861,”

and a newspaper clipping file from local newspapers on Negroes between 1841-1941. The

Carnegie Institute of Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Department maintains a limited vertical file

on black Pittsburgh, but is a viable asset to this work.

Three categories of secondary sources to be used in the completion of this project are:

case studies on black Pittsburgh, urban studies on local black communities, and studies on

black women. Peter Gottlieb’s Making Their Own Way: Southern Migration to Pittsburgh,

7

1916-1930, John Bodnar’s Lives of Their Own: Blacks, Italians and Poles, in Pittsburgh,

1900-1960, The Negro Migrant in Pittsburgh, by Abraham L. Epstein, City at The Point:

Essays on the Social History ofPittsburgh edited by Samuel P. Hays and Social Conditions

ofthe Negro in the Hill District ofPittsburgh: Survey Conducted Under the Direction ofIra

De Reid, Director ofResearch, The National Urban League, help provide the framework for

the task at hand.

To enhance this dissertation, several secondary sources on local urban black

communities will be useful. They include We ask only a Fair Trial: A History ofthe Black

Community in Evansville, Indiana by Darrel E. Bigam, and Life for us is What We Make It:

building the Black Community ofDetroit, 1915-1945, by Richard W. Thomas will be used

as models for Black Pittsburgh. A Ghetto Takes Shape: Black Cleveland, 18 70-1930, by

Kenneth Kusmer, Black Milwaukee: the Making ofan Industrial Proletariat, 1915-1945, by

Joe William Trotter, Gary B. Nash’s Forging Freedom: The Formation of Philadelphia’s

Black Community, 1 720-1840, Leonard P. Curry’s The Free Black in Urban America 1800-

1850, Before the Ghetto: Black Detroit in the 19’“ Century by David Katzrnan, and Black

Chicago: The Making of a Negro Ghetto, [890-1920, by Allan Spear provides additional

insight to this study.

Because black women played a major role in the development of Pittsburgh’s black

community, it is important to respond to many of the gender questions. Therefore, Gerda

Lemer’s Black Women in White America: a Documentary History, Jacqueline Jones’ Labor

ofLove, Labor ofSorrow: Black Women, Work, and the Familyfiom Slavery to the Present,

Black Women in America: An Historical Encyclopedia, Black Women in American History:

8

from Colonial Times Through the Nineteenth Century, Black Women in American History:

the Twentieth Century, all edited by Darlene Clark Hine, and Black Women in the Middle-

West:

the Michigan Experience by Darlene Clark Hine, Shirley Yee’s Black Female

Abolitionists, were used.

Government documents on all levels of government aided in this research and include

include property deeds, mortgage books, tax statements, ordinances, resolutions, judgements,

census records, and minutes of Pittsburgh’s City Council meetings. These items were

obtained from the Prothonotary’s Office, Allegheny County Recorder of Deeds Office, City

Clerk’s Office, the Allegheny County Courthouse. Smull’s and The Pennsylvania Manual

provided detailed information concerning election statistics by race, counties, municipalities,

districts, and wards, and election returns, were located in the Government Documents

Department, Hillman Library, University of Pittsburgh.

Overall, these government

documents help us to understand the composition of black Pittsburgh and its neighborhoods,

determine property ownership, observe the manner in which city government responded to

the endeavors of black organizations, and look at some of the legal problems facing Negroes.

Local newspapers provide a wealth of information for this project, especially The

Pittsburgh Courier, one of the oldest black newspapers in the United States. It serves as a

road map leading to the development of Pittsburgh’s black community and ruler by which

to measure its progress, successes, and failures. Other Pittsburgh newspapers significant to

this study were Martin R. Delany’s, The Mystery, first published in 1846; The Daily

Dispatch; The Pittsburgh Sun; The Pittsburgh Press; The Pittsburgh Post; The Pittsburgh

Telegraph; The Gazette Times; and The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The Colored American,

9

an antebellum black newspaper, and William Lloyd Garrison’s, The Liberator, a Boston

abolitionist newspaper, were extremely useful in describing the players and activities of

Pittsburgh’s early black community.

The major problem facing this project is, for unexplained reasons, The Pittsburgh

Courier, an invaluable source for this dissertation, was not collected by local repositories and

universities, or the Library of Congress between 1913-1922, and therefore unavailable. This

represents a critical period in Pittsburgh’s black history the Great Migration of southern

black migrants to Pittsburgh catalyzed a third phase of the city’s community development

and self-help initiatives during World War I. For example, economic ventures became a

reality with the establishment of more than a hundred black businesses; numerous religious

institutions and organizations; Garveyism spread to Pittsburgh; mass black mobilization

became commonplace as blacks struggled to support their own institutions; and black

political participation was on the rise as blacks, under the leadership of Robert L. Vann,

owner of The Pittsburgh Courier. The inaccessibility of The Pittsburgh Courier somewhat

“diminishes” the opportunity to chronicle the intimate details of this period.

In conceptualizing this part of the study, it is important to understand two points:

“Black Self-help and Community Building in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1830-1945,” is not

specifically about the Great Migration, but the city’s reaction to it.

For this reason, it is

organized into two parts, which are voluntary and involuntary self-help and community

development initiatives, i.e., those created as a result of racism and discrimination. Also,

little time was spent examining this southern exodus to Pittsburgh, because this historic work

is an attempt to explore other important areas of black life in Pittsburgh.

10

In terms of research and sources, this project has great potential and stands to be well

documented. Despite the ten year absence of The Pittsburgh Courier and the problem

identifying many of the women in this study, (because they often used the first and last

names of their husbands), the difficulties encountered are minimal and none too familiar as

I have conducted other research projects on black Pittsburgh. In an attempt to fill the void,

a number of oral history interviews were conducted to reconstruct the past as well as

complement the hard data. In doing so, the author utilized the black church network, tapped

on senior citizens residing in more than 25 hi-rise apartments in Pittsburgh and surrounding

areas, and gathered information from various other segments of the community.

Difficulties in research projects, particularly those conducted within

African-

American communities often occur, and attributed to the fact that most records about

African-Americans are in private hands and not centrally located. In other words, there is

a scarcity of African-American records in local repositories which necessitates travel to at

least four archival facilities. My personal interest in black Pittsburgh is no secret, but the

source from which it stems cradles within the unscratched surfaces of its history by scholars

and lack of research conducted. I, therefore, consider this dissertation a challenge, but

confident in my ability to eloquently tell the story of black Pittsburgh’s self-help and

community-building initiatives.

11

BRIEF OVERVIEW OF PITTSBURGH

Pittsburgh is located at the confluence of the Allegheny, and Monongehela Rivers

which meet to form the Ohio River. All three rivers were primary transportation arteries

making Pittsburgh a “commercial entrepot” during the early 19th century. Pittsburgh is a

producer of at least six manufactured goods: textiles, engines, stearnboats, tobacco products,

paper, and glass. Pittsburgh’s economic foundation was based on iron and steel, but also

known for other mineral resources including coal, limestone, and iron-ore.

With more than thirteen rolling mills and approximately thirty foundries, Pittsburgh

prospered financially and attracted newcomers of all nationalities, especially, blacks and

European immigrants of Irish, Russian, Scottish, Jewish decent, and Germans during the

Civil War. Most European immigrants were concentrated close to Pittsburgh’s central

business district which was accessible to its many mills and factories. Pittsburgh blacks

resided in basically four areas: Downtown near Third Avenue, Arthursville, Hayti, and

Allegheny. Pittsburgh’s other ethnic groups were scattered throughout the city.

During the 18303 Pittsburgh’s racial climate varied in relationship to free people of

color. A portion of the city’s whites were pro-slavery, a fragment thought of free people of

color as inferior; some were not phased by their presence; and others were aggravated by

their increasing numbers to the city creating job competition. Pittsburgh’s fiee people of

color, despite the attitudes of whites, attempted to deal with their own social, economic,

educational, and political woes as they engaged the building of an infrastructure for the

development of a close knit and productive black community.

12

Chapter 1

Black Pioneers: When We Wuz' Called Free People of Color

Pennsylvania was a free state. Two legislative actions in the Pennsylvania General

Assembly prohibited slavery: the Act of 1773, which limited the importation of Negroes,

most of whom were purchased in the West Indies, Barbados, Jamaica and Antigua: and the

Gradual Emancipation Act of 1780, which provided that children born to slaves after the

passage of this law be given their freedom at the age of twenty-eight.l In addition to this

legislation, agitation against slavery by the Society of Friends, the creation and spread of

abolition societies throughout Pennsylvania, and an increased hostility by white inhabitants

against southern slavery, also contributed to the anti-slavery cause in the State. Prior to

1780, blacks had absolutely no rights.

Despite the abolition of slavery in Pennsylvania in 1780, it still existed when slave

masters in Greene, Fayette, and Montgomery Counties refused to free their slaves.

In

Pittsburgh, situated in Allegheny County, slaves were often brought by emigrants from

Virginia and Maryland, but the Pennsylvania General Assembly enacted additional

legislation restricting slavery. It declared that any slaves brought into the state by residents

or persons intending such, become immediately free.2 Although these slave owners

 

1Edward Raymond Turner, The Negro in Pennsylvania: Slavery-Servitude-Freedom,

(New York: Negro Universities Press, 1911), p. 9; Leon F. Litwack, North of Slavery in the

Free States 1790-1860, (Chicago: University of Chicago Press), p. 3; James P. Wickersham, A

History of Education in Pennsylvania, Private, Public Elementary and Higher, (Lancaster, PA:

Inquirer Publishing Company, 1886), p. 246.

2During this particular period, Pennsylvania blacks were prohibited from raising their

offspring; were without access to the courts, because of their race; and all black males were

banned from military service.

13

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14

disobeyed the law and some even continued to advertise for slaves in Pennsylvania’s various

newspapers, they could no longer be purchased. The actions taken by the State to enforce

the laws broken by slave owners in the above mentioned counties is unclear.

Pennsylvania, because of its close proximity to the South, became a fortress of refuge

for a large number of fugitives, particularly, from the bordering slave states of Virginia and

Maryland. In addition, the Underground Railroad which originated in Pennsylvania (1787),

had more routes in proportion to the area than anywhere else in the North, making it possible

for a steady stream of fugitive slaves to find permanent freedom.3 A majority of these

runaway slaves found freedom in seven Pennsylvania counties:

Bucks, Philadelphia,

Chester, Lancaster, Montgomery, and York. A smaller population of Negroes settled in

Allegheny County, particularly, Pittsburgh which is our focus.

The purpose of this chapter is to trace the establishment of Pittsburgh's antebellum

community and examine the forces which made it possible.

Concentrating on black

leadership, early institution-building, the establishment of black businesses, black civil

rights, and black organizations, I argue that although Pittsburgh's antebellum black

community, smaller than those of Philadelphia, Boston, and New York, that its black

leadership successfully provided for the black community's needs.

While slavery, largely a southern institution by the end of the second quarter of the

19th century, free black society took shape in the North, as thousands of free Negroes

 

3Charles Blockson, The Underground Railroad in Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania

Heritage (January) 1984, p. 118.

15

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l 6

obtained their freedom mainly by running away.4 By 1830, 319,000 free Negroes lived in

the United States clustering in small urban communities.‘ Historian John Hope Franklin

explains that “free Negroes were inclined to be urban, because of greater economic

opportunities and social activities.”

Early Settlement

The first evidence of blacks in Pennsylvania was as early as 1644, but it was not until

1830, that a substantial number of blacks began to settle. In Pittsburgh, there were 453 free

people of color in Pittsburgh, 191 males and 262 females.6 This early black population was

comprised of indentured servants, free blacks, and fugitive slaves. Although many of them

were from other Pennsylvania counties, particularly, Cumberland and Franklin, a majority

of the other blacks were from Virginia and Maryland.

According to the United States Census, thirteen black families resided on Third and

Market Streets near the Monongehela River, where accessibility to docks and river traffic

made settlement feasible, especially, for employment. Most of these blacks were self-

employed as coopers, boatrnen, stevedores, and washerwomen. Others were employed by

whites as servants, grounds keepers, waiters, and custodians in white business

establishments. In addition to this settlement, blacks tended to establish themselves in two

 

“John Oliver Horton, Free People of Color: Inside the African American Community,

(Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1993), p. 2.

51ohm Hope Franklin, From Slavery to Freedom: A History ofAfrican American

People, (New York: Alfred Knopf, 1994), p. 217.

6Samuel Hazard, “Census ofPittsburg City, Allegheny, Armstrong, and Bedford

Counties, June 1, I830,” Hazard’ s Register of Pennsylvania, May 7, 1831, p. 311.

17

Table I.

Free Colored Males in Pittsburgh

By Age and District

June I, 1830

District

Under 10

10-24

24-36

36-55

55-100

100

 

North

4

9

5

O

2

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21

32

34

3

4

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East

9

7

8

4

1

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West

10

9

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7

4

0

 
  
 

 

Total

44

57

65

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0

Total Free Colored Males: 191

Table 11.

Free Colored Males in Pittsburgh

By Age and District

June I, 1830

District

Under 10

10-24

24-36

36-55

55-100

100

 

North

4

11

5

3

3

0

 

South

28

53

31

14

4

0

 

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8

9

11

8

0

0

 

West

18

2O

19

8

4

1

 

  
 

Total

66

58

33

93

1 1

 

 

 

 

 

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Total Free Colored Females: 262

Source: Samuel Hazard ed., “Census ofPittsburg City, Allegheny, Armstrong, Bedford

Counties, June 1, 1830,” Hazard’ s Register ofPennsylvania.

18

 

 

 

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other areas: Arthursville where some of the city's prominent blacks resided and Allegheny

(not formally a part of Pittsburgh).

Black Leadership

In northern urban cities across the United States, the black population continued to

increase as did the need to create established black communities within American Society.

This was necessary, because the daily demands of blacks was on the rise which called for

schools to educate black children; black churches for spiritual growth; community

organizations to create social activities and stimulate community development; and black

businesses to build an economic base. However, the task of community-building could not

be achieved without a strong black leadership.

Black leaders were extremely important to black life. They were the providers of the

essential support for institutions, the nurturers of services to the community, and those who

worked to sustain Negro institutions. Black leaders were important, because they sought in

diverse ways to advance the race by overcoming racial barriers and oppression that pervaded

American society.7

Of equal importance, were their efforts toward moral betterment,

intellectual growth, and social intercourse which formed blacks into a fragile web of

community.8

Black leadership in many northern communities including Philadelphia, New York,

 

7Horton, p. 86.

8Gary B. Nash, Forging Freedom: The Formation ofPhiladelphia’s Black

Community, 1720-1840, (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1988), p. 215.

20

Boston, and Pittsburgh, consisted of all males. In the past, slavery attempted to deny black

manhood and made it impossible for a man to freely express himself, his opinions, control

his own life, and make his own decisions.9 However, northern freemen changed this

perception when they became the leaders in the building of urban communities and many of

them were encouraged by the words of Boston black activist, Maria Stewart. In a speech to

Negro Bostonians in 1831, she stated: “It is important that successful free men of color

become assets to the Negro community and contribute to the struggle of Negro people.”lo

Pittsburgh’s antebellum black leaders were: John B. Vashon, a prominent barber,

hairdresser, and owner of City Baths; John Peck, a wigmaker and barbershop owner; Lewis

Woodson, and African Methodist Episcopal minister, school teacher, barber and operator of

barbershops in the city’ 8 leading hotels; Martin R. Delany, an editor, physician, and publisher

of Pittsburgh’s first black newspaper, The Mystery; George B. Vashon, the son of John

Vashon, an attorney, an first black graduate of Oberlin College who later, became President

of Avery College, Allegheny City, Pennsylvania; and David Peck, the son of John Peck, the

first black graduate of Rush Medical College, Chicago, Illinois.‘1 They were the individuals

who planned and executed strategies, and responded to the problems of education, civil

 

9Marilyn Richardson, Maria Stewart: America ’s First Black Woman Political Writer,

(Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1987), p. xii; Horton, p. 82.

”are, p. 86.

11Walter M. Merrill, Letters of William Lloyd Garrison, Volume III, August 1847, p.

512-513; Letter to Helen E. Garrison from William Lloyd Garrison, August 13, 1847, p. 509;

“Documents: Lettersfrom William Lloyd Garrison to John B. Vashon,” XII (Journal ofNegro

History) 1927, p. 33-40. Lewis Woodson was a heavy set man and the son of Virginia slaves

who purchased their freedom. When his parents migrated to Ohio, he received his early

education from Quakers.

21

rights, and the establishment of black institutions, and organizations. Most of these men

were from various parts of Virginia and some were former slaves while others were free

people of color.

For example, Lewis Woodson was the son of Virginia slaves who

purchased their freedom and John Vashon, the son of a white Indian agent and a black

woman, was free.'2

Black Education

Free people of color were avid for an education and were afforded the opportunity

for such during the early 19th century. In every community, free people of color, were

studying with an apparent beliefthat education would solve some oftheir problems. It would

elevate and bring them some measure of economic success; provide for individual

advancement in a non-agricultural society; train potential leaders; strengthen the bonds ofthe

black community and heighten its self-consciousness.l3 David Walker, born a free man in

North Carolina, asserted, “education would go toward enabling blacks to take the initiative

for reversing their fortunes in this country.” For these reasons, the black school became a

key institution and contributed significantly to the building of northern black communities.

The attitudes of northern whites concerning the education of blacks varied. On the

 

12Ann G. Wilmoth, "Toward Freedom: Pittsburgh Blacks, 1800-18 70." 9 Pennsylvania

Heritage, p. 16.

1 3Leonard P. Curry, The Free Black in Urban America 1800-1850, (Chicago: The

University of Chicago Press, 1981), p. 147, 172; Also see Loretta Funke, “The Negro in

Education,” (The Journal ofNegro History) 1920, pp. 1-21. Funke provides a discussion on the

establishment of early black education beginning in the 18'“ century and the enactment of laws

opposing black education , especially, in the mid-western states.

22

one hand, whites favored black education. Robert Drury’s article, “The African Free Schools

of New York,” (1970) tells us that most schools established for black children were the

efforts of Manumission Societies, individuals, and philanthropists. They played a major role

in black education by establishing the African Free Schools in New York, the first in 1789,

in a house on Clift Street. Individual efforts by whites to educate blacks were also prevalent.

For example, Pittsburgh’s Reverend John Herron, a white Presbyterian minister, and two of

his associates, James Wilson and Nathaniel Smith in 1817, opened a school for blacks in a

carpenter shop on Smithfield and Diamond Alley.l4

In 1818, Robert Smith opened a free

school for black children in Pittsburgh and was later paid a small stipend by overseers of the

poor. ‘5 M.B. Lowerie, a white abolitionist, who took black pupils into his school on Hay and

Seale Way. '6

In Cincinnati, Lane Seminary students instructed 100-300 black children and

40-50 adults at night during the 18303. The interest of abolitionist whites in providing for

the education of black children spread rapidly in northern cities.

On the other hand, both southern and northern whites were often fearful about the

 

1"Records of the Works Progress Administration, Pennsylvania Historical Survey, 1933-

1942, “Ethnic Survey of the Negro in Pittsburgh,” p. 15. An important point made in this

survey relative to Pittsburgh’s first colored school was that it lacked funds for educational

supplies, especially, reading materials. As a result, the Bible was used to teach black children to

read and write. The school founded by Herron was described by historian Leonard Curry as

Pittsburgh’s “earliest educational opportunity offered blacks.”

15 Leonard Curry, p. 151. As schools for black children continued to struggle

financially, the 18203 brought a sense of relief, when they were supported by the Pittsburgh

Sunday School Association.

1 6Lowerie’s School was initially established for white students, but accepted black

children, because he disagreed with the exclusionary policy barring them from attending white

schools. Though white school directors often insisted that the schools for their children were

overcrowded, Pittsburgh’s black leadership suggested that another story be added onto the

current school building to accommodate colored children.

23

education of blacks. This type of elevation would probably eliminate his inferiority and give

him racial equality; encourage political participation; and enhance his desire to improve his

standard of living. There were, however, northern whites who would not interfere with the

education of black children as long as the schools were segregated. In Philadelphia, “whites

were not so adamantly opposed to the education of the Negro as they were about separate

schools for white and Negro children.” An elected group of commissioners decided black

and white children should not attend the same schools. It was generally conceded by both

the colored and white people of Pittsburgh that it was out of the question for colored children

to be sent to the white schools. '7

Black leaders and their respective communities were not idle on the subject of black

education, and while embracing those schools established by whites, they refused to depend

solely on their benevolence to educate black children. Black churches contributed to the

education of black children by providing days schools devoted to secular education, because

educational opportunities for blacks were few.‘8

In Philadelphia, for example, black

churches contributed to the training of black youth through Sunday Schools and weekday

church schools, usually directed by ministers. David Katzrnan's Before the Ghetto: Black

Detroit in the 19th Century, (1973) tells us that Detroit’s black churches, such as the Second

Baptist Church, utilized their basements to house colored schools. Through education,

blacks were making preparation to become an integral part of American society.

 

17William Daniel McCoy, History ofPitmburgh Schools to 1942, Volume II, 1837-

1855,p.48.

18Leonard Curry, p. 193.

24

In Pittsburgh, two schools were established for the education of blacks: The Lewis

Woodson School and the school organized by the Afiican Education Society. In 1831, Lewis

Woodson, a native of Columbus, Ohio, founded his school and officially opened its doors

in Little Bethe] Church, Miltenberger’s Alley. With a curriculum of reading, writing, and

ciphering, informal classes were held during the day for colored children and adults at night.

For advanced students, with previous schooling, Woodson designed an advanced reading

course. Although few students paid tuition, his salary, disbursed by the Negro community,

was $150.00 annually. '9 Martin R. Delany, Woodson's first student, walked sixty miles from

Chambersburg, Pennsylvania (Cumberland County), to attend Woodson’s school.20

To firrther meet the educational needs of the black community, black leaders also

formed the educational organizations. Whereas free people of color in Philadelphia formed

the Augustine Society (1817), a literary club and established a seminary (1822), Pittsburgh

blacks organized the Afiican Education Society (1831) in John B. Vashon’s home. The

purpose of the AES was to eliminate “ignorance, the sole cause of the present degradation

of people of color in the United States.”21 This organization consisted of elected officers and

 

1 91ames P. Wickersham, A History of Education in Pennsylvania: Private and Public

Elementary and Higher, (Lancaster, PA: Inquirer Publishing Company, 1886), p. 254.

20Dorothy Sterling, The Making ofAn Afro-American, Martin Robinson Delany, 1812-

1885, (New York: Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1971), p. 82; Wilmoth, p. 6.

2 1“Colored Philanthropists: They Form an Organization in Pittsburgh As Early As

1832,” Pittsburg Commercial Gazette, June 28, 1886, up. Vertical File, Pittsburgh

Nationalities, Groups, Blacks, The Carnegie Institute of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Department,

Pittsburgh, PA.; Samuel Hazard, “African Education Society,” Hazard ’s Register of

Pennsylvania, IX (January-July) 1932, p. 1 16 ; IX (February) 1832, p. 115.

25

 

Figure. 4. Lewis Woodson

26

a Board of Managers.22 Meetings of the African Education Society were held on the third

Monday for is annual session and the second Monday of each month for monthly meetings.

It opened its school for black children in the Front Street Methodist Church and, like the

Lewis Woodson School, was financially supported by Pittsburgh’s free people of color.

Throughout 1832, both the Lewis Woodson and the African Education Society

Schools, were separate entities. However, in 1833, these schools were merged by their black

teachers: John Templeton, a graduate of Athens College, Athens Ohio, and Mathilda Ware

both of Carlisle, Pennsylvania (Franklin County). Minute financial resources which plagued

most early black schools sometimes forced black leaders to pool its resources together to

effectively accomplish their goal. In Pittsburgh, this also became necessary.

As black Pittsburghers struggled to maintain their school and educate their children,

Governor George Wolf, in 1834, signed the Public Education Act #102 establishing the

common school system throughout Pennsylvania. The law stated that all children from eight

to sixteen years of age were subject to school training with the exception of working children

over fourteen.23 Under this Act, blacks legally had the right to be admitted to any public

 

22The officers of the African Education Society were: John Vashon, president; Job B.

Thompson, vice president; Lewis Woodson, secretary; and Abraham D. Lewis, treasurer. The

Board of Managers included Richard Bryans, William Greenly, Samuel Bruce, Moses Howard,

and Samuel Clingharn. Their responsibility was to “transact the business of the AES; purchase

books; raise money by subscription or other means; purchase suitable ground to erect a suitable

building to accommodate and educate “colored” youth; and a hall to be used for the society.”

See Hazard’s Register ofPennsylvania, February 9, 1832, p. 116.

23Lila V. North, “The Elementary Public Schools ofPittsburgh,” Charities and the

Commons, 21 (March 6, 1909), p. 1175.

This article also has photographs of the earliest

public schools in Pittsburgh.

27

school at which they presented themselves.24

It determined school districts by the

population, making them responsible for furnishing an adequate number of schoolhouses,

and educating all school-age children within their geographical limits when requested by the

parents, guardians, or friends of school-age children.25

However, this did not include Pittsburgh’s black children. Contrary to James P.

Wickersham’s contention that “colored people were finding the establishment of the public

school system sufficient for their purpose,” the law provided no specific provisions for the

education ofblack children, no public funds, or facilities for black public schools. Pittsburgh

blacks as tax payers and property owners, responded to the exclusion of their children from

adequate schoolhouse quarters.

Black leaders on December 18, 1835, petitioned the

Directors of the Public Schools:

We the colored cittizens (sic) whose names are whereunto subscribed do

sincerely petition to them as we have paid tax for the said schools, and yet

received no benefit therefrom (sic). As we are not the most of us able to

school our children although we have a house and teacher numbers cannot

come on account of not being able to pay the teacher. Therefore we do

sincerely hope that the authority in this city be pleased to let the diferent (sic)

wards of the citty (sic) be kept at our house in First Street between Wood and

Smithfield.26

 

24Edward J. Price, Jr. “School Segregation in Nineteenth Century Pennsylvania,”

XLIII (Pennsylvania History), April 1976, p. 124. The Educational Act # 102, passed by the

Pennsylvania General Assembly, was also referred to as the “free school law.”

25Ann G. Wilmoth, “19“ Century Education in Pittsburgh, Allegheny City: Path To

Equality?, in Blacks in Pennsylvania History, ed., David McBride, (Pennsylvania: Research and

Educational Perspectives, Historical and Museum Commission, 1983), p. 3.

26This petition was signed by Thomas Norris, Samuel Johnston, A.D. Lewis, and George

Gardiner. It was forwarded to the Directors of the Second Ward School District. There were a

total of eight such districts and one township (Pitt Township). In addition to the districts , the

schools were located in four wards: North, East South and West.

28

More than a year had elapsed and the inquiry by Pittsburgh’s black leadership

concerning a school for black children was ignored by School Directors.

However,

prominent whites in the city expressed an interest in the education of black children by

forwarding a letter to School Directors, but it is unclear if any of Pittsburgh's blacks, asked

them to intervene. The letter dated January 30, 1837 read:

The undersigned believe that the laws of this state providing for

the

education of the children of the poorer classes of her population at the public

expense contemplate no distinction between white and colored children.

They, therefore, respectfully ask whether colored children will be received

into the schools under your care and if not whether any appropriations of

money will be made for the support of such schools for colored children as

are now in existence and which are now sustained chiefly, if not entirely by

undon97

The letter written by Avery, Laughlin, and Church also went ignored, so they sent another

letter to the School Directors in February 1837, inquiring if any action had been taken on the

request from the city’s blacks.

On February 17th the Directors, Benjamin Bakewell, Thomas Fairman, John

Caldwell, and Samuel Darlington, met and decided that “it was expedient to establish an

Afiican School” and agreed to find accommodations for it. They requested that free “People

of Color furnish the Board of Directors with statistical information concerning the number

of [colored] children, age, addresses, and parents names.

”28

The action by and pressure

imposed upon the School Directors brought some sense of satisfaction to the city's blacks and

 

2“McCoy, p. 175. The white citizens who wrote this letter on behalf of the colored

citizens of Pittsburgh were: Charles Avery, a philanthropist, Presbyterian minister, and

businessman; Samuel Church, a businessman; and Alex Laughlin, a merchant.

For the

complete text of this letter see McCoy.

281bid., p.

160.

29

to their white allies after having long awaited a favorable response.

The intentions of School Directors were reflected in the four newly erected schools

for white children in each of the Pittsburgh's wards during the 18403, while the newly found

accommodations for black children were in a rented basement of a brick structure. John

Vashon, John Peck, John Templeton, and other black leaders protested that the

accommodations were too small and unsuitable. Emma Lou Thombrough in The Negro in

Indiana Before 1900: A Study ofa Minority, (1985) tells us that “black schools were under

great disadvantages, unsuitable buildings, and uncomfortable furniture.” All too often were

blacks subjected to this type of arrangement which were deeply embedded in racism.

Black leaders expressed their dissatisfaction to School Directors in October 1849,

when they hired an attorney, George W. Layng, to represent them in their right to obtain

public funds and facilities under the law.29

During this period, there were no black

attorneys in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh blacks, through a collective effort, gathered whatever

funds they could in a door-knocking campaign in the black community to pay their attorney.

They were willing to fight for their rights and the fair and equal education of black children.

After three years, there were no new developments on the lawsuit. The School

Directors sought to appease black citizens by appointing a committee of Colored School

Board Directors which was responsible for “all things to promote the interest ofthe [colored]

 

29McCoy, p. 194.

Laying met with 14 of 54 white school directors where a committee

was appointed to devise a plan to satisfy Pittsburgh’s free people of color relative to the issue of

a colored school. More importantly, was the fact that their rights to equal education based on the

Pennsylvania State Constitution were violated.

30

 

Source: History ofAllegheny County, PA, Philadelphia: L.H. Evert Company, 1876, p. 127.

Figure. 5. Charles Avery

Charles Avery was born in Westchester County, New York, December 10, 1874, and was

one of numerous children. He moved to New York City where he apprenticed himself to a druggist

while attending night school to obtain a formal education. In 1812, Avery relocated to Pittsburgh,

opened a drugstore and invested money in two industries: cotton and copper. Avery was described

as a constant giver to the poor, young men of good character, itinerant ministers, teachers and literary

institutions. Avery, an abolitionist and adversary of the Fugitive Slave Law, assisted fugitive slaves

on the Underground Railroad. Upon his death, he provided approximately $3 00,000 for the

establishment of a Negro school named in his honor, Avery College. Its staff consisted of both

Negro and white teachers, Avery A.M.E.Z. Church was later organized in the same building.

31

school.” Given the circumstances surrounding the accommodations of the colored school,

the first item on the committee’s agenda was to find other quarters.

The school moved three times between 1851-1853: in 1851, the colored school

moved to the engine house on Wylie Street; on September 20, 1852, to the Arthur Street

Church; and later, to the Wesleyan Church where School Directors rented space for $5.50

per month.30 In each case, the quarters were still unsuitable. Conditions of the colored

school became so terrible that it was eventually closed September 29, 1853. Plagued by the

same problems of Indiana’ 3 “colored” schools, it was overcrowded, had no blackboard, poor

lighting, and uncomfortable furniture.

It was not until two years after the Civil War that the Central Board of Directors

decided to actually deal with the issue of a colored school. On June 1 1, 1867, four lots were

purchased on Miller Street and a two story brick building was erected. Since the city’s black

leadership and community hired an attorney which successfully sued the State of

Pennsylvania for not allotting the same funds for the erection of a Negro school as for white

ones, it took eighteen years to see the promising results. After this success, a number of

subsequent Negro schools were established. For example, the first school supported by the

city was presided by Professor Samuel Neale."

 

30McCoy, pp. 184, 187.

31Thomas Ewell, “Public Schools, Business, and Professional Life, Colored American

Magazine, p. 173. Ewell, in the 19803 established Ewell’s Evening School, a Preparatory

School of English Studies in East End. Also the Mission of St. Benedict the Moor, a black

Catholic mission, had a parochial school on Overhill Street with two Negro teachers: Mrs.

Eloise Walker and Sadie Black Hamilton.

32

Protest and Resistance

Free people of color in the North led lives of protest through anti-slavery societies;

the Underground Railroad; and direct confrontation. They were no longer going to accept

or tolerate the racist behavior ofwhites which excluded them from schools, employment, and

the polls, because free people of color were, in fact, free. Whites, particularly, southern

whites, formed the American Colonization Society (1817) and proposed to colonize slaves

in Africa (on a voluntary basis) or “any place Congress might deem expedient.”

The ACS began as the American Society for Colonizing People of Color in the

United States, founded December 1816. The principle initiative for the formation of this

organization came from New Jersey’s Robert Finley, a Presbyterian cleric and led by

Presbyterian ministers in Washington, DC.32 Historian William Robert Fogel points out,

especially in the 18203, that Presbyterian ministers ofien preached Independence Day

sermons endorsing African colonization. The colonization scheme was a means of dealing

with the increasing numbers of free blacks and manumitted slaves whom many southern

whites felt were responsible for recurring slave insurrections.

Whites favoring colonization ofNegroes argued that it was the only humane solution

to the Negro problem as the following excerpt shows:

 

32William Robert Fogel, Without Consent or Contract: The Rise and Fall ofAmerican

Slavery, (New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1989), p. 252.

33

As long as they remained in the United States public opinion would

bar them from the polls, the jury box, the white man’s schools, church

pews, workshops, and dining tables. The Negro would have to

contend with an obviously superior knowledge, wealth, and influence,

a competition to which he is unequal.33

Many of its white supporters included wealthy white men of the North and South; major

office-holders such as John Calhoun; James Monroe; Abraham Lincoln; Henry Clay,

president of the ACS during the late 18403; and Bushrod Washington, Associate Justice of

the United States Supreme Court.“ The American Colonization Society was endorsed by

the slave states of Maryland, Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee, and Georgia; and the Federal

Government which purchased Cape Mesurado and Liberia, as a means of eliminating free

people of color from the United States.

In Pittsburgh, prominent whites engaged the colonization movement by organizing

the Pittsburgh Colonization Society, August 20, 1835. A public notice read: “Pursuant to

public notice, a large meeting of citizens favorable to African colonization and opposed to

the dangerous and visionary measures of certain associates calling themselves abolitionists,

 

33Leon F. Litwack, North ofSlavery: The Negro in the Free States, 1 790-1860.

(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1961), p. 21. Litwack provides an informative

discussion on the American Colonization Society. See pages, 20-24. Also see John Hope

Franklin, From Slavery to Freedom: A History ofAfrican American People, (New York:

Alfred Knopf, 1994), p. 168.

34Layn Saint Louis, “American Colonization Society,” in Encyclopedia ofAfrican

American Culture and History, eds., Jack Saltzman, David Lionel Smith, and Cornell West,

Volume 1 (New York: Simon and Schuster and Prentice Hall lntemational, 1996), pp. 111, 112 .

Mesurado was located approximately 225 miles south of Sierre Leone, West Africa. Other

possible sites for the colonization of Negroes were: Haiti and Sherbo Island also near Sierre

Leone.

34

met at the Hall of the Young Men’s Society.”35 During a subsequent PCS meeting August

27, 1835, five resolutions were passed two of which included: Resolved that we believe the

colonization upon the coast of Africa or elsewhere of the free blacks and emancipated slaves

from within the United States, to be wise, safe, and practicable scheme of benevolence, and

that we will aid in its application and advancement; and that free blacks of our own

state...should be encouraged to emigrate to the colonies upon the coast of Africa or

elsewhere.36

Abolitionism was unpopular among many northern as well as southern whites who

feared that ending slavery and promoting racial equality would result in racial

amalgamation.”

Not all Pittsburgh whites favored the colonization of Negroes. For

example, a letter from the Pittsburg Christian Witness, a local anti-slavery newspaper, to the

Pennsylvania Legislature read:

 

”Samuel Hazard, ed. “Colonization,” Hazard ’s Register ofPennsylvania, Volume xvr,

July 1835-January 1836; September 6, 1835, (Philadelphia: William F. Geddes) p. 155.

During this meeting, a committee was appointed to write the Constitution for the newly

organized Pittsburgh Colonization Society, the auxiliary to the Young Men’s Colonization

Society of Pennsylvania. The founders of the PCS were: Thomas Bakewell, James Veech, H.D.

Sellers, Wilson McCandless, John M. Snowden, and MB. Miltenberger.

36Hazard, “Colonization,” p. 156. A Committee of twelve persons were appointed to

solicit subscribers: G.R White, Dr. Thomas Miller, W.l-I. Lowrie, H. Parry, D.M. Hogan, D.C.

Harker, C..I. Totten; H. Childs, H.D. Sellers, William McCandless, J.M. Snowden, and MB.

Miltenberger. The officers were the Honorable R.C. Grier, president; Walter Lowrie, secretary;

G.R. White, treasurer.

37Shirley Yee, Black Female Abolitionists: A Study in Activism 1828-1860,

(Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1992), p. 137.

35

Application being about to be made to your honorable Body for the

appropriation of funds to sustain the Colonization Society in removing

colored citizens to the coast of Afi'ica, your memorialists (sic) do earnestly,

conscientiously entreat your Honorable Body not to make any such

appropriation from the Peoples Treasury of this free state.38

Free people of color were willing to fight those forces which sought to take away

there freedom. James Forten, a free man and part of Philadelphia’s black intelligentsia,

organized a meeting of the city’s blacks regarding the American Colonization’s Society’s

scheme. They were adamantly oppose to their proposed colonization and responded, “their

ancestors, the first successful cultivators of America entitled them to participate in the

blessings of its luxuriant soil.”

In Pittsburgh, black leaders called a meeting of colored citizens who met at the

A.M.E. Church. Led by John B. Vashon an Richard Bryan, they registered their protest

against colonization by writing a series of seven resolutions. An excerpt from one of the

resolutions read: “...as citizens of these United States with a firm reliance on the protection

of divine providence, do mutually pledge to each other, our lives, fortunes, and sacred honor

not to support a colony in Afiica nor Upper Canada, nor yet emigrate to Hayti.”3'9 The

resolutions brought forward at this meeting also sent the following message to the city's free

people of color who dared to contemplate emigration: “. . .we are determined not to be cheated

out of our rights by the colonization of men, or any other set of intriguers...and we do

 

38The Colored American Magazine, December 1, 183 7, p.

. A copy of this letter was

reprinted in the Colored American Magazine, one of the most widely read communications

among northern blacks. It advocated race pride and consisted of columns relative abolitionism,

community organization, and the importance of Negro education. There were at least two other

anti-slavery newspapers in Pittsburgh: The Saturday Evening Visitor and The Spirit ofLiberty.

39Louis R. Mehlinger, “The Attitudes of the Free Negro Toward African Colonization,”

Journal ofNegro History (July 1916), p. 215.

36

consider every colored man who allows himself to be colonized to Africa, or elsewhere a

traitor to our cause.”"0 They also informed the Pittsburgh Colonization Society that "should

they desire to move, they would apprise them.""‘

Free people of color in northern urban communities began to organize anti-slavery

societies of their own in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. Vashon, Woodson, Delany,

and AD. Lewis formed an Anti-Slavery Society (1833), to work for the destruction of

slavery and promote the welfare of the race."2

It was designed to (1) bring anti-slavery

lectures to the city and (2) to provoke the formation of new abolitionist societies to fight the

institution of slavery. Part of the Pittsburgh's Anti-Slavery Society mission was to thwart the

plans of the American Colonization Society. The Pittsburgh Anti-Slavery Society had a

membership of approximately 180 persons including three prominent white citizens, J .D.

Gazzarn, a physician; Charles Avery, a philanthropist; and J.L. Pressley, a Presbyterian

minister.

During the Revolutionary Period blacks in Pennsylvania voted to a considerable

extent and those in Allegheny County had done so until their population increased. Whites

began to fear the possibility of black political leadership and dissipation of black inferiority.

However, in 183 8, black males were disfranchise by an amendment to the Pennsylvania

 

40Cuny, p. 235; The Liberator, September 17, 1831, p.

1. The Liberator, an anti-slavery

newspaper, was founded by William Lloyd Garrison, a noted Boston abolitionist.

“Mehlinger, p. 287.

42Pittsburgh’s Anti-Slavery Society was organized in 1833, one year after William Lloyd

Garrison founded the New England Anti-Slavery Society and the same year as the American

Anti-slavery Society whose agenda was geared toward racial equality for blacks.

37

Constitution by the word “white” males."3 Blacks protested their disfranchisement, because

they owned property, paid taxes, and obeyed the laws like other citizens. They considered

disfianchisement oppressive and the political annihilation to those deprive of it.44

In

Pittsburgh, black leaders, unsuccessfully petitioned the State Legislature to amend the

Constitution to remove all restrictions on account of color."5

With the disfianchisement of black males came discrimination in employment also

the result of an increasing black population. Job competition between blacks and whites

created another problem in northern urban communities as whites began to limit blacks to

various kinds of employment, paid low wages or were completely excluded from

employment opportunities. Free people of color became the victims of mob violence by

intolerant whites in Ohio, Philadelphia, St. Louis, New York, Boston, Providence, and

Pittsburgh, but they fought back. In retaliation to the resentment held by prejudiced whites

numerous race riots occurred during the 18203-18303.

In spite of mob violence by hostile whites, free people of colored continued about

their daily lives which included assisting fugitive slaves. Four northern cities: Pittsburgh,

Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Detroit, were locations where they could obtain help fi'om blacks.

In participation and protest, black leaders in Pittsburgh twice in the Spring and Summer of

 

4 3Philip S. Foner and George E. walker, eds. Proceedings of the Black State

Conventions, 1840-1865, (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1986), p. 123. Article III

read: In the Elections by the citizens every white freeman of the age of twenty-one years, having

resided in this state one year, and two years paid a state or county tax which shall have been

assessed at least ten days before the election shall enjoy the rights of an elector.

“Ibid., p. 123.

45Emest J. Wright, p. 31.

38

1847, intervened as several fugitive slaves were apprehended in Pittsburgh by their masters.

Inhabitants of Pittsburgh’s black community forcibly liberated them and expeditiously

dispatched them to Canada.“3 Also in the 18403 and 18503, some of Pittsburgh’s fi'ee blacks

encouraged and provided the means by which to free slaves from several slave owners

passing through the city.

Two other incidents involving the actions of Pittsburgh's free people of color are also

worth mentioning. In 1855, Lloyd Boyd, a fugitive slave, employed as a janitor in one of

Pittsburgh's hotels, was apprehended by slave catchers. As word spread throughout the black

community that slave catchers were in motion, they gathered at the St. Lawrence Hotel on

March 9th, surrounded the slave catchers and freed him. He was later sent to Canada through

Pittsburgh’s Underground Railroad.

In a separate incident, Martin R. Delany was sued for libel, for slandering Tom

Fiddler Johnson, a Negro slave catcher, who assisted white men in capturing fugitive slaves

in Pennsylvania. During a hearing in the Allegheny County Court of the Common Pleas,

March 1847, Delany was found guilty and fined $150, in addition to $25 in court costs.

Pittsburgh's black community, Delany’s attorney, William E. Austin, local newspapers, and

white abolitionists enraged about the excessiveness of the fine, launched a campaign to gain

public support against the court’s decision. They successfully petitioned Pennsylvania’s

Republican Governor, Francis Skunk, who had the fine rescinded, but Delany was still

responsible for the court costs. This was also a demonstration of both blacks and whites

 

4 6Gary B. Nash, Forging Freedom: The Formation of Philadelphia ’3 Black

Community, 1720-1840, (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1988), p. 231.

39

coming together for justice without regard to race.

Historian Charles Blockson in “A Black Underground Resistance to Slavery 1833-

1860,” says that the beginnings of Underground Railroad activity and fugitive aid occurred

in 1833 coinciding with the development of black communities in Pennsylvania."7 En route

to Canada, fugitive slaves often found shelter in the homes ofprominent blacks, hotels, barns

and churches. In Pittsburgh, there were several “stations” on the Underground Railroad,

mainly in Arthursville and Hayti, but one of the most notable was the home of Thomas

Arthur Brown."8

The Brown home was known among northern blacks for its hospitality and culture,

rest for travelers, and refuge for runaway slaves."9 Thomas Brown was a native of Frederick,

Maryland who had been held as a slave by relatives, but in freedom, he became a steward on

a steamboat. Little is known about his wife Frances Jane Scroggins’ except that her mother

had been a slave. The Brown home, in Arthursville, protected, fed, clothed, provided

numerous disguises and assistance to fugitive slaves to the next station on the Underground

Railroad. This was only one of many examples ofthe conclusions drawn by historians James

Oliver Horton, Charles Wesley, and William Still against the argument that abolitionist

whites were the main conductors on the Underground Railroad.

 

47Charles Blockson,” “The Underground Railroad in Pennsylvania,” Pennsylvania

Heritage, 9 (January) 1984, p.

”Charles Blockson, “A Black Underground Railroad Resistance to Slavery,”

Pennsylvania Heritage, p. 32.

4 9Records of the Works Progress Administration, Pennsylvania Historical Survey, 1933-

1942, Ethnic Survey of the Negro in Pittsburgh, “The Early Community,” p. 49. Thomas

Brown, the father of Hallie Q. Brown, was employed as a steward aboard a steamship.

40

As slaveholders or employed agents appeared more frequently in northern urban

communities to reclaim their lost chattel, a mass meeting of black men fiom Pittsburgh and

Allegheny was organized in June 1 850. At was this meeting, a resolutions committee formed

with Martin Delany as chairman, concluded that blacks were no longer safe from being

kidnapped or re-enslaved.

It was the opinion of black leaders that “Pittsburgh whites

conspired with pro-slavery forces to return them to bondage.”

In response to these

unfortunate possibilities, black leaders unsuccessfully appealed to the federal government

for their protection.

Pittsburgh's free people of color also resisted the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. As a

result of a rising dissension between northern whites and free people of color, and the

southern demand for strengthened fugitive slave legislation, white Americans devised, yet,

another law restricting the rights of free and enslave blacks. The Fugitive Slave Law, signed

by President Millard Fillmore, September 18, 1850, made it legal to recapture fugitive slaves

and return them to their respective southern masters. It empowered federal officers to call

upon all citizens to help enforce its provisions and imposed fines, imprisonment, and civil

damages for concealing or rescuing a fugitive.50

Blacks in Pittsburgh actively participated in the issues affecting them and free people

of color everywhere. The dread and injustice wrought by the Fugitive Slave Law provoked

and indelible display ofcommunity among Pittsburgher as slave catchers an owners appeared

 

50Vincent Harding, There Is a River: The Black Struggle for Freedom in America,

(New York: Vintage Books, 1981), p. 157.

Harding provides an informative discussion on the

Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 and the strategies used by free blacks to protect themselves from

slave catchers. He also explains that many northern and southern whites as well as white

politicians were opposed to this “racially motivated legislation.”

41

in northern communities to reclaim their fugitive slaves. Pittsburgh Negroes pledged to die

before being enslaved or re-enslaved and carried guns for their protection. Community

involvement in responding to the task of sending runaway slaves to Canada, in petitioning

the federal government for protection under the law, and in supporting Martin Delany against

the unfairness of the judicial system, all contributed to the building of Pittsburgh's black

community.

Black Religious Institutions

Given the tumultuous lives ofblacks, religion became a survival mechanism for them

in slavery and freedom. Therefore, no black community northern or southern would be

complete without religious institutions. Black churches unified the community through

organizations and activities such as, missionary societies, clubs, prayer meetings, and day

nurseries. They served to disseminate news or information quicker and more effectively than

any other mechanism or institution in the black community.Sl The black church provided

hope among its member in the face of adversity, moral improvement and opportunities for

full participation in civil and political activities, and economic issues.52

Except for the

 

51W.E.B. DuBois,” “The Function of the Negro Church in America,” in The Negro

Church in America, eds. Hart M. Nelsen, Raytha L Yokley and Anne K. Nelsen, (New York:

Basic Books, 1971), p. 80. This is an excellent source for subjects related to the Negro church,

because it contains a series of articles including “The Negro Ministry in the Mid- West,” “The

Kingdom of Father Divine,” “Black Catholics in America.” These articles were written by

some of the best scholars in the field of religion, Joseph Washington, Benjamin Mays, and James

H. Cone.

5“David W. Willis and Richard Newman, Black Apostles at Home and Abroad: Afro-

Americans and the Christian Mission from the Revolution to Reconstruction, (Boston: G.K.

Hall Company 1982), p. xviii.

42

family, the black church became the most important institutions among blacks.53 The black

church in Pittsburgh became significant to its antebellum community for the same reasons

as black communities everywhere.

The first separate denominations formed by blacks in the United States were

Methodists, because of their opposition to slavery and ongoing conflicts between black and

white Methodists. For example, Richard Allen and Absalom Jones, founded Mother Bethe]

African Methodist Episcopal Church (1794) in Philadelphia when they were physically

thrown out of the white Methodist church for disobeying segregation rules which included

seating and participation in the sacraments.

Historian Clarence Taylor, in The Black

Churches ofBrooklyn, (1994) states that an increase ofblack membership in the white, Sands

Methodist Church caused great alarm among white parishioners. To thwart black attendance,

white church officials charged blacks an excessive fee of ten dollars per quarter to worship

in their church. As a result, black membership declined.

The process of religious separation was to eliminate racial discrimination,

harassment, and conditions endemic to society in which black churches existed. In separate

churches there would be no restrictions in seating or participation in the sacraments, but an

independence not otherwise afforded them in white churches. Historian Eric C. Lincoln and

Lawrence Mamiya in The Black Church in the Afi'ican American Experience, (1990),

contend that “the movement for separate churches was the first effective stride toward

independence by blacks.”

 

53Clarence Taylor, The Black Churches ofBrooklyn, 1994, p. 8.

43

African Methodist Episcopal Church, Pittsburgh

As in other northern black communities, the first churches organized by Pittsburgh

blacks were Methodist. Pittsburgh’s first “colored” church was called the African Methodist

Episcopal Church and established by three freedmen: James and George Coleman, and

Abraham Lewis in 1808.54 Like the formation many black churches it began with an

established Sunday School for children, and later, attended by eight adults. The Colemans

and Lewis petitioned the Baltimore Conference of the A.M.E. Church for a minister and

Reverend David Smith was sent to Pittsburgh. Located in the city’s business district on

Front Street at Smithfield, the church was formally organized by Bishop Paul Quinn of

Philadelphia.”

By the 18403, this church which changed its name from the Wylie Avenue A.M.E.

Church to Bethe], became a positive force in the black and church communities.“ It hosted

the 5'“ Pittsburgh Conference of the A.M.E. Church in Pittsburgh, September 5‘“ with

 

54“ We Celebrate Our Heritage 1808-1898, " Bethel A.M.E. Church Anniversary

Souvenir Booklet, p.

1.

55Paul Quinn, the son of Catholic parents, was born in the British Honduras in 1788. He

later, immigrated to the United States and resided in Pennsylvania where he worked as a

lumberjack.

Quinn’s religious experience was under the tutelage of a Methodist clergyman,

Samuel Collins of West Chester, Pennsylvania and received his license to preach in 1812. After

attending an A.M.E. Conference in Philadelphia , Quinn became an itinerant preacher in Ohio

and Western Pennsylvania.

For more information see, Daniel Payne’s, A History of the

African Methodist Episcopal Church, New York, Reprint (1968) and Charles Smith’s, A

History of the A.ME. Church, New York, 1968.

“On April 10, 1845, a fire swept through Pittsburgh’s business district destroying most

of the area’s homes, businesses and churches causing an estimated $8 million in damages. Those

suffered by Bethe] was $2,200. It was difficult for the A.M.E. church to recover the 1033, so its

members formed a building committee to solicit donations to rebuild the church. The building

campaign began in October 1846.

44

 

Source: Rollo Turner Collection

Figure. 6. Bethel A.M.E Church

Wylie and Elm Streets

45

Morris Brown, Bishop of the Convention, presiding.57 The 8'h General Conference of the

A.M.E. Church College.58

During the last third of the 19'h century, other African Methodist Episcopal churches

were emerged in Pittsburgh.

As the number of Pittsburgh Negroes affiliated with the

A.M.E. denomination, these churches emerged in various parts of the city. Brown Chapel

in Allegheny City (1837) and St. Paul’s, Southside (1845), supplied the religious needs of

Negroes residing in these areas. Siloam A.M.E. Church, the only such church in East End,

was founded in 1886 and began with informal gatherings in various locations including

shanties, schoolhouses, carpenter shops, and a flour mill?-9

African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church

The independent church movement among blacks continued with the establishment

of the A.M.E.Z. Church when New York Bishop Frances Asbury suggested separate church

services for black and white congregants. This suggestion was the result of four factors:

a large number ofblacks joining the John Street Methodist Church; a general lack of seating;

 

57The Colored American, August 29, 1840, p. 2. This A.M.E. Conference included:

Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Indiana, and Missouri. The purpose of the convention was to

make plans for 1841.

58" We Celebrate Our Heritage , 1808-1988," p. 1; The High Points: Chronicle of the

Negro in Pittsburgh, Bicentennial Celebration, 1 758-1958, Western Pennsylvania Research and

Historical Society, October 1858, p. l.

5 9St. James A.ME. Church Anniversary Souvenir Booklet, (year) Pittsburgh, PA , p.

.Twenty-four people chartered this church: James Ray; Alexander Saunders and wife; Stanton

Brown; Charles and Mary Ford; William Wright; Reuben Banks, Ellen banks, Emma Alexander;

Joseph Ashfield; Nancy Forsythe; Pap Banks and wife; Lizzie Deems; Mary Hardin; Pap Terry;

Mrs. Taylor; Sadie Rageans; Sam Finny; Cassie Warfield; and Henrietta Stevenson.

46

an overcrowded Negro section in the church; and overt racism. In 1796, Peter Williams, a

former slave and employee of John Street Methodist Church, organized the African Chapel

for black worship services, because they did not have the same privileges as white

congregants. The withdrawal of Negroes from the John Street Methodist Episcopal Zion

Church led to the establishment of the A.M.E.Z. Church.‘so

Pittsburgh’s first African Methodist Episcopal Zion church began when a group of

Christians met in Homewood. In the Spring of 1871, it was formally organized in the home

of Robert Reed and Reverend Pithkins served as its first pastor.6|

It affiliated with the

A.M.E.Z. Conference in 1872. Several years later, Stephen Duncan, a storekeeper purchased

a one-room dwelling on Susquehanna and Dumferline Streets. Under the pastorate of

Reverend Adams, the church relocated to the comer of Dumferline and Tioga Streets to a

structure called, “The Lecture Room” which was donated by one of Pittsburgh’s wealthiest

families, the Mellons.

Black Catholics, Pittsburgh

As Pittsburgh blacks established themselves as Methodists, a separate congregation

of black Roman Catholics emerged. Historian Leonard Curry tells us that, Negro Catholics

 

60John Hope Franklin, p. 102. Two of the first A.M.E.Z. church bishops wee

George collins and Christopher Rush. Although they had built a solid foundation for a

new Negro denomination, both the Episcopal and Methodist church officials refused to

ordain A.M.E.Z. Church elderss.

61"Homewood A.M.E.Z. Church Historical Sketch, 1871-1996," p. 1. The first

meeting of these people occurred in the home of George Little. The founding families of this

church were: the Littles; Reeds; Owens’; Morrisons; Poles; Johnson; and Alexanders.

47

were virtually unheard of in the United States prior to the Civil War, because the

predominant religious tradition among the slaves and descendants in the United States, was

evangelical Protestantism.62 Furthermore, Catholicism was the less tolerant of the religious

practices of Afiicans, but many slaves were evangelized to basically to protect them against

brutal treatment from their masters. Even so, not many free blacks were attracted to

Catholicism. Albert Raboteau’s Slave Religion: The Invisible Institution in the Antebellum

South, (1978) recorded this slave testament: “We all supposed to be Catholics...but lots don’t

like that ’ligion. We used to hide behind some bricks and hold church ourselves. Catholic

preachers from France won’t let us shout and the Lawd done said you gotta shout it you want

to be saved. That’s in the Bible.”63

However, the Catholic church impressed several black observers, since it extended

equal privileges to blacks and permitted no segregated seating arrangements. Between 1 83 9-

1855, four white Catholic parishes were established in Pittsburgh and one separate

congregation of black Catholics, called the Chapel ofNativity.64 It was organized by (white)

Reverend Robert A. Wilson, in a frame hall on Smithfield Street and blessed by RT.

 

62Curry, p. 190. For more information on black Catholics, see Loretta M. Butler,

"Catholic Church," in Black Women in America: an Historical Encyclopedia, ed. Darlene

Clark Hine, (New York: Carlson Publishing Company, 1993), pp. 226-228.

63Albert J, Raboteau, Slave Religion: the Invisible Institution in the Antebellum South,

(New York: Oxford University Press, 1978), p. 272.

6"O.M. Walton, Story ofReligion in Pittsburgh Area. Authorized by the Committee

on Religion of the Pittsburgh Bicentennial Association, 1758-1958, Pittsburgh, PA, p. 28. Four

of the Catholic parishes listed by Walton were: St. Michael’s, (1846); St. Peter’s, (1850); First

Passionist Monastery in the United States, (1853); and Church of St. Paul of the Cross, (1855).

Walton does not mention the Chapel of Nativity in his work, although the diocesan records

clearly show that it was formed prior to any of the Catholic churches in his discussion. Also see

Leonard Curry, p. 190.

48

Reverend Michael O’Connor, an Irish priest, June 30, 1844.“ No records exist revealing the

names of its members or size of the parish.

By 1845, Pittsburgh’s black Catholics became uneasy, because of rumors allegedly

spread by Presbyterian ministers, that (white) Catholics favored slavery and were secretly

plotting the seizure of blacks in the city. Moreover, they had not forgotten that Presbyterian

ministers initiated the colonization movement against Negroes. Father Wilson was accused

of being a slave agent in disguise, declaring he would seize his parishioners and betray them

into bondage. Black Catholics, “fi'ightened out of their wits,” deserted Pittsburgh’s first

Roman Catholic Church.“6 In other words, the Chapel of Nativity dissolved in less than one

year.

Black Presbyterians, Pittsburgh

A group of black Presbyterians in Pittsburgh was the latest of the Protestant

denominations to blossom. Although the preaching, formality of the church service, and

paternalism of Presbyterian church officials, blacks were attracted to this denomination,

because like black Catholics, they were not relegated to segregated seating. Gayraud S.

Wilmore in Black Religion and Radicalism: An Interpretation of the Religious History of

Afiican American People, (1990), the same independent spirit that impelled black Baptists

 

65Reverend William F. Stadelman, St. Benedict’s Church: Beginnings and Growth of

the Colored Catholic Parish, Overhill Street, Pittsburgh, PA, 1844-1821, Archives of the

Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, p. 1; Fahnestock ’s Pittsburg City Directory for

1844, p. 6].

“row, p. 1.

49

and Methodist to separate fi'om whites led to the organization of Black Presbyterians and

Episcopalians.‘57 In a statement by a black Presbyterian, the racism prevails:

I have been

a brother of the Presbytery, with them (sic) for 15 years—but I am a colored man...they hate

me for it...I may walk throughout their sanctuary and unless I sit against the wall or go into

the Negro pews, they have not a seat for me.68

The number of black Presbyterian congregations was small as were black Catholics

with the first being organized in Philadelphia as the First African Church (1807). It was led

by Reverend John Gloucester, the pastor and a former slave, who worked as a missionary

under a white Presbyterian minister in Tennessee.69 Other back Presbyterian churches soon

emerged in New York, Buffalo, and Pittsburgh.

In Pittsburgh, a congregation of black Presbyterians was organized in the Sixth

Presbyterian Church in 1867, when the Ohio Presbytery appointed a committee to consider

the claims of colored people to the organization, after they petitioned to establish a

Presbyterian church. Reverend Elliott E. Swift conferred with James H. Bond, Lewis Green,

Hezekiah Anderson, and Alfred Dunlap in organizing a Presbyterian Mission among colored

 

67Gayraud S.Wilmore, Black Religion and Radicalisrn: An Interpretation of the

Religious History ofAfrican American People, (Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1972), p.

90. For more information on black Presbyterians see Sydney Alstrom, The Religious History in

America and Lincoln, The Black Church in the African American Experience.

68The Colored American, March 18,1837, p. 2.

69Andrew E. Murray, "Presbyterians and the Negro, (Philadelphia: Presbyterian

Historical Society, 1966), p. 32-33. Also called the First African Church of Philadelphia, this

church was organized with twenty-two members.

50

people in Pittsburgh and Allegheny.70 Hezekiah Anderson thought it would be good to start

a colored church in the area to bring people together." The first service was conducted in

June 1867, but the church was not formally organized until January 12, 1868, with fourteen

charter members.72

Between 1868-1872, they held church services at Miller Street

Schoolhouse.

Henry Highland Garnet, became the first pastor of what was to be called the Grace

Memorial Presbyterian Church located in Arthursville.73

Presbyterians emphasized

education among its ministers and Garnet, one of very few black Presbyterian ministers, was

hired in keeping with this trend. In 1870, after solidifying Grace Memorial’s foundation,

Garnet resigned and was replaced by Reverend Charles Hedges, under whose leadership, the

church bought a lot and built a church at 74 Arthur Street. The erection of Pittsburgh’s first

Negro Presbyterian Church was completed in 1873.

 

7OCentennial, Grace Memorial Presbyterian Church, 18158-1968, Souvenir Booklet,

October 27 l968-November 1, 1968, p. 4.

7 1Ellen Perlmutter, "Revived Church Celebrates 125 Years in Hill," The Pittsburgh

Post-Gazette, undated, Vertical File, Grace Memorial Presbyterian Church, The Carnegie

Institute of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Department, Pittsburgh, PA.

72The charter members were: Elias Edmonds; Hezekiah Anderson; Louisa Bowman;

Mary Jane Hughes; W.L. Miller; Robert W. Bell; Richard A. Hall; Nelson A. Groom; Frances

Williams; Alfred Hawkins; George Galloway; James H. Bond; Mary Jones; and Louisa

Galloway. Edmonds and Anderson were elected as the churches’ ruling elders.

73Henry Highland Garnet was one of the country’s most renowned abolitionist and

considered the radical precursor to Frederick Douglass. Born December 23, 1815 in New

Market, Kent County, Maryland, Garnet was a descendant of a kidnapped African chief from the

Mandingo ethnic group. He was educated in the Free African Schools of New York and his

religious training at Canaan, New York. Garnet’s religious inspiration was from the Reverend

Theodore Weld, the pastor of the first Negro Presbyterian Church located in New York. See

"Henry Highland Garnet," The Journal ofNegro History, Volume 13, 1928, pp. 36-52. While

in Pittsburgh, Garnet was also president of Avery College.

51

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Figure. 7. Grace Memorial Presbyterian Church

52

While black Baptist congregations organized in Boston (1805), New York (1807),

and Philadelphia (1810), there were no black Baptist congregations in Pittsburgh prior to the

Civil War, but there was one in Allegheny, the First Colored Church (1861).

It was

organized when sixteen Negroes were excommunicated from (white) Sandusky Street Baptist

Church relative to the use of china communion cups for white congregants and tin cups for

blacks.“ Pittsburgh’s first black Baptist church was the Ebenezer, organized in 1874, when

ten Negro Christians gathered for what started out as a weekly prayer meeting held each

Wednesday night at the home of Mary A. Kendell.75 As the intensity of these gatherings

increased, as did the intensity of their prayers, the church was organized.

Members of Ebenezer made their church home in the vacant (white) Fourth Avenue

Baptist Church, downtown Pittsburgh, and on August 10, 1 875, installed Reverend R. Henry

Marshall as its first pastor, selected the Deacon and Trustee Boards. Two years later, the

Sunday School was organized with six persons: Reverend Marshall; Isham A. Carter;

Andrew Carter, Bessie Foster and her two children; the church was accepted into the

Fellowship of Regular Missionary Baptist Churches; in 1880 the Pittsburgh Baptist

 

74The Negro in Pittsburgh, Records of the Works Progress Administration,

Pennsylvania Historical Survey, 1933-1942, p. 8.

75Pamela A. Smoot, The History of a Black Church: The Ebenezer Baptist

Church ofPittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1875-1975, MS. Thesis, Tennessee State

University, Nashville, TN, 1983, p. 2. The founders of Ebenezer were: Zonway Jackson;

Isham A Caaarter; Madison Epps; Paul Cableton; John Evans; John Richman; George A.

Kendall; Eliza Fisher; and Mary A. Kendall. Reverend R. Henry Marshall was the church’s first

pastor. In 1882, they adopted the name of "Ebenezer meaning "Hitherto hath the Lord helped

us."

53

Association.76 During the last decade of the century, Ebenezer build the first church edifice

owned by black Baptists in Western Pennsylvania on four lots purchased for $1,000 on the

corner of Miller and Colwell Streets, Hill District. It became a community-oriented church

which held a series of entertainments and picnics for Pittsburgh blacks. On July 18, 1898,

for example, Ebenezer had a picnic at Idlewild Park. In advertising the event, the church

distributed hand bills to all of Pittsburgh’s black churches and those in McKeesport,

Braddock, Wilkinsburg, and Sharpsburg.77 The following year, it established a Beneficent

Committee to help the Foreign Mission Board.

Subsequent black Baptist churches were established in Pittsburgh during the late 19'h

century. Central Baptist Church (1891) was the result of a split from Ebenezer Baptist

Church over communion practices. Similarly, in 1878, Tabernacle Baptist Church was

formed when a schism in Metropolitan Baptist Church caused a church “split.”78 As black

Baptists, “we often multiply as we divide.” Other newly formed black Baptist churches

 

7 6Souvenir Book Committee, "Four Score years ofService ofthe Ebenezer Baptist

Church ofPittsburgh, Pennsylvania," (Pittsburgh: Pernell Printing Company, 1955), p. 1.

Membership in the Pittsburgh Baptist Association meant Ebenezer was eligible for financial

assistance either in loan or grant for church related matters. See Pittsburgh Baptist Association,

Report, "Baptists, Black/ White," December 2, 1976, p. 2.

77Minutes, Ebenezer Baptist Church, April 6, 1898 and June 29, I898, Ebenezer

Baptist Church Archives, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, p. . The Picnic Committee which consisted

of W. A. Johnson; R.A. Brooks; William Albert; Martha Davis; Lucy V. Thomas; M.

Woolridge; Sophia Maxwell; Ella Johnson; Mary E. Pryor; Mary Mason; had 800 tickets printed

and a prize was awarded the church member selling the most tickets. Transportation to the

picnic was 90 cents for adults and children 5-12 years old, 55 cents and a deposit was required.

78Tabernacle Baptist Church was organized on July 4, 1878 with thirty-seven members

and a Reverend Robinson as its first pastor. The church was first located on Federal Street,

Allegheny and later, Howard and Jackson Streets. Two of its early black ministers were:

Reverend A. Lewis and J.C. Taylor.

54

 

Figure. 8. Fourth Avenue Baptist Church

55

included Shiloh; Carrone Street Baptist Church; South Hills; Jerusalem; Victory; and Good

Hope. The bulk of the city’s black Baptist churches, however, were formed during World

War I as in most other migratory cities. For example, Macedonia, Corinthian, Monumental,

Sixth Mount Zion, Mount Ararat, and at least twenty other churches of this denomination

emerged to accommodate Pittsburgh’s growing black religious population.

Black Episcopalians, Pittsburgh

The Episcopalians were the “late bloomers” ofPittsburgh’s Protestant denomination.

During the late 18003, several blacks concerned about the social isolation of their children

and segregated religious settings they experienced, pushed for the establishment of a separate

mission for their needs. In 1875, Sadie Black Hamilton contacted Bishop Kerfoot of the

Episcopalian Diocese of Pittsburgh to make the request. He responded by sending Reverend

W.F. Floyd to Pittsburgh to establish a mission among the colored people which led to St.

Cyprian’s Mission. Its first services were conducted in Trinity Church’s Parish House.

Like many of the city’s early black churches, St. Cyprian’s congregation moved

several times. For example, it moved from the Parish House to a building on Wylie Avenue

to the Church Army Headquarters; and later, to a storeroom on Centre Avenue and Roberts

Street. This constant moving of black congregations could be attributed to inadequate space,

lack of funds to maintain rented space, and a desire for a better location with hopes of

attracting more members. Accessibility may have also been a factor.

By 1905, St. Cyprian’s changed its name to St. Augustine’s under the leadership of

Reverend Scott Wood who reorganized the mission with money donated by a businessman

56

named Stewart. During this same year, a building was purchased at 319 Jackson Street,

North Side which led to the formal establishment of Pittsburgh’s first black Episcopalian

church. It was not until twelve years later, that the church again changed its name to the

Church of the Holy Cross.

Protestant religious institutions organized by Pittsburgh’s free people of color,

continued to flourish throughout the second decade of the 20th century. The city eventually,

had more black ministers than churches. These churches helped stabilize Pittsburgh’s black

community as they did in most northern communities by functioning in numerous capacities.

The basements of black churches were used as colored public schools, places for charitable

meetings, social activity, benevolence, and the Underground Railroad.79 Consequently, the

Baptist denomination became the largest among Pittsburgh blacks, but overall, Pittsburgh

blacks established more than 40 churches of various denominations by the 19203.

The Development of Black Businesses

The development of black communities in the North was achieved not only through

the establishment of black schools, and religious institutions but black businesses as well.

Free people of color, striving for economic independence operated businesses as barbers,

dressmakers, boarding house and bathhouse operators and restauranteurs. Aside from

hucksters and peddlers, black business owners depended mainly upon black patronage.

 

7 9David Katzman, Before the Ghetto: Black Detroit in the 19" Century, (Urbana:

University of Illinois Press, 1973), p. 18-19. Katzman’s work on Detroit perhaps led to the

growing number of urban histories written during the antebellum period. The value of this book

is that it opened the door for more scholarly works on black Detroit; may have subsequently

encouraged the writing of histories of other urban black communities; and provided opportunities

for comparative analyses of the same.

57

Dming the antebellum period, most black businesses like black churches were located in the

nucleus of the black community.

In Pittsburgh, the first blacks to set up business establishments of were barbers and

hairdressers.

8° During the 18303, there were approximately ten barbers with most of them

serving the black community.“l John Peck and Lewis Woodson were exceptions, because

of the additional services they provided. Peck, the “ornamental hair manufacturer,” made

wigs and toupees for whites as well as blacks; and Woodson owned barbershops in some of

Pittsburgh’s leading hotels where whites most often registered.

Historians Gary B. Nash and Leonard Curry point out that clothing stores were

popular in urban communities.

For example, more than one fifth of Boston’s black

population were clothes dealers.82 It was a significant business, because many blacks were

tailors and seamstresses, racism and discrimination often prevented them from shopping in

white clothing establishments, and clothes were a necessity for every aspect of the

population. Clothing stores were established by Pittsburgh blacks during this same period

and owned by Benjamin Wilkins and Solomon Norris both located in Virgin Alley, and AD.

 

80Helen A. Tucker, "The Negroes ofPittsburgh," Charities and the Commons, XXL

(January 2, 1909), p. 603. This is a valuable source of information although does not identify

the names or proprietors of the businesses mentioned. It also cries for a chronology of events.

81These barbershops were owned by William Jones, whose shop was located on Fifth

between Wood and Market; William Newman, Baxter’s Alley; Zelicher Newman, Smithfield

between Fifth and Sixth Streets; Thomas Norris, 216 Liberty; John Peck, Penn and St. Clair; S.

Runels, Fourth Street; Henry Vashon, Third and Market; J.B. Vashon, Wood and Third; Lewis

Woodson, 214 Liberty; and George Carney, Virgin Alley.

82Horton, p. 125.

58

Lewis’ store at Third and Wood Streets.83 Norris also owned a clothing store which featured

“new and fashionable clothing.” All three ofthese establishments were second-hand clothing

stores.

In 1848, several black women operated successful seamstress businesses in

Pittsburgh.“

Bathhouses and boarding houses also helped solidify Pittsburgh's black business

community. Thomas Norris and John B. Vashon, each owned bathhouses and both were

located in their respective barbershops. In 1833, the Gazette described Vashon's bathhouse

as follows:

The two-story bathhouse has 13 bathing rooms for use of gentlemen...each

supplied with an abundance of hot and cold water of the purest quality, taken

from the LaBelle Riviera and furnished with everything necessary for

complete enjoyment ofthe most delightful and refreshing luxury. The upper

level is intended for the use of the ladies residing or visiting the city. Every

precaution has been taken to secure for the ladies apartment the utmost

privacy and security. Female attendants are employed.85

Segregation laws in the city’s hotels was not written in stone, but free people of color

often preferred accommodations among race people. This led to the establishment of black

owned and operated boarding houses. They sometimes served to supplement the incomes

of free people of color, particularly, black males and often provided black women with a

live-in support group, because those who boarded in black households were most likely to

 

3 3Fahnestock’s Pittsburg City Directory for 1839, (Pittsburgh: George Garvin, 1839), p.

69, 94-95.

8"Yee, p. 53.

85" The Early Community, 1804-1860," Ethnic Survey ofthe Negro in Pittsburgh,

Records of the Works Progress Administration, Pennsylvania Historical Survey, 1933-1942, Job

#64, p. 54.

59

be young females.“5

Pittsburgh’s City Directory listed only one boarding house which also consisted of

a restaurant owned by James W. Strickland, a Pittsburgher and proprietor of the Great West

Eat House, Third Street (under the PO). An advertisement in The Mystery described the

services Strickland offered: “Begs to leave and inform his colored friends and strangers

visiting the city, that he has fitted up a part of his house for their accommodation where they

can get boarding by the month, day, or week on the most reasonable terms.”87

A newspaper was a significant part of Pittsburgh’s black business community. The

black press in any early black community was a leader of protest against the injustices to the

race and were mainly directed at white readers since literacy among blacks during the 19th

century was extremely low.

John Russwurm and Samuel Cornish began the first black

newspaper in New York, Freedom’s Journal (1827) as a means of responding to attacks on

blacks by the New York Enquirer, a white newspaper. The value of the black press was

noted by Valarie Myers, former editor of the New York Challenger: “Without the black press,

the black man would not know who he was nor what was happening to his struggle for the

freedom of citizenship.”

Other black newspapers emerged:

The Weekly Advocate, the North Star, and

Colored American. Martin R. Delany, the editor and publisher of Pittsburgh’s Mystery,

established this communication for four reasons. The Colored American in 1842, the only

colored newspaper in the United States at this time, ceased publication. This meant that

 

86Horton, p. 112.

8”the Mystery, December 16, 1846, p. 2.

6O

colored people no longer had a means of communication among and about themselves.

Second, white newspapers seldom printed colored news, unless it was derogatory. Third,

Delany’s personal experiences with local white newspapers owners in Pittsburgh was that

they refused to publish his articles and letters to the editor, because they were “impolitic.”88

Fourth, Delany believed in the “printed word.” These were the important factors prompting

his decision to establish a black newspaper.

The purpose of The Mystery was to give news both foreign and domestic, to aim at

the moral elevation of the Afro-American and African race, and the different branches to

literary sciences, mechanic arts, agriculture, and elevation of labor.89 It was used to express

nationalist ideas, speak out against discrimination in the North, and to defend the rights of

colored people.90 Over 1,000 copies of this issue were purchased." Its contents consisted

of speeches, essays, editorials draped with anti-slavery connotations, letters to the editor,

meeting notices, religious matters, vital statistics and reports from correspondents of

Philadelphia, Cleveland, New York City, and Boston; and the southern cities of Baltimore,

 

88Sterling, p. 78.

89This information is found on the masthead of The Mystery.

90Cyril E. Griffith, The African American Dream: Martin R. Delany, the Emergence of

Pan-African Thought, (Pennsylvania: University Park, 1978), p. 27. See Nell Irvin Painter’s

"Martin Delany and Elitist Black Nationalism," in August Meier and Elliott Rudwick’s, Black

Leaders in the Nineteenth Century,1988; and Victor Ullman’s M.R. Delany, The Beginnings of

Black Nationalism, 1971.

91The Mystery was sold at Mr. Isaac Harris’ Intelligence Office, Fifth Street; the office

of MR. Delany, 40 Hand Street; H. Price Confectioner, Allegheny City, and at the West End of

the Allegheny Bridge. Subscriptions were $1.00 in advance, $1.25 if not paid in three months,

and $1.50 at the end of the year. Delany had special rates for clubs of ten who could receive The

Mystery for $1.00 per year; each subscriber and any person sending cash for six subscribers at

the regular price of $1.50 received the seventh copy gratis. Agents for The Mystery, received the

newspaper free.

61

Maryland, Charleston South Carolina, and Dansville, Kentucky, which provided news from

their respective cities.

The Mystery had an impact on Pittsburgh’s black community, because it provided

employment for free people of color, before it experienced financial difficulties, and served

as a vehicle by which black businesses were promoted. It was probably the largest employer

of free people of color in the city with 94 agents, twenty-ei ght ofwhom were from Pittsburgh

including George W. Parker, Reverend A.D. Lewis, and John B. Vashon; Reverend A.R.

Green, in Arthursville and Scottsfield; and Isaiah Watson, (wherever he goes) and Reverend

David Stevenson, (wherever he goes).92 Some of the agents were not bound by territory in

obtaining subscriptions.

It is important to note that Pittsburgh’s black leadership also

participated in the selling of The Mystery, and that most were self-employed, so they were

not solely dependent on a salary from Delany. Moreover, the newspaper was not a “money

making venture,” but one to inform and educate free people of color.

Advertisements in The Mystery helped families locate free people of color kidnapped

by slave catchers, those separated by slavery, a person who were lost:

“Lost Child”

Thornton Delany Parker, a small colored boy about nine years of age was

decoyed from Pittsburgh during the absence of his parents some four months

ago [when] the parents last heard of the child, he had been a short time in

Cleveland. Any information concerning him will be more than fully received

by his anxious parents Henry and Sarah Parker. Direct the information to The

Mystery.93

 

92 The Mystery, December 12, 1846,. P. 1. The Mystery’s agents sold subscriptions in 28

Pennsylvania counties; seventeen in Ohio; five in Indiana; one in Detroit, Michigan; three in

New York; one in Iowa Territory; two in Illinois; and one in Virginia.

93“ Lost Child,” The Mystery, December 16, 1846, p. 4.

62

On November 4, 1846, an advertisement placed by a committee of Pittsburgh blacks read

as follows:

$200 Reward!

One hundred dollars will be paid by the subscriber, a committee appointed

by a public meeting of citizens of Pittsburgh for the restoration of the two

Colored (sic) children to the ages of 4 and, kidnapped in Beaver County and

$100 more for the arrest and bringing to punishment of the kidnappers.

HenryWilliams

W. M. Shinn

W.A. Lease

Saml Ferguson

Our brethren of the press in Western Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, and

Kentucky, will please copy our notice the above.”

This newspaper also served to reunite families and alert free people of color to the injustices

imposed upon free blacks. In addition, it linked free people of color with other blacks in

urban communities.

In addition to this type of advertisement, black entrepreneurs sold their wares and

their services.

John Peck, advertised “A large Assortment of Ladies Wigs, Curls,

Gentlemen’s Wigs, Toupees, and Scalps all Made in the Best Fashionable Style.”95 The

proprietor of the Great Western Eating House placed an advertisement which read, “Ladies

and Gentlemen of My Own Color Can Be Accommodated With Oysters Done Up in Every

Variety of Style.” Educational opportunities were also part of The Mystery’s contents. John

Templeton, the teacher in Pittsburgh’ s only colored school, used the newspaper to announce,

 

9""8200 Reward," The Mystery, November 4, 1846, p. 2.

95"Removal," The Mystery, December 16, 1846, p. 2.

63

“The Opening of An Evening School for Adults.”

All who avail themselves of an

opportunity to improve their minds through the long dreary nights of winter, give us a call.”96

Two of Pittsburgh’s black, women, Mrs. Colder and Miss Vashon advertised, “The Ladies,

are respectfully informed that instructions in French Raised Work will be given to classes

or individuals. Specimens of their work, together with the terms of instruction, can be seen

at the store of F .H. Eaton, Market Street.” Ofientimes free people of color did not own or

rent a place of business, but made their wares available in the establishments of other

entrepreneurs.

The city’s whites also advertised in The Mystery. Mrs. Parker called attention to the

hand-made articles for women. Her sales pitch is contained in the following advertisement:

Mrs. Parker No. 4, St. Clair Street between Penn Street and the river,

gratefully acknowledges past favors, begs to leave respectfully, to inform the

citizens of Pittsburgh, Allegheny, and the vicinity, that she will open her

seasonable Fall and Winter Bonnets, Caps, Flowers, Feathers, Ribbons, and

ladies Fancy Trimmings, generally.

Where she especially invites the

attention of the ladies, before purchasing elsewhere.”7

Advertisements in The Mystery were not always local. Mrs. C.R. Ramsey, advertised

Ramsey’s Boarding House as “Respectable for Colored Citizens,” located at 155 Church

Street in New York. Black women were just as eager to sell their products thus inviting the

colored citizenry to patronize businesses owned by free people of color. Also of importance

were “notices” of black organizational meetings. A “notice” entitled, “To all and Every,”

 

96 "Evening School," The Mystery, October 12, 1846, p. 2. John Meacham, of St.

Louis’African Baptist Church, used The Mystery to sell his book for those "laboring for the cause

of our elevation." James L. Williams of Allegheny City and TL. Roberson, Washington, PA,

also helped the minister in his efforts to distribute his book.

97"A Card," The Mystery, November 11, 1846, p.

1.

64

a communication fiom the St. Cyprian Lodge of New York Free and Accepted Masons

Chartered and under the First Independent African Grand Lodge of North America, sitting

in the city of Philadelphia, read: [We] are now open for the regular dispatch (sic) of business

at the Masonic Temple, southwest corner of Market and Fifth Streets, Pittsburg (sic) on the

1St (sic) Wednesday evening of every month.98

A crucial aspect of early black Pittsburgh, The Mystery, brought about a sense of

community by elevating the consciousness of blacks, providing employment when possible

and encouraging them to patronize their own businesses. Delany informed the black

community of The Mystery 's financial difficulties and issued a call to salvage the newspaper

which became too expensive to publish, perhaps because of an increase in the cost of

materials and equipment or lack of adequate subscriptions. The first facet of the black

community to answer the call was, of course, black women whose roles were virtually

ignored in black Pittsburgh’s early history even though they established their own

newspapers. For example, Mary Shadd Cary, the first woman publisher of a newspaper,

founded the Provincial Freedman between 1853-1859, and Ida B. Wells established her

paper in Memphis during the latter part of the 19th century.99

To keep the newspaper afloat, each winter, they held soirees and organized a series

 

98" To All and Every," The Mystery, p. December 16, 1846, p. 4.

This notice was

placed in The Mystery by George B. Vashon, one of Pittsburgh’s young black leaders, and the

son of John Vashon.

99Mary Shadd Cary was born in Wilmington, Delaware to free black parents, October 9,

1823. Having attended a Quaker School in West Chester, Pennsylvania, she became a teacher

and at sixteen years old, and opened a school for Negro children. She later became, an

abolitionist, suffragist, a journalist and lawyer. For more information on Mary Shadd Cary see

Jason H. Silverman’s "Mary Ann Shadd," in Black Leaders in the Nineteenth Century, eds.

August Meier and Elliott Rudwick, pp. 87-100.

65

of festivals and picnics during the summers, to maintain this vital black communique.

According to Delany, had it not been for the generosity of Pittsburghers, especially the ladies

in holding levees, the newspaper would have collapsed. The Mystery also contributed to the

black community in that it, like the merging of Pittsburgh’s two colored schools, allowed

free people of color an opportunity to pool its resources together for the good of the

community.

Black Organizations

Free people of color in northern urban communities founded various types of

organizations in response to racial discrimination. For example, they were afforded limited

or no relief from state or local social service agencies. White employers often paid blacks

low wages leaving no extra monies after household expenses were paid. This led to the

establishment of benevolent and beneficial societies such as, the Woolman Benevolent

Society, Brooklyn, New York; the Mutual Relief Society, Providence, Rhode Island; and the

Young Men’s Friendly Association, Baltimore, Maryland. Historian Leonard Curry tells us

that benevolent societies secured donations from more affluent blacks and distributed

monetary donations to orphans an widows. Beneficial societies were significant to black

communities, because they provided limited resources to the poor and death benefits.loo

Free people of color in Pittsburgh had few organizations prior to the Civil War in

comparison to those Philadelphia and Boston which may have been because of the

differences in population size. With the exception of the Afiican Education Society and the

 

100Curry, p. 197.

66

Anti-slavery Society, they formed one benevolent association, one literary society, a

temperance society, and the Juvenile Anti-slavery Society.

In 1834, Martin Delany

organized the Philanthropic Society to firlfill an obligation to the poor. It also used donated

funds to assist runaway slaves from Virginia and Maryland who fled to Pittsburgh by

connecting them to the Underground Railroad.‘01

Within the Philanthropic Society and similar to the one in New York, was a female

Vigilance Committee (1836), whose purpose was to protect defenseless and unoffending

persons against kidnapping and other oppressions.'°2

The Pittsburgh Female Vigilance

Committee successfully raised monies to obtain the release of a reclaimed fugitive slave

before he was removed from the city.

'03

In one year, an estimated 269 persons were aided

through Pittsburgh’s Underground Railroad. In reality, this particular society had a dual

purpose: to provide for the city’s indigent and the welfare of fugitive slaves.

During the 5'" Annual Convention of the Colored Citizens of the United states, black

leaders created the American Moral Reform society in Philadelphia June 1, 1835.

Pittsburgh’s black leadership formed an auxiliary to this organization, Mach 2, 183 7, with

many of the city’s most respectable citizens and more than 100 persons attending the first

 

101" The Early Community," p. 33.

102"New York Vigilance Committee," The Colored American, April 8, 1837, p. 4.

In

New York, the Vigilance Committee raised money and employed lawyers to defend the cases

against fugitive slaves. See The Colored American, October 28, 1837, p. 3.

The formation of

Vigilance Committees became a relevant part of northern urban communities and a constant

irritation to slaveholders and slave catchers.

1°3Curry, p. 230.

67

   

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geese retaliate)?

Figure. 9. Martin Delany

Martin Delany was born in Charles Town, Virginia to a slave father and free mother. Upon

moving to Pittsburgh, he married Catherine Richards, the daughter of Ben Richards, a local and well-

to-do butcher in 1843. They became the parents of seven children all of who bore the names of

prominent blacks. Martin Delany organized a number of emigration conferences between 1854-

1858 in response to the American Colonization society’s plans to colonize blacks.

He was also

a major in the Union Army, commissioned in 1865, and the author of books and pamphlets

including The Condition and Elevation, Emigration and Destiny ofthe Colored People ofthe United

Sates Politically Considered (1852).

68

 

 

meeting.‘°" The purpose of the MRS was the moral reform of Pittsburgh’s free people of

color by giving the rising generation an education; instruction in some useful occupation;

promoting moral virtues of Christian graces and refinement for a civilized life. One of its

early tasks was to encourage Pittsburgh’s free people of color to “Remember the Sabbath

and keep it holy” by closing their businesses on Sunday.

While John Vashon and Mr. Colder, a barber, closed their business establishments,

not all Negro business owners who pledged their support for the organization cooperated

with it. Those businesses that remained open offered the following explanation: It is the

fault of our customers; they will be shaved and dressed on Sundays.10

5

In meeting this

opposition, The Colored American responded: Some of the member of the Pittsburgh Moral

Reform society are in the habit of desecrating this holy day. Let the colored population of

Pittsburgh, be the first in the union to step forward and set their faces against the opening of

barber shops or any other kind of shops or any businesses over which they had control upon

the Sabbath.'°" There was also an implication that members of the society failing to

cooperate would be shunned and those in sync would prosper.

The Juvenile Anti-slavery Society, established July 7, 1838, was the first such

organization in America and only one of its kind on this side of the Allegheny Mountains. '07

 

104The Colored American, May 3, 1837, p. 1.

105The Colored American, May 3, 1837, p. 1.

106The Weekly Advocate, March 25, 1837, p. 4.

107Richard Blackett, "...Freedorn or the Martyr ’s Grave: Black Pittsburgh’s Aid to the

Fugitive Slave," Volume 61, The Western Pennsylvania Historical Magazine, April 1978, p.

69

Under the leadership of George B. Vashon, son of John Vashon and David Peck, son of John

Peck, it was a one cents per week society consisting of forty members. While the Juvenile

Anti-slavery Society engaged the fight against the institution of slavery, it also made

philanthropic gestures. In 1839, there was a campaign to save The Colored American and

Pittsburgh’s Lewis Woodson called on all of colored America, because the newspaper was

a public matter connected with the moral interest of the whole colored population of the

United States.108 On November 11, 1839, the Juvenile Anti-slavery Association resolved

that five dollars be given in support of The Colored American as a small token of the esteem

the organization had for the paper, and hoped it might be a means of doing good.109

For the most part, literary societies were formed among free people of color by

accomplished race people. Organized in cities such as Buffalo, Detroit, Philadelphia, New

York, and Pittsburgh, the purpose of literary societies was “to direct initial activities in the

field of intellectual advancement toward securing basic educational facilities for black

children, to educate themselves and combat white racism.”l '0 Literary societies also used

their organizations to protest racial discrimination and prepare petitions and resolutions to

white government officials and school directors. It is important to note that fi'ee people of

color organized few literary societies in the first third of the 19th century, because they

placed emphasis on black religious institutions and beneficial societies.

 

149.

108The Colored American, November 16, 1839, P- 2 ~

109The Colored American, November 23, 1839, P- 3-

1 10Curry, p. 206.

70

In 1831, Martin R. Delany and Molliston Clark, a student at Jefferson College,

Canonsburg, Pennsylvania organized the Theban Society (the Young Men’s Literary and

Moral Reform Society of Pittsburgh) which devoted its attention to combating illiteracy and

the intellectual and moral improvement of young men.

”' Any young man of known moral

habits and respectability who has attained the age of 18 years (sic) and exceeding thirty-five

may become a member of this society by paying fifty cents on entrance and twelve and one

half cents monthly.“2 They started a library and held meetings every Friday evening for

mental and moral improvement, and once a month, to transact business.

Dorothy Sterling in her book, We Are Your Sisters: Black Women in the 19th

Century, (1992) discusses the origins of literary societies and explains that black male

literary societies also sponsored public lectures and debates. The only evidence of a literary

society among black women in Pittsburgh was the Aurora Reading Club founded in 1894,

although literary societies rapidly emerged in other northern urban communities.ll

3

For

example, the Female Literary Society of Philadelphia was organized in 1831, and in New

York, the Colored Ladies Literary Society, 1834.

 

l“Sterling, p. 46.

1 12Letterfi'om John Templeton to The Colored American, The Colored American,

September 2, 1837, p. 1. Dismissal from this organization occurred in two stages:

for the first

offense, the member was admonished by the president; and in case of a second offense, the

member was expelled by the majority of members at the meeting.

1 13The Aurora Reading Club was organized by Rachel Lovett Jones, a member of Bethel

A.M.E. Church and the Avery Trade School Board of Directors.

The charter members were

Frances Golden; Anna Posey; Virginia Woodson Proctor; Hannah Grinage Lovett; and Cora V.

Hill. The Aurora Reading Club claims to be the oldest black women’s club in Western

Pennsylvania and to have coined the slogan "Lifting As We Climb," but the plethora of literature

on black women’s clubs raises questions about this claim.

71

Temperance Movement in Pittsburgh

Temperance, one of the most important aspects of the reform movement in America,

was the result ofthe excessive number of distilleries and large amount of alcohol production.

Reformists asserted that alcohol damaged the body and mind, caused poverty, and the

suffering of innocent mothers and children. Furthermore, it produced idleness and loss of

property. It was clear to reformers that something had to be done about alcohol use. In 1826,

for example, a group of Boston ministers organized the American Society for the Promotion

of Temperance.

However, the 18303 marked the beginning of the temperance movement in Western

Pennsylvania with the formation of at least two such organizations: one in Lawrenceville

established March 15, 1830, and the Pittsburgh Temperance Society, April 26, 1832.1” The

city’s temperance movement was led by white Presbyterians. In 1830, they organized the

Allegheny County Temperance Society; established Temperance Hall; a Temperance Hotel;

and conducted two conventions, the Allegheny County and District Temperance

Conventions.

Other temperance societies in Pittsburgh emerged including the Young

Gentlemen and Ladies Total abstinence Society of Pittsburgh and Vicinity and in 1834, the

Pittsburgh Conference of the Methodist Church established a similar organization.

Free people of color in northern cities, especially, Philadelphia where in 1833, a

group of Boston ministers held a convention and formed the American Temperance Union,

 

114Lloyd Spinholtz, "Pittsburgh and Temperance, 1 830-1854," Pennsylvania Historical

Magazine, October 1963, p. 351. The Lawrenceville Temperance society was organized with

twenty-five persons. Pittsburgh attorney Walter Forward was the first president of the Pittsburgh

Temperance Society.

72

were abreast of this movement for temperance and spread the news among the race.

Northern flee blacks embraced temperance as an idea and a movement before the Civil

War.1 '5 Temperance, black leaders felt, would uplifi the morals of flee people of color. The

emergence of black temperance societies were the result of the National Negro Convention,

June 10, 1833, where district societies were organized in most states represented at the

convention.

They included the cities of Carlisle and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania;

Washington, DC; and New Haven, Connecticut.

While the cities of Providence and Cincinnati had active Temperance Societies with

as many as 200 members and Buffalo with 300 members, Pittsburgh’s flee people of color

did not form a temperance society until 1835. A meeting was held at Bethel Church,

Tuesday, December 10th for the purpose of forming a Temperance Society with Reverend

John Boggs chairing the meeting, and Thomas Norris, acting secretary. Within two years,

it had 110 members; prepared and distributed an Annual Report; and published 500 copies

of its Constitution and By-laws.l '6

Martin R. Delany organized the Temperance Society ofPeople ofColor in Pittsburgh,

because “any black man who drank too much damaged the fight for fleedom everywhere.

”1 17

The temperance society elected four officers and a Board of Managers which consisted of

 

115Patricia A. Schector, " Temperance Work in the Nineteenth Century," in Black

Women in America: an Historical Encyclopedia, ed. Darlene Clark Hine, Volume II, 1993, p.

1 154.

1 1 6Fahnestock’s Pittsburg City Directory for 1839, p. 127.

117Sterling, p. 42. Pittsburgh necessitated temperance societies, because of its excessive

number of drinking establishments. In 1829, for example, Pittsburgh alone, was estimated to

have 129 taverns and Allegheny County 162.

73

twelve persons as its governing body. ‘ '8 Many temperance organizations consisted of an all

male membership such as the New England Colored Temperance Society. However,

historian Shirley Yee tells us that black women were part of this reform movement.

Black women participated in the drive to promote the entire abstinence flom

all that could intoxicate. As the moral protectors of the home and agitators

for community improvement, black women participated in temperance

organizations with some joining with male temperance advocates while

others formed all female societies.119

Pittsburgh’s Temperance Society included women, four of whom were elected to the Board

of Managers: Phebe Collins, Nancy Jones, Mary Dockins, Nancy Morgan, and Isabella

Collins. A black male asserted, “Our young women can do much to head off the drink habit

among young men...and is for their own future well-being that they exercise their decisive

influence for this end. Black women were expected to teach temperance by example and

encourage young men to do the same.” '20

Pittsburgh’s Temperance Society, had a

membership of approximately 150 persons, a relatively small number compared to those in

other cities, but perhaps commensurate with its smaller black population.

Pittsburgh’s flee people of color worked diligently to fight the use of alcohol among

the race. A 1837 report of The Pittsburgh Temperance society read:

 

1 18The officers were: Richard Bryans, president; Samuel Bruce, vice president; Martin

Delany Recording secretary; and William T. Greenly, auditor. John B. Vashon, Samuel

Reynolds, A.D. Lewis, Samuel Berry, and CT. Williamson were the male members of the Board

of Directors.

1 19Shirley Yee, Black Female Abolitionists, pp. 82-83.

120Patricia A. Schector, p. 1154.

74

...the society has held eleven regular monthly meetings and one convention

of the society in our vicinity...Every meeting has been larger than the preceding

one. At all these meetings, appropriate addresses delivering either by those

who voluntarily came forward to vindicate the cause of Temperance. An

increase of usefirl knowledge among us on all topics relating to temperance

has been most happily developed among us during the past year.”‘

Pittsburgh’s Temperance society, had a membership of approximately 150 persons, a

relatively small number compared to those in other cities, but perhaps commensurate with

its black population. Nonetheless, Pittsburgh’s flee people of color worked diligently to

fight the use of alcohol among the race.

Black Pittsburghers and the Civil War

The development of black Pittsburgh also spread to a larger community, the United

States. Black men in Pittsburgh were active participants in the Civil War. Upon the attack

ofFort Sumter by Confederate soldiers, President Lincoln called for 75,000 militia, including

sixteen regiments flom Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh blacks as well as blacks in other parts of

the state willingly volunteered.

In Pittsburgh, blacks formed a regiment of their own, the

Hannibal Guards who responded to Lincoln’s call to preserve the Union as a letter to

Brigadier General James S. Negley, commander of Pennsylvania’s western division, read:

As we sympathize with our white fellow-citizens at the present crises and

show we can and do feel interested in the present state of affairs; and as we

consider ourselves American citizens, although deprived of all political

rights...we are willing to assist in any honorable way or manner to sustain the

present Administration. We, therefore, tender to the state, the services of the

Hannibal Guards. PS. If accepted sir, we can raise a full company.122

 

121"Pittsburgh Temperance Society," The Colored American, May 2, 183 7, p. 2.

122Davis, p. 103. This letter was signed by Captain Samuel Sanders; R.D. Turley, 1“

Lieutenant; and Lieutenant, G.W. Massey.

75

On June 22, 1861, the 1S" Regiment 12‘h Pennsylvania Volunteers was organized in

Allegheny County under the command of Colonel David Campbell. The Zoavue Cadets

were led by Captain George Tanner which comprised only men of color flom companies A-

K.

Though many white Union soldiers were opposed to fighting alongside blacks and

the fact that they were given guns, by July 18, 1861, the Hannibal Guards enlisted in the

Union Army. '23 Proud black Pittsburghers did their share in the war effort by supporting the

needs of their colored troops with weapons and clothing for the war which probably,

consisted of shoes, socks, and warm undergarments. One ofPittsburgh’s early black female

leaders, Susan Paul directed several sanitary relief bazaars netting thousands of dollars to

care for sick and wounded colored soldiers in the Civil war and housing for refirgees at

Pittsburgh between 1864-1865.124 The first black regiments enlisted for three months of

military service and, later, enlisted for three years. This may have been a litmus test for the

Hannibal Guards and other black soldiers to see how they would fare in war.

During the Civil War, most blacks fought in the 54th and 55"I Regiments of the

Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. At least six Pittsburgh blacks fought with the 54‘"

 

123Numerous reasons were offered for the opposition of blacks in the Union Army. For

example, blacks were considered inferior by many white northern and southemers. Some whites

felt blacks were cowards and would not fare well in combat, although they had proven

themselves during the Revolutionary War. Fear also existed among whites that blacks would seek

revenge on whites for the many abuses they suffered as slaves.

124Hallie Q. Brown, Homespun Heroines and Other Women ofDistinction, (New

York: Oxford University Press,l988), p. 134. Susan Paul was born in Boston, September 19,

183 8, to Elijah W. and Ann Paul Smith (who was the daughter of Reverend Thomas Paul). She

moved to Pittsburgh with her father after her grandmother’s death and was appointed teacher of

Pittsburgh’s colored school. Susan Paul, later married George B. Vashon.

76

 

Figure. 10. Susan Paul

77

Massachusetts enlisting between March and May 1863: Alexander Jones; Edward Stewart;

Martin Tilman; Isaac Brown; Cyrus Dunlap; and Leroy Hilton.

Prior to their enlistment,

they engaged various occupations including waiters, boatrnen, tearnsters, firemen, laborers,

barbers, cooks, and fish dealers.‘25 Other black Pittsburghers spent their military service

with the 55"” Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry.

Social Life in Black Pittsburgh

The early lives ofblack Pittsburghers was spent establishing the community flom an

educational, religious, organizational, and military standpoint. However, most early black

communities, particularly, those in the North, created and engaged a social life. Many of

them orchestrated leisure activities for themselves in the form of social clubs. Pittsburgh’s

first black social club was the Loendi Club, organized August 13, 1897, when George W.

Hall, a local businessman.

Hall sought professional black men interested in the

establishment of a social club, because they were prohibited flom membership and even The

purpose invitations to white social clubs.

126

The purpose of the Loendi Club whose membership consisted ofPittsburgh’s leading

 

125Three of these six black soldiers in the 54th Massachusetts ended their military service

as corporals, two of whom died of disease, and three discharged in 1865, for disabilities incurred

during the Civil War. Alexander Jones and Isaac Brown were waiters; LeRoy Hilton, a farmer;

Edward Stewart, a fireman; Martin Tilman, a boatrnan; and Cyrus Dunlap was laborer.

In the

55" Massachusetts were Pittsburghers David Wilkins, a laborer; Charles Broughton, a teamster;

Henry Pulpress, a fish dealer; Alfred Pellett, a musician; Edward Logan, a waiter, who was also

captured by Confederate soldiers in North Edisto, SO; and David Scott, was a cook.

126Oliver G. Waters, "Glimpses ofSocial Life," The Colored American Magazine, p.

11.

78

black professionals-«mainly physicians, attorneys, and dentists, was to serve as an

organization for the advancement of the Pittsburgh Negro, social gatherings, and the

entertaining of race mem of wide reputation and ability.127 Upon its establishment, the

members elected several officers: president, William Maurice Randolph, a prominent

Pittsburgh attorney; William Page Nelson, vice president and chairman of the Loendi’s

House Committee who was a stenographer for Carnegie Steel Company; Thomas Johnson,

a local businessman; Joseph Stanton, a stenographer and the only "colored" telegraph

operator in the city, was the corresponding secretary of the House Committee. It was also

comprised of a six-member Board of Directors.I28

While prominent Pittsburgh black men established the Loendi Club, the city’s young

women created the Narcissus Literary and Musical Club at the turn of the century. In 1901 ,

it was organized by Elfleda Hamilton, a former Allegheny High School student and fifteen

ladies of the "Smart Set" whose purpose was to organize themselves into bodies for the

cultivation of higher faculties; to lift themselves; and produce the best thinking women of

all time to come.‘29 These young black women understood that "the world would demand

 

127"Home of the Loendi Club," Vertical File, Societies and Clubs, Loendi Club, The

Carnegie Institute of Pittsburgh, The Pennsylvania Department, Pittsburgh, PA.

128The Loendi Club’s Board of Directors included: S.L. Pangham, a stenographer

employed in the Allegheny County Sheriff’s Department; Louis H. Woodson, local businessman;

W.E. Billows, Assistant District Attorney in Allegheny County; Edwin Cyrus; George Wilson,

vice president of R.W. Jenkinson and Company and J.W. Peck, whose occupation was not

revealed. They purchased a three-story building on Fullerton Street, Hill District which

contained the following: a dining, billiard, and a card room, but gambling was prohibited; a

buffet and bathrooms. On the third floor were apartments for the stewards.

129Oliver G. Waters, p. 18. The officers of this literary club were: Anna Darkins,

president; Elfleda Hamilton, vice president; Pauline Writt, secretary; Birdie Mahoney, treasurer;

Luella Jones mistress of ceremonies; and Luella Waters, critic.

79

 

 

Source: Rollo Turner Collection

Figure. 11. William Maurice Randolph

80

more of them than it did of than it did their mothers."

As Pittsburgh’s black community experienced continued growth, many ofthem rose

to prominence ane were referred to by whites as "Rara Avis," a Negro who had accomplished

success such as, John M. Clark, William H. Stanton, and Cumberland Posey, Sr. Clark, for

example, worked as a blacksmith’s helper for $12 a month and by 1870, he owned a

blacksmith and wagon-making shop where he employed 30—50 men. Clark also operated

three other businesses: a stock-farm; a half mile race track; and a general contracting

business.

William H. Stanton, born in 1873, became a prominent Pittsburgh attorney, and the

first Negro in Western Pennsylvania to pass the bar examination on the first attempt. He was

officially admitted to the Pittsburgh Bar Association October 1, 1895, opened his own law

office, and began to practice law, a privilege ill-afforded George B. Vashon.I30 Stanton,

accordingly, represented most ofthe city’ s prominent blacks and black institutions including

Ebenezer Baptist Church. Cumberland W. Posey, was born to slave parents in Charles

County, Maryland in 1858. In spite of his slave status, in 1890, Posey established the

Diamond and Coal Company situated in Homestead which was said to be the largest black-

owned business in Pittsburgh.131 It was during this further development of the city’s black

 

130George B. Vashon, the first black graduate of Oberlin College, who earned an AB. in

1844 and an A.M. in 1849, was unable to practice law in Pennsylvania, because he was a "race

man. In 1868, he attempted to take the bar examination in Pittsburgh, but was denied the

opportunity. Stanton’s admission to the Pittsburgh Bar Association may may indicate that the

city’s whites were becoming more tolerant of the Negro’s presence and intellectual capabilities."

13 1" Commodore Posey Plied Boats, Ore Trade, The Pittsburgh Post- Gazette, February

21, 1994, p. B- 1. Cumberland Posey not only built approximately 40 steamboats, but owned at

least three other businesses: Delta Coal Company, Posey Coal Dealers and Steam Boat Builders.

81

Figure. 12. William H. Stanton

   
 

82

Figure. 13 . Cumberland Posey

inflastructure.

Conclusion

Despite the trials and tribulations of Pittsburgh’s flee people of color, they

established the city's first black community during the antebellum period. Its strong black

leadership through protest and persistence managed to educate their children and eventually

obtain a new schoolhouse with all the amenities afforded Pittsburgh's white children. They

were no longer subjected to overcrowded damp basements, poor lighting, uncomfortable

furniture, no blackboards, a high turnover of teachers, and quarters unfit for white children,

and therefore, human habitation. Pittsburgh’s black leadership and the community as well,

were certain that the opportunity for an education would improve the quality of life for this

generation of black antebellum children and those to come.

The increasing numbers of flee people color in Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania as a

whole, threatened the well-being of many of the city's prejudiced whites. To deal with this

problem, whites in Pittsburgh formed (1) the Pittsburgh Colonization Society, (2) petitioned

the Pennsylvania State Assembly introduce pro-slavery and disflanchisement legislation, (3)

and even attacked flee people of color. In retaliation to the actions of the anti-black forces,

flee people of color created an anti-slavery society which included whites to maintain their

rights, especially, their fleedom. When mobbed by racist whites, flee people of color

defended themselves and their community.

Black religious institutions have most often been the "backbone" of black

communities. During the Antebellum Period, the formation of black churches came as a

83

result of racial discrimination by white congregations. Free people of color in Pittsburgh

founded a number of Methodist and Baptist Churches, a Presbyterian, and a Catholic church.

It was through these churches that a sense of community was established. Club meetings,

community meetings, and social activities forged flee people of color into a flagile web of

community, created a communication network among them, and accommodated the

"colored" school when there was no "colored schoolhouse."

When northern blacks were called flee people of color, they established businesses

in their stride for economic independence and in the formation of black communities.

Pittsburgh's flee people of color founded numerous barbershops, several bathhouses,

confectioneries, boarding houses, restaurants, and clothing stores. The Mystery, probably the

city's largest black business, was a monument in the community, because it provided

employment and linked the city's blacks with other flee people of color. For the most part,

their services were confined to the black community, but several black businesses were

patronized by the city's whites. Like other northern communities, Pittsburgh’s black owned

businesses were a demonstration of the freedom and independence of flee people of color.

W.E.B. DuBois has pointed out in The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study (1899)

that community organizations were important in the urban North. Black churches, societies,

attempts at business cooperation, institutions, and newspapers were the largest hope for the

ultimate rise of blacks lied in the mastery of the art of a social organized life. In Pittsburgh,

the few organizations formed during the early development of the black community were

instrumental in the Underground Railroad, care for the indigent, and the moral and

intellectual uplift of the race. The Philanthropic Society, Female Vigilance Committee, and

84

the Theban and Temperance Societies, nonetheless, served the black community in

meaningful ways. By the onset of the Civil War, Pittsburgh's black male leadership had built

a solid community of flee people of color basically, without the participation black women.

However, the development of black women's clubs in the late 19th century would soon lead

Pittsburgh's black community throughout the first three decades of the 20th century.

85

Chapter 2

A Noble Womanhood: The Black Women's Club Movement

I always remember my grandmother having club meetings at our house

with twenty to twenty-five women being present. All of the ladies wore

fancy hats and shoes; and the dresses were always long, very elaborate,

and made of beautiful material. The ladies were all very erudite. She

would bake for them and the house always smelled so good. My brothers

and I would look forward to club meeting at Mother Brooks' house,

because we knew we would get the leftovers.I

---Anna Brooks Gary

Although several exemplary studies including Stephanie Shaw’s “Black Club Women

and the Creation of the National Association of Colored Women,” (1991), Deborah Gray

White’s “The Cost of Club Work, the Price of Black Feminism,” (1993), and Dorothy

Salem’s T0 Better Our World: Black Women in Organized Reform 1890-1 920, (1990), have

outlined the larger history of the black women’s club m0vement, the exploration of local

black women’s clubs is needed for three reasons. First, the movement among black women

began and remained fundamentally a local enterprise, with the formation of clubs within

black communities across the country. Second, without these local black women’s clubs of

which the NACW is comprised, its creation would not have been possible. In other words,

there would not exist a larger history of the black women's club movement without detailed

studies of local clubs. It is out of the local conditions that broader issues emerged. Third,

is most studies of both black and white women’s history, have ignored women’s clubs case

 

'Letter to Pamela Smootfrom Anna Brooks Gary, June 21, 1997, Pittsburgh, PA. Gary

is a retired English and Latin teacher at Pittsburgh’s former Fifth Avenue High School.

86

studies of black urban communities. This is therefore a rich mine of information which has

for the most part remained largely untapped.

Darlene Clark Hine has led the charge in the exploration of local black women’s

clubs, particularly those clubs in the mid-west. In Michigan, she has written extensively on

the Grand Rapids Study Club, the Detroit Study Club, and the Detroit Housewives League.

Hine’s work, When the Truth is Told: A History ofBlack Women 's Culture in Indiana, 1 8 75-

1950, focused on black women and the earliest local women’s clubs including the Sisters of

Charity (1874), the Alpha Home Association (1883), and the Women's Improvement

Association (1903). In addition to these important histories, was Hine’s Black Women in the

Middle- West Project, an examination of local black women in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and

Wisconsin. Historians Cynthia Neverdon-Morton studied black women’ 3 clubs in the South,

Wanda A. Hendricks, those in Illinois, and Lillian Williams black women’ 3 clubs in Buffalo,

New York. All of these important histories have challenged scholars of women’s history

to further explore local black women’s clubs across the country.

This chapter is about the Black Women’s Club Movement in Pittsburgh,

Pennsylvania, where more than sixty clubs were organized between 1894 and 1940. In this

examination of three of Pittsburgh’s black women’s clubs, the Belle Phoebe League (1894),

the Negro Women’s Equal Franchise Association (1911), and the Harriet Tubman Club

(1915), I argue that they were actively involved in their communities, and, moreover, that

they made a difference in the life of these communities. They played a major role in

promoting their vision of social justice by defining and defending black womanhood,

87

creating and maintaining black social service institutions, fighting for equal rights, and

providing for the education of black youth.

In addition, this study shows the commitment and willingness of Pittsburgh’s black

club women to reach the black masses which resulted in the organization of Pennsylvania

State Federation (1903), the City-County Federation (1915), and the Western District of

Federated Colored Women’s Clubs (1925). They were also inextricably woven into the

National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs where key women held a number of

leadership positions. Most of the city's black women’s clubs belonged to at least one or all

three of these conglomerates.

The black women’s club movement, largely led by black middle-class women was

not necessarily a middle-class movement, but a reform movement. Historian Sharon Harley

made two points regarding black middle class women: (1) “the racial solidarity of true race

women, meant joining in with and accepting women of all classes in the black community

and (2) that their incomes were often too low, job security too elusive, and racial

discrimination too widespread for most middle-class black women to boast ofbeing anything

other than servants of their people.” These factors enabled them to develop a reform and

race uplift agenda, because they believed that the moral improvement of the lower classes

would generate self-respect and respect flom others, and it was their responsibility to clean-

up the black community’s problems.

In Pittsburgh, the reform and race uplift agenda of the Belle Phoebe League, Negro

Women's Equal Franchise Association, and the Harriet Tubman Club is best described in

three phases: (1) civil rights, (2) race consciousness, (3) and social reform. Within these

88

three themes, these black women’s clubs struggled to provide for blacks social, health, and

recreational needs, raising the race’s political and racial consciousness. In short, black

women reformers challenged forces that limited them as women and especially, blacks.

The Black Women's Club Movement probably began in Brooklyn, New York, when

Dr. Susan McKinney Smith and Victoria Earle Matthews, two of this city’s prominent black

women, recognized the undying activism of Ida B. Wells in her crusade for racial justice and

equality. A journalist and lecturer with a profound history of social protest Wells, publicly

decried the lynching of blacks, denounced Jim Crowism, led a successful black boycott of

the Memphis streetcar line, and argued for the humanity of black womanhood and the entire

race.2 In October 1892, Smith and Matthews honored Wells in New York, with a testimonial

dinner for her courage.

Delivering a motivating speech about her experience in England, Ida B. Wells,

described how English women successfully organized themselves into numerous civic groups

for community work. The experience Wells shared inspired black women attending the

dinner to form two of the earliest black women’s clubs in the country after the civil War:

the Women's Loyal Union, Brooklyn (1892) founded by Victoria Earle Matthews and Susan

McKinney Smith; and the Woman’s Era Club, organized in Boston (1892) by Josephine St.

 

2Thomas Holt, “The Lonely Warrior: Ida B. Wells Barnett and the Strugglefor

Equality,” in Black Leaders in the Twentieth Century, eds. John Hope Franklin and August

Meier, (Illinois: University of Illinois Press, 1982), p. 45. During the streetcar boycott,

Memphis transportation officials and many of the city’s whites became so aggravated by the

success of the boycott, that they approached Wells and told her to end it.

89

Pierre Ruffm.3 The formation of these clubs caused a rippling effect among black women

during the 18905. For example, black women in Jefferson City, Missouri, organized the

Harper’s Woman’s Club (1893); the Belle Phoebe League, in Pittsburgh, (1894); Knoxville,

Tennessee, the Woman’s Mutual Club (1894); Omaha Nebraska, the Woman's Club (1895);

and Providence, Rhode Island, the Sojourner Truth Club (1896). "

Historian Gerda Lerner asserted that these clubs were established wherever an urgent

social need remained unmet.5 For example, the Harriet Tubman Club of Boston, established

a home for working “colored” girls. The Belle Phoebe League of Pittsburgh formed a

Mother’s Club to teach young black women the rudiments of motherhood, and in

Indianapolis, a black women’s club opened an employment agency for black women in the

city’s canning factories.

In addition, the emergence of black women's clubs was also

necessitated by the enormous problems created by the Great Migration.

The Belle Phoebe League

Similarly, the organization of black women’s clubs in Pittsburgh began with Sadie

Black Hamilton. Hamilton, the youngest of nine children, was born October 20, 1859, in

Allegheny City, Pennsylvania. Hamilton, received her early education under the tutelage of

 

3Gerda Lerner, “Early Community Work ofBlack Club Women,” Journal ofNegro

History, LXI (April 1974), p. 161. Alfreda M. Duster, ed., Crusade for Justice: The

Autobiography ofIda B. Wells, (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1970), p. xix. Ida B.

Wells, subsequently, organized the first black women’s civic club in Chicago bearing her name.

For more information on this club, see Duster, pp. 345-347.

4“ The Black Women ’s Club Movement,” in A Questfor Equality, Black Women in

United States History, (New York: Carlson Publishing Company, 1990), p. 18-19.

5Lerner, p. 159.

90

Professor Samuel Neale, the principal of the only colored school for children in Allegheny

City and surrounding districts for miles" After completing the prescribed courses with

Neale, she entered Wilberforce College and graduated in 1878. Hamilton, an educator and

Christian woman, started a school in her home for colored children and helped organize the

St. Cyprian Episcopal Mission.7

Sadie Black Hamilton had read much about women’s clubs of the “dominant race”

and the work being done.8 Like her predecessors, Ida B. Wells, Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin,

and Mary Church Terrell, Hamilton acknowledged having been inspired by the success of

white women’s clubs and their voluntary efforts to solve social ills. Given the needs of the

black community, Sadie Hamilton, proceeded to find ways in which to learn more about

women’s clubs and how they operated.

Interested in study clubs and activities for civic and’community betterment, Sadie

Black Hamilton contacted prominent white Pittsburgh club women ofthe Twentieth Century

(1 894) and New Era Clubs (1889) whose activities included studies on current events, music,

health, and citizenship regarding the inner-workings of a woman’s club.9 After visiting the

 

6Gertrude L. Brooks, “A Biography: Dr. Sadie Black Hamilton,” Gertrude L. Brooks

Papers, Unprocessed Collection, Pittsburgh, PA.

7“102 years Old: Mrs. Sadie Black Hamilton Dies in California,” The Pittsburgh

Courier, n.p. Vertical File, Pittsburgh Blacks, The Carnegie Institute of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Department, Pittsburgh, PA; Holy Cross Church Anniversary Souvenir Booklet, 1997, inside

back cover. Hamilton’s ‘colored’ school became overcrowded so it was moved to Brown Chapel

A.M.E. Church’s lecture room.

8“Dr. Sadie Black Hamilton,” National Notes, First Quarter 1943, p. 7.

9Pittsburgh’s Twentieth Century and New Era Clubs endorsed the Frances E.W. Harper

League of colored women in 1901. Mrs. Andrew Easton was president of the New Era Club and

Julia Harding founded the Twentieth Century Club with 48 other white women. The New Era

91

meetings ofwhite club women, Hamilton realized that white women’ 3 clubs were committed

to the betterment of white women and worked for the betterment of the race. 1° As an invited

guest ofwhite club women, she gained valuable experience and using those clubs as a model,

decided to form a women’s club.

Hamilton readily joined with her friend Rebecca Aldridge in helping organize

Pittsburgh’s first black women’s club in May 1894.‘1 Rebecca Aldridge, the daughter of

Micah Aldridge and Sarah Meyers, was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, January 2, 185 1 .'2

In 1 885, Rebecca married Taylor Aldridge and upon moving to Pittsburgh became a member

of Bethel A.M.E. Church. She was an avid church worker, ordained evangelist, and a

committed member of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. Aldridge’s interest and

willingness to establish a black women’s club was not necessarily the result of her strong

religious background, but that many Christians worked diligently to help the less fortunate.

Before the formal organization of this black women’s club, Aldridge stated:

 

Club held membership in the (white) General Federation and Pennsylvania State Federation of

Women’s Clubs in 1892 and 1896, respectively. In 1910, the New Era Club was chartered.

According to the data, the Twentieth Century Club, originally called the Women’s Health

Protective Association, was Pittsburgh’s first civic organization.

1oBeverly Washington Jones, “The Black Woman ’s Club Movement,”A Questfor

Equality: The Life and Writings ofMary Eliza Church Terrell, 1863-1954, (New York:

Carlson Publishing Company 1990), p. 20.

1'Gertr'ude L. Brooks, “Dr. Sadie Black Hamilton, Gertrude L. Brooks Papers,

Unprocessed Collection, Pittsburgh, PA, p.

1.

12“Scores Attend Final Rites for Club Leader,” The Pittsburgh Courier, July 1, 1933, p.

92

The individual efforts of black women to uplift the race have

accomplished a great deal of good, but we must reach the masses through

a united effort. We need not think we can accomplish anything standing

apart as we do. We need to have mothers meetings, so our young mothers

can get the proper idea of child training.'3

It was through two of Pittsburgh’s white women’s clubs that these black women sought to

develop self-respect, and prove to themselves and the world that they were capable of

organizing and doing things without white women."

On November 20, 1894, Hamilton and Aldridge began the Black Women’s Club

Movement in Pittsburgh when they founded the Belle Phoebe League. Although the data

does not reveal the significance or meaning of the name Belle Phoebe, it was organized for

the development of higher womanhood, the demand of mental improvement among black

women enabling them to qualify and “grapple” with the demands of the age which included

issues of social welfare, employment, politics, and education relative to the Negro race.‘5

The women who responded to the call included: Gertrude L. Brooks, a seamstress and wife

of a bank messenger and Sarah Bentley, a minister's wife. Georgianna Ragen, Lizzie

 

13Rebecca Aldridge, 3" Anniversary Address, The Frances E. W. Harper League,

November 11, 1897, p. 2. Gertrude L. Brooks Papers, Unprocessed Collection, Pittsburgh, PA.

1"Historian Jacqueline Rouse, in Lugenia Burns Hope Southern Reformer, consistently

points out the efforts of Hope and other black club women to convince the National YWCA’s

and Atlanta’s local YWCA leadership that the supervision of white women was unnecessary for

the management of a ‘colored’ YWCA. Black women in similar situations, especially those

relative to race uplift, fought the same battle.

'5“ The Golden Anniversary of the Frances Harper League, 1894-I944,”November 29,

1944, p.

l. Gertrude L. Brooks Papers, Unprocessed Collection, Pittsburgh, PA. This

anniversary celebration was held at A. Leo Weil Elementary School, Hill District.

93

 

Figure. 14. Gertrude L. Brooks

94

Monroe, and Lillian Darkins all came to the founding, although little is known about them. '6

These black women who resided in various parts of Pittsburgh and Allegheny City provided

firnds and resources to Pittsburgh’s early black institutions, fought for black civil rights in

employment, and published a newspaper.

Membership in black women’s clubs required prospective members meet certain

criterion, 3 practice used nationwide with some being less stringent than others usually to

maintain the club’s elitism. Darlene Clark Hine’s study of black women’s clubs in the

Middle-West found two exclusionary clubs: the Grand Rapids Study Club and the Women’s

Improvement Club of Indianapolis. Membership in these clubs was restricted to handpicked

women who shared the same middle-class values, were married to professionals, well-

educated and positioned and belonged to reputable families. Both considered prospective

candidates upon the recommendation of a current member. It was not uncommon for elitist

black women’s clubs to restrict their membership to women who shared their same social

status.

Without a vested interest in class status, Pittsburgh’s earliest and most influential

black women’s club had less stringent requirements. Based on a thorough examination of

the Belle Phoebe League, it was an exclusionary club, and, for the most part, accepted black

 

16Rebecca Aldridge, 3" Anniversary Address, November 23, 1897, p.

l. Gertrude L.

Brooks was born Gertrude L. Queen, the daughter of Andrew S. Queen of Staunton, VA, and

Annie Williams of Chambersburg, PA. She was educated in Allegheny City schools and earned

her high school diploma flom Gleason’s Parliamentary Law School in Los Angeles, California.

Gertrude L. Queen, later married Harry S. Brooks of Washington, DC. She was the youngest

member in Pittsburgh’s Frances E.W. Harper League. For more information, see Anna Brooks

Gary, “A Biography of Gertrude L. Brooks,” Gertrude L. Brooks Papers, Unprocessed

Collection, Pittsburgh, PA.

95

women based on their commitment to “uplift the race.

”'7 They were exclusionary to the

extent that they accepted for membership a certain type of black woman. For example, the

Belle Phoebe League, mandated that every woman have good morals, be literary inclined,

be flee of employment in houses of ill fame, and willing to devote her energies to the

elevation of woman, the home, and the race. '8 Each member was to discountenance dancing,

card playing, and the drinking of intoxicants at any social given under the auspices of the

League.'9 So long as women subscribed to these middle-class values, they were welcome.

In 1895, two important events occurred within the Belle Phoebe League. The League

responded to a call issued by Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin of Boston, to the First National

Conference of Colored Women which was organized in the interest Negro womanhood.

Represented by Rebecca Aldridge, who paid her own expenses to the conference, submitted

a report about the Belle Phoebe League which read:

 

17Rebecca Aldridge, 3" Anniversary Address, p. 1.

1”Golden Anniversary of the Frances E. W. Harper League, p. 3. On February 5,

1895, Mrs. Sarah Bentley suggested the club’s name be changed to the Frances Harper League.

Also see Constitution and By-Laws of the Frances E. W. Harper League, p. 4.

'Slbid., p. 9.

96

Greetings. (sic)

We, the members of the Belle Phoebe League of the twin cities,

namely Pittsburg (sic) and Allegheny, beg to leave to submit the following

report to your noble body:

We were organized November 20, 1894. Object: Self culture, and to

advance the interest of the women of our race on all lines pertaining to the

development of a nobler womanhood and the securing of our rights in every

legitimate way and to second the efforts of our leading women such as Mrs.

Ida B. Wells-Barnett and others. Number of members, nineteen; monthly

taxation, five cents. Our league (sic) is in a flourishing condition. Signed on

behalf of said league (sic).

Mrs. Rebecca Aldridge, Pres.

Mrs. S.A. Bentley,Vice Pres,

Lillian S. Darkins, Sec.,

Lizzie H. Monroe, Rec. Sec.20

During this Convention, Aldridge, was appointed to the Nominating Committee.

The

League was the only Pittsburgh black women’ 5 club represented in Boston for this important

meeting, among colored women.

The League also changed its name to the Frances E.W. Harper League, because

“Belle Phoebe was only a myth and did not exemplify the meaning of true womanhood” or

the mission of black women to uplift the race. The name Frances Harper, the League

thought, “stood out boldly for everything that was good and pure.” Harper, a published poet

and lecturer by 1854, actively participated in the abolition, sufflage, temperance, and equal

rights movements and, to her credit and that of black women, she earned a national

reputation and respect among both black and white women. Phoebe A. Hanaford, author of

Daughters ofAmerica, wrote:

 

20The Woman’s Era, July 1895, p.

12.

97

Frances E.W. Harper is one of the most eloquent women lecturers in

the country whom white women may be proud, and of whom

abolitionists can point and declare that a race which could show such

women never ought to have been held in bondage.2|

Though Harper had no ties to Pittsburgh, her interest in the welfare and progress of black

women was especially striking to members of the Belle Phoebe League. Frances Smith

Foster’s A Brighter Coming Day: A Frances Ellen Watkins Harper Reader, tells us that

Harper often conducted private sessions with them about their daughters, encouraged them

to uplift their heads and plant the roots of progress under the hearthstone.22 By word and by

deed, Harper was such a powerful symbol of empowered womanhood that black women

across the nation organized and renamed clubs in her honor, as did Pittsburgh's Belle Phoebe

League.

Behind the closed doors of the Frances Harper League, members sang religious

hymns and read papers, an activity which occurred during the meetings of many black

women’s clubs, whatever the club’s mission which represented a sort of spiritual grounding

or ritual to open each meeting. In other words, literary clubs were not the only clubs which

engaged in this type of exercise, because most of them sought to enhance their intellect and

share information. In 1898, for example, papers read by members of the Frances Harper

 

“Frances Smith Foster, ed. A Brighter Coming Day, (New York: the Feminist Press,

1990), p. 326. Frances E.Watkins was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to well-educated family in

1825. She attended her uncle’s school, William Watkins Academy, a school for “oratory,

literature, and debate.” When she reached thirteen years old, her formal education ended. Her

first publication was Poems on Miscellaneous Subjects (1854). Watkins’s literary works were

published in abolitionist newspapers. She later, engaged anti-slavery causes earning the respect

of Frederick Douglass, William Still, William Lloyd Garrison and John Brown. Harper was also

an advocate of universal sufflage and attended several Women’s Rights Conventions and held

memberships in woman suffrage organizations.

22tutti, p. 127.

98

League included: “The Presumption of a Husband,” “A Wife’s Troubles,” “What a Woman

Can Do,” “Should Negro Girls Go to College,” and “Women’s Clubs and the Negro

Problem.”23

Other topics dealt with the various departments of City government to help

these black club women to better understand its ftmctions and obtain City services for the

race. After the papers were read, they were critiqued by a League member, and a discussion

ensued.

Through the opened doors of the Frances E.W. Harper League poured a powerful

commitment to black social welfare beginning in the late 19th century. It was most noted for

its charitable acts for the Home for Aged and lnfirm Colored Women, the first black

institution established for black women in Pittsburgh. In addition, the League members

fought for equal employment opportunities in Pittsburgh Department Stores. Always key,

however, were the continuing efforts to promote “noble womanhood,” among the city's black

women and their daughters. The women of the Frances Harper League also formed the

Woman’s Press Association of Pittsburgh and published a paper, The Woman's Defender.“

 

23Minutes of the Frances E. W. Harper League, October 1898, p. 25. Gertrude L.

Brooks Papers, Unprocessed Collection, Pittsburgh, PA. Some of the papers written and

presented by League members included: “Some facts in the Life of Frederick Douglass,” “The

Relation of Drink to Digestion,” “Bureau of Building Inspection,” and “Water Supply and

Distribution.”

2"'Golden Anniversary of the Frances E. W. Harper League, 1894-1944, p. 4. This

newspaper was published and made available to the public every Friday for a nickel. The records

reveal that the Woman’s Press was staffed by four League members with Sadie Black Hamilton

as secretary. The names of the staff were not mentioned. No copies of this important

communication were available.

99

After the Civil War, this was the first organized effort by Pittsburgh's black women to

change the quality of life in the black community.

Charity

The early charitable activities of the Frances E.W. Harper League were devoted to

the Home for the Aged and Infrrm Colored Women founded by Fannie Peck Bond, the

daughter of abolitionist and ornamental hair designer, John Peck. Raising funds through

bazaars and house-to-house entertainment, she purchased a small house on LaPlace Street,

Hill District in 1884, to ensure that black women had a place to retire, especially those

without families. It was owned and operated solely by black people.” The League organized

holiday celebrations, gifts of ftu‘niture, and donations of food to this facility.

Beginning in 1897, each Christmas became a special one, because the League

rendered a program which included song, refleshments, and presents for the residents. Black

women residing in the Home for Aged and Infirm Colored Women were given gifts of

aprons and candy on Christmas. Black institutions such as this one were always in need of

food donations and often held “Donation Days.” On one occasion, the members of the

League agreed to donate six potatoes each, but the request came (sic) too late, so they

donated fifty pounds of sugar with each member contributing twenty-five cents toward the

donation.”3

 

25 “The Harriet Tubman Guild,” The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, p. B-l.

2”Minutes of the Frances E. W. Harper League, November 27, 1928, p. 67. Gertrude

L. Brooks Papers, Unprocessed Collection, Pittsburgh, PA. The total cost of the sugar was $3.18

and Mrs. Smith, a League member, was given $3.75 for its purchase.

100

Personal donations were not the sole means of the Harper League’s charitable

activities. Most black women’s clubs sponsored recitals, contests, lyceums, symposiurns,

socials and bake sales to raise funds. Members of the Frances Harper League submitted and

compiled recipes, and published “The Frances E.W. Harper League Cook Book” which was

sold and the proceeds given to the Working Girls Home.27 In November 1927, it sponsored

the “Crawford Recital” at Carnegie Hall. This successful event which grossed $225.50 was

distributed among five of Pittsburgh"s black institutions: the Colored YWCA and YMCA,

the Coleman Home for Colored Boy’s, the Ella Grayson Home for Working Girls, and the

Davis Home for Colored Children.28

Another example of fund-raising by the League involved a variety of contests,

especially, was the “Lamp Shade Contest.” A committee headed by Mrs. Thomas and

members Oceola Holland, Ada V. Brown, Goldie Hamilton, and Naomi Walker purchased

a crystalline lamp shade for seven dollars, distributed 200 tickets among League members,

and sold them for one dollar.29 The contestant bringing in more than ten dollars won the

lamp shade. On May 29, 1928, this contest netted $142.00. The fund-raisers held by the

 

27Minutes of the Frances E. W. Harper League, February I, 1928, p. 56. Gertrude L.

Brooks Papers, Unprocessed Collection, Pittsburgh, PA.

28Minutes of the Frances E. W. Harper League, November 16, 192 7, p. 24. See

Chapter Six of this study for a detailed discussion of the above mentioned Pittsburgh black

institutions. The tickets for the League’s Crawford Recital were sold by its members and two

local black businesses: Dorsey’s Music Shop and Fowler’s Drug Store. Dorsey’s, Pittsburgh’s

first black owned music shop, was located in Homewood. Harry Fowler, a graduate of The

Western Pennsylvania University in 1910 with a degree in pharmacy, had two locations: Wylie

Avenue and Watt Street and Wylie Avenue and Somers Street, Hill District.

29Minutes of the Frances E. W. Harper, April 4, 1928, p. 57.

101

Frances Harper League grossed substantial profits enabling it to assist several institutions and

remain a viable force in Pittsburgh’s race uplift.

Members of the Frances Harper League often retired at the Home and sometimes

made special requests on its behalf. Between 1927-1928, it purchased carpet and furniture

for the Aged Home for Infirrn Colored Women. For example, Lizzie Monroe made a request

flom the League to put new carpet on the Home’ 8 back parlor by Friday, November 1 1, 1927,

Annual Donation Day.30 After checking the League’s financial resources, the Refurnishing

Committee honored Monroe’s request and the carpet was laid one day before the event. The

accord and expediency with which the League acted was by no means characteristic of the

organization.

Much more characteristic of the normal League behavior was the controversy of

1928. During the League’s monthly meeting in February, Gertrude L. Brooks reported that

a room of furniture was purchased for the Home at a cost of $8 1 .20 creating discord and hurt

feelings between members ofthe Refurnishing Committee, Lucy Robinson and Mrs. Walker.

They could not agree on a price or the quality of the fumiture, so Mrs. Walker telephoned the

President, Gertrude Brooks, and told her of a special bargain sale (sic) and requested that she

meet her to View the same."

 

30Minutes of the Frances E. W. Harper League, November 2, 192 7, p. 19. Gertrude L.

Brooks Papers, Unprocessed Collection, Pittsburgh, PA.

31Minutes of the Frances E. W. Harper League, February I, 192 7, p. 44-46. Gertrude

L. Brooks Papers, Unprocessed Collection, Pittsburgh, PA.

102

Mrs. Robinson took exception to not having been called to meet with the president and Mrs.

Walker before the final purchase. The League made monthly payments of ten dollars until

the balance on the furniture was paid. The donations of food and furniture may have seemed

perhaps small gestures, but were helpful in deflaying some of the Home's operational costs

and contributed to the comfort and sustenance of the residents.

Fighting Discrimination

While the Frances Harper League worked to support the Home for Aged and Infirm

Colored Women, it proceeded in the same direction of black women’s clubs across the

United States to end discrimination and expand the employment of black women beyond the

domestic sphere. Jacqueline Jones pointed out that black women were limited to “black

women’s work that paid much less than that performed by white women, barred flom

peacetime factory labor, and traditional (white) female occupations of secretarial and sales

work.” Black women soughtjobs that lacked the social stigma ofdomestic service indicating

a persistent struggle for self-improvement.

During the decade between 1880-1890, George B. Tindall explained that with the

nation’s population growth, the number of employed women increased, particularly, in

clerical work and sales jobs. Partly responsible for this change in female occupations was

the establishment of department stores which spread to the United States flom Paris when

Aristide Boucicaut opened Bon Marche in 1852.

There is, however, no comparable

consensus as to the first department store to emerge in the United States, but the concept

spread to Pittsburgh with the establishment of Boggs & Buhl (1869), and Kaufinann's (1871)

103

Department Stores.

It was not until the 18908, however, that department stores achieved

widespread acceptance and created an important venue for female employment.

In July 1898, Mrs. Emma J. Moore, secretary of the League read a letter from the

president, Rebecca Aldridge:

It would be well for the League to appoint a committee to [visit] the

firms of Boggs & Buhl and Kauflnann's asking them to employ

colored help as sales and cash girls. A committee of Mrs. Hamilton,

Mrs. Brady, Mrs. Sands, Mrs. Brooks, Mrs. Steward, Mrs. Jenkins,

and Mrs. Moore was appointed.32

The committee, on behalf of the League and the city’s black women, circulated a petition

among the race with some of Pittsburgh's most outstanding colored citizens having signed

their names, and went to Boggs & Buhl and Kauflnann’s Department Stores asking them to

employ colored girls as sales clerks and cashiers.33 A “Study ofGirls in Pittsburgh,” revealed

that “none of the department stores hired Negro girls as clerks. They took them in the

storerooms (sic) and departments where personal service positions were open such as, the

shampoo parlors and restrooms.” Many white employers were, and remained, rigid in their

thoughts on the job performance and abilities of blacks as shown in their refusal to employ

blacks and the positions to which employers limited them.

 

32Minutes of the Frances E. W. Harper League, July 6, 1898, p. 17. Gertrude L.

Brooks Papers, Unprocessed Collection, Pittsburgh, PA.

”Golden Anniversary of the Frances E. W.Harper League, 1894-1944, p. 4. Boggs &

Buhl was owned by Russell Boggs and Henry Buhl. It was located on Federal Street in

Allegheny City and the only department store in this area. Kaufmann’s, founded by Edgar

Kaufinann, was first situated on Pittsburgh’s South Side and later, relocated to downtown

Pittsburgh.

104

Because neither department store responded to the League’ 3 petition or its committee,

it contended that Boggs & Buhl and Kaufrnann officials “did not know how to respond.”

John Hope Franklin has suggested that oftentimes white employers refused to hire blacks,

because of objections raised by white employees, many of whom found it degrading to work

alongside blacks."

Nonetheless, the Frances Harper League made a vigorous, but

unsuccessful, attempt to change their hiring practices and to create equal employment

opportunities for black women and girls.

Women’s Press Association

Communication among black women was essential for their moral uplift and to keep

open the lines of communication, the Frances Harper League founded the Women's Press

Association of Pittsburgh which published the Woman’s Defender. With four members of

the League comprising the editorial board and Mrs. Sadie Black Hamilton, secretary, the

paper promoted the development ofnoble womanhood which has been defined by the League

in the following excerpt:

...when black women organize our younger women and expose them

to the need of social purity, talks warning them of evil company, an

bringing them in closer touch with more that is pure and good...when

black women teach other black women to realize that they have a part

to act in developing womanhood of the race, true honored

womanhood, enlightened motherhood, and a happy, comfortable

homes which could only be secured by a concerted effort of black

women.35

 

3"John Hope Franklin, From Slavery to Freedom: a History ofAfrican Americans, 7'"

edition, (New York: Alfled Knopf, 1990), p. 310.

35Rebecca Aldridge, 3" Anniversary Address, November 23, 189 7, p. 3.

105

This vehicle also allowed black women to define themselves for themselves. It was a place

where they could tell their own stories, identify causes, concerns, and enemies of black

advancement.

Other Activities

They held meetings in churches, private homes and in the parlors of the YWCA to

teach them the rudiments of motherhood. The Frances Harper League also founded a Junior

League within the organization to instill basic values and high morals in black girls. The

idea of “noble womanhood” was the foremost tenet of black women's clubs nationwide, as

black women, in the aftermath of slavery, remained vulnerable to the sexual exploitation of

white males, constantly degraded by white society, and the victims of domestic violence.

Contrary to Gunnar Myrdal’s argument that “black voluntary associations were

pathological, since among other things, they accomplished so little of what they set out to

accomplish,” the Harper League was an exception to such a broad and ludicrous

generalization of black organizations. The main objective was the training of black women

in motherhood and to instill in them high moral values. While the early years of the League

were spent solidifying the organization, it soon organized public mother’s meetings

conducted monthly by Luella Stewart, a League member and president of the Kings

Daughters. The F .E.W. Harper League also organized a Junior League within its club

supervised by Ella Jones which also performed social service work.”

 

3”In her 1921 address, League member and newly elected president, Josephine McCord

(McCard) suggested the Frances E.W. Harper League form the Young Women’s Auxiliary to the

League as the Jr. Frances Harper League, because there was a great deal to be accomplished

106

Furthermore, the Harper League engaged in activities outside its mission. Through

providing financial and other means of support for the city's black institutions and fighting

for equal rights, the Frances Harper League paved the way for the formation of other black

women’s clubs in Pittsburgh. After its inception, numerous black women’s clubs emerged

which meant increased services and a greater involvement of black women in the affairs of

the black community.

Negro Women’s Equal Franchise Association

By the turn of the century, black men and women supported and argued for universal

sufflage, for along with white women, they were denied political rights. Blacks had been

effectively disfranchised in the South. Women could vote, in Colorado, Utah and Idaho, but,

for black women the right to vote was imperative for four reasons: (1) it would be a boon

to education, (2) they could improve conditions by having a voter’ s influence with legislators

and school boards; (3)

it was essential for their own protection, the protection of their

children and the progress of the race.37 In other words, black women felt that the right to

vote would give them citizenship, guarantee them rights and protection under the laws ofthis

country. As Willie May King pointed out, black women also felt a right to participate in the

 

among the younger class. It was designed to have its own officers and its social service

activities, but supervised by the Sr. Frances Harper League. For further information see The

Presidential Address to the Frances Harper League ofPittsburgh, I 921 . Gertrude L. Brooks

Papers, Unprocessed Collection, Pittsburgh, PA.

37Rosalyn Terborg-Penn, “African American Women and the Suffrage Movement,” In

One Woman, One Vote: Rediscovering the Woman ’ Suffrage Movement, ed., Marjorie Spruill

Wheeler, (Trousdale, Oregon: New Sage Press, 1995), p. 136.

107

electoral process, because they owned property, paid taxes, successfully managed their own

business affairs, and became dentists, physicians, lawyers, and journalists; it was their earned

ri

t.38 The advantages of sufflage realized by black women marked the beginning of their

suffrage activities in the United States.

Black women played an active role in every stage of the suffrage movement flom the

ante-bellum period through the suffrage victory in 1920. Beginning in the 19th century, early

black women sufflagists participated in various women's conventions where the subject of

woman sufflage was high on the agenda. Sojourner Truth, a former slave, participated in the

Women’s Rights Convention of 1850, in Worchester, Massachusetts and Sarah Remond

spoke at the Ninth National Woman’s Convention in New York City in 1858.39 Mary Ann

Shadd Carey, an attorney, argued on behalf of woman suffrage in the 18603 and was one of

few women black or white registered to vote. Truth and Carey attempted to vote, but were

both rejected at the polls. Harriet and Hattie Purvis, and Frances E.W. Harper belonged to

predominantly white mainstream suffragist organizations such as the National Woman

 

”Willie May King, Suffrage and Our Women, The Competitor, June 1920, p. 60.

39Rosalyn Terborg-Penn, p. 138. Sojourner Truth, whose real name was Isabella

Baumfree, was illiterate as most slaves and former slaves were. A woman’s rights advocate and

known suffragist, she participated in the Women’s Rights Conventions in Akron, Ohio (1851)

and New York (1853). An abolitionist and member of both black and white anti-slavery

societies, she traveled across the country and abroad speaking against the institution of slavery.

For more information see Nell Irvin Painter’s Sojourner Truth: A Life, A Symbol, (New York:

W.W. Norton, 1996); Carelton Mabee, Sojourner Truth, Prophet: Why Did She Never Learn to

Read?” in Black Women in United States History, Volume 3, (New York: Carlson Publishing

Company, 1990), pp. 869-894. Boston’s Sarah Remond came flom a family whose abolitionist

activities were well known. Her anti-slavery activism even took her to England where she made

several anti-slavery speeches. See Ruth Bogin’s, “Sarah Parker Remand: Black Abolitionist

From Salem,” in Black Women in United States History, Volume 2, pp. 135-166; Dorothy

Porter’s “Abolitionist and Physician,” in Black Women in United States History, Volume 4, pp.

1125-1131.

108

Suffrage Association and the American Woman Sufflage Association to secure the right of

enflanchisement for the race, while other black women developed suffrage organizations of

their own."0

By the 19003, black women founded a number of suffrage clubs and societies in

various parts of the United States. They organized such clubs in Tuskegee, St. Louis, Los

Angeles, Memphis, Boston, Charleston and New Orleans and state suffrage societies in

Delaware, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Texas, New York, and Maryland."1

These

suffrage clubs were established to enlighten black women who did not fully understand the

casting of the ballot and its significance, to agitate for woman suffrage, and to gain strength

through various women’s clubs of the “fairer” race."2 The agitation by black women in the

woman sufflage movement continued to spread to other cities and states.

On February 8, 191 1, Rebecca Aldridge, the mother of Pennsylvania clubdom, felt

that “organizing for suffrage was a good thing for Negro women.”43 With four other black

 

“Harper and the Purvis’ were active participants in the American Equal Rights

Association, (AERA) founded in May, 1866. See Janice Sumler Lewis’ “The Forten-Purvis

Women of Philadelphia: The American Anti-Slavery Crusade,” Volume 4, Black Women in

United States History, pp. 1337-1344. Andrea Kerr’s “White Women ’s Rights and Black

Men’s Wrongs” in Marjorie Spruill Wheeler’s One Woman, One Vote, provides a detailed

discussion on the AERA, pp. 61-79.

"Paula Giddings, When and Where I Enter: the Impact ofBlack Women on Race and

Sex in America, (New York: Quill, William, and Monroe, 1984), p. 129.

“Willie May King, p. 60-61.

431911-1929 Lucy Stone Civic League Yearbook, Club History, p. 3. Lucy Stone Civic

League Papers, Unprocessed Collection, Pittsburgh, PA; Mrs. J. Welford Holmes, “The Lucy

Stone Civic League, Pittsburgh, PA,” in The History of the National Association of Colored

Women’s Clubs, p. 384. This document was obtained flom Dr. Edna McKenzie, but there was

no cover page. Therefore, the writer is unable to identify the publisher and place of publication.

109

women: Mrs. 18. Lee, Nora D. Temple, Mrs. Welford Holmes, and Martha Sutton, Aldridge

founded the Negro Women’s Equal Franchise Association in Pittsburgh, a replica of

Allegheny County’s exclusively white Equal Franchise Association of Pittsburgh.“ The

purpose of the Association, whose motto was “Hold Together As We G0,” was to (l) inspire

and promote civic betterment, and interpret the principles of better citizenship, (2) to

maintain a scholarship firnd for aiding worthy members within their group [race], and (3)

more importantly, to educate Pittsburgh's black women the value of uplifting the masses. '5

One of its most important efforts was to educate Pittsburgh’s Negro women along suffrage

lines. It was especially clear to black women suffragists and observers that lacking the skills

to understand the political process hindered black women flom full participation in civic

matters.“

Membership in the Negro Women’s Equal Franchise Association was open to

Pittsburgh’s black women of good civic and moral standing and sympathetic to the object

of the organization.

47

Club affiliation depended on the Membership Committee’s

 

“A History of the Allegheny County League of Women Voters—Seventy-Five Years of

Achievement, (Pittsburgh: Allegheny County League of Women Voters, Inc., 1995), p. 5. The

Equal Franchise Federation of Pittsburgh was the local representative of the NAWSA flom 1912-

1920. It encouraged legislators to vote for the enfranchisement of women and for (white) women

to urge white men to do the same. This organization also participated in suffrage parades in

Pittsburgh and Washington, DC. and wrote and distributed suffrage literature.

451911-192 7 Lucy Stone Civic League Yearbook, p. 2. Lucy Stone Civic League

Papers, Unprocessed Collection, Pittsburgh, PA.

“Willie May King, p. 60.

‘7Ibid., p. 2. Constitution and By-Laws, Lucy Stone Civic League, p. 2. Lucy Stone

Civic League Papers, Unprocessed Collection, Pittsburgh, PA.

110

 

 

 

  

Figure. 15. Harriet Duffield Lee

111

Pittsburgh’s Negro Women’s Equal Franchise Association was limited to seventy black

women, a large number in comparison to earlier local black women’s clubs which usually

did not exceed twenty-five to thirty black women. However, the membership could be

terminated when a member missed four consecutive meetings without notification, failed to

pay dues, and expressed disloyalty to the organization.” Reinstatement was only possible

with a recommendation flom the Membership Committee and the advanced payment of one

year’s dues.

In cases when a member violated the guidelines, her commitment was

immediately called into question. Sometimes, black women joined clubs for social status

and not necessarily to participate in race uplift. The guidelines were perhaps a way to “flush

out” those women seeking recognition through club affiliation and simultaneously deter such

status seeking black women flom attempting to join the Negro Women’s Equal Franchise

League.

In order successfully and effectively to conduct its business, the Negro Women’s

Equal Franchise Association formed five standing committees:

Charity, which was

responsible for all charitable activities; Scholarship, to promote the financial growth of the

scholarship fund and transact all necessary business with colleges, applicants, and

recommendations; Membership, to maintain waiting lists, notify new and delinquent

members, and vote on all reinstatements; Good Fellowship, to collect money for the flower

fund, visit and report the names of all sick and deceased members, and send flowers and

cards of sympathy when the “grim reaper” visited the homes of its members; and Delegate,

composed of five members of the organization who were appointed by the president, to

 

481911-192 7 Yearbook, Lucy Stone Civic League, p. 14-15.

112

receive the names of eligible delegates to various black women’s conventions.” In addition

to these committees, was the executive board ofthe NWEFA comprised of the organization's

offrcers, chairpersons of the standing committees, and nine members of the club appointed

by the president.

Such an elaborate organization within the Negro Women’s Equal Franchise League

is attributed to three factors. First, every member of the League was given an opportunity

to actively participate in its race uplift activities. Second, it provided them an opportunity

to acquire leadership training. Historian Jacqueline Rouse, in Lugenia Burns Hope Southern

Reformer, asserted that black women's clubs in addition to their many activities, functioned

as a training ground for leadership among black women. Third, the League’s solid

organization, allowed for a smooth operation in accomplishing its goals.

Historian Gerda Lerner pointed out that black club women were for the most part,

educators or the wives of black ministers. Harriet Augustus Duffield, the daughter of Milton

B. Duffield (white), a US. Marshall and Elizabeth Ann York, the Superintendent of the

Women's Prison in Butte, Montana was born in Sonora, California January 19, 1862.50

Harriet Duffield married Reverend I.S. Lee, the

pastor of Bethel A.M.E. Church in

Pittsburgh. Alice Waring was born in Oberlin, Ohio in 1872." She attended the Howard

 

“Willie May King, p. 60—61.

50Letter to Pamela Smootfrom Susan Noble, March 29, 1996. Ms. Noble is the great-

granddaughter of Harriet Duffield Lee. In 1904, the Frances E.W. Harper League appointed

Harriet I. S. Lee as its representative in Juvenile Court.

51Holmes graduated flom Howard University in 1900. She was an active member in the

Aurora Reading Club, a founding member of the Pittsburgh Urban League and Pittsburgh

Chapter of the NAACP.

113

University School of Dentistry and later married an attorney, Mr. Welford Holmes. With the

exceptions of Harriet Lee and Alice Waring Holmes, however, little is known about the

charter members of the Negro Women’s Equal Franchise Association. A better test is that

they promoted views consistent with middle class and professional status.

Black women were conducting sufflage meetings in cities across the nation in support

of woman suffrage and to explain the importance of their votes to the race, and black women

in particular. In Pittsburgh, only one month after its organization, the Negro Women’s Equal

Franchise Association held its first public meeting March 10, 191 1, at Trinity Congregational

Church.’2 While the records do not reveal what transpired during the meeting, they do tell

us that Ida Porter Boyer, field secretary for the Pennsylvania State Suffrage Association, was

the speaker. This was the first step by Pittsburgh's only black sufflage organization to

politically educate the city’s disflanchised population.

The race question became almost as large as the suffrage movement itself. Historian

Rosalyn Terborg-Penn explained that there was a nationwide, not just a southern prejudice

against black women. She concluded that white women outside the South used southern

white women’s overt prejudice as an excuse for National Woman Suffrage Association’s

(NWSA) discriminatory policies, while hiding their own similar feelings about black

women.53 These discriminatory policies and racist attitudes ofwhite women sufflagists were

 

52“ Women ’3 Clubs, Lucy Stone Woman’s Suffrage Club,” The Pittsburgh Courier,

May 11, 1912, p. 5; “Suffrage Meeting At Trinity Church,” The Pittsburgh Courier, March

1912, p.

1.

53Rosalyn Terborg-Penn, “African American Women and the Woman’s Suffrage

Movement,” p. 148.

114

reflected in the March 1913 suffrage parade sponsored by the NAWSA in Washington, BC.

when black women were relegated to the back of the line regardless of state residency.”

With the exception of Ida B. Wells, black women sufflagists readily assumed their position

in the rear of the parade rather than not participate.

The Lucy Stone Suffrage League also affiliated with the NAWSA and claimed it

“was accorded a hearty welcome by such ardent suffragists as Helen Price, Mary Ingram,

Hannah Peterson, and Mary E. Blackwell, Dr. Anna Howard Shaw and Alice Stone

Blackwell.”” Although little is known about the other white women sufflagists, we do know

that Shaw vehemently opposed the participation of black women in white sufflage

organizations for fear of ofiending southern white women sufflagists who consistently

threatened to withdraw flom the movement.

Shaw also worked for the continued

 

54Wanda A. Hendricks, “Ida B. Wells Barnett and the Alpha Suffrage Club of

Chicago,” in One Woman One Vote: Rediscovering the Woman Suffrage Movement, ed.

Marjorie Spruill Wheeler, (Trousdale, Oregon: New Sage Press, 1995), p. 263-264. Wells

undoubtedly built a foundation for the largest black suffrage organization by 1915, which

eventually led to the election of Chicago’s first black alderman and Congressman. The National

American Suffrage Association was the result of a merger between the American Woman

Suffrage Association and the National Woman Suffrage Association which occurred in February

1890. The schism between the two organizations was caused by a disagreement regarding the

defeat of the 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution. The idea of a merger involved

Lucy Stone and her daughter, Alice Blackwell, members of the NWSA, and Susan B. Anthony

and Rachel Foster representing the AWSA.

551911-1929 Lucy Stone Civic League Yearbook, p. 4. It is unclear exactly when the

Negro Women’s Equal Franchise Association changed its name to the Lucy Stone Civic League,

but is clear that it was named in honor of one of the most renowned woman suffragists. Stone

was the first woman in Massachusetts to earn a college degree. Stone, a woman suffragist,

organized the first National Woman’s Rights Convention, was founder and editor of Boston’s

Woman’s Journal, a woman sufflage newspaper which circulated for almost fifty years; an

abolitionist and spokesperson for the anti-slavery movement; and successfully orchestrated

campaigns to elect or defeat political candidates. See Alice Stone Blackwell’s, Lucy Stone:

Pioneer of Women’s Rights, 1971; Elinor Rice Hay’s Morning Star: A Biography ofLucy

Stone, 1818-1863, New York, 1978.

115

disflanchisement of black men by supporting states rights positions as the South’s white

political leadership drafted new state constitutions to disflanchise black men.

And, given the attitudes and behavior of the white leadership in the woman suffrage

movement, the likelihood ofa sincere “hearty welcome” on the national level is questionable.

For example, historian Marjorie Spruill Wheeler explained that the National Woman

Sufflage Association (1869) was opposed universal suffrage and the Fifteenth Amendment

which gave black men the right to vote.

In 1895, the National American Sufflage

Association (NAWSA) asked Frederick Douglass, an ardent supporter of women’s rights

conventions, to stay away flom the Atlanta meeting for fear of offending southern white

women sufflagists. Women sufflagists who disagreed with the behavior and policies of the

NWSA formed a splinter organization, the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA).

Because of the increasing number of black women engaged in the fight for universal

suffrage, many white woman suffragists, especially those in the South, became intimidated

and lashed out at the participation of black women sufflagists.

Despite the attitudes of white women sufflagists elsewhere, those in Pittsburgh and

the state of Pennsylvania accepted the membership of the Lucy Stone Sufflage League into

their white woman suffrage organizations. It affiliated with the Equal Franchise Federation

of Western Pennsylvania and claimed to be the first black sufflage organization associated

with this body; and the Pennsylvania Woman’s League. Members of the Lucy Stone

Suffrage League sent delegates, Harriet Duffield Lee and Alice Waring Holmes to the

Pennsylvania State Suffrage Conventions and joint suffrage conventions of the state and

national bodies in Philadelphia (1912). They also participated in suffrage parades sponsored

116

by the Pittsburgh Equal Franchise Association and paid a year's subscription of $25 to the

Equal Franchise League."5 The fight for suffrage in Pittsburgh became a combined effort of

the city's black and white women suffragists.

Perhaps this racial solidarity between white and black women suffragists in

Pittsburgh is best explained in two ways. First, northern whites and white women suffragists

unlike southern whites were not threatened by the enflanchisement ofblack men and women.

With the massive population of blacks in southern states, whites feared blacks could wield

considerable political influence and “take over the South,” if given the right to vote."7

Furthermore, whites were extremely flightened by the mere thought of not being able to

maintain the status quo. Second, though racism and discrimination existed in northern cities,

it was sometimes subtle, as it was in Pittsburgh. The relationship between black and white

women sufflagists, however, probably had more to do with striving for the same right-«the

right to enflanchisement.

Women almost everywhere like those of Pennsylvania fought for woman’s sufflage

and in several states were granted full suffrage rights. In 1869, the Territory of Wyoming

granted such rights to women and after 1890, retained woman suffrage as a state.’8 Three

 

561911-1929 Yearbook, Lucy Stone League, p. 4.

57Alice Welfled Holmes, “The Lucy Stone Civic League, Club History,” p. 385. It is

important to note that the famed W.E.B. DuBois was guest speaker at this political event.

DuBois, an adversary of Booker T. Washington, was founder of the Niagara Movement, the

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and worker as the author of The

Crisis. A sociologist and author, Booker T. Washington, wrote The Philadelphia Negro (1899)

and The Souls of Black Folks (1961), in addition to numerous other publications.

58Marjorie Spruill Wheeler, “A Short History of the Woman Suffrage Movement in

America,” in One Woman, One Vote: Rediscovering the Woman Suffrage Movement, p. 11.

117

other states also granted women the right to vote: Colorado (1893), Utah and Idaho (1896),

and New York, (1917).59 With the success of women sufflagists and their supporters in these

states, other women were encouraged to fight for participation in the electoral process.

Significant to the woman sufflage organizations in Pennsylvania and to all

disflanchised women was the State Woman’s Sufflage Bill. This legislation, written by the

Legislative Committee of the Equal Franchise Society was successfully submitted to the

Pennsylvania State Legislature and would be placed on the November 2, 1915, ballot. The

passage of this Bill would amend the Pennsylvania Constitution giving all women the right

to vote and perhaps set a precedent in other states where women were disflanchised. This

measure would also give Pennsylvania male voters the opportunity to decide the

controversial fate of woman suffrage. It is important to note that the Equal Franchise Society

was comprised of both men and women which indicated that not all men were opposed to

the enflanchisement of women.

To change the non-voting status of black women, the Negro Women’s Equal

Franchise Association actively engaged in a local fight for universal suffrage. With the State

Woman’s Suffrage Bill on the November 1915 ballot, the NWEFA lobbied tirelessly in

Allegheny County for its passage. Word of mouth has most often been the best medium of

disseminating information in black communities.

The NWEFA used this mode of

communication to issue a call to black women’s clubs throughout the state to agitate for the

 

”Beverly Beeton, “How the West Was Won for Woman Suffrage,” in One Woman,

One Vote, p. 99. Other western states granting woman suffrage were California (1900);

Washington (1910); Kansas (1912), and Montana and Nevada (1914). Beeton’s book, Women

Vote in the West: The Woman Suffrage Movement, 1869-1896, is additionally a valuable source

of information on western women and the vote. Also see Andrea Kerr, p. 74.

118

passage of the Woman Suffrage Bill.

Its members, Harriet Lee, Martha Sutton, Daisy

Lampkin, Lula E. Belle, Mary Turner Burwell, Annie J. Miller, Lillian Lloyd, Minnie Ryan,

and Mrs. E.W. Bass, and Nora Temple, also sought to enlighten black congregations and

organizations about the potential benefits of having the vote through public meetings, house

meetings, lectures and the black press.

This, however, was not the first time Pennsylvania women sought to change the 19th

Amendment of Pennsylvania’s State Constitution to legally give women the right to vote.

In 1 885 , the Pennsylvania Suffrage Association proposed a Constitutional Amendment to the

Legislature which passed in the House, but failed in the Senate by a vote of 13-19.°° But

unfortunately for women, the amendment was again defeated. The Woman Suffrage Bill

passed in Allegheny County, but stumbled on the state level in the November 1915 election

by a vote of 441 ,034 to 385,348. Although the vote was a great disappointment to the Lucy

Stone Civic League and white woman sufflagists as well, the League continued to raise the

political consciousness of local blacks and club women throughout Allegheny County with

hopes of one day obtaining the right to enfranchisement.

Initially, the women of the Lucy Stone Suffrage League were committed to the

enflanchisement of blacks, one of several means of uplifting the black community. In 1920,

however, the League changed its focus to philanthropy and civic work, because blacks and

white women had obtained the right to vote on August 26, 1920. With the ratification of the

19th Amendment, there was no longer a need for a suffrage organization of this type. Ending

 

6"The Woman’s Report, August 7, 1980, Pennsylvania Commission, Harrisburg, PA, p.

119

this period of political activism, members of the Lucy Stone Sufflage League also changed

its name to the Lucy Stone Republican League.

The successful activities and participation of the Lucy Stone Suffrage League in the

fight for enfranchisement, gave them the confidence to turn its sights on the many challenges

within the black community. Most black women’s clubs were founded on the premise of

black womanhood, self-help, and race uplift.

Between 1919-1920, the Lucy Stone

Republican League in its new role provided for six black institutions and social services

agencies. For example, it furnished the day nursery at the Morgan Community House and

replenished the facility’s supplies for $300; disbursed a $100 annual allotment to the Home

for the Aged and Infirm Colored Women; assisted Livingstone Memorial Hospital and the

Pittsburgh Urban League to which it contributed since its formation in 1918.61 The Lucy

Stone Republican League sponsored musical and theatrical entertainment, and recreational

activities for the Davis Home and the Coleman Industrial Home for Colored Boys.

Intertwined with helping the race’s less fortunate was the Lucy Stone Republican

League’s fight for racial equality. One of its first battles was against the racist policies of the

Pittsburgh Public School system. Since its creation in 1 834, credentialed black teachers were

barred flom teaching in the city's public schools even though these schools were integrated.

Although the Lucy Stone Republican League made an unsuccessful attempt to have “Negro”

 

“Minutes of the Lucy Stone Civic League, 1920, p. 6. Lucy Stone Civic League

Papers, Unprocessed Collection, Pittsburgh, PA; Alice Waring Holmes, p. 386. The

maintenance of Pittsburgh’s black institutions by the Lucy Stone Civic League was supervised by

Sadie DeMund Lynch and the League’s Charity Committee. The successful and charitable

efforts of the committee were applauded by the League and greatly appreciated by the

beneficiaries. This was just another demonstration of a black women’s club trying to uplift the

race.

120

teachers placed in the Pittsburgh Public Schools, the education of black children remained

a great concern of the organization.

For this same reason, the Lucy Stone Republican League provided the financial

means by which many of Pittsburgh’s black youth could obtain a post-secondary education.

From its inception, this black women’ 3 club maintained a scholarship fund for aspiring black

youth residing in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County. The funds were specifically accrued

through one fund-raiser, the Lucy Stone Civic League’s Annual Mardi Gras. For years, this

annual affair was held at the Labor Lyceum on Miller Street and has been described by J.

Ernest Wright:

[It] was decorated with streamers, colored lights, and thrones for the

king and queen.

[People] were dressed as clowns, milk maids,

cowboys, and devils. It opened with a grand march, the coronation

of the king and queen, the traditional

confetti,

spirals and

refreshments.

There were bands and a gallery packed with

spectators. Dancing went on until morning."2

Since 1922, this fund-raiser enabled the Lucy Stone Republican League to award 35

scholarships to black students.

Given the large number of black students seeking a college education, the League

changed its policy from awarding full to partial scholarships enabling it to help more

students. Under the leadership of Alice Waring Hohnes, Chairperson of the Scholarship

Committee, this practice began in 1924, when the sum of $500 was divided among six

recipients. Four students, Catherine Hancock, Vivian Judkins, Clarence Smith and Russell

 

62Emest J. Wright, Ethnic Survey of the Negro in Pittsburgh, Records of the Work

Progress Administration, Pennsylvania Historical Survey, Job #64, p. 39. This document is an

extensive survey which covers almost every aspect of Negro life in Pittsburgh flom the 17003-

19403. Topics include slavery, abolitionism, social life, and business life.

121

Anderson received $75 each to attend the University of Pittsburgh; and Jane Curtis and J.

Welford Holmes, the son of Alice Waring Holmes, $100 each to attend Howard University.

The latter may have received larger amounts, because they were attending a university

outside Pennsylvania. In discussing the 1924, scholarship awards, Daisy Lampkin, President

of the Lucy Stone Civic League stated:

We are only doing our duty to the ambitious colored youth whom are

without funds. We wish we could help more. We have on file the

names of many deserving students who are anxious to enter college.

We would be glad to recommend these persons to any club or

organization interested.63

This plea to finance the college education ofworthy black students by Lampkin failed

to fall on deaf ears. The Della Robbia Club contacted the Lucy Stone Civic League and upon

its recommendation, awarded a scholarship to Mary Covington to continue her education at

the University of Pittsburgh. Networking among black [women’s clubs was a common

practice and a clear demonstration of sisterhood, self-help, and social welfare. Until the

Great Depression, the Lucy Stone Civic League divided $1,000 among its scholarship

recipients and when this fund was depleted, scholarship applicants were referred to other

black women’s clubs interested in racial uplift through education.

 

63“Lucy Stone Civic League Gives $500 to Students,” The Pittsburgh Courier, October

4, 1924, p. 4. The success of the League in awarding scholarships is demonstrated in the

achievements of the recipients. For example, J. Welfred Holmes eventually earned three

degrees: an A.M.; MA; and a Ph.D. Although he received his doctorate flom the University of

Pittsburgh, be relocated to Baltimore, Maryland, where he taught English and became Chairman

of the Division of Humanities at Morgan State College. See Who’s Who in the Aurora Reading

Club, Pittsburgh, PA, p. 10. It may not have been his choice to leave Pittsburgh, because Negro

teachers were not permitted to teach in the public schools because of racial discrimination. In

other words, he was probably forced to find employment elsewhere---a Negro college.

122

By 1929, the League had thirteen graduates, including one doctor of medicine, three

doctors of dental surgery, one graduate of pharmacy, one Bachelor of Music and seven

Bachelor of Arts."4 The recipients of the Lucy Stone Republican League’s scholarships

attended the following institutions: Howard University, Lincoln, Wilberforce, and Fisk

Universities; Oberlin, and West Virginia State, Storer Colleges; Hampton Institute, Carnegie

Tech, and the University of Pittsburgh. On behalf of these students, the Scholarship

Committee had awarded approximately $3,500.65

The social work in the area ofeducation enthusiastically performed by the Lucy Stone

Civic League received widespread attention not just for college scholarships awarded to

black high school students, but also for its “trouble shooting” abilities on behalfofPittsburgh

educators and social service agencies such as the Urban League. On several occasions,

whites solicited the help ofthe Lucy Stone Civic League concerning the financial difficulties

of intelligent and ambitious black students aspiring a college education. In 1938, Dr. Tyson

of the University of Pittsburgh contacted the Pittsburgh Urban League regarding Vivian

McDonald, a student at the University of Pittsburgh. “Ms. Virginia McDonald, a very

worthy student was not able to finish the semester, because of the lack of $23 and he referred

 

6"“Lucy Stone Civic League Benefits Many Through its Scholarship Fund, Nine

Students Attending College; Thirteen Have Graduated By the League’s Aid,” The Pittsburgh

Courier, October 28, 1919, p. 7. As of 1929, the League had awarded 34 scholarships.

However, with the need so great among young black aspiring students, the League thought it

could help more students and changed the scholarship program to one of loans.

“Ibid, p. 7. The $3,500 also included monies given Aubrey Pankey, an aspiring

musician, pursuing a music career at Boston’s Hubbard Studios. Two years earlier, the Lucy

Stone Civic League had also given a benefit specifically for Pankey which grossed $130.

123

 

  

 

 

Figure. 16. Daisy Lampkin

124

the case to the Urban League to learn if some of the clubs could not provide this amount?“

The Lucy Stone Civic League paid Ms. McDonald's tuition balance.

High school teachers were also aware of the Lucy Stone Civic League’s race uplift

activities, its reputation, and unselfish deeds in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County. Hoping

for positive results, Mr. Coyne (white), a teacher at Allderdice High School had written the

League on behalf of Dorothy Reeves, an aspiring black student “who had an excellent

academic record.” “I have been successful in securing for her through my efforts, individuals

of our group, and some of his fliends, all of the necessary finance (sic), but $25 for her books

which I am asking your help in getting.”'57

Impressed with the personal attention given this black student and the efforts of Mr.

Coyne, the Lucy Stone Civic League agreed to pay for Ms. Reeves' books in two installments

enabling her to secure the necessary funds for matriculation at Hampton Institute.“ The

organization also expressed an appreciation to Coyne and his interest in one of our group.

 

66Minutes of the Lucy Stone Civic League, January 1938, p. 4. Lucy Stone Civic

League Papers, Unprocessed Collection, Pittsburgh, PA.

67Minutes of the Lucy Stone Civic League, September 14, 1938, p. 2. Lucy Stone Civic

League Papers, Unprocessed Collection, Pittsburgh, PA. Reeves resided at 1439 Oak Avenue,

Extension, Turtle Creek, PA. Most of the League’s charitable deeds benefitted black students in

Pittsburgh and surrounding mill towns. The League obviously thought Reeves was an

exceptional case.

6"During the September 14, 1938 meeting, League members presented a $15 check to

Mr. Coyne whom they had invited. A subsequent check for the remaining balance would be sent

to Ms. Reeves in February 1939. In a November 1938, a communication from Ms. Reeves to the

League told of her academic progress at Hampton Institute and described her courses. It was

through this communication that she showed her appreciation to the Lucy Stone Civic League for

its kindness in her pursuit of a college education. In addition, she may have wanted to insure its

members that they had made a good investment.

125

The “trouble-shooting” abilities of the Lucy Stone Civic League and its willingness

to adhere to such unfortunate circumstances was a demonstration of the kinds of

relationships among black women’s clubs, social service agencies, and educators. When the

Lucy Stone Civic League exhausted its coffers, other black women’s clubs assumed the

responsibility of supporting black college students. The Virginia McDonald case created a

rippling effect among a professor at the University of Pittsburgh, the Pittsburgh Urban

League, and the Lucy Stone Civic League causing them to coalesce and successfully resolve

her problem. Coyne’s recognition of the talent and scholastic ability of Dorothy Reeves

created a new relationship between him and the League, and Reeves and the League. The

generosity of the Lucy Stone Civic League to educational causes outside its scholarship firnd

showed the League’s commitment to their motto, “Hold Together as We Go.”

Harriet Tubman Club

Many black women’s clubs were named in honor of historically significant black

women. For example, Phyllis Wheatley Clubs were formed in New Orleans, Chicago,

Jacksonville, Florida, and Nashville, Tennessee. In Boston, black women organized the

Harriet Tubman Club; in Chicago, the Ida B. Wells Club; and Pittsburgh, the Frances Harper

League and the Madame C. J. Walker Club. These black women’s clubs were named for

these black women, because of their leadership, courage, and devotion to defending black

womanhood and the race.

Winona Idell Scott, was born in Harmonsburg, Pennsylvania September 8, 1877.

Her parents, Sarah Ann Stewart and Matthew Felson Scott, were farmers in Greenwood

126

County, Pennsylvania and active participants in the Underground Railroad.” She attended

the village school and academy of Greenwood County and later, married Harrison Ford of

Mercer, Pennsylvania.

7° The couple had three children.

It was a short-lived marriage,

Harrison Ford died in 1911, and Winona remarried to Abraham Lincoln of Nelson County,

Virginia and moved to Pittsburgh.

Winona Idell Lincoln, a house wife, was an avid church worker who belonged to

several flaternal and women’s organizations. She was a member of the Ebenezer Baptist

Church until her husband bought a home in East End moving her church membership to the

Sixth Mount Zion Baptist Church. While there, Lincoln organized 67 children to work in

the church who successfully raised funds to buy windows for the new church, the first

baptizing (sic) robe, and made the first deposit of $20 toward purchasing church pews." In

addition, she held several leadership positions within the church including Sunday School

Superintendent, chairperson of Foreign Missions, and church clerk. While a member of the

Carron Street Baptist Church, Lincoln became president of the Rodney C. Fox Missionary

Society and sponsored the Girls Friendship Club.

In addition to her church activities, Lincoln belonged to flatemal organizations and

held a number of leadership positions. She was the first Worthy Counsilor (sic) of the Star

of the West Court of Calanthea, a member of Cyrene Chapter #9 Order of the Eastern Star

 

”Harriet Tubman Terrace Housefor Convalescent Negro Women and Girls,

Pittsburgh, PA, p. 2.

7°Ibid., p. 3.

71Ibid., p. 3.

127

and first vice president to the Prince Hall Association. Winona Idell Lincoln, a housewife

and avid church worker, contacted eleven of her fliends to organize a club to help the

Women’s Auxiliary of the Union Baptist Association maintain the Aged Ministers’ and

Laymen’s Home. A group of Christian women: Mrs E. J. Gould, Jessie Hale West, Mary

Brown, Bannie Ellis, Mrs. Chambers, Anna Douglass, Georgia Stevens, Martha Madison,

Sarah Winston, Mrs. Willis and Elsi Witten answered the call and met at Winona Idell

Lincoln’s home July 22, 1915, to organize the Harriet Tubman Club.72 It was named in

honor of Tubman for her courageous and untiring deeds as a conductor on the Underground

Railroad and for having “devoted her life to helping others.”

The women of the Harriet Tubman Club, dedicated to “showing their love through

service,” had two objectives: (1) to provide donations and volunteerism to hospitals and

welfare agencies caring for black patients and (2) the acquisition of land and buildings for

community centers or club houses.73 Unlike many other black women's clubs which admitted

black women as long as they were of good moral character, literate, and recommended by

a member of the club, the Tubman Club restricted its membership to twelve members, the

number of Christ's disciples.

 

72Jean Bryant, “The Tubman Terrace House Becomes Real,” The Pittsburgh Press,

June 29, 1989, p. A-2. The officers of the newly organized club were: Mrs. Abraham Lincoln,

president; Laura A. Brown, first vice-president; Fannie Morton, second vice president; Patience

Carter, recording secretary; Mimic Ryan, corresponding secretary; Lucille Carey, treasurer; Mrs.

E.J. Gould, chaplain; Mrs. Geneva Stevens, Dorcas; and Anna Douglass, chairperson of social

servrces.

73Constitution and By-Laws of the Harriet Tubman Guild, Article III, p.

l.

128

 

Figure. 17. Winona Idell Lincoln

129

It set the regular meeting dates for the first Wednesday of each month; and adopted

“Deeds Not Words” as its motto, as suggested by Laura A. Brown.

Failure to attend

meetings and pay dues for three consecutive months automatically terminated one's

membership in the Harriet Tubman Club. The president of the club was authorized to

recommend the dismissal of any member guilty of destroying the peace and harmony of the

Harriet Tubman Club or who by her conduct reflected discredit upon the group."

With few exceptions, the goals of black women’s clubs were primarily the same

across the country. Black club women believed they could solve the problems of the race

through intensive social service activities and often sent its members into local

neighborhoods to assist blacks, particularly, black women and children. Pittsburgh's Harriet

Tubman Club was similar in its race uplift efforts. It established the Frederick Douglass

Literary Club at Peabody High School for black youth designed to help them appreciate the

beginnings oftheir culture by studying black history. In 1928, the Harriet Tubman Club used

the radio waves to inform the public of its social service work. Winona Idell Lincoln and

Sarah Brown secured time flom radio station WCAE to broadcast a musical and literary

program presented by the members of the Frederick Douglass Literary Club. An annual

Abraham Lincoln-Douglass broadcast was later established.” The Harriet Tubman

 

7"'Ibid., Article XV, p. 4.

75Ibid., p. 6. On February 12, 1930, four Pittsburgh radio stations WCAE, WJAS,

KQV, and WWSW allotted the Tubman Club fifteen minutes on its air waves for their Frederick

Douglass Memorial Program; and KDKA, Pittsburgh’s first radio station, a half hour. It is

unclear if the Harriet Tubman Club paid a fee for these radio broadcasts. Nonetheless, the

Harriet Tubman Club used this mechanism to educate and reach the black masses, because

Pittsburgh had no black radio station during this period. F urtherrnore, the Frederick Douglass

Memorial Program could be heard by both blacks and whites, the young and the old.

130

 

Figure. 18. Charter Members of the Harriet Tubman Club

Front Row: Mrs. Willis, Mrs. Chambers, Winona Idell Lincoln, Anna

Douglass, Elsi Witten

Middle Row: Bannie Ellis, Georgia Stevens. Martha Madison, Sarah

Winston.

Back Row: Mrs. E.J. Gould, Jessie Hale West, and Mary Brown.

Club’s greatest accomplishments, however, were its social service activities in local

Pittsburgh hospitals and the establishment and ownership of a black convalescent home

which are the main foci of this discussion.

In 1917, the Harriet Tubman Club began its first social service project outside the

Aged Minister's and Layrnen's Home in Western Pennsylvania Hospital which was founded

March 18, 1848 and Pittsburgh’s first publicly sponsored hospital. During the first two years

ofthe club's existence, members provided food and other household necessities for residents.

The director of the hospital’s Social Services Department, Betty Wright contacted Winona

Idell Lincoln requesting the Tubman Club assist the hospital in its social service work. With

an overwhelming number of cases, many of them black, the Harriet Tubman Club accepted

the challenge and responsibility of helping the needy, registered as the Harriet Tubman Club,

Aide to the Social Service Department of the Western Pennsylvania Hospital."5 These black

women made referrals to the hospital, bought braces for cripples, and supplied layettes for

indigent mothers. It was through this “outside” experience that members of the Harriet

Tubman Club recognized the necessity of convalescent quarters for black women as some

cases compelled them to open their private homes to nurse these women into recovery.

Two migrations among southern blacks to Pittsburgh, the first between 1890-1910,

and the second migration, 1915-1920, exposed thousands of blacks to poor and often

uninhabitable living conditions as well as a climate to which they were unaccustomed

 

76Harriet Tubman Terrace House for Convalescent Negro Women and Girls, p. 5.

Plans for Western Pennsylvania Hospital began March 10, 1847, during a community meeting at

Odean Hall, located on Fourth Avenue. It was actually established March 18, 1848, and became

Pittsburgh’s “first publicly sponsored” hospital. The Articles of Incorporation were written by

Dr. H.D. Sellers and Judge William Wilkins.

132

causing disease and suffering among the race. These problems were compounded by

overcrowded conditions in integrated hospitals, segregated hospitals which refused to admit

black patients, and smaller medical facilities that were cramped for space. The major

problem of inadequate health care available to blacks created a need for social service in this

area, because their treatment was limited to the medical services of Western Pennsylvania

and Passavant Hospitals, making it almost impossible for the hospital staff to properly

service all of its patients.

A convalescent home for Pittsburgh blacks was a much needed social service

institution, because no black health care facilities existed and segregation prevented their

admittance to white ones.

In 1928, sociologist Ira De Reid in a survey of Pittsburgh

hospitals, revealed an outstanding need for attention among the black population of

Pittsburgh, because there existed no persistent effort on the part of agencies working in the

field or blacks to provide even private homes for convalescent patients.” The Kingsley

House, one of the first settlement houses in the country, was founded in Pittsburgh’s Strip

District (1893).78 However, it did not admit black patients to either of its affiliates, the

Lillian Fresh Air Home or Fresh Air Rest (1915) as the following quote reveals: “... it has

 

77Ira De Reid, The Negro Survey in Pittsburgh, p. 49.

78Woodene Merrriman, “For Half a Century She’s Served Organization That Serves

Others,” The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 14, 1980, p. 2. The Kingsley House was founded

by Charles Kingsley, a religious and reform leader. The Kingsley Association’s first location

was 1707 Penn Avenue in Pittsburgh’s 12'“ Ward as a social settlement with classes, clubs,

recreational activities, and a dispensary. It was later relocated to Bedford Avenue and Fulton

Street, Hill District on property purchased by Henry Clay Frick for the Kingsley House in 1901.

It was supported by voluntary contributions from Pittsburgh’s corporate barons including

Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, and Richard Mellon. See John Butera, “The Kingsley

House,” 66 (Western Pennsylvania Historical Magazine), 1983, p. 25-47. Two other Pittsburgh

settlement houses were: Irene Kaufrnann and Sarah Heinz.

133

never been able to do much for the colored people. The race question is an acute one which

as much as the Kingsley House would like to solve by serving both black and white, it has

never been able to do so.”79 Montefiore Hospital accepted no black convalescent patients,

and while Magee Hospital recognized the need for convalescent care for blacks, but offered

no solutions, and like other Pittsburgh hospitals refused to open its doors to blacks.

Reid's survey also revealed that Hamarville Convalescent Home, a facility where

women and girls over fourteen years old convalesced after operations, broken bones, heart

attacks, and infectious illnesses, had never taken black patients due to a shortage of space.80

However, an unforgettable and disheartening experience of the Harriet Tubman Club with

Harmarville Convalescent Home officials revealed the depths of their racism and

discrimination. According to Mrs. Bartlett, the daughter of Mrs. Winona Idell Lincoln: “We

sold bricks on the street to raise money to help build the convalescent home at Harmarville.

But, when we asked for admission for one of our ladies, they said, they had no facilities for

Negro women.”"'

Although Mrs. Lincoln had long envisioned a convalescent home for black women

and housing for the elderly and the poor, this degrading and unfortunate incident accelerated

 

79 Judge Joseph Buffington, “Old Kingsley and the Epidemic,” The Kingsley Record,

XX (December) 1918, p. 2.

Fresh Air Rest and the Lillian Fresh Air Home were for the benefit

of white women, babies, and girls. The Lillian Rest also accepted white boys ages 2-6. Both

facilities were situated on the same 90 acre estate in Valencia, PA. The Fresh Air Rest, a replica

of a hotel resort, consisted of a central dormitory, swimming pool, outdoor pavilion, tents, and

gardens. See Kingsley Association, Inc. Yearbook 1923, April 1, I922-March 31, 1923.

80Ira De Reid, The Negro Survey ofPittsburgh, p. 49.

8"‘Harmarville Convalescent Home, A Community Chest Agency,” p. 1. Vertical File,

The Carnegie Institute of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Department, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,

134

her vision to purchase a facility of their own for black women. She called a meeting of the

Harriet Tubman Club to discuss the possibility of establishing a home for black women and

girls which was met with an energetic and enthusiastic response. Despite the small sum of

fifty dollars in its treasury, hardly enough for a down payment, these club women began

searching for a house for the accommodation of black women convalescents.

The idea of setting up a home was not a new venture among black club women. In

Indianapolis, for example, the Alpha Home Association opened a home for ex-slave women,

July 6, 1886, and the Sisters of Charity, a fourteen room hospital for blacks in 1912.82 Since

the late 18003, black women had established various types of homes for ex-slave women,

hospitals for blacks, and boarding homes for black girls, because they realized the lack of

adequate black health care facilities, the barring of blacks flom most white hospitals, and in

cases where black hospital wards existed, blacks often received mediocre health care. This

realization was characteristic of black health care in most states, especially where large black

populations were prevalent.

In 193 1, members ofthe Harriet Tubman Club located a substantial three-story, eight-

room, brick building at 7921 Frankstown Avenue, Homewood-Brushton which would cost

approximately $6,000 for its health care facility.83 However, the question of financing the

property remained a grave concern among the membership, especially obtaining the $500

 

82Darlene Clark Hine, When the Truth Is Told: History ofBlack Women Culture in

Indiana, 1875-1950, (Indianapolis: Indiana Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs, 1981), p.

43. The Sisters of Charity was founded in 1874 and led by Mary J. Scott. Along with five other

Indiana black women, the idea of a hospital for Indianapolis blacks came to fruition.

83Harriet Tubman Housefor Convalescent Negro Women and Girls, p. 7.

135

needed for the down payment. During this particular period, black banks were non-existent

in Pittsburgh and no white banking institutions would dare consider a loan to a group of

black women. The aftermath of the Great Depression of 1929, greatly decreased the profits

ofthe Harriet Tubman Club’s regular fund-raising activities as many ofthe city’s blacks were

forced into the dreadful ranks of the unemployed and no longer able to financially support

its activities. For this same reason, the Lucy Stone Civic Club canceled its Annual Mardi

Gras which always brought lucrative profits to the organization’s treasury.“

Historically, black women's clubs were not strangers to struggle and sacrifice in their

efforts to uplift the black community. Sometimes, they faltered in their institution-building,

but that burning desire of self-help enabled black women’s clubs to continue striving for

worthwhile projects relative to improving black life, especially, black womanhood. While

members of the Harriet Tubman Club pondered about their financial difficulties, three blacks

offered loans to the club: Mrs. Elizabeth Gilbert and Rosa Diggs, both members of the

Harriet Tubman Club, provided $100 each and Mr. Abraham Lincoln, husband of Winona

 

a"Dr. Alma Illery, The National Achievement Club, ed. Lillian A. F riedberg, 1951, p.

20. The Carnegie Institute of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Department, Pittsburgh, PA. Alma Illery,

a South Carolina native, was an avid community service worker. She received an honorary

doctorate from Tuskegee Institute for interracial relations. Illery was instrumental in persuading

Congress to pass legislation for George Washington Carver Day on January 5'”. In Pittsburgh,

George Washington Carver Day became a week, honoring the scientist with a luncheon and other

activities to recognize his achievements. In 1942, she was responsible for the establishment of

Camp Achievement, a summer camp for underprivileged black and white children. This source

is valuable in that it provides brief histories of Pittsburgh’s numerous black women’s clubs.

Some of them include: the Tuesday Evening, Dr. Morris; Orphan Aid; Faith and Charity;

Metoka; Friendship Circle; Married Women’s Culture; and Golden Rule Clubs.

136

Idell Lincoln, contributed $300 which made the down payment possible and the club's vision

a reality.85

These black club women worked relentlessly to provide the black community with

a comfortable first-class facility to conflont the problem of black convalescent care head on.

Given the financial status of the Harriet Tubman Club after purchasing what became the

Terrace House, was the issue of its firrnishings. Chapters within the Tubman Club, along

with black businessmen in the community and a few individuals, supported the efforts to

equip the Terrace House. The living room was furnished by the club’s Achievement

Chapter; the dining room, came flom a fiiend of Mrs. Iona Richardson and the Winona Idell

Chapter; and the bedroom, was supplied by the Founder’ 3 Chapter. Several black businesses

in Homewood-Brushton donated light fixtures to the Terrace House: Freeman's Cleaners,

J .N. Ramsey, a realtor; Leo Loar, a barber; C.S. Whitaker, an undertaker; and the Trio Lunch

Room.“ Other household necessities donated to the convalescent home were curtains,

sheets, blankets, spreads pillowcases, towels, tea-towels, face and dish cloths, and kitchen

utensils by Tubman chapters; two kitchen tables flom Minnie Thompkins; and four fire

extinguisher flom William Turner. The sacrifices of members and the generosity of local

businesses contributed to the success of the Tubman Club in its quest to furnish the Terrace

House. In this sense, the House was a community effort. It also demonstrates a partnership

between men and women.

 

85Harriet Tubman Terrace House for Convalescent Negro Women and Girls, p. 8.

“Ibid, p. 9.

137

Members of the Harriet Tubman Club soon hired a staff and established the

guidelines for the Terrace House. The first employees were Alice Campbell, the cook and

housekeeper, and Ida Blythe, her assistant. They were supervised by Susie Orr, the

chairperson of the Harriet Tubman Terrace House Trustee Board and head of placement

services in the Home. Inez Simmons, a registered nurse, made regular visits to the Terrace

House to review referrals flom local hospitals and social service agencies, and to bathe

patients.87 Although the salaries were extremely minute, these black club women managed

to secure a small, but competent staff to maintain the integrity of the Terrace House.

Guidelines for admittance to Tubman Terrace reflected the solid basis for which the

home was established-«for convalescent patients.

It did not accept children or unwed

mothers. For recovering patients, the costs was seven dollars per day if they could walk and,

if not, tray service was ten dollars daily."8 Even though these costs may seem insignificant,

few blacks could afford to pay even the minimal fees which might have left the convalescent

home with few or no patients. Therefore, black patients would have to recover at home in

poor conditions with inadequate medical care. The idea of charging a fee for convalescent

care was perhaps a means of maintaining the property and not necessarily a profit-making

venture. These club women were already paying regular dues as high as nine dollars

annually and sacrificing one day's pay monthly to support its convalescent home.

 

87Ibid., p. 12. Simmons had an additional responsibility. She was to insure that Negro

patients admitted to Tubman Terrace did, in fact, need convalescent care.

88Report of Committee on Harriet Tubman Guild, p. 5. Archives of Industrial Society,

MSS 81:11 Urban League Papers of Pittsburgh, Organizations, Federation of Social Service

Agencies, Box 7, FF 314. University of Pittsburgh, Hillman Library, Pittsburgh, PA.

138

 

Figure. 19. The Harriet Tubman Terrace House

7921 Frankstown Avenue

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

139

As one of Pittsburgh’s new social service agencies, the Harriet Tubman Club applied

for membership in the Community Fund (1922), a voluntary association of public, private,

health and welfare agencies throughout Pittsburgh and Allegheny County.89 Comprised of

both blacks and whites, the objective of the Community Fund was to discuss and effectively

coordinate efforts to solve community problems, and to avoid the duplication of social

service work. Membership in this organization meant eligibility for financial resources and

a systematic referral service of convalescents to the Harriet Tubman Home.

At the Community Fund's request, John Lawrence, acting president ofthe Federation

of Social Services, appointed a committee of seven persons to perform a routine investigation

of the Harriet Tubman Home, a procedure for all Community Fund applicants.9o After the

completed investigation of the Harriet Tubman Club, Community Fund officials understood

the necessity of the home, but denied its application.

It cited the following reasons for

 

89 Members of the Community Fund Committee were : Mrs. Karl J. Kaufrnann, Mrs.

Frances Crandall, Dr. Dudley King, R. Maurice Moss, Mrs. C.L. Snowden, Helen Stevens and

Isobel Kennedy. See Report of Committee on Harriet Tubman Guild, Inc., p. 1. Archives of

Industrial Society, MSS 81:11 Urban League Papers of Pittsburgh, Federation of Social Service

Agencies of Pittsburgh, 1934-1941, Allegheny County, Box 7, FF 314, University of Pittsburgh,

Hillman Library, Pittsburgh, PA. The Federation of Social Service Agencies was the result of a

merger between the Cooperative Welfare Federation and Associated Charities. It had three

objectives: the investigation of social conditions; technical assistance relative to budgets and

planning; and made recommendations to improve the standards of social service agencies.

History, Federation ofSocial Service Agencies of Pittsburgh, Directory of the Social

Resources of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County, 1943, p. 99. Vertical File, Federation of Social

Service Agencies, The Pennsylvania Department, The Carnegie Institute of Pittsburgh,

Pittsburgh, PA.

9°“! 01 Social Agencies in Federation Now,” The Gazette Times, June 9, 1926, n.p.,

Vertical File, Pittsburgh Organizations, Health, Welfare and Planning Association. The

Pennsylvania Department, The Carnegie Institute of Pittsburgh,, Pittsburgh, PA. For more

information see “Charity Bodies of Western Pennsylvania in Big Merger,” The Gazette Times,

November 19, 1923.

140

rejecting the application: (1) the amount of funds needed to improve the House would be

greater than the property itself justified, (2) the building was extremely old with several

structural problems, (3) the under-utilization of the facility, (4) the standard of patient care

was below minimum, (5) too much emphasis was placed on the purchasing of prOperty and

(6) the obvious internal dissension among the organization’s officers which could interfere

with the decision-making and smoothness ofthe Club's operation.” Though the Community

Fund consisted of blacks and whites, some observers might argue that of the country's black

social service agencies, most were unsuitable compared to the standards of those owned and

operated by whites. Nonetheless, the Harriet Tubman Home remained opened and continued

to provide social service to the race.92

As the demand for services flom the Harriet Tubman Club increased, it meant that

the social service work of the club had reached new heights. When additional Pittsburgh

 

91Report of the Committee of the Federation ofSocial Service Agencies to Review the

Application ofHarriet Tubman Guildfor Membership in the Community Fund August 9,

1939, p. 1. AIS, MSS 81:11 Urban League Papers of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Box 7, FF

314. University of Pittsburgh, Hillman Library, Pittsburgh, PA. The schism within the Harriet

Tubman Guild was between Winona Idell Lincoln, president, and Mrs. Randall, treasurer,

regarding a $50 donation which was disputed in a meeting with the Guild and the Federation of

Social Agencies.

92The Committee had additional concerns about the Tubman House which included its

building structure, cleanliness, usage of space, and a schism within the organization. For

example, the Committee after a tour of the Home although the Homes; steps in and outside the

building were too steep, especially those leading to the second and third floors. The Tubman

house was not as clean as it should have been according to Federation of Social Service Agency

standards nor was the third floor being utilized. Also of concern was the Guild’s indebtedness

which raised the eyebrows of committee members. The total debt on the property was $4,338.97

as a result of the following: the mortgage balance was $3 726.97; commission owed to real estate

agent, Molinare, $175; personal note of $300; and a $137 loan. The indebtedness would

probably diminish all possibilities of a Federation grant. However, the Committee unanimously

agreed that Tubman Terrace was needed to assist with the convalescent problem among

Pittsburgh blacks.

141

hospitals solicited their help, it became almost impossible for such a small membership to

successfully complete such important tasks. The Harriet Tubman Club which had restricted

its membership to twelve flom its inception, immediately opened its membership to alleviate

the possibility of spreading itself too thin and providing low quality social service work. It

initiated the organization of Harriet Tubman Club Chapters starting with three:

(1) the

Harriet Tubman Club #2, Coraopolis, (2) Harriet Tubman Club #3, Meadville, and (4)

Harriet Tubman Club #4, Clairton.“'3 All of the new chapters were located outside the

Pittsburgh metropolitan area.

The club also had to face demographic facts. Since most of the original members

were born in the mid-to-late 19th century, age became a factor among them. In 1932, the

Harriet Tubman Club recruited two groups of young black women into the organization who

were already engaged in some aspect of social service work.

The first group of

approximately twelve young women were known as the Younger Set of Harriet Tubman

Club #1.94 As members of this organization, they were assigned to West Penn Hospital and

charged with combing the hair of black women in the wards, watering their flowers, writing

letters for those who could not write, and on Christmas Day, singing carols in the corridors

 

93Harriet Tubman Terrace House ofNegro Women and Girls, p. 6.

9"Similar to the Jr. League started by Pittsburgh’s Frances Harper and Lucy Stone Civic

Leagues, the Harriet Tubman Guild involved and recruited younger women in its social service

activities to help them understand the significance, probably, in hopes that this work might

expand and continue over the years to uplift the race. The Youth Chapter of the Harriet Tubman

Guild changed its name to the Hallie Q. Brown Chapter. It had specific duties which included

providing medicine to Negro patients and assisting expectant mothers. See History of the Hallie

Q. Brown Chapter, 1932-1982. This document was handwritten by Marie Charles, a Hallie Q.

Brown Chapter member.

142

of the hospital.95 The second group ofblack women were organized into the Youth Congress

of Harriet Tubman Club #1 and were detailed to the Social Service Department of

Presbyterian Hospital on Pittsburgh's North Side where they assumed similar duties.”

Although the Harriet Tubman Club provided various types of aid to the black

community such as paying for the lodging and breakfast for a gentleman, making monetary

donations to the Kay Club and YWCA, and purchasing baby mattresses, its most successful

outreach program consisted of social service in Pittsburgh hospitals. From June 1933 to

January 1934, the Harriet Tubman Guild's hospital-related activities among black patients

included flee medicine, eye examinations and eye drops. It purchased braces, paid for blood

transfusions, tonsillectomies, ambulance service, transportation for patients and volunteers

to hospitals and clinics, and a radio for Western Pennsylvania Hospital.97

In order to provide these social services, the Harriet Tubman Guild like all black

women's clubs, conducted a series of fund raising activities. Each chapter of the Guild

collected its own dues, paid a per capita tax to the Board of Directors Treasury, and held two

annual affairs: a Hostess Party and Tag Day. But, the State of Pennsylvania required all

social service agencies, churches, and other organizations to apply for a certificate under the

state's Solicitation Act, giving them the legal right to solicit fimds for charitable, religious,

 

951bid., p. 13. Based on the data collected, Western Pennsylvania Hospital was the first

medical facility in Pittsburgh to employ Negro girls as nurses aids.

9"The Harriet Tubman Youth Congress was under the supervision of Margaret Forrester,

president of the Hallie Q. Brown Chapter.

97The Harriet Tubman Club spent $4.50 for transportation, eye drops, $2.50; and $4.00

for the radio. See the Financial Report of the Harriet Tubman Guild, June 1933-January

I 934, p. 2. The Pennsylvania State Archives, Harrisburg, PA.

143

benevolent and humane purposes.98 To obtain the certificate, the applicant paid a ten dollar

application fee and provided references able to attest to the organization's work.

For example, the Harriet Tubman Guild on its 1934 application listed Western

Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh Hospitals, and the Public Health Nursing Association of

Pittsburgh as references. Mildred Lesher, Director of Western Pennsylvania Hospital's

Department of Social Service, wrote:

For several years this group has been interested in hospital and

dispensary patients of their race whom we care for. They cooperate

in making clinic attendance possible, assisted when in supplying

some types of medical relief; visit hospital patients; and within the

past few years extended social services to other city hospitals working

through their [respective] social service departments.

They are

sincere in their efforts to benefit the sick.”

Helen V. Stevens of the Pittsburgh Hospital and Director of the Public Health Nursing

Association responded:

I know they are a group of earnest, sincere Negro (sic) women who

have worked closely with the Social Service Department of Western

Pennsylvania Hospital. The Guild offers a convalescent service...and

places convalescents in private homes. This past year one of our

patients, a pre-school child convalescing flom pneumonia was placed

by the Harriet Tubman Guild where he received excellent care and

supervision according to the staff nurse who visited in the home.'°°

 

98Letter to Miss Leah S. Pollockfrom Mrs. Abraham Lincoln, October 20, 1936, the

Pennsylvania State Archives, Harrisburg, PA; Constitution and By-Laws of the Harriet Tubman

Guild, Inc., Pittsburgh, PA, p. 3. The “Tag Day” was a regular fund-raiser sponsored by the

Guild. On June 7, 1933, it yielded $105.16 and 1945, $700.

99Letter to Charlotte B. Parrish from M. Lesher, July 12, 1934. Pennsylvania State

Archives, Harrisburg, PA. Parrish was employed as an investigator for the Pennsylvania State

Department of Welfare Social and Lesher, the director of West Penn Hospital’s Social Service

Department.

1°°Letter to Charlotte B. Parrish from Helen V. Stevens, June 18, I 934, The

Pennsylvania State Archives, Harrisburg, PA.

144

Marie Kelly of the Pittsburgh Hospital's Social Service Department responded to the inquiry

for the Department of Public Welfare concerning the work of the Harriet Tubman Club:

The Harriet Tubman Guild has been active in this community. The

organization has assisted the Social Service Department of this

hospital in many ways...financing convalescent care for colored

women.

On June 15th the out-patient department added an

Orthopedic Clinic to the schedule for which the Harriet Tubman

Guild was the first group in the community to offer to finance braces

and other such suppliances (sic) for their people. Added to the list of

services are the distribution of magazines and flowers to ward

patients. Not only has the Guild been most generous in giving

tangible material service in the community, but its whole-hearted

cooperation with administrative, medical, and social service staff has

been one of [the] most cooperative plans possible.'°'

The responses flom both hospital officials and the PHNA represented the respect shown to

the Harriet Tubman Club for its outstanding and much needed social service. It was granted

a Certificate of Solicitation, but it is unclear, if the certificate offered additional benefits to

the club other than authorization to solicit ftmds.

With a growing number of black patients in Pittsburgh and surrounding area

hospitals, fourteen of the Guild’s fifteen chapters assumed responsibility for a hospital in

1936: the Congress of Women, Pittsburgh Hospital; the Anne Douglass Chapter, Sewickley

Valley; Laura A. Brown Chapter, McKeesport Hospital; the Cosmos Card Club, Columbia

Hospital; the Hallie Q. Brown Chapter, Presbyterian Hospital; the West End Chapter,

Montefiore Hospital; the Tri-Boro Chapter, Braddock Hospital; the Efficiency Chapter,

Mayview Hospital; the Achievement Chapter, Passavant Hospital; the Altruist Chapter,

 

1°'Letter to Charlotte B. Parrish from Marie Kelly, June 21, 1934, The Pennsylvania

State Archives, Harrisburg, PA.

145

Allegheny Hospital; the Busy Women's Art Chapter, Magee Hospital; the Frogs Wives, Falk

Clinic; and the Terrace Club, Westmoreland Hospital.102

During the 19303, the Harriet Tubman Club exerted a great deal of energy providing

social service to five Pittsburgh hospitals: Braddock, Magee, Children’s, Mercy, and West

Penn. A 1937 report of the Guild revealed its Tri-Boro Chapter donated $25 flom its Tag

Day to Braddock Hospital; the Busy Women's Art Chapter, made sheets, uniforms, and

pillow cases for Magee Hospital; the Achievement Chapter, volunteered at Children’s

Hospital; and other members of the Harriet Tubman Guild worked as volunteers in the black

wards of Mercy and West Penn Hospitals. As a result of the sometimes subtle, but flequent

discrimination by whites and staff shortages, the volunteerism of black women at these

hospitals proved a benefit to black patients who had no families or visitors, to fill the void.

Oftentirnes, black organizations resembled black Baptist churches in that when

schisms within the church occurred, it caused them to multiply as they divided. In other

words, the division of black Baptist church congregations usually led to the emergence of

another black Baptist church. This was also true of black women’s clubs. Discord within

the Harriet Tubman Guild, because of a dispute over funds resulted in the Achievement

 

'°ZOn October 20, 1936, the Haniet Tubman Guild’s Financial Report revealed its total

medical expenses on behalf of Pittsburgh Negroes was $765.20. This amount included several

surgeries, braces, and tonsillectomies. Passavant Hospital, located on Reed Street, Hill District,

was founded by Dr. William A. Passavant. The hospital was started in a rented house at the foot

of Montgomery Hill, North Side. It was an early exception to (white) Pittsburgh hospitals,

because it always accepted Negroes. Its policy was, “In the admission of patients, and treatment

of the sick no preference would be tolerated in favor of one creed over another.” Ira De Reid

says that between 1927-1928, it handled 2,162 cases, which were all Negro. Of the 2,499

patients in Passavant’s dispensary, 82 percent were Negroes.

146

Chapter of the Guild withdrawing and forming a club of its own---the Achievement Club. '03

Neither club, however, wasted valuable time bickering as historian Darlene Clark Hine

pointed out:

all of the women must have appreciated that too much internal

rivalry was a tirne-consuming emotional luxury they could as a group

ill-afford. They were compelled by larger exigencies to commit their

time and resources to the care of the masses of impoverished and

oppressed blacks surrounding them.'°"

In other words, this understanding among black women enabled them to continue the work

of improving the race. Even in the midst of controversy, the Harriet Tubman Guild paid for

operations for Negro patients at Passavant Hospital where an estimated two-thirds of the

patients were black and placed a black nurse on its regular staff. '05 On a monetary gift flom

the Achievement Chapter to Passavant Hospital, Ms. Marchell Neil-Ellison commented: ...it

 

'°3Julia Bumry Jones, “Tubman Guild Ranks Split as Achievement Unit Withdraws,”

The Pittsburgh Courier, July 17, 193 7, p.

1. The crux of the dispute was $76.60 raised by the

Achievement Chapter from a dinner held at the home of Minnie Hines, the chapter’s treasurer.

The president of the Guild and other members understood the proceeds would provide for the

Tubman Home’s maintenance. However, the Achievement Chapter refused to “turnover the

funds” to the Guild, so it withdrew flom it. The Guild also claimed the Achievement Chapter

had committed a constitutional infraction by refusing to pay the $4 annual fee as required of all

Guild units. On Tuesday, September 7, 1937, the Achievement Chapter held a reorganization

meeting at Pittsburgh’s ‘colored’ YWCA. Approximately 92 of its original members supported

the movement to start a club of its own.

'O‘Darlene Clark Hine, p. 46.

105This was in fact, a critical period for the black community, because Passavant, unlike

other local hospitals, willingly provided medical treatment for blacks unable to afford it. The

hospital was losing support including that of the Lutherans, who decided to discontinue their

financial support to the hospital, because of its location, unless it was moved elsewhere. This

could have been a financial decision in terms of the high cost of medical treatment. The

'

Achievement Club donated $177.55; thirty-five sheets; 45 pillow slips; sixty-four baby garments

to Passavant.

147

was a gift flom the heart of women who sacrifice time, effort to help the cause of humanity,

and how badly people of low-income groups needed this medical care.‘06

The dissenting faction of the Harriet Tubman Guild , the Achievement Chapter,

elected its officers: Dr. Alma Illery, president; Louise Lee, vice president; Madeline Gales,

financial secretary; Gladys Thompson, corresponding secretary; and Minnie Hines,

treasurer.‘07 This new black women’s club continued in the tradition of social service to the

black community and began to further developed its own agenda.

Pennsylvania State Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs

The organization of State Federations among black women’s clubs raged as rampant

as the growth of local black women’s clubs across the country, in response to the

exclusionary practices against black women’s clubs by (white) State and General Federated

Women’s Clubs. For example in 1890, white women organized the General Federation of

Women's Clubs and in keeping with the times, it practiced racial exclusion. When Josephine

St. Pierre Ruffin and other black women attempted to integrate the organization, they were

rudely rebuffed, because northern affiliates feared the flight of southern affiliates upon the

admission of black women’s clubs. As in the past, the attitudes of white club women and

sufflagist alike, failed to discourage the visions of black women.

 

106“The Achievement Club Gives Generosity to Passavant.” The Pittsburgh Courier,

December 9, 1939, p. 11.

'°7Other officers of the newly formed Achievement Club were: Mary Clayton, assistant

financial secretary; Louise Williams, assistant recording secretary; Winnie Nickens, assistant

corresponding secretary; Ida Hill treasurer; Mary Leonard, chaplain; and Annie Graves, social

worker.

148

Excluded and ignored by the (white) General Federation of Women’s Clubs, but

confident in their own abilities, black women organized a federation of their own. They

believed that the establishment of a State Federation would give rise to larger social welfare

projects. For example, State Federations of colored women’s clubs emerged in Kansas and

Ohio (1900), New York (1901), and Pittsburgh (1903), only nine years after the formation

of the city’s first black women's club. Noted club woman, Rebecca Aldridge stated, “My

dear sisters, the power of the colored women will never be felt in Allegheny County or the

State of Pennsylvania until there is a State Federation. The power and influence of the

colored women of Allegheny County, only by organization.”'°8 Dr. Sadie Black Hamilton,

a founder of the Frances E.W. Harper League was appointed by Mrs. Booker T. Washington,

as Pennsylvania State Organizer. Hamilton solicited the help of Elizabeth Lindsay, a

prominent Chicago club woman, to assist her in the federation process and promptly issued

a statewide call to black club women.‘09

On November 10, 1903, Hamilton, Lindsay, and five Pennsylvania black women’s

clubs convened at Pittsburgh’s Grace Memorial Presbyterian Church.1 '0 They included the

 

108Rebecca Aldridge, 3" Anniversary of the Frances E. W. Harper League, November

23, 1897, p. 2.

109“The Pennsylvania State Federation, ”in The History ofthe National Association of

Colored Women’s Clubs, (Washington, DC: The National Association of Colored Women’s

Clubs, 1986), p. 375.

"°Ibid., p. 374-3 75. The Reverend M.B. Lanier was the pastor of Grace Memorial

Presbyterian Church. During this period, the church was located on Bryn Mawr Road, Hill

District and like numerous other black churches, it was often a meeting place for the city’s black

organizations.

149

following clubs: Paul Lawrence Dunbar, New Castle; Phyllis Wheatley, Franklin; Harrisburg

Progressive; Bethel Mite Missionary, and Kings Daughters, Pittsburgh.

These black

women's clubs were represented by Etta Peck, Doris Hill, Mrs. I. S. Lee, Mrs. Bond, Mrs.

Smothers, and Luella Stewart, respectively. Before the meeting adjourned, the newly formed

Pennsylvania Federation of Colored Women's Clubs elected its first officers: president,

Rebecca Aldridge, Pittsburgh; vice president, Sadie Delibardie, New Castle; and Etta Peck,

corresponding secretary.

“' The formation of the Pennsylvania State Federation created a

stronger and more resourcefirl organization of black women. In 1904, the Pennsylvania

Federation committed itself to “the national reform network” of colored women’s clubs by

affiliating with the NACW.

The problem of general concern among Pennsylvania club women was the welfare

of orphaned, poor, and uneducated black children. The first project undertaken by the

Pennsylvania State Federation was the establishment of the Home for Destitute Children in

New Castle, Pennsylvania. This social welfare activity was a joint venture, because fund-

raising efforts among local clubs for the Federation would generate more ftmds than an

individual black women's club needed to maintain the institution. Although the details are

sketchy, the organization purchased thirteen acres of farmland and operated the Home for

several years. Unfortunately, the Home for Destitute Children was closed and the “residents”

were moved to another facility in Bellevue.

Social welfare projects initiated by black women's clubs oftentimes resulted in failure

not because of a lack of effort, but unforeseen circumstances. For example, the Sisters of

 

"‘Ibid., p. 375.

150

Charity, a black women’s club in Indianapolis, raised sufficient funds to lease a two-story

frame building and established the first black hospital in the state. However, the undertaking

proved too expensive and they were forced to abandon the hospital. With only seven

Pennsylvania clubs affiliated with the State Federation, at the time, the Home for Destitute

Children was perhaps an endeavor too enormous for a neophyte organization causing the

club, like the Sisters of Charity, to abandon its social welfare institution.

An endless variety of social problems within the black communities of Pennsylvania

compelled the State Federation to direct its attention to philanthropic activities intended to

sustain black institutions and, in an unusual case, a white medical institution that serviced

blacks. During the Pennsylvania State Federation Convention (1917) in Wilkes Barre, the

organization committed to aiding four additional institutions: the Coleman Industrial Home

for Colored Boys, Aged Women’s Home, and the Davis Home for Colored Children

(Pittsburgh); and the Home for the Protection of Colored Girls (Philadelphia); and Mercy

Hospital (white), one of two Pittsburgh hospitals that admitted black patients.l '2 Although

it had segregated wards, no blacks were turned away when they were full, provided space

was available. The motivation of the federation was to aid as many black institutions and

white institutions in the resolution of social black problems.

One of the most disturbing social problems affecting blacks in the North and South,

was mob violence. The black women of the Pennsylvania State Federation of Colored

Women’s Clubs took a firm position on the subject, one which Ida B. Wells had long battled

 

11“Charity Stamp Campaign,” Domestic Science Department of the Pennsylvania State

Federation of Negro Women’s Clubs, February 28-March 11, 1918. Gertrude L. Brooks Papers,

Unprocessed Collection, Pittsburgh, PA, p. 2.

151

against, since the 19'“ century. With the lynching of Zachariah Taylor in Coatesville,

Pennsylvania, these black women publicly denounced this intolerable act and responded with

a resolution to Pennsylvania’s Governor which read:

Whereas the Spirit of lawlessness and mob rule, which for years has

marked the attitude of the white race toward the colored races,

especially the Negro (sic) and,

Whereas the Spirit of lawlessness having been hitherto confined

principally to the Southern States has now spread to the Northern

States...

Therefore, let it be resolved that we deplore and condemn the act

which led to the horrible lynching of Zachariah Taylor...

Resolved that a copy of the resolution be sent to the Governor of

Pennsylvania irnploring him to insist upon the arrest and punishment

of all guilty persons.113

However, no one was ever punished for Walker’s lynching nor did the Governor

acknowledge the Pennsylvania State Federation’s letter.

Since the early 19th century, the pursuit of education came to be one of the great pre-

occupations of Afiican-Americans, and enlightenment was viewed by many as the greatest

single opportunity to escape the increasing proscriptions and trends that whites heaped upon

blacks.”" In northern urban communities, black leaders had successfully founded schools

for black children in abandoned buildings, private homes, and the basements of black

religious institutions. The success of black leaders in the basic education of black children

 

"3“A Set ofStrong Resolutions By the Women ’3 State Federation Club at Meeting

Held At New Brighton, The Past Week,” The Pittsburgh Courier, August 26, 1911, p. 5.

11"'John Hope Franklin, p. 264.

152

created for many, a hunger for a college education that many of them could ill-afford. The

Pennsylvania State Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs designed an educational program

to help such aspiring black youth.

In the early 19203, the organization’s efforts began as a “loan” program for indigent

black students to attend college. The only stipulations were that the student be a needy

resident of Pennsylvania, possess a good academic standing, and good character.“5 The

program was short-lived when a five year period elapsed and not one of the loans granted

was ever repaid. This, of course, did not dissuade the Pennsylvania State Federation as it

sought different ways to reorganize the loan program.

During the 19303, the Scholarship Committee under the leadership ofDaisy Lampkin,

changed the Federation’s financial aid program three times. At the Convention of 1932, the

black women of the Pennsylvania State Federation, “agreed to place a financial gift of $200

at Cheyney Normal School,” with dispensation at the discretion of the institution's

president.‘ '6 In November 193 7, the officers ofthe Scholarship Committee, Daisy Lampkin,

Fannie Morton, and Maude B. Coleman disseminated the State Federation's monies by

dividing the sum of $200 equally among four women students who found it impossible to

 

115The History of the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs, p. 376. There

also included a stipulation that if both the applicants parents were healthy, they were ineligible

for a scholarship flom the Pennsylvania State Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs.

1""Ibid., p. 376. Cheyney Normal School was established by Richard Humphreys, a

Philadelphia Quaker, in 183 7. He created this school for Negroes “in order to prepare and fit and

qualify them to act as teachers.” The oldest black educational institution is located in Cheyney,

PA, twenty-five miles west of Philadelphia.

153

 

Figure. 20. The Pennsylvania State Federation of Colored Women's Clubs

154

remain in college without financial assistance.

”7 With an increase in the number of black

women’s clubs affiliating with the State Federation, their fund-raising activities netted large

sums of money, enabling the organization by 193 8, to grant two four year scholarships

annually to black students attending Cheyney State Teacher's College. In other words, the

Pennsylvania State Federation’s loan program became a grant program, because recipients

of the former had not repaid their loans.

In general, the fund-raising of black women's clubs meant the survival of the black

community and its institutions.

Black women mobilized, held socials, and charged

membership fees to care for the black community. The Pennsylvania State Federation gave

a $300 minimum appropriation to various institutions across the state each year and were

able to continue in this tradition with a number of different fund-raising activities and setting

high goals. As the NACW created departments within its organization to increase its

effectiveness, many State Federations duplicated this process.

In 1918, the Pennsylvania State Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs created the

Domestic Science Department which dealt with the “social housekeeping” of the black

community. Gertrude L. Brooks, Frances Bolling, Sara McClanahan and Daisy Lampkin

organized the Charity Stamp Campaign, a fund-raiser, earmarked for Pittsburgh's southern

migrants whose plight the Federation had become painfully aware of. With a goal to raise

$1,000, black club women appealed to the general public by asking each citizen to purchase

 

117“Three Hundred To Attend State Confab Pennsy Club Women,” The Pittsburgh

Courier, July 9, 1938, p. 8.

155

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a book of charity stamps for one dollar.1 '8

It is unclear if the State Federation reached its

$1,000 goal, but it realized that “the strangers within their goals demanded the highest aid

in becoming usefirl permanent citizens.”

City-County Federation

In 1915, black club women in Pittsburgh organized the City-County Federation

comprised of club women in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County. It included clubs flom

McKeesport, Rankin, Braddock, Homestead, Sewickley and other areas. The purpose of the

CCF was (1) to bring black women’s clubs closer together and (2) to firlfill an obligation to

black children in effort to uncover flom the partial oblivion community.l '9 What better way

to solve this problem than by organization to find better ways to service the black rigorous

discussions on social service in the black community.

During this same year, it convened its Fourth Annual one-day convention at the

Centre Avenue YMCA where 200 delegates represented 60 clubs. On May 28, 1925, the

Credential Committee of the City-County Federation reported over $4,000 raised for charity

and scholarships and two new black women’s clubs of Pittsburgh joined the CCF, the

 

"a“Charity Stamp Campaign,” p. 2.

1”The Woman’s Era: Organ ofthe National Federation ofAfro-American Women,

July 1896, p. 3. Also see “The White Gloves ofService: A History of the Allegheny County

Federation of Women’s Clubs,” p. 3. The Carnegie Institute of Pittsburgh, The Pennsylvania

Department, Pittsburgh, PA.

157

Unity and Christian Charity Clubs. Delinquent clubs were encouraged to pay three dollars

and one year's dues in advance to maintain CCF membership.‘20 The leadership of Sara

McClanahan, president of the City-County Federation, was largely responsible for its

SUCCESS.

Western District of the Pennsylvania Federation of Negro Women’s Clubs

With so many black women’s clubs, overlapping and a duplicating social services

seemed inevitable.

But, apparently, among the black women's clubs of Western

Pennsylvania, it was not an issue. For the most part, they basically had the same objectives

in relationship to race uplift in the black community and past experiences had proven that

there was strength in numbers. On June 3, 1925, these black women formed the Western

District of the Pennsylvania Federation of Negro Women’s Clubs with twenty clubs

represented and approximately 400 women present. ‘2' Pittsburgh women were elected to all

but one of the seven offices: Evelyn Payne, president; Iona Schwing, first vice president;

Mrs. M.E. Swinson, recording secretary; Mrs. E.J. Phillips, corresponding secretary; Maude

Mandexter, treasurer; Fannie Hemdon, chaplain; and Frances Keith, McKeesport, second

vice president.‘22

 

12°“Clubs,” The Pittsburgh Courier, June 20, 1925, p. 4.

‘2‘ “Western District of Clubs Organized: Ruth L. Bennett Here,” The Pittsburgh

Courier, June 13, 1925, p. 4. Ruth L. Bennett spoke at Mt. Ararat Baptist Church on the subject,

“The Achievements of the Pennsylvania Federation” and “What Federations Mean to Negro

Women,” at Warren Methodist Episcopal Church, Pittsburgh, PA.

122Ibid., p. 4.

158

The organization of the Western District of the Pennsylvania Federation Negro

Women’s Clubs which encompassed the area south of Allegheny River, starting in

Uniontown extending as far east as Lewistown and Altoona, marked another step in the

progress of women’s clubs. Rebecca Aldridge remarked, “the Western District of the

Pennsylvania Federation of Negro Women’s Clubs would no doubt be the strongest district

of clubs in Pennsylvania.” This newly found federation may have been the leverage needed

to stronghold the leadership of the Pennsylvania State Federation which was frequently

dominated by club women in the eastern part of the state.

Pittsburgh Club Women and the NACW

Pittsburgh’s black club women played an active and viable role in the National

Association of Colored Women’ 3 Clubs. The earliest participation of Pittsburgh’ 5 black club

women in the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs was the selection of Dr.

Sadie Black Hamilton, a charter member of the Frances E.W. Harper League as a delegate

to the NACW’s first meeting in 1896.'23

Pittsburgh club women were appointed to

leadership positions within the National organization, and hosted NACW fund-raising events

and speaking engagements for NACW officers in Pittsburgh. They made significant

contributions to the annual NACW’s national program of protecting black women,

emphasizing race progress, advocating self-help, and racial solidaritym Members of the

 

123Rebecca Aldridge, 3" Anniversary Address, November 23, 189 7, p. 2; “Members of

the Frances Harper Club Helps National Work,” National Notes, April 1942, p. 2.

12"Deborah Gray White,“ The Cost of Club Work, The Price ofBlack Feminism,” in

Visible Women, New Essays 0n American Activism, eds., Nancy Hewitt and Suzanne Lebsock,

159

Pennsylvania State Federation were just as effective in the NACW as they had been within

their own respective clubs.

Black Pittsburgh club women made their presence felt in the NACW when they were

appointed to key leadership positions and 1920, proved a prosperous year for them. During

the NACW Convention at Tuskegee Institute, Dr. Sadie Black Hamilton, was appointed as

Chairperson ofthe Juvenile Court Department; Daisy Lampkin, Head of Transportation; and

Julia Bumry Jones, Chairperson ofthe NACW Publicity Committee. ‘25 Laura A. Brown, was

also selected as a Trustee of the historic Frederick Douglass Home. The rise of black

Pittsburgh club women within the ranks of the NACW was attributed to Mrs. Booker T.

Washington’s recognizing the capabilities of these black women, their dedication to black

womanhood, and uplifting the race.

Hamilton’s new position presented a great challenge given the large southern

migration to Pittsburgh and the problem of juvenile crime. Historian John Hope Franklin

pointed out that “juvenile delinquency was associated with maladjustment in urban life and

ran rampant as slum areas grew steadily worse as few corrective measures were taken by

either public agencies or private individuals.” Upon her appointment, Dr. Hamilton spoke

on behalf of the committee she was to lead:

 

(Chicago: University of Illinois, Press, 1993), p. 247; “National Association of Colored

Women,” in Black Women in American: An Historical Encyclopedia, ed., Darlene Clark Hine,

Volume 2, p. 845.

125National Federation of Women ’s Clubs, The President Announces Heads of

Departments,” The Competitor, 2 (October-November) 1920, pp. 211, 213; The National

Convention Held at Tuskegee,” The Competitor, 2 ( August-September), 1920, p. 146-147.

160

It is the plan to get the women of the NACW clubs interested in

junvenile court and the children brought into court...where juvenile

courts do not exist there is greater need of special interest in children

who are arrested to see that they get a fair trial and a just disposition

of their cases. We hope to arouse more interest in the educational

aims and moral development of our children and to discuss

preventive measures as a means of keeping down the number of our

children appearing before the court.‘26

Hamilton was responsible for gathering facts concerning this “class of unfortunates,” and

awakening a new feeling toward the delinquent boy and girl. She was, of course, no stranger

to juvenile court work having taken into her home, colored children without pay in juvenile

delinquency and became the first juvenile court worker ofthe colored race. ‘27 Hamilton also

organized the Colored Juvenile Court Association in Allegheny County and conducted a

symposium (of the same), at the 6th Biennial of the NACW, Brooklyn, New York 1908.

As head of the NACW's Transportation Department and Jim Crowism still in effect,

Daisy Lampkin had a difficult task. In 1896, the Supreme Court upheld segregation in its

separate, but equal doctrine set forth in Plessy v. Ferguson, which meant that blacks were

 

126“ The Glorious Task ofLifting As We Climb: National Association of Colored

Women Plans to Reach Extensive Programsfor 1921-1922.” The Pittsburgh Competitor, 3

(January-February) 1920, p. 42. Hamilton realized that juvenile delinquency among black youth

was detrimental to the race. A priority for her department was to collect and compile data

relative to black children, and design preventive measures to thwart such a serious problem.

127Gertrude L. Brooks, “Dr. Sadie Black Hamilton,” National Notes, First Quarter,

1943, p. 7. National Notes, the official organ of the NACW Clubs, contained information about

the activities of black women’s clubs nationwide. Pittsburgh blacks were aware of Hamilton’s

juvenile court work. In 1912, the Coleridge Taylor Club, named in honor of black composer,

Samuel Coleridge Taylor, was a musical organization. It disbanded and gave the remaining $6 in

its treasury to Hamilton’s Colored Juvenile Court Association. See “Juvenile Court Association

Thanks Club,” The Pittsburgh Courier, May 4, 1912, p. 1.

161

 

Figure. 22. Dr. Sadie Black Hamilton

162

separated from whites on every mode of public transportation. Lampkin’s task was the

arrangement of rates and special accommodations for delegations to the NACW’s national

conventions.128 She successfully arranged transportation to two National Conventions: the

11th Biennial in Tuskegee, Alabama (1920), and the 14th Biennial, Oakland, California

(1926). During the planning stages of the Tuskegee NACW Convention, several black club

women asked, “Will we be Jim Crowed to Tuskegee?”129 Lampkin in a confident and

reassuring tone replied, “No!” She arranged approximately 17 Pullman cars with first class

dining which transported delegates to and from Tuskegee.130

Since 1827, the black press had provided information about the problems and

progress of the race. The NACW decided to use the black press to disseminate information

about the progress of black women’s clubs. As Head of the Publicity Committee, Julia

Bumry Jones, editor of the “Woman ’s Pages” of the Pittsburgh Courier and The Competitor,

her challenge was to forward a copy of the NACW newsletter for inclusion of its news in the

estimated 200 black newspapers nationwide'“ From 1921-1922, each member of the

 

128National Federation of Women ’s Clubs, The President Announces Heads of

Departments,” p. 213.

129“The National Convention Held at Tuskegee,” The Competitor, 2 (August-

September), 1920, p. 146. The Pittsburgh contingent to this convention consisted of 18

delegates, in addition to 400 other black club women representing forty states. The Convention’s

agenda concerned issues in relationship to the race: support for the National Urban League; the

enforcement of the 14'“, 15", and 18th Amendments to the United States Constitution; lynching;

and mob violence. Of educational importance were the issues of donating Negro histories to

public schools and local libraries to enlighten black children and the race.

130“National Federation of Women ’s Clubs, The President Announces Heads of

Departments,” The Competitor, 2 (October-November) 1920, p. 212.

13‘“The Douglass Home,” National Notes, July 1924, p. 3.

163

Publicity Committee gathered and sent news from their respective regions to Jones by the

first of every month and furnished an article on subjects of “general interest to black

women.” Jones’ use the black press would also provide the means by which indigent blacks

could seek social services in cities wherever black women’s clubs existed.

Under the leadership of Mary Talbert, president of the NACW, the Frederick

Douglass Home, in Anacostia, Maryland, was saved by the NACW in 1916, when Douglass’

widow lacked sufficient funds to maintain the property. Between 1916-1918, the NACW

provided $5,000 to lift the mortgage on his home and $30,000 toward its redemption,

restoration, and preservation. '32 Given the challenge of preserving the home ofthis ex-slave,

abolitionist, lecturer, and journalist, the NACW formulated the Frederick Douglass Home

Trustee Board. Laura A. Brown, a pioneer Pittsburgh club woman, civic worker, suffragette

and first Liberty Loan worker in Pennsylvania, was chosen as a member of the Douglass

Home Trustee Board. Brown, along with other Board members, was responsible for raising

funds for its maintenance.

In 1924, Pennsylvania club women, particularly, those in Pittsburgh, were brought to

the fore when Hallie Q. Brown, president of the NACW and, herself a native Pittsburgher,

proposed National Educational Week for the establishment of a permanent and substantial

scholarship fund of the Frederick Douglass Home. Through the activities of the Trustee

 

132The History of the National Association of Colored Women ’s Clubs, p. 87.

164

  

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Board, the national treasury swelled to a reported $2 million for black youth.I33 Pittsburgh

was chosen to host this NACW event slated to generate $50,000 needed to endow the national

scholarship fund.134 Although there is no record of the selection process for National

campaign: “Every race loving man and woman who believes in educational advancement is

asked to lay ten cents aside to greet the workers in this campaign.”‘35 Pittsburgh women, in

serious competition with black club women across the country, made a substantial

contribution to the NACW’s national education fund by selling scholarship stamps to the

public for a dime. They sold scholarship stamps to church members, businessmen and

women, both black and white, and more important to “anyone who had a dime.” The sincere

efforts of these black club women were intended to create educational opportunities for poor

black youth.

To attract black women, black club women, and the people to whom they

provided social services, Bolling and her associates enlisted a powerhouse of speakers for

 

133Hallie Q. Brown graduated from Wilberforce University in 1873. She was one of

many northern blacks responding to the call for teachers in the Reconstruction South. Brown, an

accomplished elocutionist, taught in the schools of Yazoo, Mississippi; Columbia, South

Carolina; Tuskegee, Alabama; and Dayton, Ohio. She was a founder of the National Association

of Colored Women’s Clubs, elected president of the Ohio Federation of Colored Women’s

Clubs, 1905-1912, and president of the NACW from 1920-1924. Hallie Q. Brown was affiliated

with the A.M.E. church. For more information see Homespun Heroines and Other Women of

Distinction, New York, 1988.

13"“The Educational Crusade, Hallie Q. Brown Is An Educator,” National Notes, July,

1924, p. 3. See “Local Club Women to Launch Educational Drive April 22, National Officers

to Attend,” The Pittsburgh Courier, April 5, 1924, p. 4.

135“Local Club Women to Launch Educational Drive,” p. 4. A Scholarship Stamp was

designed by the Pennsylvania State Federation’s Department of Business. This educational drive

was also a contest among black women’s clubs associated with the NACW. The club raising the

most money was awarded “handsome silk remnant” in the NACW’s national colors.

166

 

Figure. 24. Laura A. Brown

Mrs. Brown was the first black woman who sought a political career by seeking a

seat in the Pennsylvania General Assembly. She competed for the seat in the First

District of the Pennsylvania Legislature, but was unsuccessful in her efforts. Politics was

only one of many ways by which Laura Brown hoped to change the quality of life for

Pennsylvania blacks.

167

National Educational Week. With sessions held at five Pittsburgh churches: Tabernacle and

Rodman Street Baptist Churches, Bethel and Brown A.M.E. Churches, and Euclid Avenue

Methodist Episcopal Church, the voices of distinguished guest speakers filled the rooms,

mesmerized and motivated black women to be steadfast in the NACW's mission to improve

the quality of life for black Americans. They included, Hallie Q. Brown, NACW president,

Mary McCleod Bethune, the NACW’s vice president and president of Daytona Normal and

Industrial Institute; Kentuckian, Mrs. Lillie B. Fouse, corresponding secretary of the NACW;

Mrs. Booker T. Washington, Tuskegee, Alabama; and Ruth L. Bennett, president of the

Pennsylvania State Federation.‘36 Admission fees were charged for the public and club

members as well with proceeds benefitting the national scholarship fimd.

Conclusion

By the early 19205 Pennsylvania had 102 federated black women’s clubs; two city

federations, in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia with approximately 40 clubs each, 26 departments

and an estimated 13,000 black women.'37 These black women founded nine different types

of clubs: literary, charity, social, welfare, suffrage, self-improvement, sewing circles, and

mutual-aid societies. Club organizing and affiliation was essential to race progress and social

change among black women.

 

136“Distinguished Visitors Will Attend Local Celebration ofNational Education

Week,” The Pittsburgh Courier, April 19, 1924, p. 4.

'37 'Pennsylvania Club Women Convene in Washington, PA, In 20“ Session,” The

Pittsburgh Courier, August 4, 1923, p. 14.

168

The most important firnction of club affiliation was to provide a support system for

black women that would reinforce the belief that uplifting the race and improving the image

of black womanhood was possible. The Frances E.W. Harper League, the Lucy Stone Civic

League, and the Harriet Tubman Guild developed a “sisterhood” among themselves, black

women, and club women on both the state and national levels. For example, they fostered the

idea of noble womanhood for the city’s black women and girls by providing positive models

through their own behavior. During the various conventions, black women opened their

homes to black club women in attendance, because of racial segregation which barred blacks

from hotel accommodations. The “sisterhood” of these Pittsburgh black club women was

fm'ther demonstrated by their affiliation with the NACW allowing them to participate in the

national campaign for race uplift from which the city's blacks, particularly black youth were

able to benefit, especially through the scholarships they offered.

This whole idea of self-help which is equated with Booker T. Washington, but largely

rooted in black antebellum communities of the North, was also a strategy of black women’s

clubs. In order to defend the integrity of black women, necessitated by the condemnation of

black women by white males and white society as a whole, black club women took the

initiative to negate the dominant perception of black women being promiscuous, loud, and of

low moral character. White women, who were well aware ofthe plight black women suffered

at the hands of white men stood idle, knowing that black women were not at fault. The

education of black youth became the responsibility of black women's clubs, especially, the

Lucy Stone Civic League which awarded numerous scholarships to black youth in their

communities.

169

The overt racial discrimination and prejudice practiced by white social service

institutions forced black women to establish institutions of their own and for the most part,

black women's clubs were, through their fund-raising activities, a major source of support for

them. The FEW Harper League, the Lucy Stone Civic League, and the Harriet Tubman

Guild’s idea of “social welfare” evolved around providing financial support to the Home for

Aged and Infirm Colored Women, the Colored YWCA and YMCA, the Coleman and Davis

Homes, and the Ella Grayson Home for Working Girls. They purchased furniture and

replenished the food supplies of black social welfare institutions, and furnished clothing for

black youth.

The Harper League, the Lucy Stone Civic League, and the Harriet Tubman Guild are

three examples of black women’s clubs organized to change the quality of black life in

Pittsburgh, Allegheny County and State of Pennsylvania. These women performed significant

work and were actively involved in the black community. While they may not have achieved

all of their goals, the impact of sisterhood, self-help, and social welfare was indelibly

engraved in Pittsburgh’s black and white community.

Prior to the Civil War, Pittsburgh’s earliest black community as discussed in chapter

one, was led by an all black male leadership and sustained by black male organizations. As

black women such as Maria Stewart, Sojourner Truth, Mary Shadd Cary, and Frances Harper

eased their way to the forefront, more black women became acutely aware of their leadership

capabilities, responsibilities to the black community, and their “noble womanhood.”

Pittsburgh's black women, beginning in the decades after the Civil War, took their rightful

170

places in the black communities they sought to change without interference from black male

organizations whose activities often required the support of black women’s clubs.

171

Chapter 3

Pittsburgh’s Colored YWCA: Black Women, Women White Women, and the Black

Community

During the last decade, scholars have produced an plethora of studies delving into the

lives of black women in American history. These scholarly works have been an attempt to

“eradicate the invisibility of such historical figures, seemingly, hidden in plain sight.” But,

as historians continue to examine Black Women's History, they are confronted with an

enormous task---a multitude of unexplored and under explored areas in this field. Black

women in the YWCA, for example, is one of the areas needing further examination.

Although regional and general studies which contain information on black women and the

YWCA including Cynthia Neverdon-Morton's Afi'o-American Women ofthe South and the

Advancement of the Race, 1895-1925, (1989); Jacqueline Rouse's Lugenia Burns Hope:

Southern Reformer, (1989), Adrienne Lash Jones’ , “Young Women's Christian Association,”

in Black Women in American History: An Historical Encyclopedia, (1993), Marion W.

Roydhouse, “Bridging Chasms: Community and the Southern YWCA,” in Visible Women:

New Essays on American Activism, (1 993) and Gerda Lemer’s “Inside A White Organization-

--The Young Women’s Christian Association,” in Black Women in White America, (1972)

more work needs to be done on the local level.

This chapter is an example of race, gender, and hegemony. Its primary focus is four-

fold: (l) to construct the history of Pittsburgh's “colored” YWCA, (2) to learn more about

black women’s leadership in the YWCA, (3) the impact of the colored YWCA on the lives

of Pittsburgh’s black community, and (4) to examine the challenges they faced as staff

172

members and volunteers in the Association. I argue that though white YWCA women

managed to maintain hegemony over Pittsburgh's “colored” YWCA that black women

consistently resisted this domination in order to prove their leadership ability and to satisfy

the needs of Pittsburgh's black community.

Origins of the YWCA:

As feminists and reformers recognized the plight of the working girl in the city,

middle-class advocates created a network of institutions to safeguard and aid working

women.1 One of the oldest of these institutions established for urban women was the Young

Women's Christian Association. In 185 8, a small “prayer band” of thirty-five women met

in New York City to address labor, health, and housing conditions facing young women and

girls in the city. This led to the concept of women coming together from different Christian

denominations quickly spread and numerous associations organized “for the betterment of

women and girls.”2

Though the YWCA movement began in London in 1855, the first YWCA in the

United States was established in Boston (1866) during the process of industrial and

 

lKathy A. Peiss, Cheap Amusements: Working Working Women and Leisure in Turn of

the Century New York, (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1986), p. 165. Some of the

means by which to safeguard women were organized recreational and leisure activities, religious

meetings, educational classes, access to libraries, and musical entertainment. Also see, Marion

W. Roydhouse’s “Bridging Chasms: Community and the Southern YWCA,” Visible Women:

New Essays on American Activism, eds. Nancy A. Hewitt and Suzanne Lebsock. Chicago:

University of Illinois, 1993, p. 271.

2Adrienne Lash Jones, “Women Firstfor 135 years, 1858-1993,” New York: The YWCA of

the USA, p. 13. Jones and Marion Roydhouse also tell us that the founding of the YWCA cut

across class and racial lines.

173

commercial growth.3

Scholars of YWCA history point out that the Association was (1)

rooted in a desire to provide a Christian home, (2) moral support for young women newly

arrived in the urban, (3) to safeguard them as they were threatened by the urban environment,

(4) to promote growth in Christian character and service through physical, social, mental, and

spiritual training and (5) to provide a place for working women where ideals of womanhood,

purity, domesticity; and sisterhood might flourish.’

Both black, white, and immigrant

women migrated to northern industrial cities and many benefitted fi'om the Young Women’s

Christian Association.

Origins of the Pittsburgh YWCA

The creation of the YWCA in Pittsburgh was similar to that described by Adrienne

Lash Jones in the “1 35th Anniversary Program Booklet ofthe YWCA” where a prayer band

of women first organized itself into an Association. It can be described in two phases: (1)

Phase 1, East Liberty and (2) Phase 11, Downtown. The first YWCA in Pittsburgh, a

facsimile of an earlier organization called the Women’s Christian Association of Pittsburgh

(1867), was organized in East Liberty (1875) following “a series of evangelistic meetings.”5

 

3“Dates in YWCA History, the Greater Pittsburgh YWCA, Pittsburgh, PA, February 1973, p.

1. Subsequent YWCAs were also founded: 1881 Normal, Illinois, and a Little Girls Association

in Oakland, California, 1886.

’Kathy Peiss, 1986, p. 166; Edith M. Gates, Health Through Leisure-time Recreation: The

Health Education Program of the YWCA. (New York: The Woman’s Press, 1931), p. 15.

5According to journalist Bob Hoover, the YWCA was born by the Pittsburgh’s Protestant

churches in response to the increasing number of young single women to the city. They sought

to provide for various aspects of their well-being. See “In the Beginning: Three Institutions,

Chatham College, Western Pennsylvania Schoolfor the Deaf, and the YWCA-Mark Their

125“ Birthdays This Year,” The Gazette, December 11, 1994, p. 9. The first officers of

174

During this period of organization, "relief wor " became its main objective, because there

was no organized charity in the Pittsburgh community.6 To acclimate women and girls to

the hustle and bustle of industrial employment, they created an industrial school for women

and girls. In addition, they sponsored a night school for boys and a day nursery for the

children of working mothers.

Phase II began downtown Pittsburgh when a meeting of the city's prominent women

met to organize a YWCA in January 1890. In May 1891, Sarah Pence and Mrs. William

Reed Thompson, the first President of the Central YWCA, organized Pittsburgh's Central

YWCA in a small building on Penn Avenue where rooms for rest and light lunches were

available to women and girls.7 With the process of industrialization, women were no longer

confined to domestic work and teaching, so they took advantage of expanding job

opportunities. Many of these women rarely had family, fi'iends or accommodations upon

their arrival to industrial cities, but the organization of this YWCA was an attempt to fill the

void.

 

Pittsburgh’s Women’s Christian Association were: Ms. Felix Brunot, president;; Mrs. William

Herron, vice president; Mattie J. Fowler, treasurer; Anna Thaw, Librarian; and Lizzie Wade,

secretary.

6The Greater YWCA of Pittsburgh, History of the YWCA in Pittsburgh, Typescript,

September 1965, p. 1. The East End YWCA, located at 219 Collins Avenue, had

accommodations for 30 women who paid a monthly fee of $4. Baths were twenty-five cents or

six for $1.00. It also had a public dining room.

7“Organizer Recalls Early Days of Branch,” The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, January 24, 1933.

Vertical File, Pittsburgh Organizations, YWCA, The Pennsylvania Department, Carnegie

Institute of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA. Sarah Pence was a dress shop owner who employed many

young girls in her shop. She led a private campaign to raise money for the erection of a YWCA

in downtown Pittsburgh.

175

In 1893, Mrs. Thompson donated her childhood home to the Association for use as

a boarding house for (white) migrant and European immigrant women. This two-story

structure located on Stanwix Street, became home for many women and girls, and a place

where social activities, cooking, dressmaking, and Bible classes were held on their behalf.

Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn in Black Neighbors: Race and the Limits ofReform in the American

Settlement House Movement, 1890-1945, (1993) pointed out that “the YWCA sought to

recreate the structure of a complete family’s home with a parlor, piano, and a kitchen for

residents.”

The boarding house also became a place for women to build and cultivate

relationships with other women entering the work force, many for the first time.

The Evolution of Black YWCA's

Historian Joe W. Trotter points out in his study, Black Milwaukee: the Making ofan

Industrial Proletariat, 1915-1945, (1985), that blacks increasingly accepted segregated

services as preferable to the pattern of de facto exclusion.8 This was also true of blacks in

other cities. Racism and discrimination by whites against blacks was characteristic of white

organizations and endemic to businesses, and institutions throughout American society. In

the YWCA, the Board of Directors and many of its members, particularly, in the North,

encouraged membership among black women and girls, but not as affiliates of white

YWCAs.9 Frances H. Williams, author and member of the YWCA Executive Board,

 

8Joe W. Trotter, Black Milwaukee: The Making of an Industrial Proletariat, 1915-1945,

(Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1985), p. 120.

9Cynthia Neverdon-Morton points out that “YWCA officials ignored the Christian creed of

the ‘Y’ when it required them to treat black women as equals.” As other scholars including

176

provides a vivid example of these racist attitudes:

Mrs. R. had been a member of the Association largely, because her

friend had asked her. At the meeting she found herself sitting by a

Negro woman. She was arnazed...uncomfortable. She fidgeted for

a while and at last grasped her coat, she moved, only to find herself

sitting on top of the radiator. Negroes were certainly alright, but she

did not want them near her. They made her nervous. ‘0

Besides, it was uncommon for black and white women to belong to the same organizations

as it was for black and white children to share recreational facilities.

A large part ofthe YWCA’ 3 white membership, especially in the South, was paranoid

and extremely outspoken against black membership in the Association. Many white YWCA

members adhered to the belief that allowing black women into the Association would lead

to intermarriage and public objection.‘

' Others considered it dangerous to allow black

women the vote as directors of the YWCA, as they did during the suffrage movement,

because it would empower black women and threaten the overall stability of their

organization. While not all white YWCA women were against black membership, a majority

favored allowing them YWCA's of their own as white Americans were willing to foot the

bill for their racism.12

 

Jacqueline Rouse and Adrienne Lash Jones have already explained, black women could only be

members of the YWCA in “colored” branches. This is, in fact, the reason for their creation.

loFrances Harriet Williams, Consideration of the Negro Member in Associations Where

There Is No Organized Branch, (New York: The Woman’s Press, December 31, 1941), p. 19-

20.

”Ibid, p. 3.

1’zJoel Williamson, A Ragefor Order: Black, White Relations in the American South Since

Emancipation, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1986), pp. vii-viii. Although Williamson

is making reference to the exclusion of southern blacks from full participation in economic,

political, and cultural activities, it can also be applied to the actions of white women in the

177

But, this suggestion created a flurry of questions within the National YWCA. For

example, the question of financing “colored” YWCAs, the ability of black women to provide

leadership, and of white women to adequately understand the needs and interests of black

women and girls were repeatedly posed. The first of these concerns was perhaps legitimate,

but black women had proven their leadership skills before the antebellum period with the

formation of church organizations, mutual benefit and beneficiary societies, and suffrage

clubs; and during the late 19th century, the Black Women's Club Movement. On the third

point, Eva D. Bowles, the first “colored” woman appointed a YWCA secretary, stated, “no

person can interpret the needs and desires of colored people as well as a colored person,” a

point on which both black and white women agreed."

Despite, the mixed feelings of YWCA Board members, historian Cynthia Neverdon-

Morton explained that black women could only become members of the YWCA in separate

“colored” branches. The first of such branches was organized in Dayton, Ohio (1893).

Although this “colored” branch of the YWCA was “on friendly relations with the white

 

YWCA who continuously denied black women membership.

l3Gerda Lerner, “What the Colored Women Are Asking of the YWCA,” in Black Women in

White America, A Documentary History, (New York: Vintage Press, 1972), p. 481. Bowles

was born on January 24, 1875 in Albany, Ohio. She received her education at Ohio State

College and Columbia School of Philanthropy. An educator, Bowles, taught at St. Augustine’s

Industrial Institute, Lawrenceville, VA. Later, in her career, she was appointed a YWCA

secretary in 1913. This appointment was an experiment perhaps to test the leadership

ability of black women for YWCA work and if it proved successful, would be the answer

for the creation and management black YWCAs nationwide. For more information, see

Adrienne Lash Jones’ “Eva D. Bowles,” in Black Women in United States History: An

Historical Encyclopedia, ed. Darlene Clark Hine, Volume 1, pp. 152-153.

178

YWCA of Dayton, it was not organically a part of it.”“’ By 1906, small YWCAs for blacks

were organized in Washington, Philadelphia, New York, St. Louis, and Baltimore. They

flourished in the North for three reasons: (1) racism and discrimination against black women

and (2) with the formation of the National Board of the YWCA in 1906, the Association

adopted a policy of establishing "colored" branches in areas wherever large populations of

blacks resided and (3) the successful protest of black female leaders in the South, Eva D.

Bowles, Charlotte Hawkins Brown, Lugenia Burns Hope, and Lucy Laney for control over

colored YWCA branches.15

With the onset of World War I, came an increased need for social services among

a variety of groups, particularly, the tidal wave of southern migrants to northern cities. The

YWCA sought to develop and implement a program of social improvement and education

for young black women striving for financial, social, and familial stability in the urban North.

In other words, the YWCA planned to participate in the adjustment of southern migrants.

 

1"Mary Sims, The Natural History of a Social Institution—The Young Women’s Christian

Association, (New York: The Woman’s Press), p. 67. The “Colored” Branch of Dayton, Ohio’s

YWCA was organized in 1893, and New York’s “Colored YWCA” in 1919. Both branches were

established exclusively for colored women and girls.

lSCharlotte Hawkins Brown was born June 11, 1883, in Henderson, North Carolina. She

received her formal education at the State Normal School at Winston Salem. She served on the

National Board of the YWCA. See Kathleen Thompson’s “Charlotte Hawkins Brown” in Black

Women in the United States: An Historical Encyclopedia, Volume 1, pp. 172-174. Lucy

Laney, a native of Macon, Georgia, was born April 13, 1854. She was one of the first students

to earn a degree from Atlanta University. An educator, she founded Haines Normal and

Industrial Institute in Augusta, Georgia. According to historian June Patton, she was also active

in the fight for “colored”YWCAs.

179

Racism in the YWCA Against Black Women and Girls

Prejudice against black women in the YWCA existed in every facet of the agency

including black professional workers and use of YWCA facilities. Mary Sims of the

National Board of the YWCA stated, “whether we like to acknowledge it or not, we realize

that there is a racial prejudice. We like to express it with regard to a Christian nation as a

lack of understanding?“ Toward black professional YWCA workers, this prejudice was

reflected in the experiences of Anna Arnold Hedgemann, a native of Marshalltown, Iowa and

graduate of Harnline University, St. Paul Minnesota; and Eva D. Bowles, of Albany, Ohio.l7

Hedgemann worked for the YWCA from 1922-1941 and Bowles 1913-193 1 and both

women were refused admittance to the YWCA Central Association's cafeteria, because of

racial discrimination and segregation. Historian Adrienne Lash Jones pointed out that “when

black women employed by the YWCA went to New York to give their reports, they were

forced to ride the serVice elevators and drop off the reports at the Executive office,” as they

were not allowed to attend Executive Board meetings.

The prejudice and racial discrimination against black women was also reflected in

YWCA facilities and social services. For example, Hedgemann explained that the young

people she supervised could not use the swimming pool or gymnasium in the Central

building. The experience of Grace Lowndes, a migrant to Pittsburgh from Columbia, South

 

”Lemer, “Reports by the Secretaryfor Colored Work,” January 1924, Article in The

Woman ’s Press, in Black Women in White America, p. 485.

I7Paula Giddings, When and Where I Enter: the Impact of Black Women on Race and Sex

in America, (New York: William and Morrow, 1984), p. 155; Lerner, p. 478; Hedgemann

earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1922. She became a schoolteacher and the wife of Merritt

Hedgemann.

180

Carolina revealed racial discrimination in housing:

...[I] worked as a dressmaker in Pittsburgh, then moved to New York

to enroll in a costume design school where [I] had been accepted

through a mail application. When [my] arrival revealed that [I] was

a Negro, [my] place in the school and [my] promised room at the

YWCA evaporated, and [I] was left in tears, on a street corner.”

The experience of Grace Lowndes was one probably shared by numerous other black women.

Darrel E. Bigham in his study on Evansville, Indiana says, “it was understood that the city’s

YWCA was off limits to segregation by custom and by law.” Noted black club woman,

journalist, and activist, Ida B. Wells described the housing situation for black women in

Chicago: While every class was welcome in the YWCA homes...not one will give a Negro

a bed. Even the women's Model Lodging House announces that it will give women

accommodations who need a place to sleep except drunkards, immoral women, and Negro

women. '9

Even amidst the racist attitudes of the YWCA Executive membership, black women

maintained an interest in the Association.

Historian Cynthia Neverdon-MOrton in her

discussion of black women in the National YWCA pointed out that the interest of black

women in the 'Y' was (1) the agency's efforts to improve the quality of home life through the

 

l8Arthur Edmunds, Daybreakers the Story of the Pittsburgh Urban League. Pittsburgh: The

Urban League, 1972, p.

38. After having been humiliated, Grace Lowndes returned to the Tait

School and confronted its officials who subsequently, changed their position relative to her

admission. Upon completing the required courses, she and her friend Frances Brown opened a

dress shop on Bryn Mawr Road in Pittsburgh’s Hill District. Lowndes, later became a member

of the Pittsburgh Urban League’s Board of Directors.

'9Allan Spear, Black Chicago: The Making ofA Negro Ghetto, [890-1920, Chicago:

University of Chicago Press, 1967, p. 47.

181

personal development of young women and (2) because it sanctioned Christian principles

that formed the core of black religion.20 Jacqueline Rouse in Lugenia Burns Hope Southern

Reformer, (1989), further explained the interest of black women in the YWCA as providing

leadership training and improving the moral fibers of the black community.21

Paula

Giddings, in When and Where Enter: The Impact of Black Women on Race and Sex in

America, (1984), tells us that black women were interested in the ‘Y,’ because of its concern

for working women, it advocated collective bargaining, rights of workers, and economic

justice and its tremendous number of resources.22

The Establishment of Pittsburgh's Colored YWCA

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was targeted by the Colored YWCA's Colored Work

Administration, headed by Eva D. Bowles, YWCA National Secretary for Colored Work in

Cities (1916), and her assistant, Cordelia Wynn of New York.23 The National Board of the

 

20Cynthia Neverdon-Morton, Afro-American Women of the South and the Advancement of

the Race, 1895-1925, (Tennessee: University of Tennessee Press, 1989), p. 207. This is a

viable source of information about the establishment of colored YWCAs, especially, those in the

South. She also deals with discrimination by white YWCA women against black women

interested in founding and managing “colored” YWCAs.

2lJacqueline A. Rouse, Lugenia Burns Hope: Southern Reformer, (Louisiana: Louisiana

State University Press, 1989), p. 93.

22Paula Giddings, p. 155.

23Cordelia Winn (Wynn) was a graduate of Columbus Normal School and attended Columbia

University. A social worker, Winn worked at a home in Columbus, Ohio. Her affiliation with

the YWCA began in Washington, DC. in 1918. She later became a field secretary for the

National YWCA and played a significant role in the establishment of Pittsburgh’s “colored”

YWCA.

182

YWCA established this committee for three reasons:

(1)

to bring about racial

understanding, (2) to facilitate and coordinate the growth of colored branches, (3) and

assume responsibility for the work of black branches. The prospect of a colored YWCA in

Pittsburgh was influenced by a Wynn's report on the Work of the National YWCA Board on

Behalf of Colored Girls. Delivered by Wynn, December 17, 1918, members of Pittsburgh's

Executive Board present at the National Board meeting, responded: “the time and need for

reconstruction work was most urgent as we [had] a colored population of 40,000 in our city

and near our center?”

The establishment of Pittsburgh’s “color

” YWCA occurred in three stages. In

1917, the Central YWCA appointed a Committee on Colored Work with Mrs. Samuel B.

McCormick, wife of University of Pittsburgh Chancellor Samuel McCormick, as

chairperson. She appealed to the National War Work Council for financial assistance to

support colored branches. Second, Mary E. Jackson, National Industrial Secretary of the

YWCA, was sent to Pittsburgh to investigate the city's living conditions only to find

congestion, poor housing and sanitation, a lack of restaurants, and numerous ‘Rooms to Let,’

deemed unsuitable for women.25

Third, the local Pittsburgh YWCA pledged its full

 

24Minutes [YWCA] Board Meeting, December 17, 1918, MSS #79 YWCA, Box 108, FFl.

Library and Archives Division, Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, PA.;

Jane Olcott, “The Work of Colored Women 1919: Information From War Work Centers

Indicating Industries in Which Colored Women are Employed and Those Which YWCA Club

Membership Represented” This particular document is a chart found in the YWCA of the USA

Archives and contains other valuable information relative to “colored ” women and the YWCA.

Prior to the establishment of the ‘colored’ YWCA were: the student YWCA, University of

Pittsburgh (191 1); and the International Institute of the YWCA (1918) which later became the

Oakland branch.

2’ Work Among Negro Women and Girls, Centre Avenue Branch [YWCA], Pittsburgh, PA,

(undated), The YWCA of the USA, YWCA Archives, New York, New York, Microfilm Reel

183

cooperation to a center for colored women and girls and $5,000, provided the War Council

supply two workers.

The National War Work Council which supported numerous “colored” YWCAs,

responded favorably to McCormick’s request to finance the “colored” YWCA and two

workers, and the local YWCA donated $5,000 as promised. During this organizational

period, Pittsburgh's Executive Board concentrated on management and policy issues. Board

member Esther Hawes, presented the following policy matters:

(1) a committee be

composed of one chairperson (a member of the Association), two other white women, and

six “colored” women; and that three staff persons be hired, a General Secretary; a Girls

Worker; and a House Head (sic).2" Approved by Pittsburgh's YWCA Executive Board, two

of the three persons were hired to staff the “colored” YWCA: Ms. Nelsine Howard, a native

of Denver, Colorado, General Secretary; Mrs. Harper, the Girls Work Secretary, and the

third staff person had yet to be hired.”

In 1919, the Pittsburgh YWCA Board of Directors launched an extensive search to

find permanent quarters for the “colored” YWCA. Mrs. S.B. McCormick and the Special

 

#21 1.3, p.

l. Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn says other significant factors to the problems of black

women in Pittsburgh included exorbitant rents, a lack of recreational facilities, and residential

segregation. See Chapter 4: From Mother Power to Civil Rights.

2‘5Minutes [YWCA] Board Meeting, October 28, 1919, MSS # 79 YWCA, Box 108, FFl.

Library and Archives Division, Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, PA.

27Nelsine Howard was trained as a YWCA worker in Louisville, Kentucky. She had resided

in Pittsburgh for almost eighteen months prior to accepting the position in the city’s “colored”

YWCA. Upon her employment, Howard’s initial monthly salary was $1000 which increased to

$1200 on October 1, 1920. See Afro-Notes, The Pittsburgh Press, Theatrical and Photo-play

Section, November 28, 1920, p. 5. Not much is known about Ms. Harper including her first

name. Harper’s salary, however, increased from $900 to $1000 at the same time Nelsine Howard

received her raise.

184

Committee on Colored Work sought temporary space and use of facilities in the Pittsburgh

Public Schools which were available by special arrangements and a required fee, until

permanent quarters could be found.28 It is important to note that because of segregation,

black women were relegated to the use of alternative facilities for colored work.

Nelsine Howard, the first General Secretary of the “colored” YWCA began to to

build a program for black women and girls. As there was no building to house the “colored”

YWCA, she organized programs in the Watt Street and Moorehead Schools, and the Parish

House of the Holy Cross Church for YWCA activities. In September 1919, the participation

among black women and girls rapidly increased to sixty-eight and Howard requested an

additional room at the Watt Street School. Encouraged by these growing statistics, the Board

of Directors thought it beneficial to send two delegates to the YWCA Conference in

Cincinnati, October 23, 1919, on behalf of colored women and girls with hopes of expanding

and improving colored work.

A number of important developments occurred during 1920 relative to Pittsburgh’s

“colored” YWCA: (1) the Executive Board of the city's YWCA approved the budget

presented by the Colored Work Committee headed by Mrs. Follansbee (white), (2) defined

the powers of the “colored” YWCA’s staff and determined their salaries, (3) the first

 

28Minutes [YWCA] Board Meeting, June 24, 1919, MSS #79 YWCA, Box 108, PH. Library

and Archives Division, Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, PA. The

Committee on Colored Work looked at several sites to house the “colored” YWCA. Between

November 1919 and November 1920, including the McElveen property which

commanded $16,000 and the Ewart property which was for sale, but not for a “colored”

YWCA. The committee also attempted to lease the property of a Dr. King, but a

question of its suitability arose. During the organizational process, Winn created the

‘colored’ YWCA’s first Committee of Management, with Sadie Black Hamilton in

charge.

185

Committee of Management was appointed by Cordelia Winn, and (4) after almost two years

of searching, an affordable site was located to house the “colored” branch in October.

Pittsburgh's black YWCA women were not as fortunate as those in St. Louis where a wealthy

white woman heard of the good work “colored” women were doing, and donated a house to

the Association for an indefinite period of time.29

On November 28, 1920, the Colored Branch of the Pittsburgh YWCA officially

opened at 2215 Wylie Avenue and was subsequently, called the Wylie Avenue Branch of the

Association.30 Anna Arnold Hedgemann, in “Reminiscences of a YWCA Worker,” (1964)

explained that in northern cities, the separate branches of the YWCA were not called Negro

branches publicly, but were named for the street on which they were located making them

easily identifiable---a practice she referred to as “sugar-coat

” segregation.3 ‘ According to

 

29Julia Childs Curtis, “A Girls Clubhouse,” The Crisis, October 1913, Volume 6, p. 295.

This philanthropic gift of a house was the generosity of a Mrs. Chapman. Although the house

was dilapidated, the hard work of many of the city’s black women led to the official opening of

the St. Louis branch of the Wheatley House May 13, 1912. The two black women making this

possible were May Belcher and Arsania Williams. The Phillis Wheatley House in St. Louis

consisted of a dormitory and office, and a reading and club room.

”Pittsburgh’s ‘Colored’YWCA was the former home of J .F. Collison. It was a two-story

frame structure with ten rooms, a bath; a spacious attic; a substantial porch; and glass-paneled

front doors. To the left upon entering the building, was a reception parlor and classroom. On the

right was an office, dining room, pantry, and kitchen. The second-story of the Wylie Avenue

Branch of the YWCA was used to house between ten and twelve women, provided recreational

area for children, and a bath and comfort room. The building also had a basement. The

“colored” YWCA was situated on grounds comprising 100 x100 feet. The opening of this

institution had four advantages:

it would provide “race women” relocating to Pittsburgh or

passing through the city a safe haven; an opportunity for educational training; organized

recreation; and instruction on Christian living.

3|Lerner, p. 25. Though most of the “colored” YWCAs were, in fact, called Phillis Wheatley

Homes, Pittsburgh’s “colored” YWCA was an exception.

186

YWCA policy, black branches were also called Phillis Wheatley homes.’2 Although the

Wylie Avenue branch, had a place to call home the building was similar to other colored

YWCA’s in that it had no swimming pool, gymnasium, auditorium or cafeteria.

Despite its shortcomings, the Wylie Avenue YWCA settled into its new home, and

was embraced by the city's Negroes in a number of ways. A committee of eighty YWCA

members contributed to its furnishings. For example, black organizations including black

women's clubs, gave monetary donations and furniture, while other black Pittsburghers

volunteered their time and services to YWCA programs.33 The National YWCA Field

Secretary, (white) Laura Young, reported the Wylie Avenue Branch as being “one of the best

equipped YWCAs in the entire field,” even though it lacked the basic recreational

necessities.

Nonetheless, the staff of the Wylie Avenue YWCA was committed to

developing similar programs to that of white YWCA's with general religious and education

classes, and girls clubs.

The Central YWCA which included all Pittsburgh branches which included Chatham

Street, International Institute, the North Side, Lawrenceville, and Wylie Avenue offered

cooking classes to their membership, but the Wylie Avenue Branch had yet to offer such

 

32Ibid., p. 25. Phillis Wheatley, enslaved in Gambia, West Africa, was transported to Boston

and purchased by John Wheatley, a wealthy merchant. Although a nursemaid for his wife,

Phillis was taught to read and write by members of the Wheatley family. A poet and writer of

revolutionary works, she was the first black woman whose writings were published. The first

Phillis Wheatley Home was established in 1897, as a Home for the Aged by black Detroit club

women. YWCAs were subsequently, named in Wheatley’s honor in both northern and southern

cities including Indianapolis, Charlotte, Harrisburg, Cleveland, Little Rock, Atlanta.

33Minutes [YWCA] Board Meeting, November 16, 1920; February 16, 1921. MSS 79

YWCA, Box 108, FF2. Library and Archives Division, Historical Society of Western

Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, PA.

187

classes as of 1921. It was not long before the colored leadership and YWCA membership

requested a cooking class at the Wylie Avenue branch. For example, Bethel A.M.E. Church

registered a number of colored women and girls and its pastor, the Reverend J .C. Anderson,

sent $128.50 on their behalf. Many of the colored women and girls volunteered to pay ten

cents per cooking lesson as “they did not want them to be free.”"’

Black Female Leadership in Pittsburgh’s “Colored” YWCA

Similar to the initiatives of Eva D. Bowles, Charlotte Hawkins Brown, and Lugenia

Burns Hope, three southern women, who sought to assert control over “colored” YWCA

branches in the South, Pittsburgh's black female leadership led by Ruth B. Moore, acting

secretary of the Wylie Avenue branch, sought this same degree of autonomy for the city’s

“colored” YWCA. As black women, they were able to easily identify the needs of the other

black women and girls as well as those of the black community. To meet these needs,

Moore, Mrs. A.L. Hamilton, Chairperson of the Committee of Management, and black

women who volunteered their time and services to the “colored” YWCA organized (1) a

number of fund-raising campaigns, (2) membership drives, (3) attended YWCA Conferences

on Colored Work to enhance their leadership skills, and (4) tactfully confronted the

Pittsburgh's Executive Board of the YWCA on the race issue. In doing so, they hoped to

build a cohesive black community and to ease unwarranted racial tension between blacks and

whites, especially, within the Association.

 

34Minutes [YWCA] Board Meeting, September 27, 1921, p. 3. MSS #79 YWCA, Box 108,

FF2; Minutes [YWCA] Board Meeting, November 15, 1921, MSS #79 YWCA, Box 108, FF2.

Library and Archives Division, Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, PA.

188

Most “colored” YWCA’s were not self-supporting which had many white YWCA

members “up in arms,” during the earliest discussions regarding the establishment of

“colored” YWCAs. The staff of the Wylie Avenue branch, despite this major detail, made

every effort to pull its own weight, but only to be discouraged by the Executive Board.

Within three years, the membership increased fi'om 30-330 outgrowing their leased quarters,

the current structure needed extensive repairs including a new roof, and the staff wanted to

purchase a building. 3’

In 1923, Ruth Moore and Mrs. A.L. Hamilton, requested permission from the

dominant Board to raise funds for another building and conduct a membership drive.

Additional funds were needed for more programs and the staff envisioned one much bigger

than that planned and budgeted by the Executive Board. This attributed to black women

understanding the needs of the black people they serviced, a fact many white YWCA

members refused to accept. Furthermore, this action was a demonstration oftheir leadership

ability, a quality, according to many white women, black women did not possess.

After much discussion, the YWCA Advisory Board and Eva D. Bowles, head of the

Colored Work Administration, thought it “inadvisable,” to allow the Wylie Avenue YWCA

 

35“ Wylie Avenue Branch Campaign Fund,” (undated), MSS #79 YWCA, Box 108, FF 2, p.

461. Library and Archives Division, Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, PA.

The problems necessitating additional space for YWCA work and repairs included decision-

making relative to renewing the lease for $100 monthly. The Central Branch of the YWCA, of

course, was responsible for making the decision. The roof repairs were estimated at $175.

However, it is interesting that the YWCA was responsible for repairs on a building it did not

own. The black female leadership of the ‘colored’ YWCA had already made it clear that what

they actually needed was a larger structure to effectively conduct its programs.

189

 

   

Figure. 25. Wyl e Avenue Branch YWCA (1920)

190

staff to conduct a fimd-raising campaign.” But, the Centre Avenue staff felt that the timing

was perfect for a fund-raiser, because black ministers, women’s clubs, and other facets of

Pittsburgh's black community offered to help with the publicity and pledged their financial

support. Perhaps the Advisory Board feared a desire for power and independence among

these black women and, Eva Bowles, the fear of failure that might cause her embarrassment

or allow her judgement to be questioned by white YWCA leadership. A letter from National

Board member, Laura Young to Pittsburgh’ 3 Executive Board regarding the fund-raiser read:

Mrs. Bowles (National Executive Secretary of the Colored Work)

does not approve of having a campaign of this sort put on as an entire

enterprise of the colored branch alone. She has no objection to the

women up there going out on a quiet campaign for running expenses

just as being done by the Central Association. She has no objection

to the property being secured and a definite plan being made to have

a campaign possibly next Spring or in the Fall with the YWCA

seeking money to pay for the property. Ms. Bowles does favor

having the colored women make a definite effort after sufficient

publicity has been given toward paying off the loan.37

The negative attitude of Bowles was perhaps an effort to protect her executive position as

Colored Work Administrator. If black women were able to make decisions, and successfully

plan and implement their own programs without her supervision, Bowles position could have

been eliminated. Young, however, asked Bowles to explain the situation to Ruth Moore to

“make it easier.” She also stated, “I do hope that some adjustments can be made, so that

 

”Minutes [YWCA] BoardMeeting, April 18, 1923, p. 2. MSS# 79 YWCA, Box 108, FF2.

Library and Archives, Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, PA.

37Minutes [YWCA] Board Meeting, March 20, 1923, Re: Wylie Avenue Branch Campaign

Fund, p. 461. MSS #79 YWCA, Box 108, FF2. Library and Archives Division, Historical

Society of Western Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, PA.

191

there can be more attractive quarters secured for that branch.”’8 This statement implies that

the Wylie Avenue branch quarters may have been substandard when initially leased in

October 1920.

Despite the decisions of both the Advisory Board and Bowles, an overall vote of

Pittsburgh’s YWCA Board approved the request for the “colored” YWCA staff to organize

a fund-raiser, but stipulated its confinement to the black community. In addition, the Board

explained to the staff that $ 1200 of their $5000 goal would be extracted for the budget fund

and the remaining funds, in all likelihood, would not make the first payment on the property

they might purchase.39 Those white YWCA members who supported the efforts of the

colored women, believed them to be earnest sincere, and anxious to raise the money entirely

on a cash basis, not pledges.

In general, black women were confident about their filnd-raising abilities. They had

been organizing fund-raisers since the early 19th century. For example, Martin Delany’s

newspaper, The Mystery, was in dire financial straits and on the verge of collapse. Black

women of Pittsburgh’s antebellum community, held soirees and festivals to restore and

stabilize this important publication. Because many black women affiliated with the YWCA

were club women, they were not strangers to organizing fund-raising activities. On June 27,

1922, the Wylie Avenue branch held a fund-raiser at the grand opening of its Blue Triangle

 

”Ibid, p. 461.

39Minutes [YWCA] Board Meeting, June 28, 1922, MSS #79 YWCA, Box 108, FF2. Library

and Archives, Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, PA.

192

Tea Room, which netted $1,150."0 There was no record available of the funds raised during

the 1923 campaign. However, in 1928, a fimd-raiser grossed $2,625.14 as “scores of

campaign workers” led by Mrs. Hendrickson “covered Pittsburgh like the morning dew in

its annual budget drive.”"l

Membership

Recruiting members for the “colored” YWCA was a critical aspect of its existence.

A lack of membership, nullified the need for a branch Association in the black community.

Like the fund-raiser, the staff had to ask the Executive Board for permission to organize a

membership drive. Membership within the “colored” YWCA was initiated by the Wylie

Avenue staff for two reasons: (1) to share and expose black women and girls to the programs

they offered and (2) to provide opportunities for service and training.

On June 28, 1923, the staff conducted its first membership drive at the Wylie

Avenue branch with Julia Bumry Jones, a prominent clubwoman, member of Delta Sigma

Theta Sorority, and journalist for The Pittsburgh Courier, leading the booster speech and

outlining the purpose and course of YWCA work.

Mrs. George L. Winstead, Daisy

Lampkin, Mrs. A.L. Hamilton, Mrs. Robert L. Vann, Cora Wood, and Dr. Marie S. Kinner

 

“Minutes [YWCA] Board Meeting, March 20, 1923, RE: Wylie Avenue Branch Campaign

Fund, p. 461, MSS #79 YWCA, Box 108, FF 2. Library and Archives Division, Historical

Society of Western Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, PA.

4' “City- Wide Campaign With All Pittsburgh Branches of YWCA,” The Pittsburgh Courier,

January 14, 1928, p. 7. Hendrickson along with YWCA staff and volunteers engaged a “door-

to—door” fund-raising campaign. Cora B. Jones stated, “Just tell everybody we will call around a

be home, please.”

193

emphasized the salient points ofthe membership campaign."2 Approximately forty members

gathered for the occasion to attract more women and community participation in the

“colored” YWCA. The YWCA staff and volunteers hoped to attract 1000 women and girls

to the ‘ Y’ “to connect with opportunity for service and training.”"3 The campaign theme was,

“More Women, More Girls.” The data do not reveal the actual number of members recruited

during the membership drive.

Conferences

To enhance their effectiveness in the black community through leadership, black

women of the Wylie Avenue staff and volunteers attended YWCA Conferences and even

organized a conference of their own. For example, two delegates fi'om the “colored” branch

participated in the Conference on Colored Work in Frankfurt, Kentucky (1920). In 1925,

Jean Hamilton, executive secretary, Helen Jeffries, and Ada Dunbar attended the Industrial

Girls Conference in Canton, Pennsylvania; and Mrs. McFall, Cora B. Jones, Mrs. W.C.

Matthews participated in the Ninth National Convention ofthe YWCA in Milwaukee (1926)

 

42“YWCA Launches Big Drive Here, June 28",” The Pittsburgh Courier, June 30, 1923, p.

9.

43Fifteen of Pittsburgh’s black women were involved in the YWCA campaign: Grace

Lowndes; Sadie Bond; Mrs. R.L. Vann; Minnie Foote; Sadie B. Hamilton; Mrs. Ira Lewis; Mrs.

George Cole, C. Hayden; Jeannette Washington; Rose Hill; Olga Banks; Marie Kinner; Daisy

Lampkin; Sadie Brown; and Mary Johnson. They were not salaried employees of the “colored”

YWCA, but women who volunteered their time and services to ensure a successful endeavor.

194

 

 

 

 

Figure. 26.

Jean Hamilton

195

which included women from all parts of the world.“

Jones was also elected to the

nominating committee. Rachel Taylor attended the YWCA Convention at West Virginia

State College and on another occasion, selected as the representative to the 1929 National

YWCA Conference in Chicago. 4’ Between 1920-1930, they participated in at least ten

YWCA Conferences.

In December 1935, the Centre Avenue Branch of the YWCA organized the

“Pittsburgh Area Branch Conference” to discuss problems and leadership training in

“colored” YWCA branches. The conference theme, “For More Efi'ective Service to Youth,

The Worldis Future,” included discussions on (1) making leadership effective, (2) increasing

YWCA membership, (3) volunteers and volunteer training, and (4) resolving problems in

interracial work.46 The participants were black women representing Pittsburgh, New Castle,

and Washington, Pennsylvania; Wheeling, West Virginia; and Youngstown, Ohio with five

 

4" Elizabeth N. Elliott, “Many Race Women Attend Big YWCA Convention Being Held in

Milwaukee,” The Pittsburgh Courier, May 1, 1926, p.

1. The purpose of this particular

conference was “to spread Christianity throughout the world.” Approximately 3,000 women of

various ethnic backgrounds were in attendance. “At the Blue Triangle,” The Pittsburgh Courier,

June 27, 1925. Jean Hamilton, the daughter of Sadie Black Hamilton, graduated from the

University of Pittsburgh (1910); earned a Master’s degree from Howard University (1912); and

was the first black woman to earn a Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh (1937). She once

taught at Bennett College, Greensboro, North Carolina, and later, established a music studio on

Centre Avenue. Jean Hamilton was also the organist at Holy Cross Church.

’5 In 1930, Cora B. Jones, Mrs. R. L. Vann, and Rachel Taylor were elected as alternates,

visiting and voting delegates, respectively, for the Eleventh National Convention of the YWCA

of the USA. Rachel Taylor was also one of ten voting delegates.

“Marion Cuthbert, “Report of the Pittsburgh Branch Conference, December 6-7, 1935,

Centre Avenue Branch,” Community Files of the YWCA, January 9, 1936. The YWCA of the

USA, YWCA Archives, New York, New York, p. 2.

196

delegates from each city, except Pittsburgh which had fifteen delegates."7 The discrepancy

in the number of delegates may have been because the Centre Avenue branch hosted the

event or perhaps the number of delegates was determined by the size of branch membership.

The black women of Pittsburgh's “colored” assumed a leadership role in organizing this

conference to deal with the problems confronting colored YWCAs and their future.

Historian Joel Williamson, in A Rage for Order: Black- White Relations in the

American South Since Emancipation, (1986), wrote “in politics, in economics, in every phase

of our national life, race continues to be a divisive issue.” This was also true in the social

agencies such as, the YWCA. One of the major problems facing black YWCA women and

girls was race---a recurring issue within every aspect of its existence, in spite of its Christian

orientation. Although the National Board of the YWCA established the Committee on

Colored Work and an Interracial Committee to bring about racial understanding between the

Association's black and white membership, tension remained strong.

For example, twelve Girl Reserves of the Centre Avenue ‘Y’ attended the Annual

Conference and white Association members utterly refused to accommodate them. So, the

Centre Avenue staff took the girls to Sheridan and with the cooperation of the Lily White

Baptist Church and Ovella White, a club advisor, “stopping places” were secured for them

in the homes of blacks. A report by Rachel Taylor, General Secretary of the Centre Avenue

branch revealed: “One black woman could not take a girl, but could furnish meals. Another

 

’7Ibid., p.

1. Mrs. Alice Warner of Youngstown, Ohio, played a leadership role in the

planning of this conference and served as chairperson of the program and leadership committee.

During the planning stages of this conference, discussions occurred on the following subjects:

current problems facing black women and girls and the black community; branch development;

interaction with other agencies; and participation in federal projects.

197

   

 

   

wM133 Rm MOO“Eii: "
-~ “headin- emanate '-

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'

.

' .35.; 3",:

3will Educational Claire.

Girl]: Reserve Cm

         

2215 Wylie Armn0

 

Figure 27. Girl Reserves Corps Advertisement, Centre Avenue Branch

198

 

woman could not furnish meals, but could take girls.”48 The attitudes of the “colored”

YWCA contingent as a result of this degrading experience, was reflected in the following

statement:

The conference was a disappointment to our girls from the angle of

unfriendliness on the part of the white YWCA delegation. The girls

regretted that the conference was held in a prejudiced neighborhood

where an atmosphere was that of unfriendliness towards colored

people.49

Black women of the Centre Avenue YWCA attempted several methods to ease the

pain of racism by explaining racist behavior to the colored girls of the YWCA. First, the

Health Education Committee sponsored interracial forums to discuss the race question led

by students ofthe University of Pittsburgh’ 3 YWCA Interracial Committee and black student

representatives who also participated as speakers. The topics concentrated on the social

ramifications of racism on college campuses and in the Pittsburgh community. It is logical

to deduce that a few forums would not change the face of race relations in Pittsburgh or

Spring Conference in Crafton, Pennsylvania, April 16-1 8, 1926.50 No “colored” people lived

 

48 “Rachel Taylor Makes Fine Reportfor April,” The Pittsburgh Courier, June 12, 1926, p.

6. Taylor’s report also revealed that 155 high school, 117 junior high, and 128 grade school

students engaged the Girl Reserves.

49Ibitl., p. 6; The following girls attended the conference: Bernice Brown; Myrdene Eddings;

Harriet Law; Alice Turfley; Coreda Bailey; Lillian Davis; Vera Duskin; Ida Edmundsun; Vivian

Bailey; Louise Bryant; and Alice Edwards.

50The organization of the YWCA Girl Reserves was to “develop leadership initiative among

the teenage girl with emphasis on individual spiritual growth and expression, a movement within

the YWCA to give girls through natural activities, the habits, insights and ideals to mold

responsible women.” Largely organized in the Pittsburgh Public Schools, the Girls Reserves

constituted at least 45 clubs and 2500 girls in the Central YWCA. They were involved in

discussions on boy and girl relationships, religion, and economics. The Girl Reserves of the

Centre Avenue ‘Y’ were active in GR activities. For example, eight of them attended a

conference in Newton-Hamilton, Pennsylvania, and four from the Leisure Hour Club went to the

199

elsewhere. Black and white relations in America was a problem that “will not go away.”

Second, black YWCA women used “direct confrontation” to correct the racist

policies of the Central YWCA. For example, when “colored” girls of the YWCA were

barred from the Association’s summer camp, because of racial discrimination, Mrs. Robert

L. Vann, Secretary of the Centre Avenue Board of Management, sent a letter to Mrs. Bell,

chairperson of the YWCA Camp Committee.SI Vann requested this Committee “carry on

an interracial experiment,” during one of its summer sessions.

The YWCA Camp

Committee honored this request and, for the first time, black and white Association girls

would attend the same camp, July 17-29, 1932. No docmnentation, however, exists

regarding the success or failure of this experiment, but the records do indicate an initiative

by the Federal Government to establish a camp for Negro children. Mrs. Samuel Parr of the

Centre Avenue branch was urged by the Executive Board to obtain all pertinent information

regarding this segregated camp.52

 

Industrial Girls Conference at Pleasant Hill Farm in September 1926. Dorothy Hollin became

the first ‘colored’ Girl Reserve to represent the Centre Avenue Branch on the World Committee

of the Inter-City Council. She was installed as chairperson of this council.

5' “Minutes [YWCA] Board Meeting,” June 29, 1932, p. 78, MSS# 79 YWCA, Box 1, FF3.

Library and Archives Division, Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, PA. No

immediate decisions were made during this meeting regarding the camp issue, because it was

poorly attended by YWCA board members.

However, this “interracial” experiment was

decided by the Metropolitan Board which responded favorably. This decision perhaps

demonstrated efforts to enhance interracial relations between the “colored and white” YWCAs.

Urban historian Richard Thomas points out that, “before the establishment of Detroit’s Camp

Green Pastures, most black children in the slums spent their summers on the streets while white

children had access to well-supported summer camps.” This was also indicative of how

Pittsburgh’s black children spent their summers.

52Mrs. Samuel Parr was a native Pittsburgher. She attended the Pittsburgh Public Schools and

was a charter member of Bethesda Presbyterian Church, the Aurora Reading Club, and

Pittsburgh Urban League. Parr has been a member of the ‘colored’ YWCA since 1920.

200

     

   

.\.._v,

Figure.

27. Mrs. Jessie L. Vann

Jessie L. Vann, the daughter of William and Mary Walker Matthews, was born in Flora

Dale, Adams County, Pennsylvania in 1885. She received her early education in the public

schools of Harrisburg and Gettysburg. In 1910, she married noted Pittsburgh publisher and

noted attorney, Robert L. Vann. In addition to the YWCA, she was a member of the Lucy Stone

Civic League, the Pittsburgh Urban League, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, a life member of the

NACW.

201

Third, the Centre Avenue Branch staff and its Board of Management were disturbed

by the blatant segregation perpetuated on various YWCA Boards, where white where

decisions were made on behalfof black women by white women. For example, the "colored"

branch was a member of the Central and Metropolitan YWCAs, but black women were not

represented on either Board of Directors, because of their racist behavior and exclusionary

policies. Several white YWCA members thought “[black] representation on the board was

unnecessary, “refused to discuss the issue with the Centre Avenue staff or its Board of

Management, and selected Mrs. Follansbee (white), to represent them on the Metropolitan

Board.”3 A purported insult to black women, they refused to let the issue of Board

representation die.

Black women of the Centre Avenue branch, continued to “agitate” for inclusion on

the Metropolitan Board by turning to the Pittsburgh community for help. They contacted “a

prominent Jew and President of the Pittsburgh Urban League and colored ministers” who

wrote letters to the Metropolitan Board demanding black women represent themselves as

Board members.” This action made some members of the Executive Board uneasy causing

them to seek advice from the National Board. A telegram from Mary Sims, a YWCA

chronicler, to Marion Nicolovious read: “If any changes regarding this matter occur, it would

attitude the group and make it more harmful to push colored representation now than to go

 

53 Western Union Telegram to Mary Simsfrom Marion Nicolovious, April 16, 1924, The

YWCA of the USA, YWCA Archives, New York, New York, Microfilm Reel # 210.6. Letter to

Eva D. Bowles from Cora Jones, April 22, I925. The YWCA of the USA, New York, New

York, Microfilm # 210.6.

5" Western Union Telegram to Mary Simsfrom Marion Nicolovious, April 16, 1925. The

YWCA of the USA, YWCA Archives, New York, New York.

202

without [black representation] for the one year period.”55

Cora B. Jones and Mrs. A.L. Hamilton, fought with contempt, those forces that

continuously excluded black women from participation on YWCA boards for two reasons:

(1) they knew that other cities had colored (sic) representation on the Metropolitan Board

and (2) YWCA policies mandated that black women be represented on this board. For

example, a telegram from Mary Sims of the National YWCA to Mrs. Alfred Nicolovious,

Executive Director of Pittsburgh’s Central YWCA, confirmed the right of black women to

be represented on the Metropolitan Board:

Our experience with the metropolitan organization has proved (sic)

that the best plan to represent the colored branch is by (sic) the

Chairman of the Committee of Management on the Metropolitan

Board. This is our regular procedure. We advise you to work out

your first years’ policy with the branch committee and board of

directors together with keeping this in mind.56

The Pittsburgh YWCA Board of Directors admitted that they understood the procedure, but

continued to question the inclusion of colored women who chaired Committees of

Management, and subsequently, refused to adhere to YWCA policies and procedures. They

were, of course, unwilling to admit that race was the real issue.

Jones addressed the Metropolitan Board regarding the representation of black

 

551bid. Mrs. Alfred Nicolovious graduated from St. Margaret’s School in Waterbury

Connecticut. During world War I, she was a hostess house worker and Director of Camp Dix.

Her career as a YWCA worker included an appointment as executive of the room registry

Department in Philadelphia; National Secretary of the Room Registry Department; Executive

Director of Pittsburgh’s Central YWCA. She was also active with the Traveler’s Aid.

56Letter to Cora B. Jonesfrom Eva D. Bowles, April 1 7, I925. The YWCA of the USA

Archives, New York, New York, Microfilm Reel #210.6. This document was initially sent to

Mrs. Nicolovious. The sharing of this information with Jones was perhaps an effort by Bowles to

fore warn Jones of the decisions being made that she may not have otherwise been privy to.

203

 

Figure. 28. Cora B. Jones

204

women, but was defeated in her quest to occupy her rightful seat on the Board. In a letter to

Eva D. Bowles, Cora Jones wrote:

I did all I could possibly do to try to make them see that we have

women that are capable and have the ability to represent any group of

women black or white. Realizing that we are not self-supporting, I

did try to impress upon them that we have capable women. I feel that

after this outburst, they have a greater respect for us and I know we

understand them thoroughly.’7

The behavior of YWCA Boards was a vivid example of hegemony and a clear illustration

of what Paula Giddings referred to as the YWCA’s “spotty” record on racial matters.

Hamilton’s name, with minimal support fiom white Central Board members,

appeared on Metropolitan Board ballot, because several white members believed that black

women were capable of represent themselves, including Mrs. Follansbee. Hamilton was

defeated in the Board election, where six of eighteen seats remained vacant. Numerous

comments were made regarding the outcome of the election. Mrs. Alfred Nicolovious

commented, “We lived through the meeting and voted on the Metropolitan Board without

overly fussing. Mrs. Hamilton, the colored woman of the branch received various votes in

place of Mrs. Follansbee, but Follansbee carried?”8 Esther Hawes of the Executive

Board, stated, “All is done now and although personally, I am extremely sorry not to have

a colored representative this year for I do think they are ready for it and I do believe it is

 

”Letter to Eva D. Bowlesfrom Cora Jones, April 22, 1925. The YWCA of the USA,

YWCA Archives, New York, New York, Microfilm # 210.6, pp. 1-2. Jones seemed really upset

about the situation regarding Mrs. Follansbee’s appointment to the board. Jones wrote, “our co-

workers seem to think it was not necessary to talk or discuss the situation with us and simply

notified us that the chair of Colored Work would represent us on the Metro Board the first year.”

58Letter to Mary Simsfrom Mrs. Alfred Nicolovious, April 20, 1925. The YWCA of the

USA, YWCA Archives, New York, New York, Microfilm #210.6, p.

l.

205

better to do without [one] than to force things.”59 The Board members were obviously

divided on the race issue and it seemed as if some YWCA women did not expect Hamilton

to make the ballot or even successfully obtain any votes.

According to Cora Jones, the women elected were “unfamiliar with ‘Y’ work,

industrial conditions, and a good many things that affect the [black] community.” Jones’

point was similar to one made by historian Stephanie Shaw in “Black Club Women and the

creation of the National Association of Colored Women,” in We Specialize in the Wholly

Impossible, (1 995). She wrote, “black women could speak more profoundly about problems

specific to them as black women and problems affecting them as they affected the race.”60

Despite the remaining vacancies on the Board, and charges by Jones, alleging that the newly

elected women to the Metropolitan Board were unqualified, the exclusion of black women

prevailed.

Cora B. Jones, as Chairperson of the Committee of Management, assumed her seat

on the Metropolitan Board, but only after the Centre Avenue branch had been represented

by Mrs. Follansbee for one year. Mary Sims, in a communication to Mrs. Nicolovious

revealed: “1 do hope the matter of the colored women on the board will work out all right

 

59Ibid., p. 2. During discussion on the issue of a “colored”woman on the Metropolitan

Board of the YWCA, one YWCA member in particular, Mrs. McEldowney, was the object of

much criticism by several board members. According the board members at the meeting, she

“knew nothing of the colored work” and implied that she had no right to pass judgement on the

leadership ability of black women. Although Follansbee was appointed to the position, she

stated that she too felt black women were ready to represent themselves on the Metropolitan

Board of Directors.

60Stephanie Shaw, “Black Club Women and the Creation of the National Association of

Colored Women,” in We Specialize in the Wholly Impossible,” eds. Darlene Clark Hine, Wilma

A. King, and Linda Reed. (New York: Carlson Publishing Company, 1995), p. 433.

206

(sic).

It seems to me that it isn't the newness of the Metro organization that makes a

difference, but the place where a community is interracial?”l

Esther Hawes did not

understand the problem of a “colored” woman on the Board. She stated, “A colored woman

was on the New York Metropolitan Board and that one colored woman could not hurt

anybody. The difficulty in New York seemed to be that they could only have one colored

woman instead of two, so that she might perhaps be less lonesome.”62

The persistence of the Centre Avenue YWCA’s leadership played a major role in the

future race relations in the Association. By 1932, the branch assumed responsibility for its

own budget which was previously prepared by the Committee on Colored Work, spent its

own money after the budget was approved by the same, hired its own staff, and represented

the Centre Avenue YWCA on each of the city-wide YWCA committees.63 After twelve

years of Pittsburgh's black women fighting blatant racism and resisting dominant behavior

in the Association, the attitudes of many white YWCA members toward the “colored”

YWCA began to change. Their racist attitudes, however, remained intact, but were reduced

to a more subtle form of racism.

 

61Letter to Mrs. Alfred Nicolovious, from Mary Sims, Executive of the City Department,

April 27, I925. The YWCA of the USA, YWCA Archives, New York, New York, Microfilm

Reel #2106.

(“Letter to Mary Simsfrom Mrs. Alfred Nicolovious, April 20, 1925. The YWCA of the

USA Archives, New York, New York, Microfilm Reel #210.6, p. 1-2. In a previous letter to

Mrs. Sims, Nicolovious asked her about the absence of a “colored” woman on the New York

board, but she never responded. She apologized for not doing so and explained that “when the

New York Metro Board organized [we] had not yet reached such a stage in our development.”

”Letter to Eva D. Bowlesfrom Esther M. Hawes, Metropolitan, General Secretary, March

I 7, 1932. MSS #79 YWCA, Box 60, FF 1. Library and Archives Division, Historical Society of

Western Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, PA.

207

Dissension in the Ranks

The black women of the ‘colored’ YWCA worked diligently to establish programs

and raise funds to support them. However, the leadership ofien faced obstacles other than

finances, racism, and inadequate space. On a six day visit to Pittsburgh’s ‘colored’ branch,

Cordelia Winn noted in her 1930 report that: The greatest problem is the chair of the

Committee of Management, Mrs. Jones, [who] instead of considering her position in an

advisory capacity to the branch, [she] has grown to see the position as a dictator. Even

though various women are working, [there is] much resentment and attitude.“4 Winn, aware

of the possible disruption of the Association’s ‘colored’ work, spoke to Mrs. Jones about not

seeking the position for the upcoming year, but was totally ignored.

In 1931, an ongoing dispute between Rachel Taylor and Mrs. Jones, caused

excessive fiiction within the ranks when Taylor submitted her letter ofresignation to Bowles.

It impacted the leadership of the ‘colored’ YWCA and National Board to the extent that Eva

D. Bowles and Esther Hawes intervened. A letter from Hawes to Bowles read:

 

“Report by Cordelia Winn on Centre Avenue Branch of the YWCA, October 28-November

2, 1930. The YWCA of the USA, The YWCA Archives, New York, New York, Microfilm Reel

#2113, p. l. Winn also reported that with the exception of the dissension, the “secretaries and

committees were carrying out the work well.”

208

...unfortunate that Mrs. Jones allowed herself and used the means to

get herself elected again as branch chairperson. Of course this was

irritating to Ms. Taylor and seems an almost unbearable situation.

Mrs. Jones, as chairperson is using her nominal power as a dictator.

Ms. Taylor who wanted to keep peace has not taken her proper place

as executive of the branch. She has the ability, but is a victim of

circumstances. This will be true of any other executive who attempts

to administer work under the present conditions unless certain

policies are clearly understood by the chairperson and Committee of

Management. 65

Despite Taylor’s resignation, Bowles sent Taylor a telegram which read:

Unwise to resign now. Stiffen your backbone. Branch administration

from now on must be based upon principles rather than persons.

With the help of Metropolitan, branch will function differently in the

future. Stand by us as we do you. A long letter follows for your

earnest consideration.“

It is clear that Rachel Taylor earned the respect of the National Board for her leadership and

work at Pittsburgh’s ‘colored’ ‘Y,’ because of the support she received during this

tumultuous time. Taylor, nonetheless, resigned and was replaced by Ms. Isabel Lawson as

chair of the Committee of Management for 1931, and Jones by Mrs. Harry McClanahan, a

noted Pittsburgh clubwoman. Both women, in assuming these leadership positions, were

determined to recruit more black women and girls, because this was one of the Centre

Avenue YWCA’s major goals.

 

65Letterfrom Esther Hawesfrom Eva D. Bowles, January 30, 1931. MSS #79 YWCA , Box

60, FF 1. Library and Archives Division, Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh,

PA.

6‘STelegram to Rachel 1. Taylorfrom Eva D. Bowles, January 30, 1931. MSS #79 YWCA,

Box 60, FF]. Library and Archives Division, Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania,

Pittsburgh, PA. Taylor was first appointed executive director of Pittsburgh’s Colored YWCA in

1927, a position held until she resigned in 1931. Jones chaired the Committee of Management

from 1924-1931, when she was forced out of the position.

209

Impact of the “Colored” YWCA on Black Women and Girls

Black women and girls benefitted greatly from the programs and services provided

by local colored YWCAs in urban communities, particularly, in the important areas of

housing, employment, recreation and religious training. The YWCA first began as a housing

service. In her 1925, Study of Girls in Pittsburgh, (Made for the Central Y of Pittsburgh),

Anne Rylance Smith, described the housing situation for black women and girls as

hopelessly bleak, because within the city limits, only two homes for self-supporting black

women existed, the [colored] YWCA and Ella Grayson Home.‘57 There were, however, a

number of “flea-bag” hotels for blacks, but exorbitant prices and unsuitable quarters were

a deterrent for blacks seeking shelter.

Combined, both facilities could only accommodate twenty-six women and usually

there were three to four beds per room."8 Given the enormous number of women seeking

housing, single accommodations in the YWCA and the Ella Grayson Home were an

impossibility. Compounding the housing problem was the fact that young black women

arriving in the city could not stay at the main (white) YWCA, because of segregation

policies, but when possible they were confined to rooming services provided by the Colored

Work Administration. However, the Pittsburgh YWCA did not provide this service.

 

67Anne Rylance Smith, Study of Girls in Pittsburgh. (Made for the Central YWCA of

Pittsburgh, PA, 1925), p. 74; Alice Brady, “The YWHas First Report Tea,” The Pittsburgh

Courier, (undated). The New Future Home, operated by the New Future Association, was as a

home for delinquent white girls, but occasionally, became an alternative for Negro girls. If one

was taken into the home, it was an exceptional social welfare case. The NFA was a member of

the Allegheny County Federation of Women’s Clubs, 3 white organization.

681m, p. 74.

210

Although other YWCA branches in Pittsburgh such as the East End and Central

branches provided housing for women and girls, the Wylie Avenue Branch had no such

facility during the early stages of its development. But, in a desperate attempt to protect

black women and girls from the viciousness ofien awaiting them in northern urban

communities, the Wylie Avenue YWCA staff created a housing facility within its extremely

limited quarters. During the summer months, when fewer meetings were held, two second

floor club rooms were transformed into dormitories. For example, in July and August of

1923, sixty women and girls were accommodated on the average of one to seven days and,

occasionally, a minimal number of transients, and several permanent lodgers were housed

at the Wylie Avenue branch.69

One year later, Pittsburgh’s “colored” YWCA, after having long outgrown its leased

quarters on Wylie Avenue, moved to permanent quarters at 2044 Centre Avenue, where its

staff planned accommodations for at least twenty women and girls.70 This facility, a three-

story structure in the city’s Hill District, had rooming space for twenty-two girls, attractive

parlors, club space for civic and social meetings, a dining room, and an employment service

for women. It was certainly, a far cry from its previous headquarters on Wylie Avenue.

 

69%: the Blue Triangle,” The Pittsburgh Courier, September 18, 1923, p. 7.

70Minutes [YWCA] BoardMeeting, November 18, 1924, p. 599. MSS #79 YWCA, Box

108, FF3. Library and Archives Division, Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania,

Pittsburgh, PA. The new home of the “colored” YWCA was formerly owned by the

Improvement of the Poor which made the Central YWCA a reasonable offer for the property.

Once the “colored” YWCA’s leadership was authorized to move, it instructed to purchase a

medium-sized stove for not more than $130, to engage the lowest bidder at $60 to move its

fumishings from the Wylie Avenue facility, and have the water heater cleaned.

211

As the years passed, the Centre Avenue YWCA, in all of its efforts, was unable to

accommodate black women needing housing, because increasing numbers to the city made

it virtually impossible to meet housing demands. For example, in 1929, it housed 226 black

women, but lacked sufficient space to accommodate thirteen others. The YWCA stafi”

developed a housing network among black women in the Pittsburgh community who could

provide emergency shelter. In cases like this, the staff successfully contacted the homes in

its emergency file and made referrals to those women whom they could not house.

Each year the services provided by the Centre Avenue YWCA increased as did the

demand for them. By 1938, Annie B. Graves, Residence Secretary of the Centre Avenue

YWCA, reported that it had a total bed capacity oftwenty, eighteen permanent residents, two

transients, and a total of eight sleeping rooms.71 It provided housing for 191 transients and

three indigents were given shelter with reimbursement from another social service agency

such as the Traveler’s Aid Society, Children's Service Bureau and the Salvation Army.72

Permanent paying membership in the Association, but the minimum age was eighteen and

the fee seventy-five cents guests for the year was 6,205 and transients 322. Residency in the

YWCA did not require per night.73 A limited stay of one month applied to transients and,

 

71Residence Survey, Centre Avenue Branch of the YWCA, December 19, I938, The YWCA

of the USA, YWCA Archives, New York, New York, Microfilm Reel #2113, p.

1. The

intricacies of the YWCA were: a dining room with a seating capacity of twenty and club rooms.

It had hot water and was heated by coal.

72and, p. 1.

73The weekly room rate for permanent residents without meals for a double room (two beds)

was $3.10 and one dollar less for a room in excess of three beds. A double room for transients

without meals was seventy-five cents for a double room and fifty cents for the dormitory. The

daily rate for indigents was thirty cents. Graves, in her report, points out that the Centre Avenue

YWCA’s rates were lower when compared to the city’s hotels, boarding houses, and private

homes.

212

.fifiu

fill

J41 fur l1 

Ems—.9 no. 0256 >555 20> G33

NS

for indigents, until arrangements were made with other social service agencies. Meals were

available with at least seventy-five percent of the residents using this service, and clean

towels and bedding were furnished to YWCA residents.

Employment

Employment opportunities encouraged women of all ethnic backgrounds to migrate

to industrial cities. However, jobs opportunities for black women were by no means

comparable to those of white women. Historians Peter Gottlieb in Making Their Own Way:

Southern Migration to Pittsburgh, 1916-1931 (1987), John Bodnar's Lives of Their Own:

Black, Poles, and Italians in Pittsburgh, 1900-1960, (1984) and Allan Spear's Black

Chicago: The Making ofa Ghetto, 1 890-1 920 (1967), have all pointed out that black women

were confined to domestic and personal service positions. A survey conducted by Ann Cox

Green (1918) of the National War Work Council also indicated that a high percentage of

Negro girls well-educated and holding positions inferior to those for which they were

qualified, the largest number of them working in domestic service." Similar findings were

called to the attention of Mrs. Buchanan of the YWCA Public Affairs Committee and, as a

result, a new department was established at the Centre Avenue branch.

In September 1925, the Employment Department of the “colored” YWCA officially

opened its doors operating between 8:00 a.m.-12:00 pm. under the supervision of Mrs. Rose

White. The purpose of this new department was to afford the Branch a larger opportunity

 

7" “Work Among Negro Women and Girls, Centre Avenue Branch, Pittsburgh, P ,”

(undated). The YWCA of the USA, YWCA Archives, New York, New York, Microfilm Reel #

211.3, p.

1.

214

for service to the young women in the community.75 Although an exact amount was not

revealed in the data, a fee was charged to those individuals seeking employment services.

For some black women, the required fee may have deterred them from taking advantage of

a viable service, but for others, the benefit was solely theirs. In 1927, the Centre Avenue

YWCA’s Employment Department placed 540 persons of 715 most of whom were largely

employed in domestic service, restaurants, and a small number of clerical positions.“

Despite the limited number of positions open to blacks, they continued to use the

YWCA's employment service. For example, in 1929, 4,728 interviews were conducted with

only 454 placements which may have been the result of the Depression and the collapse of

many local businesses." Because a majority of jobs available to black women were in

domestic service, the Centre Avenue YWCA instituted a Domestic Training Class to better

prepare YWCA women for employment with its first class numbering 65 women and girls.78

This overwhelming demand for domestic workers in Pittsburgh was similar to that described

by Richard W. Thomas in his Detroit study. In both cases, steps were taken to meet the

demand for domestic labor.

 

75“At the Blue Triangle,” The Pittsburgh Courier, September 12, 1925, p. 4.

76“We’ll Be Around Is Promise of Captains,” The Pittsburgh Courier, January 14, 1928, p.

7.

7“YWCA Campaign Opens January 11.” The Pittsburgh Courier, January 5, 1929, p. 2.

Other statistics reveal 279 girls housed and twelve turned away because of a lack of space; the

dining room served 3,153 meals; 214 persons enrolled in classes; and 2,317 participated in class

activities. The overall attendance for 1929, was 22,093.

78“ Work Among Negro Women and Girls, Centre Avenue Branch, Pittsburgh, PA”

(undated) Microfilm Reel #2113, p.

l. The Chatham Branch of the Pittsburgh YWCA had 3

Domestic Science Department as early as 1910. See History, The Greater YWCA of Pittsburgh,

September, 1965, p. 9.

215

Recreation

Noted historian John Hope Franklin, tells us that segregationist policies often

restricted blacks from utilizing white recreational facilities including (white) branches of the

YWCAs and YMCAs and few, if any, organized recreational programs existed for black

youth.79 As a result, black leaders and organizations were often forced to create recreation

of their own in northern urban communities. In Detroit, the Young Men’s Progressive

Association (YMPA) organized recreational activities for the city's youth as well as migrants.

In Pittsburgh, Negro girls clubs throughout the city were limited to black women

and girls affiliated black churches, the Girls Scouts, Camp Fire Girls, the YWCA, Soho

Settlement, Morgan Community House and Pittsburgh Urban League.80 But, Anne Rylance

Smith contends that the YWCA had done the largest piece of club work for colored girls.

Actually, the first organized activities for black youth in] Pittsburgh during the World War

I era, were initiated by the “colored” YWCA which represented the larger part of its

existence. The staff of the “color

” YWCA found creative ways in which to provide

recreation for black women and girls by first initiating three clubs for black women and girls:

(1) the Girl Reserves, (2) the Business and Professional Girls, and (3) the Industrial Girls

Clubs." The Girl Reserve Club, designed for girls of all ages, was a movement with

emphasis on individual and spiritual growth, and expression, but its major objective,

 

79John Hope Franklin, From Slavery to Freedom: A History ofAfrican Americans, 7'“

edition,(New York: Alfred Knopf, 1994), p. 427.

8°Smith, p. 78.

“The Industrial Girls Club was comprised of girls working in factories, restaurants, laundries,

telephone and elevator operators, and hospital and household employees. Some of the activities

they engaged were economics classes; discussions on hours, wages, and unemployment.

216

however, was to develop leadership and initiative among them. In 1922, Ruth Moore,

General Secretary of the Wylie Avenue YWCA, reported 250 high school and 360 grade

school girls enrolled in the Girl Reserve Clubs. Its activities included field trips, overnight

excursions, hiking, story hours, holiday celebrations and playhouses which were open to any

girl who cared to participate in them.”2 Of special importance, was a banking system

initiated in these clubs to encourage thrifi among the city's black girls.

Sociologist Ira De Reid, in a 1928 study, reported 7,830 girls enrolled in the Girl

Reserves; 1,621 in the Business and Professional Girls Club; and 543 in the Industrial Girls

Club.83 The response to the Girl Reserve Club was so great that Mrs. Parr, Chairperson of

the Centre Avenue YWCA contacted the Central YWCA and successfirlly requested the

hiring of two additional Girl Reserve Advisors.

Based on these statistics, the larger

population of black females were enrolled in the Girl Reserves. This can be attributed to

three factors: (1) recruitment within the city's schools for the Girl Reserves Club, (2) a

wider range of activities for this particular age group, and (3) because of their youth they

probably had fewer household or other responsibilities than those women involved in the

Business and Professional, and Industrial Girls Clubs.

In addition to YWCA clubs, approximately fifieen classes were offered and opened

 

82Minutes [YWCA] Board Meeting, June 28, 1922, MSS #79 YWCA, Box 108, FF2.

Library and Archives, Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, PA. Summer

activities at the ‘colored’ YWCA were led by Helen Patterson; Ruth Stevenson; Ellen Taylor;

Alma Thompson; Harriet Larson; Edna Kinchion; Alene Briggs; Rheta M. Arter; and Mrs.

George L. Winstead, chairperson of the Girl Reserves.

83Other 1929 statistics were: attendance in religious work activities, 1,006; health education,

207; educational work 1,355; social and recreational activities 756; all activities, 22,703. Also

included were dining room and employment bureau statistics.

217

to the public. Some of these classes were recreational and others were more technical in

nature. For example, classes were offered in china painting, swimming, piano, and drama.

The more technical classes included:

(1) beauty culture, designed to prepare girls for

assistants in beauty parlors, for thirty cents per lesson or ten dollars for the entire course; (2)

interior decorating with instruction in wall finishing, textile hangings, and floor coverings

for $4; (3) millinery, for the making of a variety of hats, $2.50 per lesson; and (6) hook rug-

making, $3 for each lesson.“ Many of the technical skills acquired in these classes perhaps

created employment opportunities for those completing them as well as possibilities for self-

employment.

The numerous programs and recreational activities sponsored by the "colored"

YWCA did not satisfy the YWCA staff, because recreation in the city was still inadequate.

The Publicity Committee of the Centre Avenue ‘Y’ called a meeting inviting a group of

black ministers and social workers to discuss the problems relative to recreation facilities for

“Negro boys and girls” of Pittsburgh.85

Alonzo T. Thayer, executive secretary of the

Pittsburgh Urban League presided and Rachel Taylor, presented the situation by pointing out

the deficiencies of recreational equipment throughout the city. Three committees were

appointed to: (1) sound out church leaders and groups on the subject, (2) draw up plans for

tentative summer program, and (3) start a survey of the city to ascertain the facts on the

 

84“ Y” Announces Classes for Second Semester,” The Pittsburgh Courier, March 9, 1929, p.

7. Each year the number and types of classes increased. For example, in 1927, the classes

offered were beauty culture, music appreciation, social etiquette, dramatics, poetry, and piano

technique. See “At the Blue Triangle,”The Pittsburgh Courier, October 22, 1927, p. 1.

In

1929, there were classes in first-aid, home decorating, charm school, and current events. See “Y

Announces New Fall Class Schedule,” The Pittsburgh Courier, October 12, 1929, p. 6.

85“YWCA News,” The Pittsburgh Courier, May 28, 1928, p- 7 -

218

Black women of the YWCA were bent on improving recreation for blacks in

situation.8

6

Pittsburgh.

Health

Historian Darlene Clark Hine tells us that proper and adequate health care for black

Americans has always been a major concern of black community leaders and organizations,

because of excessively high incidence ofmaternal and infant mortality, tuberculosis, venereal

disease, and other manifestations of poor health."7 In Pittsburgh, the “colored” YWCA

leadership demonstrated a great concern for health care among the race by (1) establishing

a Health Education Committee, (2) orchestrating and facilitating health classes as part of the

YWCA's regular program, (3) working in conjunction with other social service agencies, and

(4) participating in National Negro Health Week, initiated by Booker T. Washington during

the late 19th century to inspire blacks develop a cleanliness that would help them become

a stronger more effective racial group.88

 

86Ibid., p. 7. During this meeting, the following officers were elected: Mr. A.C. Thayer,

chairman; Reverend C.B. Allen, vice chairman; Margaret Mann, secretary; and Rachel Taylor,

chairperson of the committee. The community was invited to all meetings perhaps to solicit their

input and make them aware of the diligent efforts of the city’s black leadership to resolve the

recreation problem impacting blacks.

87Darlene Clark Hine, Black Women in White: Racial Conflict and Cooperation in the

Nursing Profession, [890-1950, (Indiana, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1989), pp.

89-90.

88David McBride, Integrating Medicine: Blacks in Philadelphia Health Care, 1910-1965,

Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1989, p. 45; John Hope Franklin, p. 428; Richard W.

Thomas, Life For Us Is What We Make It: Black Community-building in Detroit, [915-1945,

(Indiana, Bloomington: Indiana University Press), p. 82. Tuskegee Institute, black health care

providers, and educators in conjunction with black businesses, initiated the National Negro

Health Movement to curtail the heavy death rate, particularly, among urban blacks. Durham,

219

In January 1926, the movers and shakers of the Centre Avenue YWCA: Elizabeth

Mackey, Sadie Hamilton, Mrs. G.W. Worfley, Ms. Johnson, Bertha Lawrence, Azalia

Blackmore, M. Davis, and Eva Hall and the Centre Avenue YWCA Board of Management

organized a dental clinic on-site. Open twice per week from 12:30 p.m.-3:00 pm. and

evenings by appointment, the clinic was serviced by Irvin Austin, G. Princas, Harold Taylor,

and Robert S. Leo, but it is unclear if these dentists were race men.” By March of this same

year, seventy-six treatments were given to twenty-eight patients.

Every facet of the

community, through various kinds of publicity, was encouraged by the YWCA to utilize the

free services of the dental clinic, but few, according to the statistics took advantage of the

opportunity. In 1929, the YWCA’s leadership developed regular health classes and worked

in conjunction with the Pittsburgh Urban League and the Medical Association on the health

problem. Dr. Jane Curtis, conducted health classes and participants were given information

regarding “corrective measures” on general physical conditions, posture, and weight. The

collective efforts ofthe “colored” YWCA, the PUL, and the Medical Association held a joint

health program May 11-18, 1929, which included physical and dental examinations, baby

clinics in the city's black churches and libraries, radio programs on health care, and health

films shown at the Roosevelt Theater.90

 

North Carolina’s Mutual Life Insurance Company also played a major role in this movement. In

Pittsburgh, National Negro Health Week was observed by various social clubs, high schools, the

YWCA, YMCA, and Urban League.

89“Community Dental Clinic of YWCA,” The Pittsburgh Courier, January 19, 1926, p. 4.

“Race men” merely refers to black men. During this period, the term was frequently, used by

blacks as opposed to using “colored” or Negro. The debate as to what term should be used to

describe people of color had been ongoing since the 19"I century.

90The campaign to improve the health among Negroes was a continuous project of the

‘colored’ YWCA’s Health Education Department. In January 1929, for example 328 persons

220

Under the leadership of Mrs. Nannie Taylor, chairperson of the Health Education

Committee, the Centre Avenue YWCA celebrated National Negro Health Week, April 1-8,

1930 with five events: (1) Pharmacy Day, conducted by two licensed pharmacists and

drugstore owners, Dr. Lettie Gibbs and Dr. Hawkins who discussed medicines and drugs; (2)

Dental Day, with University of Pittsburgh Dental students providing free dental

examinations; (3) Medical Day, when three race women physicians, Dr. Marie S. Kinner,

Dr. Jane Curtis, and Dr. Lettie Perkins administered free physical examinations to the public;

(4) a Health Pageant, sponsored by the YWCA Girl Reserves who distributed free samples

of toilet articles, medicines, and health literature; and (5) an Evening Meeting, conducted by

Jeannette Washington, the city nurse, who spoke to the girls on sex education." The efforts

of the “colored” YWCA to diminish the excessive cases of poor health among blacks, was

not limited to black women and girls, but included the entire community.92

Impact of the YWCA on the Black Community

Whereas the city’s black religious institutions were the backbone of the black

community, the YWCA was a pillar with its positive affect on the lives of the people it

serviced. The utilization of the “colored” YWCA was inclusive of Pittsburgh's the black

 

were enrolled in the health program and 307 actually attended the YWCA’s health programs.

This was a positive effort among everyone involved for better health.

9|“Clinic Week At the YWCA,” The Pittsburgh Courier, March 31, 1929, p. 7. Gibbs and

Hawkins whose drugstore was located at 2166 Centre Avenue, Hill District also provided

displays of cosmetics and medicines. Dr. Marie S. Kinner was a member of the Irene Kaufinann

staff in its settlement clinic; Jane Curtis, earned her medical degree from Harvard University;

and Dr. Lettie Perkins was a chiropractor. Free examinations for babies and children were

administered in the mornings and in the evenings for adults, during Negro Health Week.

221

organizations, because it provided attractive parlors and space for social and civic meetings

as well as celebrations. For example, the Federation of Colored Women's Clubs and

individual black women's clubs ofien held their regular meetings in the parlors of the

YWCA. In the past, their meetings were held in the homes of its members or in black

churches. In March 1924, 78 meetings were held at the "colored" YWCA and two years

later, during the same month, 108 meetings."3 It was also used for anniversaries, Halloween,

Christmas and New Years celebrations. The frequent use of the YWCA by various

organizations shed light on its importance to Pittsburgh's black community.

Programs scheduled by the staff of the "colored" YWCA were often designed to

expand the cultural horizons of Pittsburgh's black community through a series of lectures.

Samuel Tuboka Metzger, a native of British West Africa, and student at Carnegie Technical

School and Dr. Albert Vail of Chicago and B'hai National lecturer, spoke on the subject:

“The Rise of Mohammedanism” (sic); and Michael Smirnoff of Russia presented a lecture

on “The Development of Socialistic Policies in Russia?“ Negro History Week was also

celebrated in the Centre Avenue YWCA and in 1928, prominent attorney Frank Steward

spoke on the subject, “The Negro In History;” during the 1929 Negro History Week

celebration, Mrs. Oliver Johnson addressed the audience with “Negroes Who Have

Achieved;” and Blanche Taylor Dickinson, an employee of The Pittsburgh Courier and

 

93Minutes [YWCA] Board Meeting, April 15, 1924, p. 563. The YWCA of the USA,

YWCA Archives, New York, New York, MSS #79 YWCA, Box 108, FF3. Library and Archives

Division, Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, PA.

9"“Mohammedanism (sic) Discussed At YWCA.” The Pittsburgh Courier, March 24, 1928,

p. 6;“Passion Week Service At Y, Dr. T.J. King Principal Speaker,” The Pittsburgh Courier,

March 31, 1929, p. 7.

222

published poet, on “The Cultural Values ofNegro Poetry.”95

While the issue of adequate and affordable housing did not rest with that created for

black women and girls at the “colored” YWCA, overcrowded living conditions in northern

urban communities continued.

Gilbert Osofsky, Abraham L. Epstein, and Richard W.

Thomas, in their studies of Harlem, Pittsburgh, and Detroit maintained that housing was

uninhabitable and the availability of decent housing scarce. With the influx of southern

migrants to the North more housing was essential as their presence compounded an already

existing problem.

On November 30, 1929, Mrs. Richard Jones, chairperson of the YWCA’s Health

Education Committee; Cora B. Jones, chairperson of the Industrial Girls Committee; and

Naomi Brown, chairperson of the Girls Reserves, organized a community meeting on Public

Housing at the Centre Avenue YWCA. The purpose of this meeting was (1) to introduce the

Pittsburgh community to public housing being constructed by the Federal Government as a

means of creating decent housing and (2) to discuss the possibilities and availability ofpublic

housing units in Pittsburgh.96 Howard Jordan of the Pittsburgh Housing Authority staff

 

9”Negro History Week at the Y,” The Pittsburgh Courier, February 2, 1929, p. 6. Negro

History Week was established by Dr. Carter G. Woodson. He was born in New Canton,

Virginia, December 19, 1895. He earned an LiTT from Berea College in 1903; a Bachelor of

Arts and Master of Arts degree from University of Chicago 1907 and 1908, respectively; and a

Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1912. Woodson also studied at the Sorbonne in France. He

later, founded Associated Publishers, an outlet for black scholars to publish their works and the

Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. Pittsburgh also hosted several of the

ASNLH meetings. Woodson founded the Journal of Negro History (1918) and was the author of

numerous books including The Negro in Our History (1921) and The History of the Negro

Church (1927).

96“YWCA Packs ‘Em in At Public Housing Program,” The Pittsburgh Courier, December 9,

1939, p. 9. This community event was sponsored by the Health Education Committee in

cooperation with the Industrial and Girl Reserve Departments.

223

addressed an overflow crowd and responded to questions. A sound film (sic) was also shown

illustrating deplorable living conditions in the nation's urban communities before the erection

of public housing. The black female leadership provided the community an opportunity to

envision the thought of having decent housing and all of the amenities including plumbing

and adequate space.

Conclusion

Pittsburgh’s colored YWCA staff and volunteers were faced with numerous

challenges were as follows: (1) racism and discrimination by (white) YWCA members

including YWCA administrators; (2) domination by (white) YWCA women which, in some

cases, stifled its growth and productivity, because of the limitations imposed upon them; (3)

meeting the demand of migrant women in housing and employment; (4) generating a greater

community interest in YWCA work; and (5) convincing white women that even though the

"colored" 'Y' was not self-supporting, that black women were capable of planning and

operating its programs without their supervision. The Centre Avenue staff and volunteers

readily confronted these day-to-day challenges head on by implementing various strategies.

Several methods were used in meeting these numerous difficult challenges. At every

corner, the Centre Avenue staff and Board of Management challenged the racism and

discrimination of the National and Pittsburgh Boards of Directors regarding their

segregationist policies which barred black women from vying for leadership positions,

participating in policy-making issues and using YWCA facilities. Direct confrontation and

letter writing were other methods used by the “colored” YWCA leadership. “Outbursts”

224

were made sending a message to white YWCA Board members that black women were just

as capable as white women and that the voices of black women would be heard. They

notified prominent Pittsburghers to support their concerns by writing letters on their behalf.

In an attempt to enhance their effectiveness, black women involved in the daily

operations ofthe YWCA, eagerly participated in conferences and conventions, and organized

a conference for black YWCA women. The use of lectures, forums, and films helped them

deal with the problems of racism, health, housing; a variety of classes, recreational programs,

leadership and skill training. As a strategy for housing black women, black YWCA women

developed a housing network among the city’s black women needing emergency shelter and

operated an employment agency for them.

For Pittsburgh's black YWCA women, the struggle for autonomy and respect was not

a new challenge facing black women. From slavery to this point in Black Women's History,

they have managed to function even under the most dehumanizing, and mundane

circumstances for the sake of black women, the family and community. As time passed, the

hegemony imposed on black YWCA women eased, as white women began to realize that

black women possessed leadership qualities, were able to identify and resolve the problems

of black women, and more importantly, they had the courage of their convictions.

225

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use animus-p.14

“SELF HELP AND INSTITUTION BUILDING IN PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA,

1830-1945”

Vo lume I I

BY

Pamela Annette Smoot

“A DISSERTATION”

Submitted to

Michigan State University

in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEGREE

Department of History

1998

Chapter 4

Somebody Won't You Help Me Now?: Black Female

Leadership in the Pittsburgh Urban League and Black Female

Migrants, 1918-1930

In these days of trials and temptations let the woman (sic) not forget their

duty towards one another, and especially towards those girls of our race

who throng the large cities without homes, influences, and without

friends.l

Historically, the roles and contributions of black women in American history have

been virtually ignored, and nowhere is this more true than in studies of the Great Migration.

Historian Carole Marks, in Farewell--- We 're Good and Gone, (1989), points out that this

neglect is (1) reflective of the general disregard of women and women's work in society, (2)

the way in which the migration is studied, and (3) that much of the social science literature

[on the migration] traditionally viewed as a male theme, is about the recruitment of black

workers to northern industries.

To be sure, a few studies have begun to fill this void, including Darlene Clark Hine's

essay, "BlackMigration to the Urban Midwest: The Gender Dimension, 1915-1945," in The

Great Migration in Historical Perspective: New Dimensions ofRace, Class, and Gender,

1 915-1945," (1991) and chapter three of Jacqueline Jones’ Labor ofLove, Labor ofSorrow:

Black Women, Work, and the Family, From Slavery to the Present, (1985), " T0 Get Out of

this Land of Sufi'ing: Black Women Migrants North, 1900-1930." The previous efforts of

scholars have, in some way, provoked the writing of more studies on the migration of black

 

' " Woman Must Take Courage" The Pittsburgh Courier, April 8, 1911, p. 8.

226

women such as, the relationship of Northern black women to southern black female

migrants.

The purpose of this chapter is to identify, explore the roles, contributions, and

strategies of two volunteers and five black women employed by the Pittsburgh Urban

League, in the urbanization ofblack female migrants. Many case studies on urban cities such

as, Richard Walter Thomas" Life For Us Is What We Make it: Building Black Community

in Detroit, 1915-1945, (1994), present solid, but incomplete discussions on the subject by

focusing on black male leadership without mentioning the roles black women played in the

organization. Because the primary leadership of the National Urban League and its affiliates

were dominated by black males, I argue that the guidance and participation of the above

mentioned black women, was necessary in helping to facilitate this great “watershed” in

American history.

Origins of the National Urban League

Gilbert Osofltsy’s Harlem: The Making ofa Ghetto, Negro New York, 1890-1930,

(1963), tells us that there were “reformers in every major northern city to which migrants

came in large numbers, because of a deep concern for the welfare of Negro people.

”2

In

1911, the National Urban League was founded in New York City when three organizations

comprised of black and white social reformers merged: (1) the Committee on Urban

 

2Gilbert Osofsky, Harlem: The Making ofa Ghetto, Negro New York, 1890-1930, (New

York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1963), p. 53. For the most part, these reformers focused

especially, on the employment of southern migrants, housing, and sanitation which posed health

concerns. The protection of the multitude of domestic service workers was also an issue.

227

Conditions Among Negroes, (2) the National League for the Protection of Colored Women,

and (3) the Committee for Improving Industrial Conditions Among Negroes which set up

headquarters on West 40th Street in New York.3 In 1913, the National League on Urban

Conditions Among Negroes was incorporated under laws of the State of New York.‘ With

the consolidation of these three bodies committed to social work among Negroes, a new

epoch Opened in the effective consideration of this phase of the American city problem.’

Historian Nancy J. Weiss in The National Urban League, 1910-1940, (1974) points

out that “the National Urban League's social services closely approximated programs of

immigrant aid societies such as, the Immigrant Protective League (1908) and the Association

for the Protection of Jewish Immigrants (1884),” established to ease the adjustment of

European immigrants. The NUL like these organizations, sought to do the same for southern

migrants. It duplicated, to some extent, the same programs for Negroes to northern urban

communities. For example, the National Urban League's mission was to provide southern

migrants access to suitable temporary shelter, wholesome recreational activities, employment

programs.

Meanwhile, the influx of Negroes rapidly spread to other northern cities

necessitating the creation of local Urban Leagues.

 

3Richard W. Thomas, Lifefor Us Is What We make It: Black Community-Building in

Detroit, 1915-1945, (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1992), p. 52. Elsa Barkley Brown,

“National Urban League,” in Black Women in United States History: An Historical

Encyclopedia, ed. Darlene Clark Hine, (New York: Carlson Publishing Company, 1990), p. 869.

Harvard Sitkoff, A New Dealfor Blacks, The Emergence of Civil Rights as a National Issue:

The Depression Decade, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1978), p. 24.

4 L. Hollingsworth Wood, “The National Urban League.” The Journal ofNegro History, 9

(April) 1924, p. 121.

51m, p. 119.

228

Falling within the “crunch” of southern migrants, numerous leaders of northern

industrial communities of Detroit, Chicago, and Milwaukee made inquiries to the Urban

League's New York office about establishing League affiliates. However, the NUL had no

formal policy on expanding its work among southern migrants, but adopted the following

guidelines: (1) affiliates had to incorporate constitutions and principles governing local

Urban Leagues, (2) implement them in practical activities based on the particular needs of

the community, (3) establish inter-racial boards, and (4) the standard program for local

work had to begin with an investigation of black living conditions.6

Branches were

developed in many of the large centers with programs for meeting the migrants at train

stations, directing them to jobs and lodgings, and providing lectures on northern living. By

1918, the National Urban League had approximately twenty-seven affiliates.

The Origins of the Pittsburgh Urban League

Arthur J. Edmund’s Daybreakers: The Story of the Urban League of Pittsburgh:

The First Sixty-Five Years, (1983), tells us that Reverend G. B. Howard, pastor ofthe Central

Baptist Church; Dr. Charles R. Zahniser, executive secretary of the Pittsburgh Council of

Churches; Samuel Morsell, director of the Center Avenue YMCA; and Charles Cooper,

director of the Kingsley Association initiated the reform movement in Pittsburgh as a result

of the migration which began in 1914. Like other northern industrial cities, Pittsburgh

 

'"Nancy J. Weiss, The National Urban League, 1910-1949, 1974 p. 112-113. This historic

work contains a map illustrating Urban League affiliates. For example, some of those formed

were in the cities of Chicago, St. Louis, Brooklyn, Detroit, Boston, Pittsburgh, and Columbus

and Cleveland, Ohio. For more information on Urban League affiliates see “Field Directors

Who Handle the Work of the Urban League,” The Pittsburgh Competitor, 1920-1921, p. 8.

229

experienced a wave of southern migrants creating overcrowdedness, disease, crime, racial

strife, and related social problems demanding solutions.

These men organized the

Association for the Improvement of Social Conditions in the Hill District, the community

which became a haven for black migrants.

In addition to this Association, another inter-racial group of citizens organized the

Pittsburgh Council for Social Service Among Negroes (1915), but realized the demands of

resolving the migrant problem, were much greater than imagined.

Moreover, the

membership lacked the professional skills to minimize the difficulties of black migrants

which they felt required trained social workers. Members of this organization: Robert L.

Vann, attorney and owner of The Pittsburgh Courier; Dr. Frances Tyson, University of

Pittsburgh economics professor; Walter May, president of May Drug Company; and Edith

Spurlock Sampson, organization secretary, contacted the National League on Urban

Conditions Among Negroes in New York where a similar problem of southern migrants

existed.7 In response to their request, John T. Clark, a member of the League's industrial

staff, was sent to Pittsburgh by Eugene Kinckle Jones, the National Urban League's executive

director.8

 

7Arthur J. Edmunds, Daybreakers: The Story of the Pittsburgh Urban League, the First

Sitar-Five Years, (Pittsburgh: The Pittsburgh Urban League, 1983), p. 13. Walter May and his

family owned as many as ten pharmacies in Pittsburgh. Ms. Edith Spurlock was one of the city’s

few black social workers.

8John T. Clark was a Louisville, Kentucky native, with a degree in sociology and economics

from Ohio State University. He also taught at Louisville’s Central High School. One of Eugene

Kinckle Jones’ valued employees, Clark worked as a member of the National Urban League’s

Industrial staff for almost five years before being sent to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to establish

and manage the city’s Urban League.” Upon his arrival, he developed a plan to ease the city’s

urban crisis, as a result of the southern migration, including the problems of employment,

recreation, housing, health, juvenile delinquency; and sanitation. In April 1911, Jones became

230

Following the guidelines adopted for League affiliates, Clark performed the necessary

investigation of living conditions among the city's blacks, sharing his findings and

recommendations with the Pittsburgh Council for Social Service Among Negroes.

Subsequently, the Urban League of Pittsburgh was founded January 15, 1918, but its doors

were not officially opened until February 12, 1918, when headquarters were obtained. Led

by John T. Clark, it sought, like seventeen other northern cities, to resolve the numerous and

rapidly escalating problems caused by the migration.

Clark’s solution to these problems was the promotion of any work for the industrial,

economic, social, and cultural advancement of the Pittsburgh Negro which included

cooperation with other agencies in doing 50.9 As he built coalitions with other Pittsburgh

social service agencies, recruited volunteers from the community, and raised funds for new

programs, Clark also hired the Urban League's staff. It included a paid staff of two persons:

W.P. Young, the welfare worker; and Tom Barton, the industrial secretary. Strapped for

funds and unable to hire additional staff, Elizabeth Elliott worked as a volunteer and was

responsible for black women seeking employment. Grace Lowndes, a social worker; and

Margaret Mann, the Home Economics Worker were added to the Pittsburgh Urban League

staff during various periods of 1918. They immediately began to implement the series of

programs designed by Clark which involved legitimate employment opportunities, adequate

 

field secretary of the Committee on Urban Conditions Among Negroes in New York. For

information on Eugene Kinckle Jones see Tammi Friedman’s “Eugene Kinckle Jones,” in

Encyclopedia ofAfrican American Culture and History, Volume 4, pp. 1477-1479.

9Wendell P. Grigsby, “Pittsburgh Plans For its Future,” Opportunity, 17 (December) 193 9,

p. 363.

231

 

Figure. 29. John T. Clark

232

housing, recreation, penal reform, and improving the overall quality of life for black female

migrants.

Black Women in the Pittsburgh Urban League

Historian Elsa Barkely Brown in “The National Urban League,” in Black Women in

America: An Historical Encyclopedia, (1993), tells us that “the expertise of black women in

local Urban League affiliates was crucial to its development.”'° Black women in slavery and

fi'eedom have always been the nurturers and social workers of black communities. And, as

club women, they had, since the 19th century developed a national network among

themselves and with other black organizations. They were, however, just as crucial in the

implementation and success of its programs. The creation of the Pittsburgh Urban League

in January 1918 was led by John T. Clark, but black women played a major role in the

planning and execution of programs directed toward the urbanization of black female

migrants. They were: Margaret Mann, Elizabeth Elliott, Grace Lowndes, Christina Jeffries,

and Georgine Pearce. As sociologist George Edmund Haynes pointed out, “it was hard

enough for anyone brought up in the country to fit into patterns of city living.” These

northern black women were dedicated to assisting black southern migrants in their

adjustment to city life.

Large numbers of black females migrated to northern cities for various reasons.

Kelly Miller tells us that [black] “women being unequal to the heavy work on the farm, went

in larger numbers than men to urban areas where they might expect to find lighter labor.”

 

loElsa Barkley Brown,” National Urban League,” p. 870.

233

Darlene Clark Hine points out that “southern black women quit the South to escape the

physical abuse of black men and sexual abuse of white men.” Nancy J. Weiss contends that

black women migrated to northern cities “leaving the kitchen and laundry for workshops and

factories.” The consensus, however, among scholars of urban history contend that like black

men, black women migrated for higher wages and better employment opportunities. Other

migrant women did so by the persuasion of relatives as the following quote shows:

An old woman was persuaded by her son to sell out (sic)her little

business in Sheffield, Ala (sic) which was a lunch room and come

North and he would take care of her. The woman lost one arm and

thought it a good plan...She sold her business...and started North with

her son, who was without funds, so she gave him most of the money

she had received from the business she sold. When they reached

Louisville, KY, (sic) she discovered he had brought another man’s

wife with him. The son deserted her.ll

This migration of southern women created a demand for social services, especially, for those

who migrated alone or without “justice tickets.”I2

Black female migrants according to Darlene Clark Hine, were victimized by northern

urban life. For example, they were often (1) tricked into prostitution, (2) forced to accept

inadequate housing, (3) lured North by false misrepresentations regarding wages and

 

”Report, Home Economics Worker, May 1919, A18 81:11, Urban League of Pittsburgh

Papers, Box 3, FF 137.

12The use of “justice tickets,” was a method devised by northern industrial employers to hire

southern migrants. The companies would send labor agents to the South where they would

provide migrants with train tickets to the North with guaranteed employment once they arrived.

The migrants signed a contracts to work for the company providing the transportation and

reimbursed the company for the price of the ticket. Repayment was usually equivalent to two or

three months pay.

234

Table III.

Negro Females in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

1890-1930

 

 

Year

Females

 

1890

4,478

 

1900

9,133

 

1910

12,272

 

1920

1930

 

17,812

27,021

 

 

 

Source: United States Bureau of the Census, 13“ Population in the United States,

Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1910 p. 156.

The population among black females in Pittsburgh increased substantially from

1890 with almost as many as 5,000 more migrants coming to the city. As the table

shows, the largest increase was between 1920 and 1930. It was during this particular

period that the Pittsburgh Urban League and The Pittsburgh Courier urged southern

blacks not to come to Pittsburgh because of an “employment slump.”

235

employment, and (4) were unfamiliar with the rudiments of urban living. ‘3 The black women

of Pittsburgh's Urban League sought to resolve the problems black female migrants faced by

providing them with the necessary social services and sometimes making referrals to other

social service agencies.

Elizabeth Elliott: The Women's Employment Secretary

Historian Joe Trotter, explains that black female migrants were almost totally

confined to common laborer, domestic, and personal service work in the pre-World War I

era, a trend that seemed to continue throughout World War I." Sociologist Florette Henri

in The Black Migration Movement North, 1900-1920, (1975), substantiates Trotter’s

statement with “most working black women were in domestic and personal service.” Over

eighty per cent of black women worked as personal servants and domestics between 1910-

1920. '5 According to Jacqueline Jones, in Labor ofLove, Labor ofSorrow: Black Women,

Work, and the Family, From Slavery to the Present, (1985), 1920, fully 90 per cent of black

 

13Darlene Clark Hine, “Black Migration to the Urban Midwest: the Gender Dimension,

1915-1945,” in The Great Migration in Historical Perspective: New Dimensions of Race,

Class, and Gender, ed. Joe W. Trotter, Jr., (Bloomington: Indiana University Press,199l), p.

99. Nancy J. Weiss, p. 17.

1"Joe W. Trotter, Jr. Black Milwaukee: The Making ofAn Industrial Proletariat, 1915-

1945, (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1985), p. 3. Urban historians explain that the high

volume of domestic employment available to black women was created by the lack of European

immigrants.

lsFlorette Henri, Black Migration Movement North, 1900-1920, (New York: Anchor Press,

1975), p. 32.

236

Table IV.

Negro Females in Pittsburgh, Classified by Age, 1910

 

 

All ages

12,272

 

Under 5 years

1,112

 

5 to 9 years

964

 

10 to 14 years

972

 

15 to 19 years

973

 

20 to 24 years

1,369

 

40 to 44 years

1,784

 

25 to 29 years

1,424

 

30 to 34 years

1,294

 

35 to 39 years

822

 

40 to 44 years

536

 

45 to 49 years

359

 

50 to 54 years

235

 

55 to 59 years

167

 

60 to 64 years

92

 

65 to 69 years

53

 

70 to 74 years

29

75 to 79 years

80 to 84 years

 

 

 

  
  

 

 

90 to 94 years

17

10

2

0

3

55

85 to 89 years

95 to 99 years

Age unknown

Source: United States Bureau of the Census, Negro Population in the United States, 1790-

1915. New York: Arno Press and The New York Times, 1968, p. 202.

237

women in Pittsburgh made their living as day workers, washerwomen, or live-in servants. '6

In other words, Pittsburgh offered few positions outside domestic service for women. '7 This

was perhaps the result ofracial discrimination which restricted certain occupations to blacks.

Of equal importance, was the constant demand and frequency ofwhich domestic service jobs

were offered to black women and girls as the following excerpt shows:

You have my name for a good maid for general work no laundry or

porches. I will be home in a day or two ifyou can possibly obtain one

by Thursday, September 18 (sic). Call me up at that time and I shall

appreciate it so much. The laundress you sent me has been so

satisfactory.

I want an “honest” girl first of all.

I will pay good

wages.18

In many cases, black women received much lower wages than white women for the same

work. The astounding number of black female migrants to Pittsburgh presented a great

challenge to Elizabeth Elliott whose responsibilities were: job development, job placement,

follow-up on employees, resolution of complaints, and preparing monthly reports. '9 Clerical

 

“Jacqueline Jones, Labor ofSorrow, Labor ofLove: Black Women, Work and the Family,

From Slavery to the Present, (New York: Vintage Books, 1985), p. 164.

”Mid, p. 159.

”Letter to Elizabeth Elliottfrom Mrs. CH. Cook, September 12 (ca. 1919), Archives of

Industrial Society, MSS 81:11 Urban League ofPittsburgh Papers, Box 3, FF 137, Hillman

Library, University, Pittsburgh, PA. The data reveals that employers readily notified the PUL

when domestic service positions became available. However, the non-service positions acquired

for migrant women were developed by Elliott through contact in person, by telephone, and

correspondence with Pittsburgh businesses.

”Elizabeth N. Elliott, the wife of George Elliott, was eventually added to the Pittsburgh

Urban League’s payroll after having volunteered for three months. As the Women’s Industrial

Secretary, Elliott, had a successful placement rate of seventy-one percent, during the first ten

months of the League’s existence. Approximately forty percent of the applications made to her

department were from ‘colored’ women, although the League serviced whites as well.

238

and teaching occupations were closed to black women and, manufacturers employing

women, gave preference to white and immigrant women. Elliott's earliest efforts in locating

employment for black women were obtained in department stores as stock girls, sheet

writers, filing clerks, and general office assistants. By the end of 1919, 96 black women and

girls were employed as clericals in Boggs & Buhl Department Store.20

Despite the

confinement of black female migrant workers to domestic and personal service positions, as

Gottleib, Trotter, and Spear have pointed out, Elliott eagerly sought other employment

opportunities for them.

Through persistence and persuasion, she contacted and worked with local employers

to develop various kinds of factory positions for women seeking desirable employment. For

example, she successfully placed black female migrants in a company which manufactured

parts of gas stoves; Burlap and raincoat factories; the Famous Biscuit Company, and in a

bakery. Elliott also secured for black female migrants, employment in the coarser trades

including “the stripping oftobacco leaves, separating rags, and refuse.” Few northern blacks

engaged in employment in tobacco companies with the exception of a group of college

students sent to the tobacco fields of Connecticut by the National Urban League, as a result

of a labor shortage. Elliott managed to find non-traditional employment for black women

and because of her efforts, black female employment opportunities experienced a gradual

expansion.

 

20The other Pittsburgh department stores hiring Negro girls were: the Joseph Home Company,

Rosenbaum Company, and Kaufinanns. These stores made specific requests for available

positions. For example, Joseph Home’s requested two sheet writers; Kaufrnanns, five stock

girls; Boggs & Buhl, ten wrappers; and Rosenbaums, ten clerks.

239

To maintain her relationship with employers, Elliott’ s strategy was “to interview

superintendents of employment to ascertain if the service of the girls placed was satisfactory

and if there was any discord with the working help.” She was informed by store officials that

[the] “help placed giving the very best of service.

”2‘ At one of the stores, however, several

complaints were brought to Elliott by black female migrant workers concerning one girl

reported to be “an agitator and disturber of the peace” in the department store where she was

placed. Elliott looked into the matter and had the disturbing element dismissed. This was

perhaps an action necessary to preserve the integrity of migrant black women employed, the

future placement of others, and that of the Pittsburgh Urban League.

The success of the “department store girls” as they were called, led to the

organization and development of an Urban League Auxiliary comprised of these black

females which benefitted the League.

Struggling financially since its inception, the

Pittsburgh Urban League was given a $600 donation from the “department store girls.”22

Although no unions admitted blacks during this period, Mary E. Madden of the Consumer's

League, addressed them on the minimum wage law as their numbers continued to increase.”

 

21Report of Women ’s Employment Secretary, November 1918, Archives of Industrial

Society, MSS 81:11 Urban League Papers of Pittsburgh, Box 3, FF 137. Hillman Library,

University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA. Elliott also reported that the League’s department store

placements, hired during the Christmas season, who performed well, stood an excellent chance of

being retained as permanent employees.

22“Urban League Happenings,” Archives of Industrial Society, MSS 81 :1 1, Urban League of

Pittsburgh Papers, Box 7, FF 291 . Hillman Library, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA.

23Ibid. Several of Pittsburgh’s black women’s clubs were affiliated with the Consumer’s

League: The Madame C]. Walker, Violet Art, Married Women’s Culture, and Della Robia. This

was an indication of a collective effort among the city’s black club women to assist the PUL in

easing the migrant problem. See the Minutes, Executive Board Meeting, December 16, 1919.

AIS 81 :11 Urban League Papers of Pittsburgh, Box 1, FF 19, Hillman Library, University of

240

She apparently, felt it important and perhaps they would start a union of their own.

Although Elliott managed to obtain other types of employment for black women, it

is important to note that there were some jobs that many black migrant women refused to

accept. They included domestic work, elevator operators, and positions at health care

facilities. Elliott received numerous requests for domestic workers from the city’s prominent

whites. A letter from Mrs. Komhauser read:

I require a girl for general housework, she need not be a compitent

(sic) cook, but must wash, iron, and clean; we are five grown up

people, she can have her evenings, every Sunday afternoon and every

other Thursday afternoon off. I pay $8 a week. Hoping you will send

me some one (sic) just as soon as possible.”

Contrary to Komhauser’s request was a letter to Elliott from Elizabeth Butler on July 11,

1918, who was seeking employment, but not as a domestic worker:

I am writing to ask that you use your influence to place me about the

second week of August. I would like to get into the stockroom as a

clerk or something similar. I have [a] common education and can

furnish good references. I am looking for some good paying position

aside from domestic work. Call me up before 1 1 am or afier 4 pm.”

With regard to the refusal to accept domestic employment, some black women resolved that

because they were relegated to domestic service in the North, they could have remained in

the South.

 

Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA.

2"Letter to Dear Sirfrom Mrs. Komhauser, Archives of Industrial Society, MSS 81 :1 1

Urban League ofPittsburgh Papers, Box 3, FF 137, February 25 (ca. 1918). Komhauser,

resided on Hastings Street in Squirrel Hill, one of Pittsburgh’s Jewish communities.

25Letter to Elizabeth Elliottfrom Elizabeth Butler, July 1 1, 1918. Archives of Industrial

Society, MSS 81:11, Urban League ofPittsburgh Papers, Box 3, FF 137. Hillman Library,

University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA.

241

In spite of their desire for employment, many requests to Elliott for black women

were left unfilled. The Hotel Henry, one of Pittsburgh's many hotels, requested five elevator

girls, but black women were reluctant toward accepting such positions, because of

nervousness, fear, and danger in operating elevators.26 Another example of black women

refusing employment, was at the Protestant Home for Incurables which had several positions

available, but Elliott could find no takers. This was possibly due to the institution's clientele

as well as the nature of the work.

Elizabeth Elliott's value as the PUL's Women's

Employment Secretary went beyond the confines of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and that of

black female migrants. She received a letter from an employer in Columbia, South Carolina

seeking a superintendent of "colored" delinquent girls. On August 1, 1919, Ms. Lottie S.

Olney, of the Juvenile Department Municipal Court wrote:

I have had two applications, but neither of them give promise of

being satisfactory, one having no institutional experience and the

other neither institutional nor work with delinquent girls. If you can

recommend to me any colored women who have the same views on

the race question, who is of the Brooker (sic) T. Washington rather

than the DuBoise (sic) type and who has the other qualifications...l

will greatly appreciate it.27

This particular quote was also an example of interstate networking between the Pittsburgh

Urban League, social service agencies, and the courts.

 

2“Report, Women ’s Employment Secretary, To-date, Elliott had 97 jobs to fill; 125 new

applications; and 84 ‘colored’ women had been referred to employers.

27Letter to Elizabeth N. Elliottfrom Mrs. Lottie Olney, August 1, 1919. Archives of

Industrial Society, MSS 81 :1 1 Urban League ofPittsburgh Papers ofPittsburgh, Department of

Industrial Employment, Department of Women’s Service, 1918-1919, Box 3, FF 137, University

of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA.

242

During the Depression years, employment for black women remained the same. The

majority of positions available to black women, again, were in domestic service. In the

19303, an estimated 38,000 worked as maids and housekeepers. A very critical period in

American history, black women, in many cases, supported the entire family when their

husbands were laid off from the city's steel mills. It was in times like this, when almost any

type of work, even domestic service, was appreciated.

Grace Lowndes and the Morals Court

Crime in northern urban communities reached record numbers during the World War

I migratory period. Ghetto life threatened the well-being of southern migrants in ways

unimaginable on the cotton plantations ofthe South, where blacks routinely worked and went

to church.28

In northern urban communities, crowded living conditions and a lack of

organized recreational activities attributed to delinquency among southern migrants. Black

youth created a larger problem, because many were sometimes lefi without supervision by

mothers who worked as domestics. They often worked long irregular hours and sometimes

six or seven days a week cleaning white women’s kitchens, working as chambermaids,

ironers, laundresses, and laborers in garment and lampshade factories.29 Enticed by popular

music, alcohol, and easy money, many

 

28Jones, p. 185.

29Henri, p. 99. Black migrant women, for the most part, were forced to work in order to

provide a decent living for their families. Also, the cost of living in the North was much more

expensive than the South. They often worked to supplement the incomes of their husbands and

fill the void when they were laid ofi‘.

243

Table VII.

Black Female Occupations

in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 191 0-1920

 

Personal Service

Total #

Total #

Total #

Total #

Occupations

Female

Black Female

Female

Black Female

Domestic

Domestic

Domestic

Domestic

Workers

Workers in

Workers in

Workers in

in 1910

1910

1920

1920

 

Total

51,678

4,729

17,502

4,537

 

Barbers, Hairdressers,

258

84

315

153

manicurists

 

BoardingO House, lodge

1,427

124

1,162

94

keepers

 

Charwomen and cleaners

555

120

542

68

 

Janitors and sextons

472

38

1,162

74

 

Housekeepers and

1,120

142

603

119

stewardesses

 

Laundresses (not in

1,947

924

1,939

197

laundry)

Laundry operators

'

1,036

Midwives, nurses (not

 

 

 
  

 

 

12,970

2,212

1,81 1

2,575

709

737

 

 

59

21

Waitresses

561

40

1,111

122

trained)

Servants

801

40

55

 

Source: Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, 13" Census of the United States 1910,

Population 1910 Occupation Statistics, Volrune IV. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1914, p.

592; Department ofCommerce Bureau of the Census, 1 4" Census of the United States 1920, Population

1920, Occupations, Volume IV. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1920, p. 1200.

These statistics show that the largest number of black females employed in personal service

positions were servants, laundresses, and housekeepers. Though the statistics for white women are

not included in this table, they comprised 2,019 of 12,970 servants while black women comprised

2,212. Large numbers of native-bom white women also worked as housekeepers and stewardesses.

In 1920, native-hem white women were mainly employed in boarding and lodging occupations while

black women remained primarily as servants.

244

migrants ventured into something almost unheard of in the South—“streetwise trouble.”

Historian Richard W. Thomas points out that Detroit's black leaders realized the

seriousness of crime in the urban community had to be dealt with.30 In New York, Detroit,

and Pittsburgh, the city's judicial officials sought relief in the courts from the astronomical

number of crimes committed largely by southern migrants. As the New York, the Urban

League solved its crime problem by appointing its probation worker as one of its regular

probation officers in the

Court of General Sessions, the Pittsburgh Urban League

appointed Grace Lowndes, as the Morals Court Worker. Her appointment was an effort by

the League to build a city-wide program for a constructive means of decreasing crime among

Negroes and facilitate the court procedure."

The Morals Court was created by the Mayor and Pittsburgh's City Council, March

22, 1918, to hear cases that were generally moral offenses, and had largely to do with social

evils.32 Its main objectives were to employ methods ofre-establishing the perpetrator instead

 

30Thomas, p. 112. In Detroit three methods were used to combat crime among the city’s

blacks, especially, southern migrants. Black police officers were assigned to migrant

neighborhoods; a special agent was selected by the DUL to alert police to potential criminal

behavior; and preventive measures were used to decrease criminal activity among blacks.

31“Ms. Loundes (sic) Will Make Special Survey ofLocal Problems of Groups, The

Pittsburgh Courier, July 31, 1926, p. 7. The Morals Court which made referrals to the PUL,

also dealt with the issues of abandonment, child abuse, and abused women.

32“Now Functioning: First Session Held This Morning With Magistrate Tensard De Wolf

Presiding,” Chronicle Telegraph, July, 17, 1918, Vertical File, Morals Court, Carnegie Institute

of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Department, Pittsburgh, PA. The impetus for the Morals Court was

the Pittsburgh Council of Churches; Dr. Zahniser, who agitated for police court reform; and

Reverend Shelton Hale Bishop and a group of Negro citizens, who met with the PUL Board of

Directors to assist the court, because of the large number of Negro arrests. The Morals Court

was also referred to as the “poor man’s” court. For more information see The Bulletin,

Pittsburgh ’s Weekly Magazine, February 17, 1944; Lucretia Ruth Stevenson, The Pitmburgh

Urban League, A.B. Thesis, University of Pittsburgh, 1936, p. 89.

245

of incarceration and to remedy some of the conditions harmful to the Pittsburgh community's

welfare.33 The city ordinance creating the Morals Court required the Pittsburgh Police to do

as follows:

...bring charges in all cases against minors, persons who may be

found engaged in or charged with disorderly, bawdy or assignation

houses, street walking, prostitution, solicitation, white slavery, abuse

or neglect of family, illegal liquor sales and lewd or laviscious

conduct.“

Although, a substantial number of migrants appeared before the Morals Court, it was not

created solely for black migrants, but all Pittsburghers alike. Southern migrants, already

suspect among many of the city's law enforcement officers, were almost certain to encounter

the Morals Court.

Grace Lowndes, a native of Columbia, South Carolina, was a graduate of Barber-

Scotia College, Concord, North Carolina. She later studied at the Tailor Pattern School in

New York and after relocating to Pittsburgh attended the University of Pittsburgh and

Carnegie Tech.35

Lowndes, a Christian woman, was a member of Grace Memorial

Presbyterian Church and Superintendent of its Sunday School; a member of the Lucy Stone

Civic League; an organizer of the "colored" YWCA; a board member of the Home for Aged

and Infirm Colored Women; and founder and editor of The Informer, the official organ of

 

33 Ibid., p. 7.

3"Municipal Record, Minutes of the Proceedings of the Council of the City ofPitmburgh

for the Year 1918, Volume 29, (Pittsburgh: McClung Printing Company, 1918), p. 342.

35 Who’s Who in the Aurora Reading Club, Souvenir Booklet, Pittsburgh, PA, 195 7, p. 14.

Grace Lowndes was the organizer of the Young Women’s Auxiliary, the precursor to the

Pittsburgh Urban League and ‘Colored’ Branch of the YWCA.

246

the Pittsburgh Urban League, established September 1928:"6 She brought a wealth of

experience to the Pittsburgh Urban League.

One of the major indulgences of migrant women was prostitution. Abraham Epstein in

The Negro Migrant in Pittsburgh (191 8) explains that black female migrant prostitution was

the result of the migration of single men and married men who left their families behind them

and the entire break-up of the normal family standard.37 Also, without financial means of

survival, black female migrants were often forced into prostitution to feed themselves and

oftentimes their families. Henri tells us that a larger proportion of black women than white

women were incarcerated, particularly, those between the ages of 18-24 in overall migratory

cities, for loitering and prostitution.38 In 1921, twenty-one per cent of the total number of

black women and girls were arrested and scheduled for appearances in Pittsburgh's Morals

Court.

Ten thousand persons both black and white appeared in the Morals Court annually,

 

3"The Informer contained information about the activities of the various PUL neighborhood

units devised to improve the quality of life in Pittsburgh’s black community. They were formed

on Whiteside Road, Stanton Heights, Lawrenceville, and Upland Street, to name a few. Some of

these units provided children’s activities such as Easter egg hunts and neighborhood “clean-

ups,” while others made garments for the city’s and indigents.

37Abraham L. Epstein, The Negro Migrant in Pittsburgh, (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1918),

p. 51. Epstein, a European immigrant, graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a BS.

degree in economics. He volunteered to study the city’s Negro migrants, the problems they

encountered adjusting to city life, and submitted the study to the proper agency.

38Henri, p. 123.

247

Table V.

The Number of Cases Referred to the Morals Court

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

1918-1926

DELINQUENT GIRLS

 

Year

White

Colored

Total

1918

129

33

162

 

1919

145

24

169

 

1920

143

36

179

 

1921

201

46

247

 

1922

179

36

215

 

1923

178

49

225

 

 

 

1924

1925

1926

 

173

189

13 1

 

61

39

42

 

234

228

173

 

 

 

Source: Report of the Morals Court Worker, 1926. AIS 81:11Urban League Papers of

Pittsburgh, Office Files, Morals Court, 1926, Box 10, FF 267, Hillman Library, University of

Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA.

The statistics clearly indicate that the number of white girls appearing before the

Morals Court judge nearly tripled those of the ‘colored’ girls. In several cases, the

numbers exceeded ‘colored’ girls four-fold. It is logical to deduce that crime rate of

Pittsburgh’s ‘colored’ girls was not as excessive as some scholars have implied. This,

however, did not diminish the need to use preventive measures by the Urban League or

the significance of the Morals Court worker to the court.

248

with approximately, 4,000 men and boys, and the remainder women and girls.39 Although

statistics do not reveal a breakdown of southern migrants included in these figures, Grace

Lowndes, spoke on their behalf. In 1924, she represented 1,033 black migrants in the Morals

Court. Forty of these cases involved persons under sixteen years of age; 121 from sixteen

to twenty-one; and 872 cases over the age of twenty-one."0 Approximately 240 other

migrants contacted Lowndes before their scheduled court hearings.

To prevent the

incarceration of the black migrant population, especially, black women, she directed them

to various Urban League programs including its women’s employment service.

Lowndes’ responsibilities went beyond the Morals Court. She prepared at least two

studies on black female migrants and black migrants in general. The first study which

concentrated on black female migrant employment was designed to “bring to light the

disadvantages they found in securing opportunities for work and job retention,” once

employment was obtained. Lowndes, in the completion of her task and as part of her

strategy, held interviews with white men and women who oversaw the work being done by

colored people, to get attitudes concerning Negro workers, and to correct those falsely held.‘I

Grace Lowndes also prepared a study of new migrant families into the Hill District

with emphasis on housing and rental costs. This information was one of the League's major

 

39“The Morals Court ofPittsburgh,” Vertical File, Morals Court, The Pennsylvania

Department, The Carnegie Institute of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA. This pamphlet was issued by

the Department of Women’s Work, a Division of the Pittsburgh Council of Churches in 1922.

The individuals appearing in the Morals Court were tried by a City magistrate.

40“The Urban League ofPittsburgh,” March 15, 1924, Volume 7, Number 1, p. 4.

"“Local Urban League Secretary Finishes First Year’s Work,” The Pittsburgh Courier,

June 9, 1926, p. 8.

249

Table VI.

The Number of Cases Referred to the Morals Court

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

1918-1926

DELINQUENT BOYS

Year

White

Colored

Total

 

1918

1,006

73

1,079

 

1919

871

94

965

 

1920

808

82

890

 

1921

924

130

1,054

 

1922

671

92

763

 

1923

770

105

875

 

 

1924

1925

1926

 

829

857

767

 

107

145

102

 

936

1,002

869

 

 

 

 

Source: Report of the Morals Court Worker, 1926. A18 81 :11 Urban League of Pittsburgh,

Office Files, Morals Court, Box 10, FF 267, Hillman Library, University of Pittsburgh,

Pittsburgh, PA.

As the above statistics show, the number of ‘colored’ boys who encountered the

Morals Court was minimal compared to those of white boys. They also reveal that the

number of reported cases involving colored boys never exceeded 145 whereas those for

white boys, in one instance, reached over 1,000. Perhaps the Pittsburgh Urban League’s

influence and recreational programs contributed to the smaller number of ‘colored’ boys

arrested.

250

concerns, because of the commonality of high rents for inadequate and dilapidated housing

charged by landlords. In July 1926, Lowndes was transferred from the Morals Court by the

League to general work among delinquent Negroes in Pittsburgh. Her new responsibilities

were to analyze the results of her court work, and study the causes contributing to Negro

delinquency.42

Solicitation of Donations

With some resolve to the problems of southern migrants including employment and

court representation, other difficulties had yet to be dealt with.

Sufficient clothing for

migrants during the northern winters was a grave concern of Urban League affiliates as well

as those with extenuating circumstances. In both cases, preparations had to be made. Few

white charities concerned themselves with blacks, because they were ofien established to

accommodate their own respective ethnic groups as Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn observed in

Black Neighbors: Race and Limits in the American Settlement Movement, 1890-1945,

(1993). So, League affiliates sought donations fiom the black commrmity. A New Jersey

affiliate solicited clothing for southern migrants.

Christina Jeffries, the PUL's intake clerk and financial secretary, planned and

executed the solicitation and distribution of donations. Jeffries, the daughter of Charles F.

Armistead, Esquire, and Harriet Clifton was born in Gallipolis, Ohio. She attended Ohio

 

“Miss Lowndes Will Make Special Survey of Local Social Problems of Groups,” The

Pittsburgh Courier, July 31, 1926, p. 7. Grace Lowndes, represented the PUL in the Morals

Court for eight years. In addition to redirecting the lives of migrants from criminal behavior, she

was also responsible for scrutinizing the manner in which they were treated in the Morals Court

and analyzing its court procedures.

251

State University and received a BS. degree in Business Administration and earned a MLD.

degree in Sociology from the University of Pittsburgh (1937). Christina Jeffries belonged

to the following organizations:

the American Association of University Women, the

American Sociological Society, a charter member of the National Association of Social

Workers, Alpha Kappa Sorority, Inc.; the Lemuel Chapter of the Eastern Star; the Aurora

Reading Club; the National Council of

Negro Women; the ‘colored’ YWCA; Camp Achievement's Board of Directors; the

Foreign Policy Association; and founder of the National Urban League’s Quarter Century

Club."3 She was also a member of the Bethel AME. Church.

Christina Jeffries, solicited donations of clothing from white businesses and

women's organizations throughout the city of Pittsburgh.

For example, she developed

an ongoing relationship with and successfully solicited children's garments from the

“Sisterhood of Rodef Shalom,” a Jewish women’s organization. In a letter to members of

this organization, Christina Jeffries wrote:

We are indeed gratefirl...for the children’s garments given us to distribute

among the needy and deserving Negro children. Three Negro families

having from two to eleven children have had their homes destroyed

loosing (sic) practically everything they possessed. We want to assure you

and other members that we will make the best possible use of all garments

given us for distribution.“

 

43“Christina Jeffries,” Who ’s Who in the Aurora Reading Club, Pittsburgh, PA, p. 11.

“Letter to Mrs. Marcus Rauh from Christina Jeffries, March 13, 1926. Archives of

Industrial Society, MSS 81 :11 Urban League Papers ofPittsburgh, Ofiice Files, General

Clothing, Donations, Box 6, FF 252. Hillman Library, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA.

Mrs. Rauh was chairperson of the Sisterhood of Rodef Shalom which made charitable donations

to the less fortunate individuals.

252

 

Ewe—d. an. 9.13:» 903.1%.

wa

The excessive needs of black migrants went beyond those of migrant children and

Christina Jeffries was committed and compelled to provide those social services critical to

the Urban League's existence. Southern migrants, many unaccustomed to wearing shoes in

their native South, found them a necessity in the urban North, because of inclement weather,

industrial employment, and in many service positions. Jeffiies sent a letter to Petty Bootery,

Incorporated which distributed annually, more than 1,000 pairs of repaired shoes requesting

a donation of the same. An excerpt from her letter of September 30, 1926, read:

On looking over our files, I find that we had the privilege of sharing

in the distribution of repaired shoes sent out by your establishment

during the winter. May we have the opportunity to distribute repaired

shoes to the needy along with other organizations which receive a

supply from you?”"5

On December 29, 1926, Petty Store officials notified Christina Jeffiies of Pittsburgh's

Urban League inquiring as to the number of shoes the agency could use and instructed her

to “call for the same on January 4, 1927?“ Jeffries responded by letter to Mr. D.F. Petty that

“we would like to have 100 pairs of women's shoes and 100 pairs of men's shoes?" Upon

 

“Letter to Petty ’s Booteryfrom Mrs. CE Jeffries, September 30, 1926, Archives of

Industrial Society, MSS 81: 1 1 Urban League ofPittsburgh Papers, Office Files, General

Clothing, Donations, Box 6, FF 252, Hillman Library, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA.

Petty’s Bootery was located in Jenkins Arcade, downtown Pittsburgh. On the comer of Penn

Avenue at Stanwix Street, Petty Bootery had an established a reputation as an exclusive retail

shop.

“In this same letter from Petty Bootery, the writer explained to Jeffries that the donation of

shoes would not include any for children, because it did not have a children’s department. The

men and women’s shoes were delivered by Petty Bootery to the PUL office on Wylie Avenue.

"Letterfrom Christina Jelfries to The Petty Bootery, Inc, Mr. D.F. Petty, December 30,

1926, AIS 81 :11 Urban League of Pittsburgh Papers, Office Files, General Clothing, Donations,

Box 6, FF 252. Hillman Library, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA.

254

successfully obtaining 200 pairs of repaired shoes, Jeffries and other black women of the

PUL distributed them to not only southern migrants, but needy blacks as well.

For example, Carl E. Southall of Menon Company Pocket Billiards, in a

communication to Christina Jeffiies, requested a pair of “repaired” shoes for an unemployed

gentleman: “I understand you have some repaired shoes for those that really need them. This

young man, George Keenan, 24 years old, needs them pretty bad. You will, if possible, look

after him.”"8 Petty Bootery, donated repaired shoes to the PUL "as a way of showing good

will for the New Year," and Christina Jeffries solicited these donations as a way of showing

her commitment to providing social services to the race.

For example, extenuating circumstances were also a factor in the solicitation of

donations for southern migrant women. An excerpt from the May 1919, Report of the Home

Economics Worker read:

Mrs. Birch, an aged widow of Birmingham, Ala (sic) came North

three weeks ago. A Negro man coming North from Mobile, Ala (sic)

was helping the old lady in changing trains and he walked off with

her suitcase which contained all of her clothes.

She arrived in

Pittsburgh almost penniless and without clothes.49

Situations like this were common and southern blacks soon came to realize the dangers of

city life and that northern blacks were, perhaps, not as trustworthy as southern blacks.

 

48Letter to Christina Jeffriesfrom Carl E. Southall (undated). Archives of Industrial Society

MSS 81 :1 1 Urban League ofPittsburgh Papers, Office Files, General Clothing, Donations, Box

6, FF 252. Hillman Library, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA.

”Report, Home Economics Worker, May,1919, p. 2. Archives of Industrial Society, MSS

81:11 Urban League ofPittsburgh Papers, Box 3, FF 137. Hillman Library, University of

Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA.

255

Jeffries and the League took exception to such criminal behavior, but their challenge was to

supply Mrs. Birch with other clothing, because it was highly unlikely that her suitcase would

be returned.

Margaret Mann: Urban Living

While little is known about Margaret Mann, she was a well-trained worker in the

basic principles of homemaking. Appointed December 16, 1919, she became the Pittsburgh

Urban Leagues's Home Economics worker and Mann's task was “to make living conditions

better for the poorer element of black people, especially, those who have recently, come from

the South.”50 Mann's work was conducted in neglected neighborhoods including the Hill

District, Soho, Manchester, Lawrenceville, and the Second Avenue District, where most of

the southern migrant families had crowded into already densely populated Negro homes. For

example, 250 homes housed 1,203 persons with sixty per cent including children in the

household.5 ' Using black neighborhood facilities such as, churches and social centers, Mann

organized weekly “get togethers” with migrant women to provide them an opportunity to

dialogue, discuss various problems in their adjustment to city life, and build cordial

 

”The finances of the PUL frequently had a “drought-like” quality, so Mann’s salary was

assumed by the Council of National Defense. Mann’s first task was to find ways to reduce the

high cost of living among the migrant population. One of the ways she sought to accomplish this

goal, was to teach migrant women food conservation and preparation. The Home Economics

Report of February 1919, revealed that Margaret Mann surveyed 1400 migrant homes in eight

months engaging migrant women. In addition to Mann’s appointment, was the Home Economics

Committee comprised of Mrs. Helen G. Tyson, chairperson; Mrs. Dudley Pendleton; and Mrs.

William Neale. Its responsibility was to work in conjunction with Margaret Mann and John T.

Clark in planning the work of the Home Economics Department for the upcoming year.

5|Edmunds, p. 42.

256

relationships with their neighbors.

In building these relationships, migrant women were able to resolve problems on their

own, especially, those who worked outside the home. For example, the children of migrant

women often played in the city's dangerous streets where horse drawn wagons were

sometimes driven at excessive speeds, instead ofnearby playgrounds. This non-usage of city

playgrounds may have been the result of black migrants being accustomed to open spaces

for recreation in the South. Mann responded by organizing a group of southern migrant

women who volunteered to supervise the children, and ensure their safe arrival to the

playground and return home. Mrs. Denning of the Second Avenue District, situated in an

area with a nearby steel mill, volunteered to “superintend” the work of the recreation

committee.52

As part of the urbanization process, Margaret Mann, served as a transition guide,

teaching black female migrants the rudiments of urban living.

During the organized

meetings, they were instructed in the use and conservation of gas and electricity, saving a

part of the man’s earnings, making use of public facilities such as, libraries and night

schools, and purchasing and preparing cheap cuts of meat.53 Mann also warned black women

against salesmen from credit houses and fake insurance men, because “crooks of all kinds

 

”Report, Home Economics Worker, May 1919, Archives of Industrial Society, MSS 81 :1 1

Urban League Papers ofPittsburgh Papers, Box 3, FF 137. Hillman Library, University of

Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA.

”Committee on Home and Community Work, March 3, 1926. Archives of Industrial

Society, MSS 81 :11 Urban League Papers ofPittsburgh Papers, Minutes of the Executive Board

Meeting, Box 2, FF 52. Hillman Library, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA. Daisy

Larnpkin was chairperson of this committee and Mrs. H.H. Kennedy, vice chairperson. The

purpose of the committee was to supervise the work and make suggestions to the Home

Economics Department and Morals Court of which they were active participants.

257

searched for this ignorant and easy prey.” The strategies Margaret Mann used in the

transition of black female migrants to urban living offered some relief and understanding to

the adj ustrnents needed made.

Grace Lowndes' experience as the Morals Court Worker may have been an asset to

Mann in dealing with familial problems of migrant women. Her familiarity with the courts

enabled Margaret Mann to use the judicial system to assist migrant women experiencing

family problems. In 1920, a migrant wife asked for assistance when her husband deserted

her and her children: “...a warrant was gotten out for the man, but he continually changed his

place of employment to keep his wife from locating him and never let her know he where

lodged. He was finally caught at the home of his wife and the Court ordered him to pay $10

per week to his family.”54

A Report of September 1925, revealed a similar case:

A mother and father separated, two girls ages 9 and 14. All expenses

[were] left on [the] woman---[the] rent was $65 per month. Roomers

were brought in to pay rent and other expenses. She did general

house work and left her children with the roomers; one roomer 40

years of age and married became intimate with her 14 year old girl

and she was 4 1/2 months pregnant.”

Margaret Mann referred the case to the Children's Service Bureau and, subsequently, the

roomer left town and a warrant was issued to the father for child support. This incident

 

5"Report of the Home Economics Worker, July 20, 1920, p. 2. Archives of Industrial

Society, MSS 81:11 Urban League ofPittsburgh Papers, Box 3, FF 137. Hillman Library,

University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA. In this particular case, there were two children

involved, ages two and four.

55Report of the Home Economics Worker, September 1925, p. 1-2. Archives of Industrial

Society MSS 81:11 Urban League ofPittsburgh Papers, Box 3, FF 137, Pittsburgh, PA. The

young migrant girl in question, subsequently, had a miscarriage.

258

 

Figure. 32.

Margaret Mann

259

reflected the danger of taking in roomers and the devastation of black family life brought

on by the migration.

Jeannette Washington and Dr. Marie 8. Kinner and Black Health

While black women across the United States worked diligently to uplift the race,

many worked at solving the multitude of problems created by the Great Migration. One of

the most disheartening and complex problems among black migrants was poor health as

increasing southern migrant populations contributed to overcrowdedness, poor health, and

sanitary conditions which led to contagious and other diseases. The need for medical care

was at a premium in the black community and black women“ shouldered the responsibility

for nurturing and caring for the health and well-being of both the family and community.”

Black women sponsored projects which reflected the needs ofblack people arising from local

conditions, particularly, the education and care of the sick.

In Pittsburgh, tuberculosis spread at an alarming rate and accounted for over half of

all deaths among blacks; pneumonia deaths escalated by nearly 200 per cent in 1917; and for

every 100 children born, 148 persons died.“ From 1920-1925, the infant mortality rate

decreased from 180 per thousand to 132 per thousand.57 Pittsburgh's black women faced the

 

5"Henri, p. 149. This author says that the above mentioned diseases were the culprit of more

than half the deaths in at least three of the largest migratory cities: Philadelphia, Cleveland, and

Pittsburgh. Scholars of this period agree that the factors attributing to disease were inadequate

food, insufficient clothing, unsanitary conditions, poor diet, and a lack of rest. In some cases,

had medical treatment been sought by black migrants, perhaps the inevitable could have been

prevented. It stands to reason, however, that segregation in the South erased any thoughts of

black southemers going to the hospital.

The same discriminatory practices, weaseled their way to northern white hospitals.

”Stevenson, p. 104.

260

diffith task of finding ways to combat poor health among the city's blacks that crippled and

killed them, and was often the cause of an increase in juvenile delinquency. Parents, because

of illnesses, were unable to supervise their children and, in cases of death, migrant children

were sometimes orphaned. They included nutritional and infant care demonstrations, health

exhibits, participation in National Negro Health Week, and clinics for children.

Black health care professionals existed in Pittsburgh, but black female health care

professionals were almost unheard of. This city's black community consisted of two black

female health care professionals of whom assisted the Urban League in improving black

health: Ms. Jeannette Washington and Marie S. Kinner. Jeannette Washington became the

Pittsburgh's first black Public Health Nurse September 1, 1922. She received her license as

a Registered Nurse from Mercy-Douglass Hospital School of Nursing in Philadelphia, the

only institution in Pennsylvania where young black women could receive training in nursing

education.’9 During this period, black women, because of racial discrimination, were barred

from admittance to white nursing schools, and employment in white hospitals. Moreover,

they were not allowed to provide for white patients. Between 1910-1920, “black women

constituted less than three per cent of trained nurses” and Pittsburgh was fortunate in having

one to care for its black community. According to Darlene Clark Hine, public health nurses

provided a great deal of the medical care administered to migrant women.

In addition to Jeannette Washington, was Dr. Marie S. Kinner, a native Pittsburgher

 

”Edmunds, p. 59; David McBride, Integrating Medicine: Blacks in Philadelphia Health

Care, 1910-1965, (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1989), p. 20. Ms. Washington may

have graduated from Mercy or Douglass Hospital Training School for Nurses, but not Mercy-

Douglass, because the two hospitals did not merge until the mid-20th century. See Darlene Clark

Hine, Black Women in White: Racial Conflict and Cooperation in the Nursing Profession,

1890-1950, (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1990), p. 26-27; David McBride, p. 156.

261

and graduate of Howard University Medical School. After completing her residency at

Mercy Hospital in Philadelphia, she was one of seven African Americans, and the only black

female to pass the Pennsylvania Medical Board examination in 1922.60 Pittsburgh's white

medical community had already refused to acknowledge the city’s black male physicians,

because of racial discrimination. But, Dr. Kinner became the first black medical practitioner

in the city and was, for the most part, ignored by both the city's black and white physicians.

Like Washington, Kinner, was barred from working in white hospitals and caring for white

patients, but remained dedicated to serving the race. Dr. Kinner, who stated, “I want to

devote my life to the study and practice of medicine and rejuvenate the old, strengthen the

weak, and administer to the suffering.” She subsequently, opened clinics on the North Side

and in the Hill District where substantial numbers of blacks resided to begin a prosperous

and self-fulfilling career in medicine.61

The expertise of Jeannette Washington and Dr. Marie S. Kinner made a difference

in the lives and health of Pittsburgh's black community. They organized and participated in

 

“”‘Pittsburgh’s New Physician,” The Pittsburgh Competitor, 3 (May 1921), p. 34. When

Kinner took the Pennsylvania Medical Board Examination, she was also one of seventy

candidates and sixty-three were white. Prior to returning to her hometown, Marie Kinner was

employed as a medical advisor to a children’s clinic in Philadelphia’s black community. By the

time Kinner received her medical license, she was one of few practicing black female physicians.

In 1920, for example, there were only sixty-five black female doctors. For more information on

black female physicians see Hine, “Nineteenth Century Physicians,”pp- 923-924; and Vanessa

Gamble, “Twentieth Century Physicians,” pp. 926-928, in Black Women in the United States :

An Historical Encyclopedia, ed. Darlene Clark Hine, (New York: Carlson Publishing

Company, 1990).

“Pittsburgh’s New Physician, p. 34. Office hours for Kinner’s Northside office located at

1406 Boyle Street, were 11:00 a.m.-1:00 pm. and 6:00 p.m.-8:OO pm. The remaining hours of

Dr. Kinner’s workday were probably spent in her Hill District office and volunteering for

community health care activities.

262

 

 

Figure. 33.

Dr. Marie 8. Kinner

263

the following health related activities: (1) clinics for babies, Negro women and children,

(2) health screenings, and (3) health campaigns throughout Pittsburgh's black community.

The fruits of their labor relative to preventive health care measures had a positive impact on

the black community. For example, additional clinics for Negro women and children were

created and subsequent reports indicated that attendance increased threefold in three years.

Both women assisted the Urban League in successfully conducting health campaigns, baby

shows, and health screenings throughout Pittsburgh’s black community.

Leaders and medical personnel in migratory cities made organized efforts to deal with

the health problems ofmigrants. In Philadelphia, for example, the Migration Committee was

established by the Philadelphia Armstrong Association, to attack social and health problems

stemming from heavy migration.” Similar organizational activities occurred in Pittsburgh.

Dr. Kinner, in conjunction with various black community groups, conducted health

demonstrations and lectured to several groups on health care and healthy diets. During one

the health campaign of April 1931, pastors of thirty-one black churches preached on the

seriousness of black health."3

As the message of good health quickly spread throughout the city, Jeannette

Washington, Dr. Marie S. Kinner, and Christina Jeffries, organized the annual observance

of National Negro Health Week, June 16-23, 1935. Under the auspices of the National

 

62Edmunds, p. 60.

63“Negro Health Carrrpaign,” AIS 81 :11 Urban League of Pittsburgh Papers, Office Files,

History, 1917-1929, Box 5, FF 235. Hilhnan Library, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA.

David McBride, p. 57. During this important event, an estimated 20,000 pieces of health-related

literature provided by the federal government, Pittsburgh’s city government, and Metropolitan

Insurance Company, was distributed. The efforts of these three entities signified a serious

mission to combat the health problems of Pittsburgh’s black community.

264

Association of College Women, Pittsburgh Chapter, two nutritional exhibits were displayed

and supervised by the Public Health Nursing Association of Pittsburgh. The purpose of these

exhibits held at Macedonia Baptist Church and the Homewood Library was twofold: (1) to

acquaint black women with the proper foods and food values for their families, and (2) to

explain the nutritional exhibits to black women which were held in connection with the well-

baby clinics.“ Black female health care professionals and black organizations continued

to deal extensively with the problem of poor health among Negroes.

Georgine Pearce: Education

In the South, few or no laws existed mandating school attendance for colored

children, so many of them did not attend school. school attendance of southern children: (1)

they had to work in the fields, (2) southern black communities had no schools, and (3)

communities could rarely afford to purchase adequate school supplies or hire a black teacher.

This was not characteristic of all southern black rural communities which sometimes

established schools with minimal instruction in black churches. Much of this behavior

continued in the North where citizens were mandated by state laws to send their children to

school on a regular basis, a law to which many southern migrants did not adhere.

 

6"Report of the Nutritional Demonstration, June 20-29, 1935, AIS 81 :1 1 Urban League of

Pittsburgh Papers, National Negro Health Movement, Box 5, FF 330. Hillman Library,

University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA. Given the high death rate among black babies, dietary

information was provided for expectant mothers. The significance of iron and vitamin-intake

were also included during the health campaign lectures. Approximately 75 mothers were in

attendance at the Macedonia Baptist Church affair where church members Ms. Washington, Ms.

Durstine, Ms. Birk, Ms. Gordon and Ms. Mason assisted. Ms. Sullivan, Ms. Bryan, Ms. Alten

and Ms. Kegrice volunteered at Homewood Library where 45 women participated in this health

care activity.

265

Georgine Pearce was hired by the Pittsburgh Urban League as its Home and School

Visitor on February 1, 1923.65 Pearce, a native Pittsburgher and daughter of George and

Mollie Goines Pearce, graduated from the Pittsburgh Training School for Teachers in June,

1920. She was a charter member of the Bethesda Presbyterian Church and a Sunday School

teacher; a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.; the Junior So-Re-Lit Club; the

Women's Auxiliary of Lincoln University; and the first ‘colored’ visiting teacher in

Pittsburgh working through the Urban League.‘36

Pearce, however, was not Pittsburgh’s first black Home and School Visitor as the

following quote revealed:

I beg to state to the public and friends that I am prosecuting the duty

assigned to me by them as school visitor of the Fifth Ward to the best

of knowledge and ability. The day of hope and success of the race is

gradually moving eastward.

I now appeal to the parents and

guardians to take a deeper interest in their children by seeing to it that

they attend schools regularly and dutifully as our future depends

largely upon the percent."7

This communication was from William H. Thompson who was probably the first Home and

School Visitor. However, the idea of such important work regarding the serious need for the

education of black children, perhaps set the tone for migrant children during the World War

I era.

 

65“Urban League ofPimburgh, March 15, 1924, p. 3. Archives of Industrial Society, MSS

81 :11 Urban League ofPittsburgh Papers, Box 6, FF 240, Hillman Library, University of

Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA.

“’“Georgine Pearce,” Who ’s Who in the Aurora Reading Club, p. 1 1.

67“School Visitor Doing Good Work For the Negroes,” The Pittsburgh Courier, May 11,

1912, p. 1.

266

The purpose of the Pittsburgh Urban League’s Home and School Visitor was to serve

as the connecting link between the home and school and interpreter in the absence of Negro

teachers in the Pittsburgh Public Schools."8 On a weekly basis, Pearce, visited five of the

city's schools with the highest percentage of black children, in addition, to fourteen other

schools with smaller populations of black students. As the Home and School Visitor,

Georgine Pearce, worked diligently to correct the problems experienced by black school

children, particularly, migrant children. The number of colored children in ten Hill District

schools increased an average of forty per cent and, in one school, seventy-six per cent within

ten months.‘59

Pearce also built relationships with school principals and teachers who

recognized the outstanding social work conducted. As a result they systemically notified the

League when the difficulties of migrant children emerged. She successfully handled cases

relating to (1) poor scholarship, (2) chronic tardiness, 93) irregular attendance, and (4)

disciplinary problems.70 According to Urban League officials, the causes were indicative of

a “serious lack of cooperation on the part of the parents and children leaving home with a

chip on their shoulder.”7| In 1923 alone, Georgine Pearce, had disseminated 467 cases and

made 606 home visits in connection with them.

 

“Stevenson, p. 90.

(”Abraham L. Epstein, p. 26.

7"“Urban League of Pimburgh,” March 15, 1924, p. 4. Archives of Industrial Society, MSS

81 :11 Urban League ofPittsburgh Papers, Office Files, 1918-1924, Box 6, FF 240. Hillman

Library, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA. Migrant children were not accustomed to such

a structured educational system. F lorette Henri says they were “accustomed to brief sessions, lax

attendance rules, and disorder.”

"Ibid, p. 4.

267

Her role in the urbanization of black migrant women was to explain the importance

of education and school attendance. While some many migrant children consistently went

to school, others did not. In northern cities, large numbers of school-aged migrant children

who should have been in school, were working to help support their families or supplement

the family income. One of the secondary reasons black southemers migrated North was for

the education of their children. But, it is important to mention that not all migrant women

favored Pittsburgh's educational system. For example, Mrs. Cook stated, “I do not like the

schools of the North, they do not teach much, but dancing and singing. [My] children do not

learn anything here and [I] expect to send them back to Alabama in the Fall.”72 Nonetheless,

Pearce was committed to increasing the school attendance of black children.

The fact that Pearce had been "locked" out of the Pittsburgh Public School system,

because of its discriminatory policy barring qualified black teachers fi'om its schools, did not

crush her spirit. She found creative ways in which to practice her profession. Georgine

Pearce's leadership and initiative concerning the education of black children included those

with disabilities and high school students needing guidance and counseling. For example,

a hearing impaired elementary school student remained in first grade for six semesters and,

Pearce successfully enrolled her in the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf.

Interested in the future of black high school students, Pearce solicited scholarships

from the Lucy Stone Civic League for her clients. Pearce also used the Pittsburgh Urban

 

72Report of the Home Economics Worker, May 1919, p. 2. Archives of Industrial Society,

MSS 81:11 Urban League ofPittsburgh Papers, Box 3, FF 137. Hillman Library, University of

Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA.

268

 

Figure. 34.

Georgine Pearce

269

League office to counsel migrant children with adjustment problems and to tutor young

people who needed additional help with their studies. These activities represented several

ways in which Georgine Pearce helped to ease the transition of southern migrant women to

city life in Pittsburgh.

Conclusion

Five black women: Elizabeth Elliott, Margaret Mann, Grace Lowndes, Christina

Jeffiies, and Georgine Pearce; and two volunteers, Jeannette Washington, RN. and Dr.

Marie S. Kinner, urbanized the population of black female migrants in Pittsburgh,

Pennsylvania. Their leadership and guidance in the transition from rural to urban life

involved solid organization, careful planning, execution of programs, and the development

of strategies. Focusing on home economics, education, employment, recreation, health, and

crime intervention and prevention, they were able to ease much of the heavy burden of

adjustment for migrant women, largely by “pounding the pavement” performing home and

school visitation. They also prepared studies to better understand the migrant problem and

satisfy employers. After all, “migrants were in a place where many had never known want

or deprivation having come North from South where food was never a problem and eviction

unknown.”73

The black women volunteers and employees of the Pittsburgh Urban League played

three roles in the urbanization process: (1) as “bridge builders” allowing southern migrant

 

73Annual Report of the Home Economics Worker (undated). AIS 81 :1 1 Urban

League of Pittsburgh Papers, Box 3, FF 137. Hillman Library, University of Pittsburgh,

Pittsburgh, PA.

270

women to cross over to northern life, (2) as “chain-makers” linking them together to create

a support system of their own, and (3) “gatekeepers” in helping them to maintain control

over their families. The writer is by no means implying that black women employed by the

Pittsburgh Urban League solved all problems facing black female migrants, because that is

certainly not the case.

For example, were unable to assist a migrant woman with employment, because she

was an elderly woman with only one arm. But, an attempt was made to send her back to

Alabama. Pearce was adamant about school attendance and, although all mothers ofmigrant

children did not advocate education, the works of Abraham Epstein and Alexander Pitler tell

us that enrollment in Hill District schools experienced a substantial increase between 1917-

1929. Grace Lowndes did not resolve the problems of all southern migrants appearing in the

Morals Court, but the Judge noticed a significant decrease in the number of cases involving

migrants and expressed his disdain when the Urban League discontinued its services in the

court. Furthermore, not all migrant women changed their southern ways concerning the use

of electricity instead of kerosene or gas instead of coal, but many of them did, in fact, make

the transition.

Public Health Nurse, Jeannette Washington and Dr. Marie S. Kinner were just as

valuable to the Pittsburgh Urban League as the other five black women in the adjustment of

migrant women. As with the "colored" YWCA, they engaged in activities to reduce infant

mortality and encouraged better health among rrrigrant women through various kinds of

clinics and health lectures.

Although neither woman could obtain employment in

Pittsburgh's numerous hospitals, because of racial discrimination, like most other black

271

health care professionals, they were dedicated to serving the race.

In all of their hard work as employees and volunteers of the Pittsburgh Urban League,

these black women were victims of sexism within the League. Christina Jeffries, assistant

to John T. Clark since the onset of this local affiliate, was appointed acting executive

secretary when he relocated to St. Louis, Missouri. She held this position from 1926-1927,

when Alonzo Thayer, former Industrial Investigator of the Chicago Commission on Race

Relations and Civic and industrial Secretary of the Chicago Urban League, was retained. In

spite of her education and experience in the League, gender was apparently the issue. This

was prime example of what Patricia Morton points out in her book, Disfigured Images: A

Historical Assault on Afro-American Women, (1991) dealing with the myths or disfigured

images held by whites and black men. In Jeffries’ case, the myth was that black women were

incapable of effectively leading an affiliate of a national organization. For Jeffries, a

permanent appointment as executive director would never become a reality.

From 1918-1930, the Pittsburgh Urban League had five male presidents and three

male executive directors. When John T. Clark established the Pittsburgh office, two black

males were hired. Subsequently, five exceptionally qualified black women were employed

who immediately set out to implement the programs designed to help southern migrant

women in the urbanization process. Although they were not acceptable as managers nor

provided an opportunity for advancement, their deeds in contributing to the success of the

Pittsburgh Urban League, the relationships they developed with black female migrants, the

fact that they fought white YWCA women “tooth and nail” in defining the needs of the black

community and for control over the Colored YWCA, have not gone unnoticed.

272

Chapter 5

Helping Me to Help Myself: Black Institution-Building

Pittsburgh’s black club women made great contributions to sustain the black

community as the previous chapter has shown. Still, the needs of black Pittsburghers

remained unmet. The continuity of the black migration to the city and segregation triggered

and influenced a market for black institutions and social welfare organizations. Some of

these institutions were maintained solely by blacks and others by whites. However, social

welfare agencies, financial institutions, homes for the aged and working girls, orphanages,

and hospitals founded and supported by blacks flourished in urban northern communities,

especially, between 1900-1920. While little surplus among blacks could be channeled into

philanthropic and charitable undertakings, blacks were devoted to helping the unfortunate

and underprivileged.‘ Furthermore, the largest hope for the ultimate rise of the Negro lied

in the mastery of social organized life.

In this "search for order" in Pittsburgh’s black community, three types of social

service institutions were established: those owned and maintained by whites for whites;

those owned and operated by blacks for blacks; and those organized by whites for blacks.

This chapter concentrates on nine institutions founded by blacks between 1894-1921: the

Home for Aged and Infirm Colored Women; the Ella Grayson Home for Working Colored

Girls; the Beulah Rescue Mission; the Coleman Industrial Home for Colored Boys; the Davis

 

lWEB. DuBois, The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study, Philadelphia: University of

Philadelphia, 1899, p.

540.

273

Home for Colored Children; the Fairfax Baby Home; Livingstone Memorial Hospital; and

the Steel City and Modern State Banks. Also included are two institutions established by

whites, but for the welfare of blacks: the Young Men’s Christian Association and Kay

Community Club.

I argue that blacks who founded these institutions clearly took the

initiative toward self-help. And, despite the criticisms of many white Pittsburgh social

service agencies that blacks were not doing enough to help themselves, and several black

social workers blaming black professionals and businessmen for "giving little to welfare

work among his own kind," Pittsburgh’s black institution-builders struggled to improve the

condition of the underprivileged.

Home for Aged and Infirm Colored Women

After the Civil War, many of the black women who migrated to Pittsburgh were

former slaves, children wandered without parents or had parents unable to properly care for

them. Sympathetic blacks nationwide began to establish various kinds of institutions. For

example, in Cleveland a Home for Aged and Infirm Colored People founded 1893; in

Philadelphia, William Still, organized a Home for Aged Colored Persons in 1896; and a

group of black women in Chicago opened a Home for Aged and Infirm Colored People in

1898.2 The establishment of this type of home became common in black communities

 

2 Kenneth Kusmer, A Ghetto Takes Shape, Black Cleveland, 1870-1930, (Illinois:

University of Illinois Press, 1976), p. 148; Lane Rogers, William Dorsey’s Philadelphia and

Ours: 0n the Past and Future of the Black City in America, (New York: Oxford University

Press, 1991), p. 296; Allan Spear, Black Chicago: The Making of a Negro Ghetto, 1890-I920,

(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1967), p. 102.

274

during the early 20th century.

Black Pittsburgh's first secular institution founded after the Civil War was the Home

for the Aged and Infirm Colored Women. The Home was founded by Mary Peck, born

February 22, 1837 in Carlisle, Pennsylvania to the Reverend John and Sarah Peck.3 She

later, married James H. Bond of Philadelphia. Mary Peck Bond with four fiiends,

established the Home for the Aged and Infirm Colored Women in 1884, when an elderly

black woman was found living in dilapidated housing. They made provisions for her and

during the Spring of 1884, held a fimdraiser grossing an estimated $900 which was used as

a down payment for a nine-room house on LaPlace Street.4

From the onset, the Home for Aged and Infirm Colored Women, a place of comfort

for the aged, was conducted entirely by "colored" people. In 1894, it had fourteen residents

in its care which created a dire need for additional space prompting the officers to purchase

a larger structure on Lemington Avenue, East End.’ By 1912, it housed thirty-four elderly

and destitute black women between fifty and ninety years old. The Home, incorporated in

1885, contained two beds in each room and became black Pittsburgh's "family of old

 

3 “Founder ofAged Women ’s Home Answers Call of Great Reaper,” The Pittsburgh

Courier, November 6, 1926, p. 9.

’ The Pittsburgh Courier, November 6, 1926, p. 9; Bond’s four friends were: Nancy

Williams, Mrs. James Johnson, Jane Grandison, and Mrs. Samuel Golden.

5The officers of the Home for Aged and Infirm Colored Women were: Jane Grandison,

president; Sarah Dorsey, vice president; Josephine Gatewood, 2nd vice president; George B.

Knok, treasurer; Daniel Dorsey, financial secretary; and Mary Moseby, recording secretary.

275

women."6

Financing black institutions became the burden of all facets of Pittsburgh's black

community many of whom contributed whatever they had, but it seemed never enough.

Forrester B. Washington, wrote that "Negroes of means, the professional classes, and the

intelligentsia were still selfishly individualistic," and partly responsible for the financial woes

of black institutions.7 Ofientimes, the meager ftmds donated by blacks to maintain their

institutions were accompanied by grants from government agencies.

For example, the State of Pennsylvania began to appropriate funds ranging from

$1,000-$1,500 annually since 1891 , for the maintenance of the Home for Aged and Infirm

Colored Women.8 Assistance from the State, however, was not limited to black social

welfare institutions, but also available to white institutions as well.9 To further support the

Home, the officers sponsored a number of fund-raisers throughout the year. In 1912, they

held dinners and Donation Days and accepted contributions from the city’s various black

 

6 “Let Everyone Help This Most Worthy Charity: The Annual Fair and Dinnerfor

Benefit of the Home for Aged and Infirm Colored Women,” The Pittsburgh Courier, April 27,

1912, p. 1.

7 Forrester B. Washington, “Professional Men Give Almost Nothing to Poor And

Needy, Claim,” The Pittsburgh Courier, March 31, 1928, p. 5. Washington, extremely

critical of Pittsburgh’s black middle-class and its unwillingness to do all it could to

minimize the financial burdens of maintaining the city’s black institutions did not hinder

the efforts of those individuals who “made do.”

8 Sarah H. Killikelly, The History of Pittsburgh: Its Rise and Progress, (Pittsburgh:

B.C. Gordon Montgomery Company, 1906), p. 406.

9 Some of Pittsburgh’s white social welfare institutions reaping benefits from the State of

Pennsylvania were the Home for Orphans; the Curtis Home for Destitute Women and Girls; the

Protestant Orphan Asylum; and the Pittsburgh Newsboys Home.

276

women’s clubs and strangers alike. In 1925, Mrs. Florence McKee of Bellevue bequeathed

$1,000 from her estate to the Home for Aged and Infirrn Colored Women.lo Despite the

efforts of the Home's officers, it often suffered cash flow shortages and unable to pay the

staff, but the Home continued to operate with help from whomever and wherever it was

available as did the Ella Grayson Home.

Ella Grayson Home

Black women in northern urban communities, particularly, those from the South,

were exposed to employment opportunities away from the farm, but without a decent place

to live. The first home for working colored girls in Pittsburgh was founded by Ella Grayson

and named in her honor. Born Ella Carter, she married William Grayson when she reached

adulthood and became the mother oftwo daughters. Grayson, a prominent member ofBethel

A.ME. Church, its Stewardess Board, and Auxiliary #98 of the S. of V.

Ella Grayson initially began as an employment office for young girls and while in

the business, she recognized the need for a working girls home. ”

In 1903, Grayson

established a Home for Working Colored Girls in a ten-room frame house on Francis Street,

Hill District. The purpose of the Ella Grayson Home was to offer a respectable atmosphere

 

'0 “Aged Women ’s Home is Bequeathed Part of $105, 000 Estate,” The Pittsburgh

Courier, April 25, 1925, p. 1.

ll“Mrs. Ella Grayson Died At Her Home, “ The Pittsburgh Courier, October 11, 1912,

p. 1.

277

to underprivileged colored girls and women having a small job. ‘2 Similar to the White Rose

Working Girls Home in New York (1897), the Grayson Home was designed to rescue black

female migrants who were taken advantage ofby "unsuspecting profiteers and unscrupulous

labor agen ."

The Ella Grayson Home for Working Colored Girls was largely supported by black

women's clubs of the city as were other black charitable institutions. Two of its major

contributors were the Frances E.W. Harper League and the Lucy Stone Suffrage League

which made regular contributions to the Home. A group ofyoung women not affiliated with

the NACW also provided financial support to the Grayson Home. The Young Women’s

Civic League organized to aid in the philanthropic and welfare work among the needy of the

race held a benefit for the Home.13 The proceeds were used to furnish a room in the Ella

Grayson Home.

Unlike Victoria Earl Matthew's program whose agents met black women and girls at

depots and train stations, escorted them to the Home; and provided them with training; safe

housing; and job placement; the Grayson Home employed a matron who accepted and

dispatched black women to jobs. The Grayson Home which had a capacity of fifteen,

 

'2 Ira De Reid, Social Conditions of the Negro in The Hill District of Pittsburgh,

(Pittsburgh: General Committee on the Hill Survey, 1930), p. 110.

'3“ Young Women ’s Civic League Hostesses To Initial Benefit Tea At Ella Grayson

Home, The Pittsburgh Courier, February 10, 1934, p. 1. Members of this organization were:

Lena Wood; Marian Grimes; Theresa Moon; Andrea Willman; Thelma Hopson; Mary Wylie;

Edith Dougan; Helen Phillips; Edith Carpenter; May Kinckle; Helen Matthews; Margaret Marr;

Eleanor Burton; Dorothy Arnold; Bernice Leftridge; and Myrdene Eddings. The benefit

included musical entertainment by Helen Brown Fowler and Raymond Walls. Sadie Black

Hamilton was mistress of ceremonies and Alma Thompson read the history of the Ella Grayson

Home. Guest made voluntary donations for this viable institution.

278

charged a fee of $2.50 per week for accommodations. There were no single rooms available,

usually three to four persons to a room, and the Home was always filled to capacity. “ When

space was available, it often accepted homeless women.

The Beulah Rescue Home

Homes for black women and girls were prevalent in northern urban communities,

because numerous social welfare institutions were continuously established on their behalf.

In Pittsburgh, Beulah Ella Mason, born February 10, 1873, in Caroline County, Virginia,

organized the Beulah Home for Destitute Women and Girls. The wife of William Mason,

she was a member of Good Hope Baptist Church, and for seven years, the traveling directress

of the Woman's Auxiliary of the Union Baptist Association. '5 Beulah Mason also organized

a Baptist church in Oakrnont where she conducted church services until a minister was called

and at least three funerals.

While there were no existing records on the Beulah Home, other evidence suggests that

Beulah Mason, the home’s matron, started the institution at her Beltzhoover residence with

her husband’s assistance. During its first year, the Beulah Home provided for twelve black

girls and assisted 35 persons outside the Home. With the purpose of "rescuing" black

 

'4 Anne Rylance Smith, A Study ofNegro Girls, Made for the Central YWCA,

Pittsburgh, PA 1925, p. 74; Ira De Reid, p. 110. This particular study focuses on recreation,

housing, employment, and church participation in relationship to Negro girls. It is a

detailed study and one that is viable on the subject of Pittsburgh’s Negro girls and

women.

'5 “Beulah Ella Mason,” The Pittsburgh Courier, May 18. 191 l, p. 5-

279

women and girls, she focused her attention on those having financial difficulties, southern

migrants, unwed mothers, ex-convicts, and working mothers. Beulah stated, "a man may get

out of work and can’t find anything, his land lord (sic) puts him out, and his wife and

children have nowhere to go," so I provide for them "until they can help themselves again."

For southern migrants arriving in Pittsburgh unable to locate relatives, the Traveler’s Aid

Society made referrals to the Beulah Home for lodging.

Mason also accommodated unwed mothers until the babies were adopted or they were

able to assume full responsibility for all parties involved, and often sought employment

opportunities for them. She did not discriminate against anyone as Mason helped an ex-

convict after eight years of incarceration. The woman located Mrs. Mason who "found her

a job and helped her get straigh ." The woman is now married and doing well in Ohio.'6 In

addition, Mason operated a day nursery in the Beulah Home to provide for the needs of

working mothers.

Dependent upon support from Pittsburgh's black women's clubs, juvenile court, church

organizations, and white philanthropists, the Beulah Home managed to survive. The only

home of its kind in the city for black women and girls, it was geared toward moral, mental,

and domestic training. It must also be pointed out that the Beulah Home was different from

other black institutions servicing women in that it accepted black women from all walks of

life. It was, however, similar to the (white) Bethesda Home (1890) established for the care

Destitute women and Girls (1893) which provided for white women when their husbands

 

'6 “Pittsburgh Social Workers Readily Endorse Courier ’s Welfare Emergency

Appeal,” The Pittsburgh Courier, November 24, 1923, p. 1, 6.

280

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281

or fathers were unemployed, causing women and girls to become destitute.l7

The Beulah Home for Destitute Women and Girls was often criticized by white social

workers who deemed it unfit for habitation, because of its close living quarters, coupled by

dinginess, insufficient space, and dampness. Even amidst such negative criticisms, the Home

remained open and continued to be a fortress of refuge for homeless black women. Also, the

Social Welfare Department of Allegheny County, a major critic of the Beulah Home,

hesitated to close it, because few black institutions of this kind existed and similar white

institutions refused to accept black women and girls. In 1924, the Home relocated to 211

Erin Street, Hill District and by 1929, it was estimated to have provided for 1200 women and

children.‘8

Institutions for Black Children

Black children, like the elderly, were the most vulnerable and fragile members of the

race. Unable to care for themselves, sometimes delinquent, and frequently orphaned, every

community had its share of child-related problems. Numerous homes for children were

established in Pittsburgh by prominent whites, especially, for white children. They included

the Protestant Orphan Asylum (1833), the Pittsburgh Newsboys Home (1887), the Baptist

 

'7 Samuel Church Harden, A Short History ofPittsburgh, 175 8- 1908, (New York: The

De Vinne Press, 1908), p. 48. Killikelly, p. 405.

'8 “Pittsburgh Social Workers Readily Endorse Courier ’s Welfare Emergency

Appeal,” The Pittsburgh Courier, November 24, 1923, p. 16.

282

Orphanage and Home Society (1910) and St. Rita's Institution for Infants (1917).” There

were also, however, well-to-do white women who founded institutions on behalf of black

children including, the Tennon Avenue Home for Colored Children (1880).

During the first decade of the 20th century, three orphanages were established by

blacks for the large number of unattached black children in Pittsburgh:

the Coleman

Industrial Home for Colored Boys (1906); the Davis Home for Colored Children (1909); and

the Fairfax Baby Home. The efforts of these blacks to take control over the plight of black

children became a significant part of community-building in black Pittsburgh.

The Coleman Home For Industrial Colored Boys

Samuel and Luella Coleman, two former slaves, founded Pittsburgh’s only black

institution for colored boys. Both were born in Frankfort, Kentucky where they met while

owned by different slave masters as children. After Emancipation, Luella, a teenager,

migrated to Louisville, Kentucky where she became a masseur and hairdresser. Samuel

Coleman, a graduate of the School of Carl L. Wilson in Saginaw, Michigan, was an artist,

photographer, and carpenter.20 After graduation, he moved to Frankfort, Kentucky where he

 

'9 “Infants Home opened,” The Pittsburg Dispatch, July 16, 1917, Vertical File,

Pittsburgh Orphanages; “Homefor Colored Children,” The Pittsburg Dispatch, January 30,

1916, Vertical File, Pittsburgh Charities, The Pennsylvania Department, The Carnegie Institute

of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA. St. Joseph’s Industrial School for Homeless Boys (1893) and the

Home for Babies were the only two white owned and operated institutions admitting black

children.

2° “Twenty-Four Boys Caredfor At The Coleman Home on Wylie Avenue,” The

Pittsburgh Press, August 10, 1910, Vertical File, Pittsburgh Charities, The Pennsylvania

Department, The Carnegie Institute of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA.

283

worked as a hotel waiter. He remained in Frankfort until he learned that Luella had moved

to Louisville and set out to find her. Upon locating Luella, they moved to Indianapolis,

Indiana and married in 1873, where they remained until 1907.

In June of this same year, the Colemans migrated to Pittsburgh and after several

months opened the National Industrial School of Arts and Domestic Science with courses

in massage, scalp and facial treatment, hairdressing, paper-hanging and cooking. Although

with much success, the Coleman’s redirected their focus upon noticing the plight of

abandoned colored boys in Pittsburgh. Samuel and Luella Coleman began to care for

"unfortunate children deprived of their parents love and care: "My husband and I promised

the Lord that we would give ourselves up completely to this work and so far no matter how

hard pushed, we have always been taken care of. We can’t expect things to come very easy,

but there are some very generous people who give me clothes for the boys."21 The main

purpose of the Home was parental care of delinquent and homeless colored boys.22

In 1909, the Coleman’s planned and established the Coleman Home for Colored Boys

in a ten-room house located at 2816 Wylie Avenue, Hill District with accommodations for

thirty boys.23 The Home’s first residents consisted of twelve boys ranging in age from eight

to fourteen. They wore uniforms of white trousers; blue shirts and caps; black shoes and

 

2' Gertrude Gordon, “Twenty-four Boys Curedfor At the Coleman Home on Wylie

Avenue,” The Pittsburgh Press, August 19, 1910, p. 4.

22 “Does Good Workfor Colored Boys: An Ex-slave Carries Out Plan ofLocal

Juvenile Court, Vertical File, Pittsburgh Orphanages, The Pennsylvania Department, The

Carnegie Institute of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA

23 “Twenty-Four Boys,” Vertical File, Pittsburgh Charities, The Pennsylvania

Department, The Carnegie Institute of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA.

284

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Figure. 37. Luella Coleman

285

stockings; and neat white collars. They received vast training from Samuel and Luella

Coleman, in self-help which included washing, ironing, cooking, and general housekeeping.

Although they attended public school, Mr. Coleman also trained the boys as tradesmen as

they were taught carpentry and brick masonry. For their own enjoyment, the Coleman Home

boys leveled the hillside next to the home and carved out a baseball diamond.

By August 1910, the number of Coleman Home residents soared from twelve to

twenty-four. With reported success, the Home was no longer only for orphaned colored

boys, but also became a home for young juvenile offenders. An Allegheny County Juvenile

Officer asked Mrs. Coleman to take responsibility for a young colored boy deserted by his

parents. Rather than see him placed in Morganza, a sanitarium, Mrs. Coleman accepted him

as a resident of the Coleman Home. Shortly thereafier, the officer appeared again with two

more boys the Court offering a small monetary sum to the Coleman’s for their lodging.

It is important to note that the Coleman’s received no other funds from the City or

state government to manage the Home. With the exception of the few dollars provided by

Juvenile Court, it was operated at the Coleman’s expense. Mrs. Coleman worked as a

hairdresser, gave facials and massages; and Mr. Coleman sold his paintings and other

artwork to maintain and supplement the Home’s income. However, in their efforts to keep

the Coleman Home financially sound, the residents were not without responsibility. During

the summer months, they worked at odd jobs for pay throughout Pittsburgh. For example,

the Coleman Home boys had an eighteen piece brass band, and for a small fee, furnished

music for picnics, parades, and special occasions for community organizations and

286

churches." Additional finances were contributions obtained from black churches, women’s

clubs, fratemal organizations, black businesses, and individual donations fiom both blacks

and whites.

During the Fall of 1912, as the Coleman’s searched for larger quarters, a fire ravaged

the Home on Wylie Avenue destroying the facility and the boy’s entire clothing stock. With

help from neighbors and Juvenile Court, temporary quarters were made available until new

quarters could be found. It took almost an entire year before the Coleman’s located a

structure large enough to accommodate its residents at 1721 Bedford Avenue which

contained fourteen rooms. Unlike the Wylie Avenue structure, it had no bathroom or laundry

room. Luella Coleman, to resolve these hygiene and sanitation problems, called on the

Pittsburgh Community, Allegheny County, and surrounding areas to assist the Coleman

Home in its struggle to complete the facility with essentials and replenish clothing and

blankets lost in the fire.

In 1924, Pittsburgh’s black church community and women’s clubs immediately

responded to the Coleman Industrial Home’s needs. For example, Macedonia Baptist

Church donated $35; Ebenezer Baptist Church $30; John Wesley $13; Brown Chapel A.M.B.

Church $27.10; and Bidwell Community Church $21.06.25 Black women’s

 

2" It was not uncommon for orphans to raise money for their room and board. White

orphans also worked to defray such costs. For example, St. Joseph’s Home for Boys worked

either in the printing office or as messengers for a messenger service they created themselves in

January 1909. It was an important source of revenue for the maintenance of the Home as was the

income from the odd jobs performed by the Coleman Home boys.

25 “Members of the Coleman Home Board Thank Many Donors,” The Pittsburgh

Courier, (undated, no page number).

287

   

Figure. 38. Coleman Industrial Home for Colored Boys

288

 

clubs supporting the Coleman Home in its misfortune were the Madame C.J. Walker Benefit,

the Golden Rod Social, and Metoka Clubs; and Frances E. W. Harper League, to name a few.

In addition, Great Hiram Lodge had given three quarterly donations and the B.P.Y.U. of

Monumental Baptist Church monthly donations.26 Some of these clubs gave monetary

donations while others supplied food, clothing, shoes, and blankets.

The Home also sponsored fimd-raising activities of its own and solicited the help of

Pittsburgh’s newspapers. Bake sales, bazaars, and dinners sponsored by the Coleman Home

Board of Managers also helped sustain the Coleman Home. The Post, Press, Gazette,

Telegraph, Leader, and Dispatch, initiated strong advertising campaigns for the Coleman

Industrial Home for Colored Boys. For example, they advertised "Tag Day" where workers

of the home sold tags to benefit its 50 residents with monies used to purchase winter

clothing. The tags donated by the Newsboys Homes raised $1,449.53 exceeding the $1,000

goal.27

Luella and Samuel Coleman successfully managed the Coleman Industrial Home

until their deaths in 1917, and 1923, respectfully, but it continued to operate. Since its

inception, it provided a safe haven for more than 500 colored orphans and juvenile

delinquents.

Several success stories also existed in the life of the Coleman Home. For

example, Terry Godfi'ey, an honors graduate from Minersville Public School and Pittsburgh

 

2’ “Coleman Home Notes,” The Pittsburgh Courier, July, 5, 1924, p. 4.

27 “$1449.53 0n Tag Day,” Gazette Times, Vertical File, Pittsburgh Orphanages,

November 5, 1912, The Pennsylvania Department, The Carnegie Institute of Pittsburgh,

Pittsburgh, PA.

289

High School, was an eighteen year resident of the Coleman Home, who became a physician.

The Coleman’s were major contributors to Pittsburgh’s black community development as

were George and Louise Davis, founders of the Davis Home.

The Davis Home for Colored Children

The foundation of the Davis Home was established in 1900 when Reverend Dr.

Senior organized a Bible class in Beulah Mason’s Home. As a result, work among colored

children soon developed and black women became interested in their welfare. Joining the

effort to save black children, were the Davises, in 1907, established the Davis Home for the

welfare of underprivileged, orphaned, and neglected "colored" boys and girls from various

parts of Western Pennsylvania.28

It especially, provided social service for the institutional

care of dependent "color

" girls whom were often easily led astray and an assurance that

those children confined to the Home attended school regularly. One of the few institutions

caring for adolescent children, the Davis Home was located on the site which once housed

the Colored Women’s Relief Association on Sirnonton Street, East End.29

Orphaned children were usually placed in ahns houses, but with the help of fimd-

raisers by the black community, orphaned colored children could be provided for at the Davis

 

28“ow Home Will Mark 42" Anniversary Celebration Will Be Held Thursday At

Institution on Simonton Street,” The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, November 8, 1948, up. Vertical

file, Orphanages, The Carnegie Institute of Pittsburgh, The Pennsylvania Department, Pittsburgh,

PA.

29 “State Urges Child Home Closure Here,” The Pittsburgh Press, March 21, 1954,

Vertical File, Pittsburgh Orphanages, Davis Home for Colored Children, Pennsylvania

Department, The Carnegie Institute of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA.

290

Home. A group of black women, for example, held a benefit in Arcade Hall to secure

sufficient funds for the installation of necessary improvements.” On one occasion, the City

ofPittsburgh granted permission to close a street during the evening sessions ofthe three-day

Victory Bazaar for the Davis Home. At a planning meeting prior to the bazaar, the events

organizers raised and turned in $70 from a button sale. The Lucy Stone Civic League

provided an annual donation of $5.00. Other Davis Home supporters held donations days

for food and clothing for the children and the Pittsburgh Urban League often supplied coal

during the winter. The self-help and institution building efforts of those associated with the

Davis Home represented laudable work for the Pittsburgh’s "colored" orphans.

During the 19305, the Davis Home was "under fire" by the Pittsburgh Urban League

Board members concerning a completed study on the conditions of four Pittsburgh

orphanages. For whatever reason, Juvenile Court sent the Davis Home a number of

delinquent girls, mixing them with dependent younger girls making the situation very bad.31

This was perhaps the result of over-crowding in Juvenile Court, but the possibility of

corrupting the behavior of the Davis Home children existed. A complaint was filed by the

Davis Home matron to Judge Kim, probably of Juvenile Court, and they were returned to

that facility. Although Kim stated that the placement of these children was a mistake, it may

 

30“Davis Homefor Colored Children,” (undated), The Pittsburgh Courier, Vertical File,

Pittsburgh Orphanages, The Carnegie Institute of Pittsburgh, The Pennsylvania Department,

Pittsburgh, PA. This fund-raiser was organized by Mrs. E.C. Garcher; Mrs. Frances Steward;

Daisy Lampkin; Mary Nunn; and Mrs. R.L. Vann; and Mrs. Ira F. Lewis.

3 l“Special Call Meeting,” May 27, 1930, p. 2. AIS MSS 81:11, The Urban League

Papers of Pittsburgh, Institutions and Homes, Terrnon, Davis, Coleman, Box 6, FF 259,

Hillman Library University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA

291

 

Figure. 39. Davis Home

292

have not been. The Coleman Home, for example, often accepted boys sent from Juvenile

Court and if the Davis Home matron had not complained the girls they may have remained

at the orphanage.

The Davis Home functioned as normal after this incident, but the recommendation

of Mrs. Tyson was against Fannie Louise Finley’s vision— race betterment in establishing

a home for dependent children. Tyson’s recommendation to the Board of Directors of the

Davis Home read:

Various needs for the social service are much more important today

than institutional; care of dependent colored girls. They include the

need for a Convalescent Home, under good medical supervision, to

which patients could be sent who are no longer in need of hospital

care but who are still unfit to go home. The committee urges that the

Davis Home Board consider directing their future service toward

convalescent care, fresh air work for children, or some equally urgent

and unmet community need.32

Part of the problem was that the Davis home was not filled to capacity nor were the other

three orphanages. Also Helen Tyson and the committee were concerned that many of the

children in the Davis and other homes had children who were not from Allegheny County

or Pennsylvania which was illegal, because they received an appropriation from the state.

The recommendation made was mute as the Davis Home Board of Directors continued to

maintain it as an orphanage for colored children.

 

32Report on Institutions by Mrs. Helen Tyson, Archives of Industrial Society, MSS

81:11 Urban League Papers of Pittsburgh,, Institutional Homes, Termon, Davis, Coleman, Box 6,

FF 259, Hillman Library, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA.

293

The Fairfax Baby Home

Among the homes owned and operated by blacks for black children was the Fairfax

Baby Home, organized June 26, 1910 by Reverend T.C.H. Messer, pastor of Good Hope

Baptist Church, Lawrenceville.33 He was assisted by twenty-five earnest Christian women

who provided financial support and volunteered at the orphanage. The Fairfax Baby Home

was first located in a rented structure on Cherokee Street in Pittsburgh's Hill District. During

the first year of its existence, it cared for six orphaned babies. In February 1911, the Home

moved to Susquehanna Street in Homewood after receiving a charter through the legal

expertise of noted black attorney, W.H. Stanton.

During this same year, twenty-one infants were cared for in the Fairfax Baby Home

where Mary Guthrie was matron. The Home, like most black institutions, was supported by

donations fi'om individuals, churches, and organizations. For example, Good Hope Church

donated $17.35; the Fairfax Baby Club of Philadelphia, a barrel of flour; and Jane Madison

of Wayne, Pennsylvania, a large box of food, and clothing." Black women who helped

maintain the Home also solicited clothing, food, and other articles for these abandoned

babies. They also extended an open invitation to the Pittsburgh community to visit the

babies and "help bring sunshine into their hearts."

The officers and Board of Managers of the Fairfax Baby Home were black women:

 

3’ “The Fairfax Baby Home,” The Pittsburg Dispatch, January 9, 1916, Vertical File,

Pittsburgh Orphanages, The Pennsylvania Department, The Carnegie Institute of Pittsburgh,

Pittsburgh, PA.

3" Ibid, n.p.

294

  

Figure. 40. Fairfax Baby Home

295

Mrs. S.A. Webb, president; Mrs. Sallie Byres, treasurer; and Carrie Polk, secretary. Through

the inspiration of Reverend Messer and a solid support system, the Home thrived by filling

a void on this category of black institution-building. Whereas other black institutions 'for

children accepted those between the ages of two and sixteen, the Fairfax Baby Home catered

specifically to black infants. Although the establishment ofthe Fairfax Baby Home provided

a much needed social service as did the other black social service agencies and with their

creation, all age groups were embraced. Nonetheless, these institutions did not resolve the

black community’s health care problems.

Pittsburgh Hospitals

The first hospital in Pittsburgh was Hand’s Hospital (1778) founded by Edward

Hand, an assistant Army surgeon, for the British. Hand, upon his arrival to America and

understanding the reasons for the rebellion against the Crown, joined American colonists in

their fight for independence.

Disgruntled about the haphazard medical treatment and

convalescence of fallen American soldiers, Edward Hand sought means by which to resolve

these two problems. In 1777, Hand successfully petitioned the Continental Congress for the

erection of a hospital in Pittsbur

.35

It was not, however, until the 19th century that hospitals began to emerge

throughout Pittsburgh.

Between 1847-1900, there were approximately ten hospitals:

Passavant (1846), Mercy (1847), Western Pennsylvania (1853), Pittsburgh Homeopathic

 

358amuel R. Ohler, Pittsburgh: Graphic Studies In Photographs and Pictures

Pertaining to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, (Pittsburgh: Ohler, 1983 ), p. 22.

296

(1866), St. Francis (1868), Allegheny General (1882), Pittsburgh Hospital for Children

(1887), Southside Hospital (1891), The eye and Ear Hospital (1895), and Elizabeth Steel

Magee (1896):“5 Over the next two decades, eleven more hospitals were established

including a black hospital.

Origins of Black Hospitals

The origins of black hospitals began with the intensification of Jim Crow politics in

the South and anti-black intimidation throughout the North.37

Blacks, in general, were

denied hospital facilities and black physicians membership in white medical societies

prompting the black medical community to establish such facilities and organizations oftheir

own. For example, the first black hospital, Providence Hospital founded by Dr. Nathan Hale

Williams.38 Thus, began black hospital movement in the United States.

Numerous black hospitals emerged in the first decade of the twentieth century such

as, Providence Hospital (Chicago), 1891; Mercy Douglass Hospital (Philadelphia) 1910;

Mercy Hospital (Detroit) 1917; and Alpha Hospital, (Columbus, Ohio).39 Black physician

 

’6 Killikelly, p. 393-394, 402-404; Stephan Lorant, Pittsburgh: The Story of an

American City, (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1979), p. 34; Leland Baldwin, The

Story of a City, (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh, 193 7), p. 213.

37 David McBride, Integrating Medicine: Blacks in Philadelphia Healthcare, 1910-

1965, (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1989), p. 8.

3" Darlene Clark Hine, Black Women in White: Racial Conflict and Cooperation in the

Nursing Profession, 1890-1950, (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1989), p. 27, 34;

McBride, p. 9.

’9 Gustavus Adolphus Steward, “Alpha Hospital,” The Competitor, Pittsburgh, Volume

1, 1922, p. 182; Richard W. Thomas, Life for Us Is What We Make It: Black Community-

297

and author, Vanessa Northington Gamble, explained that black hospitals were crucial for the

survival of the blacks in the medical profession, because they provided internships, training,

and employment for black nurses and physicians who were otherwise excluded from such

opportunities in white hospitals. Black hospitals were the result of racial discrimination, but

became a self-help institution within urban and southern black communities. By 1919, there

were approximately 118 black hospitals in the United States."0

Historian Darlene Clark

Hine has pointed out that "these new hospitals aimed to improve the health care available to

black citizens while facilitating the professional development of physicians and nurses."

During World War I, the need for black hospitals increased, particularly, in the North,

where large numbers of blacks migrated in search of employment in war plants and better

lives. Gustavas Adolphus Steward, in his article, "The Alpha Hospital," explained that the

inability of newcomers to adjust to the Northern climate produced an unusual amount of

sickness and numerous hospital cases." Some blacks refused to seek medical treatment,

because they were afraid, many wanted to be treated by only black physicians, while others

had an aversion to hospitals, because of inclinations of voodooism and superstition.“ All

of these factors may have contributed significantly to poor health among blacks.

 

Building in Detroit, (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1994), p. 180; Allan Spear, p. 97.

4° Vanessa Northington Gamble, Making A Place For Ourselves: The Black Hospital

Movement, I 920-1945, New York: Oxford University Press, 1995, p. xi.

4' Ira De Reid, A Survey of the Negro in Pennsylvania, p. 47; Abraham L. Epstein, The

Black Migrant in Pittsburgh, (New York: Arno Press and the New York Times, 1969), p.

58.

298

Black Hospital Movement in Pittsburgh

Black medical professionals in Pittsburgh experienced similar difficulties like those

everywhere. Although there was one black physician to every 2,165 blacks; one dentist to

every 2,660 blacks; and one black nurse for every 13,000 inhabitants, they could not receive

training or practice their profession in Pittsburgh's numerous white hospitals.“2 For example,

there were no black physicians on staff at Mercy, Allegheny General, or Montefiore

Hospitals. The frrst efforts to establish a black hospital occurred with the founding of two

private sanitariums by two black Pittsburgh physicians. Another initiative for such a health

facility emerged when the Livingstone Memorial Hospital Association was formed in the

Hill District. Organized by Dr. Charles H. Carroll, Dr. D.G. King, Dr. George Strickland,

Dr. George L. Winstead, and Dr. Jerome Hill, the purpose of this association was to build

a black hospital, provide quality health care to the black community, and black physicians

and nurses opportunities for training, research, and professional activity otherwise ill-

afforded them in white Pittsburgh hospitals.

The need for a black hospital in Pittsburgh was critical. In 1910, 53.2 percent of

blacks under forty years old culminated the highest death rate. Blacks suffered fiom poor

living conditions such as bad housing, poor sanitation, overcrowding, the use of featherbeds,

and low economics.43 Blacks were, more often than not, humiliated by white hospital

officials when they were refused treatment, treated and released when admittance was

 

’2 Ira De Reid, A Survey of the Negro in Pittsburgh, p. 51.

”Abram L. Epstein, The Negro Migrant in Pitsburgh; Ira De Reid, Negro Survey in

Pennsylvania, Harrisburg: Department of Public Welfare, (undated), pp. 48-49.

299

absolutely necessary or admitted to white hospitals in segregated wards, because of their

race. White hospital policies and behavior infuriated race leaders: "You know how welcome

we are in white hospitals and treated like colored people. There is no use in deceiving

ourselves. We cannot get the two year's internship in a hospital here as required by law. Our

young women cannot train for nurses in any hospital here. Do you think it is about time for

us to have our own."“’ Inadequate treatment for Pittsburgh blacks in the city’s hospitals may

have also been a contributing factor to their high mortality rate.

The Livingstone Memorial Hospital’s first quarters were in the former Kingsley

House at Bedford Avenue and Fullerton Street, Hill District. In April 1923, the Morgan

Community House, a temporary home for indigent men, moved to 73 Fullerton Street to

make way for Pittsburgh’s first black hospital. Consisting of an estimated 33,000 square feet

ofproperty, the Livingstone Memorial Hospital Association planned to build a nurse training

school and home for nurses on the vacant property and to remodel the building housing the

hospital which contained approximately 7,000 square feet. While it is unclear if the

remodeling project was so extensive causing the LMHA to abandon its plans for the Bedford

Avenue site or if it were only temporary quarters, new plans were made.

The LMHA initiated the effort to build Pittsburgh's first black hospital, but like a

majority of other black medical facilities, it would face financial barriers. It organized a

number of fund-raising activities which included benefits, door-knocking campaigns, and

 

’4 “Livingstone Memorial Hospital To Give Outing, Governor Pinchot Unable to Be

Present, Sends Best Wishes For Success of Big $25,000 Drive,” The Pittsburgh Courier, ca.

August 1924.

300

donations from black women's clubs. On September 9, 1924, the Livingstone Memorial

Hospital Association sponsored a picnic charging one dollar with all proceeds benefitting the

hospital. Pittsburgh's black population was approximately 25,000 and the strategy was for

each black person to donate one dollar to the campaign generating $25,000 for the

construction of Livingstone Memorial Hospital. In a plea to Pittsburgh's black community,

the LMHA hoped it would assert itself by supporting the black hospital:

Do not delay in mailing your $1. You can send it to the Courier

and the ticket will be mailed to you. You can call or mail it to the

campaign office at Fullerton Street and Bedford Avenue. Tickets

will be handed to you or mailed to your address." Toward this end

your support is earnestly needed. Let it not be said that the white

citizens of Pittsburgh worked harder and gave more to Livingstone

than Negroes (sic) whom the hospital will benefit than did

themselves. It will be your institution, operated by your physicians

and nurses.“

The hospital campaign met with little success and was criticized by both whites and

blacks, so the LMHA Board of Directors secured the services of an experienced campaign

director on institutional finance, Reverend Amos Carnegie. The founder and executive

secretary of the National Negro Hospital Foundation, Inc., Carnegie's expertise energized

Pittsburgh's black hospital movement with a solid plans for the Livingstone Memorial

Hospital. The cost of the hospital was $250,000 including the purchase, frreproofing of the

property, equipment, and a home and training school for nurses. Carnegie and the LMHA

hoped to raise at least $100,000 to begin the hospital’s construction in October 1924. They

agreed that building a structure with at least forty beds, although the initial plans specified

 

’5 Ibid, n.p.

301

a 100-bed hospital for blacks, would suffice and vowed to continue working to enlarge the

facility as contributions were received.“5

In Philadelphia, W.E.B. DuBois tells us that "the movement for a black hospital

was condemned by the city's whites as an unnecessary addition to a bewildering number of

charitable institutions." Contrary to the attitudes of Philadelphia's whites, many of those in

Pittsburgh were eager to help blacks establish a race hospital perhaps as a means of

maintaining its segregationist policies toward black medical professionals. The Social

Security Department of Mercy Hospital advocated the need for a black hospital. An

"unidentified, white friend offered to donate $5,000 to the construction of Livingstone

Memorial Hospital once the Association had raised a substantial portion of the necessary

funds to begin construction." In a letter to Dr. Charles Carroll from Dr. Roy Meyer of

Pittsburgh's Department of Public Health read:

It is with deep sympathy that I endorse the proposed Livingstone

Memorial Hospital for blacks. An excess of deaths and sickness

occur among the colored people of this community as compared with

the white population.

It is estimated that life expectancy of the

American Negro is shorter by ten years than the white man. Caring

for Negroes has taken a toll in the cost of sickness, unemployment,

poverty, and misery. The cost of medical care presents a real

problem. I feel that the proposed hospital for colored people will aid

us in our local solution.

I assure you of cooperation of this

Department in any way we can help.47

 

’6 “Livingstone Memorial Hospital Launches Big Drive: $250, 000 in Eight Days,” The

Pittsburgh Courier, December 15, 1923, p. 2.

47 Letter to Dr. Charles Carrollfrom Dr. Roy Meyer, April 10, 1934. Archives of

Industrial Society, MSS 81 :11 The Urban League Papers of Pittsburgh, Organizations, Box 5, FF

254, Hillman Library, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA

302

The problem Dr. Meyer referred to was that, in most cases, white hospitals which treated

blacks, ofien did so free, therefore, the construction of a black hospital would drastically

reduce those costs assumed by white hospitals.

In its continuous struggle to build a black hospital, the LMHA considered purchasing

Montefiore Hospital in 1930. During a meeting at the Centre Avenue YMCA to which

Pittsburgh's entire black community was invited, but dissension among the ranks regarding

the purchase of Montefiore circumvented the meeting held on February 10, 1930. The

Association, as of this date, had raised $36,000 and voted unanimously to purchase

Montefiore for $75,000, but a debate occurred between Dr. C.H. Carroll and attorney Robert

L. Vann, after the vote occurred. The debate was on the question of voting eligibility. Vann

thought every race person in the community and, especially, those attending the meeting,

should have the right to vote for or against the black hospital. Carroll decided that only

members of the Livingstone Memorial Hospital Association should vote on the erection of

the black hospital. Although the issue was never resolved, the meeting continued.

Mr. Spear, a representative of Montefiore Hospital and present at this meeting,

outlined the proposed sale of its property to the Livingstone Memorial Hospital Association.

The property for sale was worth $100,000 and the Montefiore Hospital Board of Directors

would donate $25,000 to the Association. When he finished his proposal, Spear made the

following statement:

303

Dr. Carroll, Dr. Winstead, Dr. King, and Dr. Brown have all been

calling on me for a number of months and we have been discussing

the pr0posed purchase. I have tried to impress them with the fact that

the Montefiore Hospital is not so much interested in selling its

property as it is in seeing a colored (sic) hospital established in

Pittsburgh. The board of Montefiore Hospital realized the necessity

for one."8

Robert L. Vann pointed out that if the Association agreed to accept Montefiore's proposal,

"only $25,000 need be paid down to take over the property." The Association never

purchased Montefiore Hospital’s discarded property, but decided to proceed with its fund-

raising plans for a new hospital facility.

The apparent struggles of Pittsburgh's Livingstone Memorial Hospital Association

for a black hospital continued for another eight years. A series of meetings were held with

white civic leaders; physicians; members ofthe Allegheny County Medical Society including

its president, Dr. C.L. Palmer; Pittsburgh Urban League officials such as, R. Maurice Moss;

Reverend H. R. Tolliver, pastor of Grace Memorial Presbyterian Church, and Dr. Francis

Tyson of the University ofPittsburgh. In 193 8, an Interracial Committee, headed by attorney

Edward 0. Tabor, was organized to seek financial support for Livingstone when it became

apparent that the city's blacks alone, could not finance a new hospital. But, members of the

LMHA knew from the onset ofthe first hospital campaign that Pittsburgh's black community

lacked the economic ability to construct such a large hospital.

As of December 1938, a number of committees were formed to plan the construction

of the Livingstone Memorial Hospital. By this time, the cost of the hospital planned by the

 

‘3 “$75,000 Purchase Approval,” The Pittsburgh Courier, April 26, 1930, p. l, 9.

304

Association skyrocketed from $250,000 to a one million dollar project proposed by the

Interracial Committee. Although the initial hospital was to be devoted solely to "colored"

people with facilities to train race nurses, physicians, and surgeons. New plans for the

hospital included an interracial staff and a new location, near the University Pittsburgh

Medical Center instead of the "heart" of Pittsburgh’s black community.

The establishment of a black hospital in Pittsburgh was perhaps doomed from the

beginning. It is ironic that with the help of white supporters the LMHA could not raise

$250,000, and yet, the Interracial Committee concocted a plan to solicit one million dollars

for the hospital’s construction. Even with the expertise of Reverend Amos Carnegie,

executive secretary of the National Negro Hospital Association, the dreams of Pittsburgh's

black community, the Livingstone Memorial Hospital Association, and its white supporters,

dried up like a raisin in the sun."9 However, other race leaders were not discouraged by the

Association's failure to build a black hospital, and continued efforts toward black institution-

building in their community by establishing financial institutions.

History of Banking Institutions in Pittsburgh

Financial institutions in Pittsburgh were first established during the 19th century with

the development of the city’s booming industry and commerce. On January 19, 1804,

Discount and Deposit opened as Pittsburgh’s first bank when the Bank of Pennsylvania,

 

”The writer was unable to locate additional information about Amos Carnegie or

the National Negro Hospital Association.

305

situated in Philadelphia, expanded its banking operations with a branch office in Pittsbur

.50

It was followed by the Bank of Pittsburgh (1810), Farmer’s and Merchants Bank (1814), the

United States and City Bank of Pittsburgh (1817), and Nathaniel Holmes and Sons Bank

(1822), to name a few.

Pittsburgh was noted among banks nationwide. For example, it was the second city

in the United States in banking capital and surplus to gross deposits with 47.1 percent.

Pittsburgh also ranked sixth among United States cities with clearing house exchanges

behind New York, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia and St. Louis.“ By 1906, Pittsburgh had

179 banks and trust companies which grew steadily throughout the 20th century. Although

the city’s numerous financial institutions were organized during the 19th century, it was not

until the second decade of the 20th century that Pittsburgh’s first black bank was organized.

Black Banking Institutions

Black banking institutions were founded on the same premise as other black

institutions, racism and discrimination. But, they were also organized for the economic

growth and independence of blacks in the North and South.52 Black banks were a necessity,

because they took care of every phase of the black community's financial needs. They led

 

5° Killikelly, p. 261; Engineers Society of Western Pennsylvania, (Pittsburgh: Cramer

Printing and Publishing Company, November 1930), p. 103.

5' Samuel Church Harden, A Short History ofPittsburgh, 1758-1908, (New York: The

DeVinne Press, 1908), p. 85-86.

’2 George w. Blount, “A Live Bank in a Live City,” The Competitor, February 1920,

Volume 1, p. 29.

306

to the development of new business enterprises; provided business capital for blacks

allowing them to take advantage ofbusiness opportunities; provided black employment, and

contributed to the retention of black funds within the black community.53 Most black

financial institutions sought to teach blacks thrift and economics; and that the possession of

money wielded power and influence.

Blacks established banking institutions in a number of cities to meet the needs of the

black community. Some of the early black banks were, St. Luke's Penny Savings Bank

(1903) of Richmond, Virginia founded by Maggie Lena Walker; Citizens Bank, Nashville,

Tennessee (1904); and Chicago’s Binga Bank (1908).“ In the South, the Tidewater Bank

and Trust Company ofNorfolk, Virginia (1919) was the first black bank to qualify as a Trust

Company in the United States. In 1926, an estimated seventy black banks existed in the

country, thirteen north of the Mason Dixon line and fifty-seven south of the same. A

majority of these banks were most often established by black entrepreneurs.

The Steel City Bank

One of the black banks above the Mason Dixon Line was Pittsburgh’s Steel City

Banking Company founded November 17, 1919, by Reverend J .C. Austin, pastor of the

 

’3 Alex Benson Henderson, “Richard R. Wright and the National Negro Bankers

Association: Early Organizing Efforts Among Black Bankers, 1924-1942, The Pennsylvania

Magazine ofHistory and Biography, (January-April) 1993, p. 54.

5" Gertrude L. Marlow, “Maggie Lena Walker,” in Black Women in America: An

Historical Encyclopedia, Volume 2, ed. Darlene Clark Hine, (New York: Carlson Publishing

Company), 1990, p. 1215. “Maggie L. Walker—Banker: President 25 Years Now Heads

Merger,” The Pittsburgh Courier, January 4, 1929, p. 2. Allan Spear, p. 75. a

307

Ebenezer Baptist Church. The Steel City Bank, a private partnership among blacks, was

located at 801 Wylie Avenue in the Hill District, and two years later, a second branch opened

at 6309 Broad Street, East End.55 The bank had five objectives: to have a bank account for

every race man and woman in Pittsburgh and environs, to encourage depositors to deposit

something every week in the savings department, provide financial advice, and encourage

them to join vacation and Christmas Savings Clubs, and to build one of the largest, and

strongest banking institutions of the race in existence.56 Its motto was: "If you are not

satisfied, we are not satisfied."

Black businesses often sought innovative ways to attract customers and maintain

business. For example, the owners and staff of the Tidewater Banking and Trust Company

in Norfolk, Virginia found innovative ways by which to encourage depositors to use the bank

and make it convenient for them to do so. The Tidewater Bank extended its hours three days

a week to accommodate depositors who worked during its normal hours. The Steel City

Banking Company adopted a similar policy. It enlisted "outside agents" consisting of three

black women with full authority to accept absentee deposits and place them in the bank to

the credit of the depositor with same degree of safety, as a personal visit to the bank would

assure.57 The establishment of several types of savings clubs were another method to attract

 

5’ “2 Banks Close Doors As Land Deals Collapse,” The Pittsburgh Courier, April 14,

1923, p. 1.

5" “Annual Deposit Day At Steel City Bank,” The Pittsburgh Courier, April 14, 1923, p.

’7 “Local Bank Plans New Program,” The Pittsburgh Courier, December 19, 1925, p.

3. The outside agents for the Steel City Bank were: Fannie Chandler, Emma K. Johnson, and

Celia Smith who were employed in its Field Workers Department.

308

 

    

Figure. 41. Dr. J.C. Austin

Dr. J.C. Austin received his education at Philadelphia’s Temple College and Virginia

Theological Seminary and College, Lynchburg, Virginia. Prior to accepting pastorate of Ebenezer

Baptist Church (1915), Austin pastored churches in Clifton Forge (1910) and Staunton, Virginia

(1912). He was married to Inez Klossing Pollard of Covington, Virginia and became the father of

two children.

Dr. Austin was one of Pittsburgh’s most progressive ministers. During his pastorate

at Ebenezer, the People’s Gospel Tabernacle was built with a seating capacity of 2,500 and

a network was established in the church by which its members met southern migrants at

Pittsburgh’s train station to help them find living quarters.

309

a wide range of depositors. For example, the banking officers initiated a Sick, Accident, and

Unemployment Savings Club whose purpose was to create "stash" funds to protect the

depositor when cases like these arose. All monies deposited in the SAUSC would be paid

the depositor. By 1923, the Steel City Banking Company had more than 5,000 depositors

with plans to attract 5,000 new ones through a series of credible recruitment campaigns.

Within a short period, the Steel City Banking Company expanded its business realm

by merging with the Home Finder's League founded by Dr. J .C. Austin in 1920. Created by

a unanimous vote of over 400 Steel City Bank stockholders, the Home Finder's League

became its real estate corporation. Together, the Steel City Banking Company and the Home

Finder's League had assets of $750,000. The purpose of the HFL was to help blacks obtain

loans to purchase homes when white banking institutions refused to provide blacks this

financial service. In this sense, the Steel City Banking Company, the only black financial

institution in Pittsburgh during this period, invoked an opportunity to make living more

comfortable for blacks as they were less frequently forced to pay high rents for dilapidated

housing.

With the rapid growth and success of the Steel City Banking Company, a charter

fi'om the Banking Commission of the State of Pennsylvania was necessary as it had

outgrown the limitations under its licensed qualifications.58 In 1925, three of Pittsburgh’s

leading race men successfully petitioned the Pennsylvania State Banking Commission for

 

58 “State Banking Department in Charge, Frozen Assets Cause ofBanks Trouble,”

Vertical File, Pittsburgh Banks, The Pennsylvania Department, The Carnegie Institute of

Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA

310

 

 

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a charter with Robert L. Vann’s assistance.” It authorized the Steel City Banking Company

to provide more services with an extensive scope of operations including trust and the sale

of capital stock to the public.

The Steel City Banking Company enjoyed much success for seven years before it was

forced to close January 12, 1926. Prior to the passage of legislation in May 1925, giving the

State Banking Department control of the privately owned banks, the Steel City Banking

Company had not been subjected to such an examination by this body. The examination

disclosed that practically all its cash was invested in real estate and mortgages; and the

availability of bank funds were insufficient to meet the daily demands of depositors.60

However, the bank audit also revealed nothing of a criminal nature in the operations of the

bank and that heavy-handed land investments made it land poor." The assets of the bank,

estimated in excess of $500,000, were frozen until the liquidation process was complete.

Each depositor was to be paid the amount of his savings deposited in the Steel City Banking

Company.

As black Pittsburghers, especially, depositors of the Steel City Banking Company

began to point fingers at the parties responsible for their individual losses, the manager of

 

”Dr. James Burwell, Shedrick W. Fields, and William E. Hance petitioned the State

Banking Commission for the Steel City Bank’s charter. See “Steel City Trust Company

Chartered,” The Pittsburgh Courier, November 14, 1925, p. 1.

6° “State Closes Negroes Bank: Frozen Assets Blamed As Wylie Avenue Institution Is

Taken By Examiners,” The Pittsburgh Courier, January 13, 1926, Vertical File, Pittsburgh

Banks and Banking, Steel City Banking Company, The Pennsylvania Department, The Carnegie

Institute of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA

6' “State Banking Department in Charge,” (undated, no page number).

312

the Home Finder's League, Reverend Moses S. Hunter, was accused of "wrecking" the bank.

Between 1923-1925, he allegedly used the depositors money to invest in real estate at

"inflated" prices. The Home Finder's League owed the Steel City Banking Company

$195,000. According to bank records, 5,000 persons had deposited approximately $800,000;

total assets of $488,000 and 40 percent was consisted of mortgages.62 In the liquidation

process, all property owned by the Home F inder's League's was sold to compensate Steel

City depositors.

Tension ran high among the Steel City Banking Company's all black depositors for

two reasons: (1) the bank’s closing, and (2) the slow progress toward settling its affairs

caused considerable protest among investors. The Steel City Bank was sued by the Fifih

Ward Citizens Protective Association in Common Pleas Court in January 1927.

This

community organization claimed that the bank paid $12,000 to the receivers for their work

when only $10,000 was collected; the receivers did not take advantage of the opportunity to

redeem $181,000 in the form of realty assets; and if done properly, Steel City Banking

Company depositors would have received 42-80 percent more from the liquidation of the

banks assets.63

Mixed reactions to the failure of the Steel City Banking Company clouded over the

city. The Fifth Ward Citizens Protective Association and much of Pittsburgh's black

community invested in the Steel City Banking Company, because it was deemed the greatest

 

62 “State Banking Department in Charge.”

63 “Steel City Hearing Monday,” The Pittsburgh Courier, January 29, 1927, p. 1.

3 1 3

achievement of the city's blacks. But, "hardworking men and women saw their savings of

a lifetime swept away by one full stroke of fate." More disheartening to Pittsburgh blacks

even those without an investment in the bank, was reflected in the statement of Courier

columnist John L. Clark:

"Blacks expressed not only surprise, but considerable

disappointment when they saw the purely Negro organization taken from their own hands

and put into the hands of six unknown white men to colored people, and five colored men

selected by Frank Jackson of the Pennsylvania State Banking Commission.“4 Anguish and

deception shredded the confidence of black Pittsburgh in its banking institution.

Some black Pittsburghers chose to take advantage of the Steel City Banking

Company's problems. For example, they attempted to fiaudulently obtain money from the

bank when they had no accounts. Rumors and complaints raged when persons alleged that

their checks were not honored at the bank only to find that they had no money in the bank

or their accounts were overdrawn. Even worse, the Steel City Bank's depositors and a large

facet of the black community maintained that "preachers belonged in the pulpit" and had no

business operating a bank, without formal training and banking experience. In other words,

they lacked the expertise necessary to conduct a successful banking operation. This "falling

out" not only led to an attack on the city's black ministers who managed the daily operations

of the bank, but created unfair suspicion and a greater distrust toward other black clergymen.

The Reverend J .C. Austin, pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church subsequently, accepted a "call"

from the Pilgrim Baptist Church of Chicago.

 

6‘ “Court Orders Public Sale of Steel City Bank Assets: Prominent Citizens in List of

Debtors,” The Pittsburgh Courier, July 13, 1929, p. l, 4.

314

The Modern Savings and Trust Company

The Modern Savings and Trust Company was an offshoot of the Modern Land

Improvement Company, a real estate agency, organized in 1916 by twelve race men.‘55

Realizing the additional need more financial institutions peculiar to the needs of blacks, the

Modern Land Improvement Company established the Modern Savings and Trust Company

in February 1921.

Located at 6311 Frankstown Avenue, Homewood, the bank was

convenient for blacks residing in this area, even more so, than the Steel City Bank’s branch

office on Broad Street. The bank opened with a capital of $125,000 and became black

Pittsburgh’s second banking institution.

The Modern State Bank began a series of advertising campaigns to solicit

depositors. One advertisement read: "We need the services of such a company was best

attested by our lack of adequate credit facilities to properly finance our business enterprises,

protect our homes, and secure reasonable conditions, and surety protection companies run

by white people refuse to treat us fairly.”6 It also attempted to dissuade potential black

depositors from doing business with white banks by pointing out that the city’s blacks often

"deposited their earnings in the banks of other races while knocking their own, and not

having taken advantage of opportunities offered by their own race." The Modern State

Banking Company was merely asking for an opportunity to service the black community.

Although the bank was open for business, it began to experience difficulties at an

 

“The founders of the Modern Savings and Trust Company were Jacob L. Phillips, EJ.

Bullock, Thomas Richardson, George Arvin, A.E. Evans, Willie S. Jackson, Charles Jordan,

Robert Vaughn, Dr. George L. Winstead, Denis Mosby, M.C. McCowan, and Robert L. Vann.

““The Modern Trust Company,” The Pittsburgh Courier, June 23, 1923, p. 14.

315

early stage. A grave problem facing the bank were complaints by depositors regarding the

demeanor of its staff toward customers. For example, one depositor complained about the

lack of efficient personnel. Another withdrew his account from Modern Savings Bank,

because the teller handling his money, "was about as skillfirl and adept in making change or

counting deposits as a bull would have been in handling a rifle." The bank’s officers were

abreast of these problems and made attempts to correct them by screening and training

personnel more carefully. At the same time, they pointed out that there "should be no lack

of faith in placing money in Modern State Bank."

Second, many of its stockholders had begun to pay their subscriptions by

installments in 1921, when Pittsburgh experienced a devastating employment decline and

many employees lost their jobs. Others failed to pay or deposit any money at all sending the

bank into a financial slump. The Modern State Bank, Pittsburgh's second black banking

institution, was closed May 22, 1922, after only one year, and its assets liquidated. As the

Steel City Banking Company, Modern State was also closed by the Pennsylvania State

Banking Department. Assistant Attorney General John N. English, revealed that the Modern

State Bank failed, because stockholders did not pay their subscriptions when demanded by

the State Banking Department so, it suspended the bank's operations until the State found a

workable solution to its problems. Similar to the findings of the Steel City Bank audit, thefi

and fi'aud were ruled out.

The following year, the Pennsylvania State Banking Department and Jacob L.

Phillips, president of Modern State Banking Company met to discuss reopening the bank.

Phillips made several suggestions to state officials which included the sale of stocks. Only

316

 

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317

$15,000 was needed to re—open the bank and Phillips, who had encouraged the sale of stocks

from $50-$1,000 as a means of raising firnds rapidly, hoped to declare the bank solvent

between February l-15, 1923.67 On June 25th of the same year, the Modern State Banking

Company re-opened and the Pennsylvania State Banking Commission appointed Phillips

trustee of "running the assets of the company" and four other bank officers.

When the bank reopened Jacob L. Phillips made the following statement concerning

the banks’s successes and failures:

We have struggled through many difficulties and overcome great

handicaps in our efforts to contribute our bit to our day and

generation. Personally, I am deeply grateful to those who so loyally

supported our efforts, because the successful results obtained could

not have been realized without their support.

If what we shall

accomplish makes it a little easier for those who follow us; if our

homes and investments are made a little more secure and desirable;

employment made possible for our boys and girls who are graduating

from our schools, we shall consider ourselves amply repaid for

whatever sacrifice we may have made. The Modern State Bank is the

people’s bank and our constant desire to serve them faithfully and

well.68

Given the fact that the Modern Savings and Trust Company operations were suspended by

the Pennsylvania Department of Banking, reluctance by the city’s blacks to do business with

the bank was not without understanding. However, when the Banking Commission granted

Modern State Bank a charter on January 24, 1924, it perhaps offered some reassurance of the

bank’s solvency to potential customers.

 

67“Local Bank To Open Doors: Modern State Bank Boasts Big Capital,” The

Pittsburgh Courier, March 22, 1924, p. 1.

68“Local Bank To Open Doors,” p.

1.

318

Two years later, the Steel City Bank closed leaving the Modern State Bank

struggling to instill and maintain the confidence of the black community. In a possible

attempt to encourage Pittsburgh blacks to entrust their money to the Modern Savings and

Trust Company understand the importance of patronizing black businesses, a statement by

its officer’s read:

No one can say definitely, but it is reasonable to assume that there are

millions of dollars ofcolored people’s money deposited in the various

white banks of Pittsburgh. These institutions are making fabulous

profits out of the money of our group while our business ventures are

languishing because we will not get behind this institution and put

our money in it. If every colored person in Pittsburgh would deposit

an average of $5 in this bank on a savings account and leave it for one

year, there would be sufficient capital to meet the business demands

of this institution...‘59

With the successful establishment of two black banks in Pittsburgh, white bankers

sought an opportunity to compete with them for depositors and began to solicit accounts

from black patrons.

Historian Peter Gottleib explained that white banking institutions

preferred not to service blacks, especially, black steelworkers, because they would "deposit

their checks on payday only to return to the bank the next day to withdraw all monies." But,

People's Savings and Trust Company (1864) appointed Solomon Page, a black man, to a

position on its field staff, in addition to his other duties as a People's employee. Page, who

began working for People's in 1902, was a member of the Odd Fellows, North Side Lodge

 

69“Interest Growing in Drive ofModern State Bank: Sentiment Stronger As Daily

Deposin' Show Public Faith in Bank,” The Pittsburgh Courier, January 2, 1928, p. 12.

319

Number 124, where he was also president of the marching club, and the I.B.O.E. of W.”

Although People's Savings and Trust Company’s intentions to extend banking

services to all Pittsburgh citizens, it perhaps realized the other advantages of soliciting black

depositors. For example, Pittsburgh’s increasing black migrant population, successful in

obtaining steady employment although with menial wages, was encouraged by agencies such

as, the Pittsburgh Urban League, to open savings accounts. Once the Steel City Bank

revealed its assets and number of depositors, white banking institutions clearly saw the

benefit of soliciting black customers and Page was assigned the task. Page, as supervisor,

had six subordinates, who sought savings accounts from black fiiends, and acquaintances.

They were also instructed by People's Bank officials to solicit accounts from the general

public, perhaps in an effort to camouflage its ulterior motive-«to lure Steel City and Modern

State Banking customers into its fold.

Despite the success or failure of Page's staff in the solicitation of black savings

accounts, the question must be raised, however, if Page would have been appointed to a

leadership position by People's had Steel City not revealed its assets and the closing of both

banks not occurred? Also, did People’s give black customers loans to establish businesses

and purchase homes as did the Steel City and Modern State Banks? While these questions

remain unanswered, it is clear that this white banking institution took advantage of the

Opportunity to compete with, and later, capitalize on black business lost by both Pittsburgh’ 3

black financial institutions. One must wonder if black Pittsburghers, "burned" by the bank

 

7° “Race Man Appointed,” The Pittsburgh Courier, April 15, 1925, p. 5.

320

closings, reverted to the traditional ways ofkeeping their money by "hiding it underneath the

rug or mattress," rather than face the thought of again, losing their earnings albeit a black or

white banking institution.

Origins of the YMCA

The Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) movement in Pittsburgh began in

1854 when William Hunt, a seminary student read about the YMCA movement in London,

initiated by George Williams, a merchant apprentice, in 1844.7' Hunt’s interest in the

YMCA prompted him to write a letter to the YMCA secretary in Washington, DC. inquiring

about this Christian association. Upon receiving this information, he, in turn, submitted a

series of articles to local Pittsburgh newspapers concerning the YMCA and upon their

publication, sparked the interest of three other young men who subsequently, organized a

meeting March 16, 1854, in Second Presbyterian Church.72 An estimated 30 persons

attended the first meeting resulting in a decision to form Pittsburgh’s first YMCA and

construct a constitution which was adopted March 23, 1854, at First Presbyterian Church.

The formal organization of the city’s YMCA whose purpose was "the religious and social

 

71William Hunt was a New Jersey native and afier spending several years in

Philadelphia, moved to Steubenville, Ohio to attend Jefferson College. In 1849, he attended

Grove Academy also in Steubenville and later the Western Pennsylvania Theological Seminary

in Pittsburgh. “Start of WCA In Pittsburgh,” The Pittsburgh Sun, October 24, 1914. Vertical

File, Pittsburgh YMCA, The Pennsylvania Department, The Carnegie Institute of Pittsburgh,

Pittsburgh, PA.

72The three other men instrumental in the organization of a YMCA in Pittsburgh were

Samuel T. Lowrie, a graduate of Miami University, and student at Western Theological

Seminary; Robert Totten; and SS. Bryan.

321

improvement of ourselves, and other young men in our midst," did not occur until March 27,

1854.73 Once Pittsburgh’s YMCA was organized, officers were elected for effective

leadership, management, and service.

Origins of Black YMCAs

The work and reputation of the YMCA had spread rapidly to black communities and

was soon to become one of the most important organizations for black men on both local and

national levels. Jesse B. Mooreland of the YMCA’s New York office, tells us that YMCA

work with and by blacks began in 1853, when Anthony Bowen, a free Negro and fiiend of

William Chancey Langdon, founder of the YMCA’s International Committee and

corresponding secretary of the white YMCA, established the first "colored" association in

Washington, DC." It resulted because of Bowen and Langdon’s overwhelming concern for

the welfare of young black men. During the 1867 YMCA Convention, the following

resolution was passed: "Resolved that the committee on Association of this convention be

instructed to report such measures as in their judgement will best promote the formation of

YMCAs among colored brethren throughout the United States."75

 

7’ “Original Constitution Returns Miraculously: Old Document Loaned to Central

WCA Branch By Ohio Woman,” Vertical File, Pittsburgh YMCA, Pennsylvania Department,

The Carnegie Institute of Pittsburgh; Four Young Men: A BriefHistory of the WCA in

Pittsburgh, (Pittsburgh: Herbick and Held Printing, Company, 1954), p. 4.

7"“YTWCA Beckons To You: Local Campaign Offers Right Opportunities to Develop

The Body, Spirit,” The Pittsburgh Courier, October 10, 1929, p. 11; Jesse E. Mooreland,

“Young Men ’s Christian Association Among Negroes,” Journal ofNegro History, Volume IX

(April) 1924, p. 127.

75Jesse E. Mooreland, p. 127.

322

In a subsequent move to solicit black membership and establish black YMCA’s,

William A. Hunton became the first black employed by the association in 1888. He worked

as the International Secretary for Negro Work across the country, performed duties at the

Norfolk, Virginia YMCA, and assisted Mooreland in the organization of black YMCA

branches. The purpose of "Negro work" in the YMCA was to promote its cause in terms of

improving spiritual, intellectual, and social conditions of young black men. Black branches

of the YMCA emerged in Boston, New York City, and Brooklyn.

Many black men in northern urban communities, were attracted to the YMCA

mainly, because of its facilities and organized activities which most of their communities

lacked, and therefore, sought the establishment of the association in their respective

communities. But, there were also other reasons.

In New York, Reverend Charles T.

Walker, pastor of Mount Olive Baptist Church, "wanted to establish a YMCA for southern

migrants, because so much trouble was made by poor fellows not having a place to go.""5

A "colored" YMCA in Philadelphia was necessary, because "a grave and dangerous lack of

proper places of amusement and recreation for young men existed."

In Chicago and

Evansville, Indiana, racism and discrimination prompted the city’s black men to request a

YMCA for their communities as the (white) YMCAs were "off limits" to them. This

movement for "colored YMCAs soon spread to Pittsburgh.

 

76Gilbert Osofsky, Harlem the Making of a Ghetto, 1890-1930, (Chicago: Ivan R. Dee,

1963), p. 15; Russell H. Davis, Black Americans in Cleveland, (Associated Publishers:

Washington, D. C. 1972), p. 151; Lane Rogers, p. 296; Darrel E. Bigam, We Ask Only a Fair

Trial: Black Communitym Evansville, Indiana, (Bloomington: Indiana University Press,

1990), p. 123; DuBois, p. 232.

' 323

The "color

" branch of the Pittsburgh YMCA was the fourth branch founded in the

city in 1893, preceded by the Downtown branch (1854); East Liberty (1874); and

Pennsylvania Railway Pitcairn (1883). The executive board ofPittsburgh’s YMCA " felt the

need to bring the Negro into the YMCA when a representative body of black men from the

Wylie Avenue district definitely requested us to consider forming a branch. They cannot be

disregarded."77 In September 1893, the YMCA branch for blacks was formally organized

with approximately 80 men in a rented store room on Wylie Avenue. W.T. Poole, a

mortician and trustee of Ebenezer Baptist Church, was the first black director of the

"colored" YMCA in Pittsburgh and under his leadership the association moved into a three-

story building at 1847 Wylie Avenue.78

Fund-raising Campaigns

The activities of Pittsburgh’s "colored" YMCA were sketchy during the late 19th

century and first decade of the 20th century due to a lack of sources, but an attempt has been

made to tell the story as accurately as the data has permitted. Beginning the second decade

of the 20th century, the leadership of the "color

" YMCA engaged a series ofbuilding fund

campaigns, membership drives, educational, religious, and recreational activities. In 1911,

it ran a series of advertisement campaigns in The Pittsburgh Courier soliciting subscriptions

for its YMCA headquarters:

 

77Four Young Men: A BriefHistory of the WCA of Pittsburgh, p. 28.

78Secretarial Newsletter, International Committee of the WCA, New York City,

November 1928, Volume 6, Number 2, p. 5.

324

 

  

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Figure. 44. Centre Avenue YWCA (1893)

325

It behooves every man or woman who subscribed to the Building

Fund (sic) for the YMCA to redeem their pledges at once. The

building now bought at a cost of $25,000...$12,000 pledged and

$5,000 collected.

With the equipment of this building, needed

improvements will be necessary to make it adaptable for YMCA

purposes and the race will have in Greater Pittsburg (sic) a building

of which you need not be ashamed.79

The financial records were not available to ascertain whether the black community responded

to the "colored" YMCA’s pleas to pay their subscriptions.

However, some headway was obviously made, because three years later, the

"colored" YMCA with the help of 200 black women, sponsored a one week Inter-Society

Bazaar at Knox Presbyterian Church which netted approximately $650 targeted to mortgage

the current Wylie Avenue site. Fund-raising campaigns were a priority among the YMCA’s

leadership as they were a significant part of all institutions, both black and white to finance

program operations, purchase firrnishings, recreational equipment and to maintain the

facility.

As Pittsburgh’s YMCAs expanded their programs, the membership and use of the

facility steadily increased which led to campaign for new buildings October 7th through

November 6th, 1916, for designated Pittsburgh branches. The National Board of the YMCA

agreed that the lack of modern YMCA buildings in the city made it difficult for the

association to carry on its work. During the YMCA meeting of January 1917, the Forward

Movement Program was established to build four YMCA structures and modernize existing

YMCAs. Included on the list for a new facility was Pittsburgh’s "colored" YMCA with the

 

7" “‘Pay Your Subscriptions ’ Redemption of Pledges in Fall Means Much to Race in

Pitmburgh,” The Pittsburgh Courier, June 3, 1911, p.

l.

326

following amenities: a spacious dormitory for 85 men, baths, locker rooms, a swimming

pool, classrooms, lecture halls for night school, a social hall, and cafeteria.80 The dormitory

was especially important, because black students attending local universities were barred

from residence halls as were Pullman porters fi'om white hotels.

Dr. J .E. Mooreland, campaign director and secretary of the International Committee

of the YMCA, New York City, organized teams of 100 workers to raise money for the

YMCA expansion project. Both white and black members were expected to participate in

this fimd-raising endeavor and to raise specific sums of money, because all of Pittsburgh’s

YMCAs would benefit. For example, the colored people of Pittsburgh were mandated to

raise $10,000 to obtain a $25 ,000 grant from Julius Rosenwald.8| To the surprise of whites

and probably, themselves, they successfully raised $15,512, almost $6,000 more than

required to receive the Rosenwald gift. In three days, the Flying Squadron, composed of

black high school young men, raised $586.50. With both successes, the construction of a

new "colored" YMCA began in the Spring of 1917.

The Centre Avenue YMCA was completed in 1923, with a large dedication service

attended by some ofthe most renowned YMCA leaders and members.82 Dr. J .E. Mooreland,

 

8° “Let’s Finish the Job,” June 1, 1923. Vertical File, Pittsburgh YMCA, The

Pennsylvania Department, The Carnegie Institute of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA.

8' Pennsylvania Association News, November 1916, Number 81, Volume XXI, p. 29.

Julius Rosenwald was a white philanthropist who made substantial contributions to the

establishment and improvement of “colored” YMCAs across the country.

82 Some of the speakers for the occasion were Frederick B. Shipp, executive secretary of

the Pittsburgh YMCA; Ralph Harbison, president of the Pittsburgh organization; Samuel R.

Morsell, executive secretary of the Centre Avenue branch of the YMCA. Arch Deacon James S.

Russell gave the dedicatory prayer which was pronounced by Father Shelton Hale Bishop. Mary

327

secretary of the Negro Men’s Department of the YMCA, gave the dedicatory address:

I dedicate this building to the physical, intellectual, social, moral,

religious welfare and development of the young men and boys of this

community. I dedicate it to the maintenance of goodwill among men,

the aidance (sic) of the church, sacredness of the home and

establishment of the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth.83

During the ceremony attended by more than 500 people, the keys to the new facility were

presented to Ralph Harbison, president of the YMCA with a response fi'om noted attorney,

Homer S. Brown. With the closing of the dedication ceremony, the special programs for

black males of the community organized by Samuel R. Morsell were soon implemented.

YMCA Activities

Numerous activities occurred inside the walls ofthe "colored" YMCA. For example,

Joseph Garner, a graduate of Lincoln University and the Chicago YMCA Training School,

and current Director of Boys Work, conducted open-air meetings on Saturday and Sunday

nights during the summer, and parents meetings throughout the city. A Father and Son

Banquet was held March 23, 1916, with approximately 60 boys and their fathers attending

this family-oriented activity. For boys whose fathers were absent from The home or

deceased, "Banquet Dads," were provided. An illustrated lecture reviewing composer,

Samuel Coleridge Taylor, and a study on "The Musical Status of the Pittsburgh Negro were

 

Burwell Turner sang a solo.

‘3 Julia Bumry Jones, “Dr. Mooreland Tells Aim of Organization, Magnificent

Structure, Pittsburgh ’s Dream—Formally Opened, Memorable Occasion,” The Pittsburgh

Courier, October 6, 1923, p.

1.

328

also featured at the "color

" YMCA; and sponsored a Wednesday Noon Luncheon Forum

Series.“

During the 19405, the Program Committee of the "colored" YMCA, to expose its

membership and the Pittsburgh community to culture and art organized the First Annual

Photographers Show, February 4, 1945, with exhibits featuring the works of the city’s most

renowned black photographers.85

The Centre Avenue YMCA began to establish recreational programs. In most

northern urban communities, organized recreation for blacks was undesirable or unavailable.

However, the founding of Pittsburgh’s "color

" YMCA provided numerous opportunities

for them to engage. The athletic prowess of Captain Henry A. Clay, led to the organization

of a baseball team. Black men and boys using the YMCA played a variety of organized

sports including basketball, boxing, and swimming.

Sports leagues became a large part of the Y’s program with the establishment of

in church and local basketball leagues in 1927. The city’s black men and boys participated

in these leagues and national competitions. For example, it played other "colored" YMCAs

such as the "Motor City Quintet" from Detroit, Michigan; and the ‘Y’ Vandals played the

Central Baptist Church Five. In 1945, the ‘Y’ Big Five won the national championship.

Boxing, one of the most exciting sports, was part of the "colored" YMCA’s program

 

8" Pennsylvania Association News, Representing the YMCA of Pennsylvania, May

1916, Volume XX, Number 79, p. 23; “Lensrnen Show Work at WCA,” The Pittsburgh

Courier, February 3, 1945, p. 2.

85 The black photographers included: Teenie Harris, Filbert Olmstead, Luther Johnson,

Percy Garland, Matt Lewis, Oceania Sockwell, M. Larrington; and William Stanley. Also the

works of black artists, Samuel Milai and Wilbert Holloway were displayed.

329,

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Figure. 45. Centre Avenue YMCA ( 1923)

330

attracting such sports figures as, Billy Conn, Joe Louis, Harry Bobo, a local heavyweight

fighter, and Henry Armstrong who frequented the Centre Avenue YMCA.

Membership Campaigns

During the 19208 the Centre Avenue branch of the YMCA met many successes

relative to staff increases, membership, attendance, and benevolence. In 1923, the YMCA

employed a secretarial staffof four persons. Two hundred thirty-two men and 308 boys were

members of the "colored" YMCA and a total of 17,886 black men attended various programs

and participated in association activities. According to statistics, more than 20,000 black

males between the ages of 10 and 50 resided in Pittsburgh, but only 1.5 percent were

involved in the "colored"YMCA.86 Although memberships were minimal, attendance

statistics for the YMCA revealed extensive use of the facility by non-members. The small

membership may be attributed to its expensive joining fee. In other words, the lack of fimds

could have hindered numerous black men and youth interested in the YMCA from

purchasing a membership.

Since the "colored" YMCAs inception, membership campaigns were conducted on

a regular basis by its black leadership. It was significant, because the association assumed

the greatest responsibility for the development of Negro youth by providing guidance,

establishing and making available programs intended to convey the meaning and importance

 

86Ira De Reid, A Survey of the Negro in Pitmburgh, p. 107.

331

of citizenship and responsibility.87 During these campaigns, the YMCA’s leadership sought

new members, membership renewals, and to enroll as many persons as possible into the Y’s

variety of programs and classes, so that they might enjoy the full benefits of the association.

However, the "color

" YMCA’s leadership constantly engaged in membership

drives. The Annual YMCA Report of 1927, revealed a successful membership campaign in

May which captured 524 new members. During this campaign, the YMCA staff also raised

$1000 for the sole purpose ofpurchasing memberships for those individuals unable to afford

one. But given the large number of black males in the city, the number of YMCA members

was only a "drop in a bucket." This may have been a result of the YMCA’s religious

philosophy or reputation as a Christian association. In other words, large numbers of black

males refused to join, because it was not a secular institution. They may have also been

dissuaded from joining the YMCA, because they were already affiliated with a religious

institution.

Even though black males were not "racing" to become members of Centre Avenue

YMCA, W.T. Poole and Robert L. Vann two of its "movers and shakers," continued to raise

money with hopes of accommodating a larger membership. In 1928, W.T. Poole chaired an

$8500 fund-raising campaign which netted $10,000 in subscriptions.88 Vann and his seven

member Royal Order of the Spizzerinktum, a local lodge founded by RB. DeFrantz, raised

 

87 “The ‘Y’ Is A Symbol ofDemocracy—Join Now! The Pittsburgh Courier, October

11, 1941, p. 3.

88Secretarial Newsletter, International Committee of the YMCA New York City,

Colored Men’s Department, Volume 6, Number 2, November 1928, p. 5.

332

 

Figure 46. W.T. Poole

‘

‘

$2600 cash in five days for the "colored" YMCA. Part of Pittsburgh’s black "upper crust,"

they were inducted into the Centre Avenue YMCA’s Red Triangle Hall of Fame for their

fund-raising achievement.89

Between 1929-1941, the YMCA’s leadership used several methods to increase its

membership. In 1929, under the leadership of Robert L. Vann, a campaign was launched to

secure 500 men and boys within five working days. To reach this goal, prospect cards and

letters were mailed to residents, but more importantly, every large industrial plant and

commercial enterprise throughout the city was canvassed by YMCA members and

volunteers. In 1941, the Centre Avenue YMCA workers were so successfiil in increasing its

enrollment that they won possession of the Holgar Johnson Trophy placing first in the

competitive YMCA city-wide membership campaign by exceeding the $6,000 goal.

Impact of the YMCA on the Black Community

Given the few places where large meetings and dinners could be held, the Centre

Avenue YMCA became one of the most utilized facilities of the city’s black organizations

and institutions. The Pittsburgh Urban League used the YMCA for a social workers

conference and, in 1935, its Sixth Annual Forum Meeting with Eugene Kinckle Jones, Chief

 

89 “In Red Triangle Hall ofFarne,” The Pittsburgh Courier, November 16, 1929, p. 9.

Members of Robert L. Vann’s lodge were: Richard Jones, an attorney in the law firm of Brown

and Jones; Henry Kennedy, a mortician with funeral establishments on the North Side and East

Liberty; William F itts, a real estate broker; John W. Lemon, an insurance broker whose business

was located on Wylie Avenue; John Branch, owner of a light installation business; an employee

of Duquesne Light; and Maxwell Thompson whose occupation was unlisted.

334

Division of Negro Affairs, United States Department of Commerce, as speaker. On

November 9, 1943, Warren United Methodist Church celebrated its 63rd Church Anniversary

Banquet featuring Reverend Adam Clayton Powell, Sr., at the "colored" YMCA.

The major benefactors of the "colored YMCA were black male college students.

While the city’s colleges and universities admitted black students, racism and discrimination

restricted them from dormitory living. The Centre Avenue YMCA became home for those

students struggling to uplift themselves and the race. Dormitory space accommodated young

men in the YMCA. At least twenty-five percent of YMCA residents were students at the

University of Pittsburgh, and the Pittsburgh School of Technology. The remaining seventy-

five percent were working men, many of whom were currently, employed by Westinghouse

Electric Manufacturing Company.

Kay Community Club

The Kay Boys Club evolved as a result of four prominent citizens both black and

white who were disturbed by the distasteful environment in which black Hill District youth

were exposed, during the peak of the Depression. Unemployment, delinquency, health,

leisure activities without proper supervision, and disjointed families provided an unhealthy

environment for black youth. Mrs. Charles Longenecker, George L. Hailman, Board of

Managers of the Old Newsboys Home; and Homer S. Brown and Harry K. Craft,

representatives ofthe "colored" YMCA; engaged in discussions to minimize, ifnot, alleviate

the difficulties facing the Hill District’s black youth.

The consequence of these discussions was the establishment of the Kay Community

335

Club in 1931, an extension of the Pittsburgh’s Newsboys’s Home. It was named in honor

ofJames Kay, a noted white Pittsburgh patent attorney, whom also served as president ofthe

Pittsburgh Newsboys Home.90 The Kay Club financed mainly by the Pittsburgh Newsboys

Home was a social agency for underprivileged black males under eighteen years old.”

Established at 2038 Bedford Avenue in a three-story building which formerly housed a

factory, the Kay Club had several objectives: to develop character and leadership; promote

better neighborhoods, community pride; encourage a higher standard of family and

community life; inter-racial goodwill; promote the interest in individual and community

health by encouraging preventive health measures; education; recreation; employment

assistance; and to provide space for community activities, vocational classes, meetings for

civic groups, and clinics.92 For the next four years, the Kay Club was led by CW. Hawkins.

During the 1930s, Pittsburgh black males associated with the Kay Boy’s Club

participated in numerous athletic competitions against other males in both the city and

Allegheny County. In 1934, they won three track meets, sponsored by Allegheny County,

the United Spanish War Veterans, and the AMA Championships for Men. Victorious in

boxing, members of the Kay Boy’s Club boxing team, in 1937, won the Jr. AMA and AAU

 

9° “Kay House,” The Bulletin Index, November 10, 193 8. Vertical File, Pittsburgh

Charities, Kay Boys Club, The Pennsylvania Department, The Carnegie Institute of Pittsburgh,

Pittsburgh, PA.

9' The Pittsburgh Newsboy’s Home was chartered in 1888 to assist homeless newsboys.

However, it amended its organizational charter to expand its work to underprivileged boys.

92 “12th Anniversary Celebration Kay Boy’s Club,” Sunday April 11, 1943. Vertical

File, Pittsburgh Charities, The Pennsylvania Department, The Carnegie Institute of Pittsburgh,

Pittsburgh, PA.

336

Championship sponsored by the Metropolitan Club and its baseball team, the Metropolitan

Baseball Title sponsored by Honus Wagner in 1938.93 While it is unclear who the opponents

and participants of the Kay Boy’s Club were in these athletic competitions, their victories

suggest that organized recreational activities were an asset to Kay Club members who once

lacked such supervision.

By 1939, the Kay Club experienced its first set of difficulties. First, more than 800

boys had joined the club causing severe overcrowding. However, this problem was resolved

when management purchased a building next to the Kay Club to alleviate overcrowding and

simultaneously, expanded its programs. The additional facility included a gymnasium,

library, three craft rooms, a kitchen, music rooms, and two large game rooms. It also

allowed the Kay Community Club establish a children’s health clinic and pre-school

playroom on the premises. Second, the Kay Club was short of staff due to the overwhelming

participation of Hill District young black males. The data do not reveal how or if this

problem was eliminated, but suggests that none of the programs were discontinued nor was

the Kay Club’s membership closed to interested persons. As a matter of fact, a limited

program for girls and camping opportunities were initiated amidst this staff shortage.

Operating since the club’s inception was the Women’s Auxiliary of the Kay Boy’s

Club which developed into three units: the first organized in 1931 by Adrena Allen; the

second, in 1943 under the leadership of Rosa L. Hand; and the third by Margaret Lampkin

 

93 “Kay Club Celebrates Ten Years of Progress: Agency Devoted to Problems of

Pittsburgh Youth Is One ofNation ’s Unique Projects,” The Pittsburgh Courier, June 28, 1941,

p. 3.

337

in 1944. These black women assumed responsibility for building improvements and provided

support services for Kay Club participants with specific problems related to home, school,

and employment. The Women’s Auxiliary also organized a variety of hind-raising activities

such as, bake sales, card parties, and banquets to support the Kay Club’s program’s. It was

perhaps the help of these auxiliaries totaling approximately 30 women, that supplemented

the Kay Club’s staff shortage.

Impact of the Kay Boy’s Club

The 1940s showed significant signs of the benefits the Kay Club provided not just

for black males in the black community, but for parents as well. Dr. Roderick Brown, a

black Pittsburgh physician administered physical examinations and treatment for minor

injuries to Kay Club participants and by June 1941 , had examined an estimated 200 patients.

Employment opportunities for young black males were obtained as 46 of them were placed

in jobs. The types of employment, however, were not revealed, but given the ages of these

young men, the jobs were probably of a menial nature as well as the pay. But, perhaps these

eamings were used to improve the low economic status of their respective households.

With various aspects of the Hill District community engaged in Kay Club activities

and its outreach program, a nursery school for Negro children was created for ages 2-4 and

led by Eunice Wright Cook, a registered nurse; a Negro Art School under the direction of

John Gore which involved art exhibits, art classes open to the public, and offered charcoal

and pencil work; and a Community Needs Program, established which provided seeds and

garden plots for low-income families to grow their own vegetables. The Kay Club also made

338

accessible to the Hill District community registration for public housing, summer day camp,

free employment services in conjunction with the Pennsylvania State Employment Bureau.

In addition to the Wylie Avenue Branch of Carnegie Library, the Kay Boy’s Club

also maintained a library with approximately 500 volumes to be used by its members as well

as the black community. Classes in drama, cooking, sewing, and music were also offered

to black underprivileged Hill District residents. The Kay Club provided entertainment in the

form of "talking picture shows" with two hour shows weekly at a cost of three cents with an

average attendance of 175.94

By 1943, the managers of the Kay Boy’s Club had substantial statistics which

demonstrated its commitment and importance to the Hill District community. For example,

260 young black males received counseling for various types of problems including

"personality corrections;" 1,325 participated in arts and crafts; 32,680 used the facility’s

game rooms; 53,659 participated in numerous activities sponsored by the Kay Club; 55

special events were held in the Kay Club and attended by 4990 persons; 5400 children

attended the "talking picture shows;" and an average of 250 persons daily used the club.”

It was undoubtedly, this kind ofparticipation and support of the Hill District community that

the Kay Club impacted black Pittsburgh. The following year a modern building was

purchased at the comer of Wylie Avenue and Green Street for the fiirther expansion and

 

9" “Kay Club Celebrates Ten Years ofProgress,” p. 3.

95 “Kay Boy’s Club, Program Dedication, September 10-1 7, 1944: New Kay Boy’s

Club Building. ” Vertical File, Pittsburgh Charities, Kay Boy’s Club, Pennsylvania Department,

the Carnegie Institute of Pittsburgh.

339

commitment of Kay Club work.

Conclusion

Pittsburgh’s black community established an old folks home; a home for working

girls, three black orphanages; one black hospital; and two black banks. This number ofblack

institutions was small compared to those in Chicago, New York, Detroit, and Philadelphia,

simply, because Pittsburgh’s black population was not comparable to these cities and

therefore, unable to financially support as many institutions. However, DuBois, Allan Spear,

Kenneth Kusmer, and other scholars have pointed out that even larger cities where blacks

were concentrated struggled to maintain their institutions. So, black Pittsburgh’s struggles

to do the same were not isolated.

Contrary to Forrester B. Washington’s unfair charge that, "the Negro was pathetic

as ever (in social welfare work) and apparently, still willing to let the other fellow carry

him," Pittsburgh blacks, Mary Peck Bond; Ella Grayson; the Colemans; the Davises; Beulah

Ella Mason; and Reverend Messer, should be credited with having taken the initiative toward

self-help as no other blacks had assumed responsibility for the old, young, and indigent

through the establishment of homes and orphanages. First, white philanthropy to black

institutions, with few exceptions, was often to maintain segregation. Second, the behavior

of Pittsburgh’s black professional class and businessmen was questioned, because it focused

on only the needs of the "colored" YMCA and YWCA. We must remember, however, that

Pittsburgh’s black women’s clubs, as we have seen in chapter two, supported the city’s black

institutions on a regular basis.

340

The Steel City Banking Company and Modern State Banking Companies were an

asset to the black community and Pittsburgh blacks enjoyed the benefit of having them, of

course, until they collapsed. Bank closings, however, were not unusual, because white banks

had also been closed by the Pennsylvania State Banking Commission for the same reasons,

but were not publicized to the magnitude of black banks. Despite the demise ofPittsburgh’s

black financial institutions, Austin and Phillips ventured into untread waters to improve the

quality of life for black Pittsburghers by providing financial and real estate opportunities

otherwise unavailable from white banking institutions.

Since slavery in the Americas, health among blacks has been a major problem

confronting society and the medical profession. Black medical professionals successfully

established black hospitals to deal with sickness, disease, and high mortality rates. Though

black Pittsburgh physicians attempted to build a hospital to better accommodate the city’s

blacks, because the current site of Livingstone Memorial Hospital on Bedford Avenue, was

no longer sufficient, they failed. A lack of cooperation from the black community, the

Livingstone Memorial Hospital Association’s inability to raise funds, infighting, and the ease

with which the new plans for the hospital, implemented by the Interracial Committee, were

stretched far beyond their reach. And, perhaps the intervention of whites and failure of the

new hospital for blacks was designed to keep blacks in "their place." Nonetheless, the LMH

continued to operate its hospital on Bedford Avenue.

A lack recreation in northern urban communities was prevalent and attributed to high

crime rates and delinquency rate among blacks. In Pittsburgh, the "colored" YMCA and Kay

Community Clubs provided an outlet for black males. Although they were established 37

341

years apart, the educational, social, and organized recreational programs available

contributed to exposure, friendships, and competition, and more, importantly, the building

of character. With the presence of these two institutions in the Hill District community,

black males had new opportunities and were probably less likely to become involved in

criminal activity. The YMCA made it easier for black males to attend the city’s educational

institutions without housing concerns and the Kay Boys Club even found jobs for many of

its participants.

Despite the small number ofblack institutions in Pittsburgh, its founders realized they

were a necessity and attempted to "take care of their own race." These institutions, even in

the midst of criticism and financial difficulties, served their purpose by touching the lives of

those blacks which would have otherwise remained untouched. The disappointment does

not lie in the controversies they faced, but in the insufficient number of institutions and low

economic status of Pittsburgh blacks who could not adequately support them. And, the

reality according to Kenneth Kusmer, was that "blacks were frequently unable to establish

separate race institutions without at least some white assistance." Even so, three of

Pittsburgh’ 5 black institutions created by sympathetic blacks: The Coleman Industrial Home

for Colored Boys, the Davis for Colored Children, and the Home for Aged and Infirm

Colored Women survived beyond 1945.

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Chapter 6

Local Black Politics in Pittsburgh: Leadership or Leaderless?

As the city’s blacks engaged self-help initiatives through the founding of black

institutions, they also began to help themselves in other ways. Political participation among

Pittsburgh blacks was not common as Chapter One has elicited. For example, during the

antebellum period, Pittsburgh’s black leadership along with that of other northern urban

communities, fought for enfranchisement, racial equality, and an end to racial prejudice

through a number of vehicles including petitions, resolutions to the Pennsylvania General

Assembly, and the Negro Convention Movement. They realized that solutions to these issues

would improve black lives in some significant way.

At the turn of the century, not much, however, had changed for Pittsburgh blacks.

They remained disfranchised, black activists were unsuccessful in their efforts to mobilize

the community for political participation; racism became more pronounced in every aspect

of black life; and racial equality was still an unfulfilled wish among the city’s blacks. What

then, were black Pittsburghers to do? How were they going to resolve these problems?

Black political participation, they thought, was the answer to these questions.

The purpose of this chapter is to explore local black politics in Pittsburgh including

political participation and mobilization, patronage, and the founding of black political

organizations. This study further examines the important role of Robert L. Vann and The

Pittsburgh Courier, and its influence on Pittsburgh’s black voters in local, state, and national

elections. It was thought by Pittsburgh’ 5 black leaders that political participation would lead

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to self-respect, respect from white politicians and white society as a whole.

Origins of Black Political Participation

The history of black politics began in the late 19th and 20th centtu'ies and was chiefly

the history of black Republicanism.l Most blacks, especially those from the South, were

indelibly ingrained in the Republican Party as an expression of gratitude to former President,

Abraham Lincoln, whom they believed freed the slaves.

Similarly, blacks in the mid-west

also favored the Republican Party. For example, blacks in Evansville, Indiana, believed the

party of Lincoln was the only guarantor of race progress.2 Renowned national black leaders,

Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington were supporters of the Republican Party and

their influence on the nation’s blacks may have also had a significant impact on their political

party affiliation.

During the Reconstruction Period, approximately twenty southern black Republicans

were elected to Congress and two black United States Senators. They included southern

Congressmen Joseph H. Rainey, Robert Elliott, and Josiah T. Walls, Blanche K. Bruce and

Hiram Revels, respectively. Black political leaders also received federal appointments.

Frederick Douglass, under the Presidential administration ofUlysses S. Grant, was appointed

 

lDorsey J. Travis, An Autobiography ofBlack Politics, (Chicago: Urban Resource

Press, 1987), p. 131.

2Darrel. E. Bigham, We Ask Only A Fair Trial: A History of the Black Community of

Evansville, Indiana, (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1987), p. 194. Bigam paints a

vivid picture of black politics in Evansville as local blacks struggled for political rights,

attempted to understand party politics, and carve themselves a place in the political arena.

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Commissioner of Haiti and several other blacks to consular agent, collector for the Internal

Revenue Service, and postmaster of a small city.3 This was an early demonstration of

patronage to black leaders, a practice that would continue and escalate on various levels of

government throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. There were, in fact, northern blacks

elected to State Legislature such as, John P. Green, Jere Brown, and Harry C. Smith, all of

Ohio, during the late 19th century.

All of the early black politicians were Republicans and received white Republican

support. Most had college educations while others were self-trained. More importantly,

most black candidates for political offices were not professional politicians, but race or civic

leaders who regarded politics as one of several avenues to black advancement.4

From this point, blacks actively participated in politics. They continued to run for

political offices, allowed themselves to be recruited by both the Republican and Democratic

parties, sought patronage jobs, personal favors, services for their communities, and

campaigned for white politicians as well as their own. Blacks interested in politics and black

politicians formed local political organizations to mobilize the black community, support

black candidates, “get out” the vote on election day, and select candidates sensitive to the

needs of blacks. In New York, blacks formed the United Colored Democracy; St. Louis, the

Negro Jefferson League; Cleveland, the Twelfth Ward Republican Club; Philadelphia, the

 

3 Harold F. Gosnell, The Negro in Politics: The Rise of Negro Politics In Chicago,

(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1967), p. 7. Despite this books age, it is an extremely

important work on black politics and can possibly be used as a model for other political studies

on urban communities or at least lend itself as a tool for comparative studies.

4 Allan Spear, Black Chicago: The Making of a Negro Ghetto, 1890-1920, (Chicago:

University of Chicago Press, 1967), p. 119.

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Citizens Republican Club; and Chicago, the Appomatox Club which were all established

during the late 19th and first decade of the 20th centuries.’ In Pittsburgh, no political clubs

existed before the turn of the century except the Colored Voters Council organized in 1874.

This was by no means an indication that Pittsburgh blacks were not interested in politics, but

the seeds had yet to be sewn.

Disfranchisement of Blacks

Blacks were drafted into the military and yet, denied participation in the electoral

process. Blacks were the victims of “taxation without representation.” Although black

children attended public schools, their parents were refused participation in the election of

school officials. The disfranchisement of blacks in the South spread to the North, because

racist whites felt that blacks were unqualified to exercise the ballot.

Southern states, for

example, based black voter qualifications on literacy, property ownership, and payment of

taxes. In cases where blacks did meet the qualifications imposed upon them by white law

makers, other tactics were used to keep blacks from the polls such as, intimidation.

But, during World War I, the influx of blacks to northern cities had political

connotations. The race massed in certain counties and wards were often able to control the

selection of local officials in cities such as, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, and

 

5Haynes Walton, Jr. and Mervyn Dymally, “Democratic Party,” in the Encyclopedia of

African-American Culture and History, Volume 2, Jack Salzman, David Lionel Smith, and

Cornell West, eds. (New York: MacMillan Library Reference USA, 1996), p. 744; Spear, p. 78;

Roger Lane, William Dorsey ’s Philadelphia and Ours: On the Past and Future of the Black

City in America, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1991), p. 206; Kenneth Kusmer, A

Ghetto Takes Shape: Black Cleveland 1870-1930, (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1976),

p. 143.

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Cleveland.‘5

Realizing the strength of black voters, white politicians began to reward them

with patronage jobs on all levels of government. For example, blacks on the federal level

of government were appointed as janitors and clerks. As blacks began to realize their own

political power, they asserted themselves to demand significant patronage jobs with more

responsibility.

Overview of Pittsburgh Politics

Pittsburgh was the birthplace of the Republican Party.

It was the site of the first

National Convention of the Republican Party February 22-23, 1856, to organize emerging

groups of Republicans which had increased in states where slavery was prohibited.7

Republicans had maintained control of Pennsylvania throughout the 19th century. For

example, on the local level they dominated the city of Pittsburgh when attorney Tommy

Steele, organized the Republican machine and, was later, seceded by his nephew Christopher

Lynn in 1887, who headed the Allegheny County Executive Committee."

By 1917, there were no Democratic State Senators or governors and the

Pennsylvania State Legislature was dominated by the Republican Party as was its

congressional delegation. Historian Andrew Buni, points out that the “Republican control

 

élohn G. Van Deusen, “The Negro in Politics,” Journal ofNegro History, 21 (July)

1936, p. 266.

7Samuel Church Harden, A Short History of Pittsburgh, 1 758-1908, (New York: The

DeVinne Press, 1908), p. 53. At the meeting, the platform of the Republican Party was to repeal

of all laws allowing the introduction of slavery into free territories.

8Buni, p. 90.

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of the city was so complete that there were few challenges to its power.” This was, in part,

because Pittsburgh’s Republican Party consisted of the city’s power brokers including

prominent bankers and wealthy industrialists.

In short, the Republican Party actually

dominated Pittsburgh politics until 1932, the age of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, when the

city’s black shifted from the Republican to the Democratic Party.

Pittsburgh was comprised of 32 wards of which the Third and F iith Wards contained

the largest concentration of black voters. More than half of the black voters resided in these

two wards with an estimated potential of 17,000 votes.

In twenty-one wards, blacks

constituted less than five percent of the registered voters; in four wards five to ten percent

of the voters; and in five wards eleven to twenty percent of the voters.’

Local Black Politics

During the first three decades of the 20th century, almost 100 percent of Pittsburgh

blacks were registered to vote and voted Republican. As blacks in northern and southern

cities alike, black Pittsburghers were not recognized by the Republican Party which knew

that black voters would support the Party of Lincoln without question. From 1900 to the

early 1930s, nearly all black voters were registered Republicans and not a single black vote

was cast for the Democratic Party.10 Northern blacks were virtually as helpless as those in

 

9Ruth Louise Simmons, The Negro in Recent Pittsburgh Politics, M.A. Thesis,

University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 1945, p. 3.

10Ibid, p. 4. Though Simmons asserts that no blacks voted for a Democrat during this

period, she presents no evidence to that effect. As Darrel Bigham points out in the case of

Evansville, Indiana, Republicans usually took most if not all of the predominantly black

precincts. This may well have been the case in Pittsburgh.

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Figure. 46. Ward Map of Pittsburgh

349

the South, because they vested their political support in one party-«the Republican Party.

Robert L. Vann was significant to Pittsburgh’s black politics and ultimately had

exerted some influence over black voters in national politics. Vann, a native of Ahoskie,

North Carolina, was born to former slaves in 1879. He received his education at Water’s

Normal School in North Carolina; Virginia Union in Richmond, Virginia; and a law degree

from the University of Pittsburgh in 1909, where he subsequently, established his law

practice. The following year, Vann purchased a newspaper from John Harleston which

became The Pittsburgh Courier.” This was Pittsburgh’s second black newspaper since the

publication of Delany’s Mystery.

Between 1917-1919, Robert L. Vann, launched an editorial campaign in The

Pittsburgh Courier for the mobilization of the local black vote, to encourage voter

registration of all blacks the city and Allegheny County. Vann was probably, the first

Pittsburgh black to engage politics by campaigning for a white Republican mayoral

candidate, A.M. Jenkins in 1917.

Successful in his bid as mayor of Pittsburgh, Jenkins

repaid Vann for obtaining the city’s black vote, with a patronage job as a clerk in the Office

of the Mercantile Appraiser.

This was perhaps, the onset of more black political

participation in Pittsburgh politics and further encouragement to venture into the political

arena.

 

llThe Pittsburgh Courier was initially founded in 1910 and incorporated by William E.

Hance, Samuel Rosemond, William N. Page , and CW. Posey, Sr. and Edward Harleston with

Vann’s expertise. During this period, the newspaper suffered extreme financial difficulty, so

Vann’s legal fees were paid with ten shares of stock in the Courier. Vann whose journalism

experience was as editor of the University of Pittsburgh’s student newspaper transformed the

failing newspaper into “the world’s most influential Negro-owned newspaper.” See William G.

Nunn Sr.’s, “The Pittsburgh Courier Story.”

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Figure. 47. Robert L. Vann

William Nunn, Sr. described Vann’s writing as “vitriolic, incisive, and at times abrupt. He

found issues aplenty and spared no one.” He also points out that Vann wrote about economics, black

culture, social development of blacks, and politics. Vann, in spite of his many talents and notoriety,

was also no stranger to controversy.

351

Black Pittsburghers began seeking local political offices as early as 1912, at least a

decade later than black Chicagoans and Clevelanders. '2 This was perhaps because the city’s

blacks were not politically astute, apathetic, and significant numbers of Pittsburgh blacks

failed to register to vote. Gunnar Myrdal also tells us that this “failure of blacks to vote were

ignorance, poverty, and tirnidity caused by violence in the South” which was often

perpetuated in the North. All these factors implied that black candidates would be unable

to muster substantial support from the race to become viable candidates and succeed.

However, some of the city’s prominent blacks entered the political arena despite the

impossible odds of winning an elective office.

The political offices sought by Pittsburgh blacks from 1919-1937 were alderman, city

councilman, ward chairman, and State Legislator. In 1919, Robert H. Logan, a fireman, and

former employee of Allegheny County’s Assessor’s Office, became the city’s first black

alderman. Logan’s defeat of incumbent Martin J. Griffin (white) was the result of a black,

Jewish, and Irish coalition led by Colonel John Ehnore, an Irishman and political leader, and

George S. Oliver, which subsequently, split the white vote in Pittsburgh’s Fifth Ward.

Logan’s victory signified blacks could successfully run for political office, but only with

white support.

This was true in other northern cities as well. For example, in Chicago, Ferdinand

Barnett, a black attorney who ran for a city office, could not have won the election without

 

l2In 1912, black attorney Frank R. Steward, was a candidate for the First Legislative

District in the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Also called “Capt. Steward” by his peers, he lost

the primary election to fellow Republican, Thomas P. Geary, although he was endorsed by

(white) George 8. Oliver, a leading Pittsburgh Republican.

352

white support. Those blacks elected to Ohio’s State Legislature during the 19th century,

needed white voter support to win their elections. The black populations of these cities and

other northern urban communities where blacks voted, were entirely too small to elect black

political candidates on their own.

Robert Logan served as Fifth Ward alderman until 1925, when his constituents

became disgruntled by many of his decisions. For example, Pittsburgh black leaders

complained that “where arbitration presented a Negro (sic) against a white face, the white

face favored.” '3 Bob Logan refused to support the Fifth Ward’s colored (sic) political

organizations and leadership. A case in point, was his endorsement of Richard Martin as

District Attorney when black political organizations endorsed Samuel Gardner. Under

Logan’s political leadership, blacks received no patronage jobs from the Republican party

for their support. Voters of Pittsburgh’s Fifth Ward in the 1925 election, returned their

political support to

Martin J. Griffin, whom they helped Logan defeat in the 1919

aldermanic race. This proved that blacks could also not win an election without the support

of black voters.

Other aspiring blacks were also defeated in local elections. Aldrich Brown, for

example, a candidate for the Sixth Ward constable in 1923, was endorsed by influential race

men and women. A World War I veteran, Brown announced: “the office of constable

requires the knowledge of laws, loyalty, and willingness to give conscientious service. This

 

'3 “The Passing ofBob Logan,” The Pittsburgh Courier, January 2, 1926, p. 1. Upon

Logan’s success, he began to study law as a means to effectively administer the same. Many

Pittsburgh Negroes who referred to him as the “colored squire,” expected him to become a major

player in the national political arena.

353

I am prepared to do and will do to the vest of my ability. If my group will pull together, we

will be victorious?” However, Brown, even in his enthusiasm, was defeated.

On the national level, the black press in its responsibility to the black community,

kept it abreast of issues impacting them including those of a political nature. The Pittsburgh

Courier used several methods to assist black voters in selecting political candidates.

It

investigated all candidates, published their political or other records such as, criminal records

regardless ofparty affiliation, exposed Klu Klux Klan members vying for political office, and

provided a slate worthy of the vote of any citizen.‘5

The pages of Pittsburgh’s only black newspaper endorsed and denounced black and

white candidates; and accepted political advertisements from the same. For example, in

1923, The Pittsburgh Courier endorsed (white) Charles M. Shoaf of Elizabeth for Allegheny

County Clerk of Courts: “colored voters should take interest in the statement of Mr. Shoaf

made recently to The Pittsburgh Courier to the effect that “the Race (sic) would continue

(working) in the office in the event of his election.” It also endorsed incumbent John D.

Graham for Allegheny County Recorder of Deeds and Samuel Gardener for District

Attorney.

It is unclear if these endorsements would really benefit Pittsburgh’s black

community other than providing insight on the candidates, all of whom were Republicans.

After the election, black voters still maintained the “wait and see” attitude relative to

 

'4 “World War 1 Veteran Outfor Constable,” The Pittsburgh Courier, August 25, 1923,

'5 “Shoafls Man for Clerk of Courts,” The Pittsburgh Courier, September 1, 1923, p.

14. The editor of the Pittburgh Courier described Shoaf as a reformer, well-suited for Allegheny

County Clerk, and a man of good reputation in Pittsburgh’s and Allegheny County’s legal

community.

354

patronage for black political support.

Despite a series of defeats in Pittsburgh’s local political arena, blacks such as Henry

Payne, sought a victory on the state level of government. Payne, born in Cincinnati, Ohio

in 1884, was educated in Washington, D.C.’s public schools and Howard University. He

migrated to Pittsburgh and was employed in the Homewood Postal Station for approximately

18 years before becoming an undertaker. '6 Payne vied for the First Legislative District seat

of Allegheny County encompassing the First and predominantly black Third and Fifth

Wards, whose votes were thought guaranteed to Payne.

Payne’s campaign chairman, Grant Taylor, sought the endorsement of Pittsburgh’s

white politicians to support Payne’s candidacy. He solicited the help of City Councilman

James F. Malone, president of Pittsburgh’s City Council.17

During a March 24, 1928,

interview Malone stated: “Gentlemen, I will be frank with you---I am not for him; the time

had not yet come for a Negro representative to Harrisburg; it may come later, but it is not

here yet.”'8 Henry Payne nor his campaign committee was discouraged or surprised by

Malone’s comments concerning his candidacy or that of other aspiring black politicians.

But, Payne responded to Malone in the following manner:

 

'6 “Candidate,” The Pittsburgh Courier, March 17, 1928, p. 11.

17James Malone was born August 28, 1879, in Pittsburgh’s 6th Ward. He attended

parochial schools in Pittsburgh and prior to launching a political career, Malone was employed

by C &W Ziegler, a Penn Avenue meat dealer. His participation in politics was in 1911, when

he sought a seat on City Council. Alter suffering two defeats, Malone, a Republican, was

appointed by Mayor, E.V. Babcock as Director of the Department of supplies, a job he held until

1921. Malone was elected to Pittsburgh City Council during this same year. In 1928, he was

elected City Council president.

'8 “Malone Refuses to Endorse Henry Payne’s Candidacy,” The Pittsburgh Courier,

March 31, 1928, p. 8.

355

For many years the Negro (sic) votes in the Hill District have been the

football of the politicians, both black and white, and all they received

by the way of reward for their support were promises which have

never materialized. We are fighting for the right and defy the right of

any man or group of men to tell us that the time is not ripe for us as

a people, to hold elective offices in Harrisburg or anywhere else on

the face of the globe.19

At the same time, Payne criticized local black political leaders who he claimed were “more

selfishly inclined and did not hesitate to sell their birthright...for a mere mess of pottage.”

In other words, they continued to allow themselves to be used by white politicians without

compensation.

Payne’s inability to obtain support from white voters and local black

political leaders, cost him the primary election held April 24, 1928.

Since 1882, when Pittsburgh first established its municipal government, the city’s

blacks were not represented on City Council.

Blacks, during this period, did not seek

political office, because they were disfranchised in Pennsylvania.

In March 1928, the

Reverend Arthur V.B. Hightower declared himself Pittsburgh’s first black City Council

candidate with a platform against vice and crime in Pittsburgh’s black community, problems

he stated were ignored by the city’s police and government.

In his criticism of both the

police and white politicians, an investigation by the United States Prohibition Administration

led to a series of raids in the Hill District. With approximately 25 prohibition agents, John

D. Pennington, head of this investigation, 23 speakeasies were raided, 80 stills and 3,000

rounds of unexpected ammunition were confiscated, houses of ill-repute were closed, and

 

'9 Ibid, p. 8.

356

at least 35 arrests were made.20

In Hightower’s effort to become Pittsburgh’s first black City Councilman, he gained

and lost support.

Using the radio as a campaign mechanism, Hightower, gained a

considerable amount of support beginning with an organized campaign committee comprised

of local mortician Peyton Rose, campaign chairman; W.H. Campbell, chairman of the

campaign committee; and J .R. Wimble, executive secretary.21 While on the campaign trail,

Hightower stated: “I am out for Council not only to insure race representation in the City

Council, but to secure for my people, positions in all departments of our city’s government.”

This statement was sure to arouse black voters, whom in the past, had not benefitted from

patronage jobs at a level satisfactory to black political leaders.

Hightower, also sought the political support of local black ministers, because the

black church was the most organized body in the black commrmity and represented large

numbers of the race, but the ministerial association, according to Hightower, never

responded.

This may have been the result of his aggressiveness or black ministers not

wanting to alienate themselves from the “powers that be.” Hightower’s aggressiveness was

reflected in the following statement:

 

2° “Reverend Hightower Leads Raids on 23 Dives,” The Pittsburgh Courier, March 31,

1928, p. 8. During Hightower’s campaign for City Council, he was mugged by several unknown

assailants. He contends that the beating was the result of his outspokeness against crime and vice.

Also, the impact of the above mentioned raids affected the economics of those owners of houses

of ill-repute, speakeasies, and gambling houses activities. Perhaps the physical attack on

Hightower was an attempt to scare him into changing his political platform to rid vice in the Hill

District community.

2' “Hightowerfor Council Following Increases,” The Pittsburgh Courier, August 1929,

p. 8. Peyton Rose’s undertaking establishment was located on Wylie Avenue, Hill District. He

had an established reputation as both a mortician and womanizer.

357

Here is the thing I want to bring home to you white people. Black

men are not the organizers of commercialized vice in the Hill District

and other sections of the city where the colored man is forced to live

by reason, color, or economic limitations promoted by the underworld

of white people. [They] take advantage of the fear of black men was

for the police and his district for the institutions you have learned to

depend on.22

In others words, if the city’s black clergymen openly supported Hightower, any future favors

from local white politicians may have been jeopardized. However, this does not mean that

the city’s black ministers and their respective congregations did not willfully support him at

the polls.

Nonetheless, the Pittsburgh City Council election of September 1929, proved

unsuccessful for Reverend A.V.B. Hightower, despite his having fared well in Pittsburgh’s

predominantly black, Third, Fifth, Twelfth, and Thirteenth Wards.

Like those black

candidates before him, he lacked the support of white politicians, white voters, and was

crippled by political apathy among Pittsburgh blacks who failed to register and vote. The

first five wards, however, showed more than 7,500 votes casts with Hightower receiving

approximately 90 percent of the votes.23

Overall, Hightower received 15,000 votes

 

22 “Reverend Hightower Stirs City Officials: Makes Telling Speech to United

Churches,” The Pittsburgh Courier, May 3, 1928, n.p.

2’ “Official Returns to Date Give Hightower 15, 000 Votes,” The Pittsburgh Courier,

September 28, 1929, p. 11. Though sources contend that Hightower obtained a substantial

number of votes, his efforts did not seem to encourage other blacks with political aspirations to

seek that particular office. Even after his first attempt, Hightower did not seek political office

again. It may have been his inability to capture any portion of white votes; intimidation by white

politicians aggravated by his platform; apathy among those blacks who felt that City Council was

beyond the reach of any black candidate; and an alleged lack of support by black clergymen.

However, the number of votes Hightower garnered was at least a step in the right direction for

more blacks who were beginning to participate in the electoral process.

358

throughout the city. However, his political future ended abruptly, when he switched fi'om

the Republican to the Democratic Party, supporting Democratic mayoral candidate, Thomas

Dunn. He was abandoned by his campaign chairman and lost much, if not all, of his support

from the city’s black Republicans. His behavior, similar to Bob Logan’s, perhaps created

a greater distrust among black voters toward local black politicians.

Efforts to Increase Black Voter Participation

After a series of political defeats, black political leaders in Pittsburgh made several

efforts to encourage and increase black political participation, and make demands on white

politicians. For example, they enlisted the aid of prominent black ministers and politicians

including Reverend J.C. Austin, current pastor of Chicago’s Pilgrim Baptist Church, and

Republican Congressman, Oscar DePriest of Illinois whose victory “gave the race new hope

and courage.” DePriest, whose political career began as a Chicago ward chairman, was

elected to the United States House of Representatives in Illinois’ First Congressional District

in 1928.24 Pittsburgh’s black leadership also organized local black political organizations

including: Third Ward Voters League; the Fifth Ward Independent Club; the Fifth Ward

Progressive Club; the Independent League of Voters, and the Metropolitan Civic League.

They endorsed political candidates both black and white.

 

2"Historian Wanda A. Hendricks’ article, “The Alpha Suffrage Club” points out that this

women’s organization was largely responsible for DePriest’s victories as Chicago’s first black

committeeman, alderman, and later, Congressman. Led by Ida B. Wells Barnett, the Alpha

Suffrage Club’s block-by-block canvassing of black neighborhoods to encourage political

participation, register and mobilize black voters, and campaign for black candidates, generated a

heightened interest in politics as evidenced by the DePriest’s series of victories. There were,

however, some whites who voted and supported DePriest.

359

The Third Ward Voter’s League, for example, endorsed mayoral incumbent, Charles

H. Kline for re-election based on his previous record and achievements.25 Moreover, they

knew that he personally hand-picked appointments to city departments from which members

of the Third Ward Voters League had obviously benefitted. The Fifth Ward Progressive

Club endorsed Walter E. Tucker, black, as a candidate for State Representative in the First

District against another race man, attorney Theron B. Hamilton. Walter Tucker, a resident

of the Fifth Ward, had been extremely active in ward politics, although he never sought

political office. Tucker also worked on a numerous political campaigns for race men

including that of attorney Frank Steward and Henry Payne for State Representative. He also

organized the Fifth Ward Progressive Club. Local black political leaders believed that the

“time was ripe for a Negro fi'om Western Pennsylvania to sit with the lawmakers of the

state.”26

The Metropolitan Civic League, led by W.T. Poole, a local mortician, held a mass

meeting at Central Baptist Church featuring Dr. J.C. Austin, July 31, 1929, “to interest

colored (sic) voters in registering to vote and voting solidly as a unit for those office seekers

 

2’ Charles H. Kline, a native of Indiana, Pennsylvania, was admitted to the Pennsylvania

State Bar Association in 1898, and permitted to practice law in Philadelphia, and the Allegheny

County Bar Association in 1899. His career as a politician started as “a lieutenant” for other

politicos. He worked for State Senator, Max G. Leslie who later, supported Kline for the

Pennsylvania General Assembly in 1904. Kline was elected to the State House of

Representatives during that same year and, in 1910, the State Senate. From 1917-1919, Kline

was chairman of Pittsburgh’s Republican City Committee. He was also appointed a judge in the

Court of Common Pleas, March 17, 1919 by Governor William C. Sproul.

26 Joseph Bngleberg, (white) Third Ward chairman, pledged to seek political support for

Tucker from white ward leaders in the First and Fifth Wards. Engleberg stated that Tucker was

“a logical man.”

360

who would be fair and just to the race after elections.”27 On September 10th of this same

year, DePriest spoke at Ebenezer Baptist Church’s People’s Gospel Tabernacle on the topic,

“The Working Machinery of Organization.” This important event, organized by Robert L.

Vann, emphasized the mobilization of Chicagos’s black voters attributing to DePriest’s

successful bid for a Congressional seat. Specific points were made about infighting among

blacks and its stifling of black political progress. His timing was perfect as Pittsburgh’s

black political leadership was “cut up into factions and feuds over candidates-«all white

whom were seeking office.” DePriest encouraged Pittsburgh blacks to do the following:

“Do away with the type of leaders who bob up on every comer and try to tell colored race

how to get in office by selling them out for a mop and broom which they themselves prefer

rather than see the whole group improve all along the line.”28

In 1930, a move to strengthen black voters, two of the city’s black political

organizations merged:

the Metropolitan Civic League and the Fifth Ward Citizens

Protective Organization which simultaneously created dissension in the ranks. Sidney Ray

and Walter Tucker, who headed the Fifth Ward Progressive Club, refused to affiliate with

these two other political organizations, although its representatives voted in favor of the

merger. A meeting regarding the merger with approximately 300 persons attending, was

 

27 W.T. Poole was president of the Metropolitan Civic League; C.A. Wallace, secretary;

and Dr. George Winstead, treasurer. Poole was born near Montgomery, Alabama in 1877,

educated in the areas colored school, and graduated from Alabama State Teachers College. He

married a woman named Eva and migrated to Pittsburgh in 1907, where he became a

businessman, opening the Poole Funeral Home (1918), and a pillar of the community.

“Reverend Austin to Speak At Citizens Meeting, The Pittsburgh Courier, July 27, 1929, p. 9.

2" “DePriest Coming Tuesday,” The Pittsburgh Courier, September 7, 1929, p.

l.

361

disrupted by members ofthe Fifth Ward Progressive Club, but the merger was solidified with

only the Metropolitan Civic League and the Fifth Ward Citizens Protective Organization.”

Despite all the efforts made by the city’s black political leadership to increase black

voter participation, it was not until 1 934, that a black candidate in Pittsburgh successfully ran

for a political office and won. Homer S. Brown, a candidate for State Representative in the

First Legislative District won the primary election on both the Democratic and Republican

tickets. On November 6, 1934, Brown garnered 5,534 and 4,595 votes in the General

Election.30 This office had been previously sought by two other race men. However, Brown

received support from both black and white voters and politicians alike which was an

accomplishment unattainable by his black predecessors.

Attorney and founder of

Pittsburgh’ s National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Homer S. Brown,

was highly respected in black and white circles, because ofhis education, articulateness, out-

spokeness, ability to mobilize people, and reputation for fighting for equal rights in

Pittsburgh.

 

29 Officers were elected at the meeting. They were: W.T. Poole, president, N.B. Russell,

vice president; N.B. Frazier, financial secretary; Lulu Province, recording secretary; and John W.

Robinson, treasurer. The meetings were held the third Tuesday of each month and open to F ifth

Ward residents only. Members of the Fifth Ward Protective League employed by the City of

Pittsburgh could not hold office in the organization. Homer S. Brown, Robert Logan, and Mr.

Bellinger comprised the Constitution Committee.

30C.H. Westbrook, ed. The Pennsylvania Manual, 1935-1936, (Harrisburg:

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 1935), p. 440. This manual is a compilation of Pennsylvania

State elected officials including judges; representatives of the Pennsylvania General Assembly;

and the treasurer to name a few. Photographs of state elected officials along with biographical

sketches are also part of this manual. It also contains the history of the state and counties in

Pennsylvania; explains the type of government in Pennsylvania; and population and election

statistics by city, county and ward.

362

Homer S. Brown’s fine qualities shed new light on Pittsburgh’s black political

leadership and changed the attitudes of blacks who felt they had been continuously used by

local black politicians and abused by whites ones. Brown’s victory brought about a sense

of honesty and confidence among the city’s blacks as the following statement shows:

“Although there are many undesirable exploiters of the race in our group, there are others

who serve us and are deserving of our loyal support in their endeavors to bring about better

conditions for the race.”31 Brown, soon, demonstrated his commitment to his constituents

shortly, after having been sworn into office.

Brown used his political office to benefit the black community in a number of ways.

First, he sought financial support for the construction of Pittsburgh’s first black hospital by

encouraging Governor George H. Earle to endorse financial aid from the State of

Pennsylvania.

Brown, as the later pages show, used his political position to introduce

legislation calling for an investigation of alleged discrimination of the Pittsburgh Board of

Education toward Negro teachers in the Public School system.

As a result, a special

committee was appointed and the first of several hearings were scheduled April 24, 193 7,

in City Council chambers.32

Furthermore, Brown used his position as a State Assemblyman to halt funds from the

 

3‘ “Tribute to Homer S. Brown,” The Pittsburgh Crusader, I93 7, Archives of Industrial

Society, Homer S. Brown Papers, 78:8, Volume 5, Hillman Library, University of Pittsburgh,

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

32 “Negro Assemblyman Storm Controversy Into An Open Investigation in Pittsburgh,”

Homer S. Brown Papers, 78:8 Archives of Industrial Society, Volume 5, Hillman Library,

University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA; “School Prejudice Hearing Tomorrow,” Homer S.

Brown Papers, 78:8, Volume 5.

363

Figure. 48. Homer S. Brown

Homer S. Brown, the son of William R. Brown, a Baptist preacher, and Maria Wiggins

Rowlette Brown, was born September 23, 1896 in Huntington, West Virginia. He was educated in

the schools of Roanoke, Virginia until 1911, when his father decided to migrate to Pittsburgh,

Pennsylvania. He continued his education in the Pittsburgh Public Schools; and earned an

undergraduate degree from Virginia Union. In 1923, he earned a law degree from the University of

Pittsburgh. Attorney Homer S. Brown began his career in private practice opening his law ofiice

in Pittsburgh’s Hill District.

364

 

Tuberculosis League of Pittsburgh.

The hospital staff

attempted to force colored

tuberculosis patients to go to Leech Farm; often refused to treat blacks; discriminated against

colored physicians who worked at the Tuberculosis Hospital without pay, were restricted in

medical activities, and using special medical instruments. Brown approached his colleague,

Al Tronzo, to discuss the hospital’s state appropriation for two reasons:

hospital

superintendent Alice E. Stewart gave the impression that she did not want to deal with a

colored (sic) legislator; and Tronzo was head of the State Appropriations Committee.33 The

Tuberculosis Hospital had received an annual appropriation of $50,000 which Tronzo

decided not to support unless it was willing to openly correct Jim Crow abuses causing

public complaints and disconten

L34

His support indicated that he favored “fairness” in the

distribution of the State funds to viable institutions without regard to race.

Attitudes of White Politicians Toward Black Voters

Black political leaders had no control over the behavior of white politicians, many

of whom, had unfavorable opinions of black voters. The attitudes of white politicians in

Pittsburgh were highly visible, especially during election time when white politicians

“flexed” their muscles. They often harassed and arrested local blacks in the Third and Fifth

 

33‘Al Tronzo, a Democrat, was born in New Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, June 18, 1908. He

attended public schools and earned a B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh. Tronzo also

completed two years of law school at Duquesne University. He once served as Chief Clerk in the

City’s [Pittsburgh] Treasurer’s office and subsequently elected to the Pennsylvania General

Assembly.

3"“Hospital: Subtle Jim Crow Policy Ties Up funds in House,” Homer S. Brown

Papers, 78:8, Volume 5. Archives of Industrial Society, Hillman Library, University of

Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

365

Wards. For example, the Third Ward was plagued by a series of raids by Republican

Alderman, John Verona, who ordered the arrests of blacks to provide a false image of his

political achievements.” These methods were used to intimidate black voters into voting

for white politicians, especially incumbents. It seemed, however, that black voters would be

discouraged by this type of behavior and not vote at all.

Despite the behavior of Verona, the re-election of Pittsburgh’s Republican Mayor,

Charles H. Kline, in the General Election of September 1929, he endorsed Walter Tucker for

State Representative in the First District. This move was in return for black voter support

in his re-election bid as the black vote was said to have been the determining factor of the

mayoral race against Malone.

Orchestrated by the Hill Districts’s black political

organizations led by DR. Lewis and Walter Tucker, Kline’ s victory was possible. According

to Harry Feldman, Fifth Ward chairman, Kline ensured his entire support to whatever race

man the Third and Fifth Wards endorsed.36 Although Kline publicly endorsed Tucker for

the State Legislature, it is unclear if this support was monetary or voter support at the polls.

To be sure, the endorsed black candidate, like unendorsed black candidates always suffered

 

3’“rhirtt Ward Raids Just Political Assault,” The Pittsburgh Courier, August 31, 1929,

p.

l, 8. John J. Verona, a Pittsburgh native and an Italian-American, became one of Pittsburgh’s

most noted white politicians. Involved in politics after World War I, he was elected alderman of

the Third Ward. Verona’s victory, political observers say, stemmed from a solid Italian vote.

His office was located on Wylie Avenue where Italians requesting political favors and white

political candidates seeking campaign support frequented.

36“Political Harmony in Offing,” The Pittsburgh Courier, November 2, 1929, p. 7.

Harry Feldman delivered Kline’s message, but he was the same white politician who refused to

acknowledge the success of black politician, Isaac Hall, who replaced Feldman’s deceased wife,

Mary as Judge of Elections in the Fifth Ward, Second District. He attempted to oust Hall from

the position by unsuccessfully petitioning the Quarter Sessions Court for Hall’s removal and

slandering him as a drunkard.

366

defeat. In other words, white politicians continued to deceive black politicians.

Pittsburgh’s black political leaders did not defer to the abuse they experienced'for

years and by 1929, sought retribution against white politicians who continued to take them

for granted.

For example, blacks, particularly, in the Third Ward expressed evidence of

dissatisfaction with Republican John J. Verona, Third Ward constable, who reneged on a

promise to appoint a colored deputy constable inasmuch as his office is located in one of the

most thickly colored districts in the whole city of Pittsburgh.” When confronted, Verona

told black political leaders that James F. Malone, Fifth Ward alderman, made the

appointments, but they knew Malone had no such authority in the Third Ward. In retribution

for Verona’s deceit, the black political leadership directed its political support for Third

Ward alderman to (white) Samuel J. Price during the September 17th election. Although

Pittsburgh blacks supported Price in retaliation of Verona’s treatment of blacks, he lost the

aldermanic bid.

Black Political Initiatives

The more blacks were disrespected by white politicians, the more they became

disgruntled forcing them to use of the political system to alleviate some of the black

communities problems.

Pittsburgh’s black political organizations were geared toward

encouraging black political participation and obtaining patronage jobs, but individuals also

exerted their efforts in getting a fair share of city services.

 

37“In Fight to Finish Says Ward Leader,” The Pittsburgh Courier, August 31, 1929, p.

1. Verona was also accused by some Third Ward whites (not of Italian descent) who complained

that he transformed the area into an Italian colony and could be called “Little Italy.”

367

In 193 9, members of the Independent League of Negro Voters led by William

Thornton presented a resolution to City Council calling for “strict supervision of Hill District

meat markets.”38 During a scheduled hearing before Pittsburgh City Council, they made the

following requests: that all Hill District meat markets place an inspection card stamped with

the date of inspection and name of the inspector; meat market owners be fined $100 for

selling rotten meat; all rotten meat be sprayed with kerosene or a similar substance prior to

loading on smelting trucks; and to prohibit cut portions of meat from being removed from

one retail meat store to another.39 Although Pittsburgh City Council’s reaction to the issue

is unknown, the Independent League ofNegro Voters sought political redress for rotten meat

sold in their community, they knew of the health hazard it imposed on those who purchased

it.

Individual black voters also took their concerns to city government officials, because

their failure to hold themselves accountable for uncollected garbage in the Hill District.

Several property owners and businessmen and women complained to Frank M. Roessing,

Director of Public Works. Daisy Lampkin, a property owner sent Roessing a letter protesting

the refuse piles on street comers and empty lots. She wrote:

 

38“City Hears Bad Meat Charges,” The Pittsburgh Courier, February 1 l, 1939, p.

1.

39Ibid,, p. 1.

368

As a property owner living at the comer of Webster and Watt Lane,

I have complained repeatedly about these conditions and had sanitary

inspectors come see me. They have stated that it is better to have

refuse thrown out into the streets than hidden in cellars where it might

become a health menace. It is ridiculous that a city the size of

Pittsburgh should have to accept this condition as a lesser of the two

evils.40

The issue of bad health raised by city sanitary inspectors as a result of the garbage being

stored in basements, was no different than the refuse piles she referred to. In other words,

garbage posed the same problem whether inside or outdoors if not disposed of properly.

Business owners complained to not only the city, but the editors of The Pittsburgh

Courier hoping the publicity would apply pressure and compel the city officials to correct

the garbage problem. Kathleen Holloway, beauty shop owner stated: “Garbage was piled

outside my place and had been there since I opened for business more than two months

ago...under any circumstances, the city should have cleaned it up in all this time.” L.A.

Bellinger, an architect and resident of Centre Avenue, remarked: The refuse collectors came

down once since that first big snow on December 11’h and were going to take my rubbish,

but it was frozen in the cans and they refused to take it. In the mean time, I’m being run over

with rats.”"1 The Loendi Club and Kaufinann’s Printing Company were also affected by the

city’s willful neglect to pick-up and dispose of the garbage.

Despite the vocal complaints and the articles in The Pittsburgh Courier, perhaps they

 

4°“Failure to Collect Garbage Scored,” The Pittsburgh Courier, February 3, 1945, p.

l.

The Hill District was a densely populated community, but many residents and business owners

respected their community and demanded it not be further neglected by city officials responsible,

in part, for its maintenance.

“Ibid, p.

1.

369

not use their ward chairmen and committee persons to serve as liaisons with city officials to

solve the refuse problem, it may have attributed to their heartless response. The question

must also be raised as to the extent of the problem—as one in the black community or the

Pittsburgh community as a whole. At some point, the garbage had to be retrieved, because

other complaints revealed that it overflowed in many of the streets and alleys making

traveling difficult for cars in the Hill District community.

This may also be one of the

reasons why black voters eventually concluded that political party affiliation really made

little difference in their lives.

Pittsburgh Blacks Shift Political Parties

During the 19305, Pittsburgh’s black loyalty to the Republican party began to fade

as it had in most northern urban communities, as a result of President Herbert Hoover’s

inability to find a solution to the 1929 Depression, his consistent knack for “snubbing”

blacks nationwide and his segregationist policies in the federal government. In 1932, black

Pittsburghers defected from the Republican party in support of Democratic presidential

candidate Franklin Delano Roosevelt. This campaign to “switch” from the Republican to the

Democratic party in Pittsburgh was led by Robert L. Vann and his Pittsburgh Courier. As

a political strategy, “he used it more than any other [black] newspaper publisher or paper to

help convince Roosevelt that he needed the black vote; to campaign for vehicle for FDR’s

campaign; and discredit Hoover.”"

2

For example, he published a series of articles and

 

”Harry Amana, “The Black Cabinet and Roosevelt,” The Pittsburgh Courier, February

17, 1990, p. C-9.

370

campaign; and discredit Hoover.”"2

For example, he published a series of articles and

editorials rationalizing the need for blacks to leave the Republican Party such as “Time to

Turn the Party ofLincoln to the Wall.” In addition, Vann made a public speech in Pittsburgh

announcing his defection from the Republican party and other blacks followed him into the

Democratic ranks.

The 1932 Presidential Election proved unsuccessful for Herbert Hoover and his

running mate after a “thrashing” by Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

In explaining the

“switching” of political parties, Vann stated:

The shift of the colored vote from the Republican to the Democratic

party in the last election was due to the liberalism of the latter than

party nomenclature. The greatest obstacle to overcome the Negro

was his fear of the name Democratic. The interesting feature of this

awakening was that a hastily made survey in Western Pennsylvania

disclosed that 77 percent of the Negroes who voted the Democratic

ticket were between the ages of 21-35. The people of Pennsylvania

voted the Democratic ticket as a means of retrieving their self-respect

lost under the leadership of the Republican party long since divorced

fiom the principles of the great Lincoln."3

Vann and other black Pittsburgh voters realized their voting potential and, because they

campaigned for FDR were expecting changes in the country’s economy relative to finding

relief from the Depression and patronage jobs exclusive of the normal custodial employment

slated for blacks.

In the past, black political appointments on the local level often proved fateful,

 

”Harry Amana, “The Black Cabinet and Roosevelt,” The Pittsburgh Courier, February

17, 1990, p. C-9.

43a Tells why Race Vote Shifted,” The Pittsburgh Courier, November 11, 1934, p. 1,4.

371

Table VII.

Official Vote For President Electors

1928-1944

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Ward 5

Year

Democrats

%

Republicans

%

All Voters

%

 

1928

2,284

3,649

5,933

 

1932

2,347

3%

2,679

-36%

5,026

-18%

 

1936

7,976

71%

2,441

-10%

10,417

52%

 

1940

9,743

18%

2,849

16%

12,637

18%

 

1944

  
 
 

10,224

13,045

-29%

Total

-36%

2,821

 

 

55%

78%

3%

5%

 

 

 

 

Ward 3

Year

Democrats

%

Republicans

%

All Voters

%

 

1928

1,282

1,496

2,778

 

1932

1,369

6%

973

-54%

2,342

-19°/o

 

1936

5,992

77%

645

-51%

6,637

65%

 

1940

7,785

23%

1,324

51%

9,109

27%

 

1944

 
  

-32%

Total

7,024

5,892

-30%

-17%

-32%

1,132

60%

78%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Both Wards

Year

Democrats

%

Republicans

%

All Voters

%

 

1928

3,566

5,145

8,711

 

1932

3,716

4%

3,652

-41%

7,368

-18%

 

1936

13,968

73%

3,086

~18%

17,054

57%

 

1940

17,528

20%

4,218

27%

21,746

22%

 

1944

16,1 16

-9%

3,953

-7%

20,069

-8%

 

 

 

57%

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total

78%

-30%

 

Source: The Pennsylvania Manual (1928—1944). The statistics were compiled by Delbert Tyler.

The statistics show that the greatest shift of Pittsburgh’s black voters from the Republican

to the Democratic Party became evident in 1936 in Pittsburgh’s heavily black populated 3"I and 5"I

Wards. Black Democrats, for example, increased by almost 5,000 voters in the 5'll ward and 6,000

in the 3" Ward by 1936. By l944,7 8% of black voters in both wards were registered Democrats.

372

earning $3 per day, as matron of Kennard swimming pool, Hill District. ‘4

She was

discharged from her patronage job, because Moon supported James F. Malone instead of

Charles Kline for Mayor of Pittsburgh. Approached by Sidney Ray and John H. Robinson,

two of Kline’s black “hinchmen,” she was propositioned: “If you declare for Kline, you will

get the matron’s job position and a permanent job after the pools close [for the summer] and

told that Ray was given a commission by Mayor Kline to give out the matron’s job.”"s

Moon refused to support Kline for re-election, was fired by Vincent Sexton, supervisor of

the Bureau of Recreation; and told that an error had been made in her appointment. Moon,

who initially supported Kline in the previous election, probably learned a political lesson as

did many other black voters from her patronage experience. Nonetheless, the Third Ward

Voter’s League endorsed Kline with a resolution, and at least one female hoping to be

appointed matron of Kennard swimming pool.

After thel932 Presidential Election, Vann was appointed to the Negro Advisory

Committee of the Planning Council for the Department of Commerce and the

Interdepartmental Group concerned with Special Problems of Negroes.“S

At this point,

 

44“Pool Matron Was Improperly Appointed, Claim ,” The Pittsburgh Courier, June 6,

1929, p. 8. Nannie Moon was scheduled to work Sundays, Tuesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays,

when women had access to the pool.

It is apparent that men and women did not share the pool

and perhaps had different hours and days designated for its usage. Kennard swimming pool is

located in the heart of Pittsburgh’s Hill District providing easy access to the black community.

This swimming pool exists, because of the efforts of the Crispus Attucks Post of the American

Legion which lobbied Pittsburgh’s City Council to build a swimming pool in the Hill District.

4’rbt'd, p. 8.

“Harry Amana, p. C-9. Other black leaders nationwide benefitted from Roosevelt’s

victory. William J. Thompkins, Julian Rainey, and Dr. Joseph L. Johnson were also appointed to

the Negro Advisory Committee representing Kansas City, Boston, and Wilberforce; Mary

373

Pittsburgh blacks were encouraged by Vann’s appointment, the positive prospects of black

political participation, and that perhaps the race would no longer be taken for granted by

white politicians whom often thought ofthem as without leadership and therefore leaderless.

The defection from the Republican party did not stop on the federal level of

government for blacks in Pittsburgh. In 1934, George Earle, a Democrat won Pennsylvania’ 3

gubernatorial race. Under this political administration, black political leaders received more

patronage jobs than the Republicans, during their 42 year stronghold on Pittsburgh and

Allegheny County. Governor Earle appointed blacks to a variety ofpositions including: state

compensation referee, state boxing commissioner, two state deputy attorney generals, two

parole officers, and several stenographers."7 This was a far cry from the mediocre patronage

positions blacks had previously received from the Republican party. Blacks thought they had

finally gained respect and recognition among Democrats, but it was short-lived.

By 1941, blacks had switched from the Republican to the Democratic Party in most

northern urban communities, but what for? In 1941, Pittsburgh blacks had taken offense to

treatment by the city’s Democratic Party which made several unfulfilled campaign promises

to black political leaders regarding patronage appointments. They supported the mayoral

bid of Cornelius D. Scully against Harmar Denny by an estimated 3,600 votes, 5,000

 

McCleod Bethune, National Negro Youth Association; Robert Weaver, the Advisor on the

Economic Status of Negroes; and Ferguson Dutton, the Courier ’s distribution manager, was

named secretary of FDR’s Black Cabinet. For more information see, Harvard Sitkolf, A New

Dealfor Blacks and Nancy J. Weiss’ Farewell to the Party ofLincoln.

47Nancy J. Weiss, Farewell to the Party ofLincoln, p. 94. Weiss’s book is an excellent

source of information explaining the shifting of black voters from the Republican to the

Democratic party. It is especially a good source for this aspect of black politics in Pittsburgh of

which she uses as an example of the shift and its mechanics.

374

delivered by blacks in the Third and Fifth Wards. After Scully’s victory, no talks between

black political leaders and Scully’s administration were ever scheduled, although black

leaders made several unsuccessful attempts to see the Mayor. Pittsburgh Courier columnist,

John L. Clark, described the Democratic Party’s political behavior as “political propaganda

to acquire the black vote.”

In 1945, black political leaders asserted that they were not satisfied with either

political party. First, the Republican Governor, Edward Martin, refused to acknowledge the

support of black voters in Pittsburgh.

Second, of 300 jobs in Allegheny County,

Republicans, who controlled county government, hired only six black men. Black political

leaders observed that the same methods used to give whites patronage jobs should have been

sufficient criteria for blacks. As a result ofperpetual political “snubbing,” Pittsburgh’ 3 black

political leadership did not endorse Democratic or Republican candidates, because they felt

no obligation to either party. This, however, should not be interpreted to mean that blacks

did not exercise their right to vote, but that they were non-committal.

Conclusion

Black political leaders in Pittsburgh struggled for recognition from local white

politicians and to mobilize Pittsburgh’s black community into a force of political strength.

This was necessary in order to make demands on local politicians, to have some influence

on positive changes in their community, and to obtain employment in exchange for black

voter support. Plagued by infighting among the city’s black political leadership, the efforts

to increase black political participation failed until the candidacy and subsequent, victory of

375

Homer S. Brown, as Pittsburgh’s first black State Representative.

The efforts of Pittsburgh’s early black politicians including Robert Logan, Reverend

A.V.B. Hightower, Aldrich Brown, and Henry Payne set the stage for aspiring local black

politicians, but their lack of experience in organizing an effective political campaign and the

inexperience of blacks in the electoral process perhaps hindered any chance of winning an

election. Of course, the problem of local black politicians gaining white political support did

not help their political aspirations. To make matters worse, black politicians like Hightower

who “switched” from the Republican to the Democratic party, created an air of dissension

and distrust among blacks involved in local politics.

Moreover, when white politicians prior to Brown’s victory, publicly endorsed black

candidates, they always lost the election. Local black political leaders began to question the

sincerity of these endorsements and conceded they had been deceived by white political

leaders, especially, those they helped obtain the black vote which frequently, led to political

victories. Also of importance, was the lack and quality of patronage jobs given black

political leaders. In most cases, they were ignored after the elections and left helpless,

because they could not make demands on white politicians.

Despite the political struggles of Pittsburgh blacks, they continued to participate in

the electoral process with hopes of one day becoming a political force to be reckoned. With

a multitude of faith in State Representative Homer 8. Brown, a substantial increase in

political participation occurred among blacks, especially, when he wrote and introduced

legislation for Fair Employment Practices in Harrisburg. Brown’ 5 election encouraged more

aspiring local black politicians to seek political office and Brown’s continued political

376

accomplishments were a clear indication that blacks could use a political office to change

their quality of life. The bottom line, however, was that black Pittsburgh had leadership and

was therefore, not leaderless.

377

Chapter 7

Protests: The Fight for Racial Equality and Economic Respect

Pittsburgh blacks protested their unfair and oftentimes inhumane treatment by racists

whites. Locked out of employment opportunities and public places, blacks were also stifled

in their economic lives. While other northern urban cities such as Chicago, St. Louis, and

New York experienced riots by angry whites during WWI as a result of black protests, blacks

in Pittsburgh founded several organizations to change the status of blacks, economically,

socially, and politically.

Through non-violent protests, the Universal Negro Improvement Association

(UNIA), Pittsburgh Housewives League, the Hill District Citizens Coordinating Committee

organized themselves and formulated an agenda with the intention of accomplishing specific

goals.

Each of these protest organizations shared a common goal—race uplift, racial

solidarity, and racial equality. Their agendas included black economic independence, equal

employment opportunities, and an end to racial segregation. Homer S. Brown also developed

and implemented an agenda of his own by to fight for black civil rights.

All three

organizations and Brown used a variety of means by which to correct the discriminatory

behavior of the city’s white businessmen, whites in general, the Board of Public Education,

and to obtain an equal share ofjobs and services for the black community.

Black leaders and organizations attempted to eliminate white racism and

discrimination by whites peacefully, if possible.

In Pittsburgh, black leaders sought a

number of different strategies by which to mold the black community into a tightly woven

378

fabric, earn the respect of whites, and to no longer be treated as second class citizens. This

chapter examines the methods used by outsiders such as Marcus M. Garvey the city’s black

leadership to deal successfully with issue of racial equality and black civil rights through

protest.

Universal Negro Improvement Association

While Pittsburgh blacks protested racism and discrimination using the Equal Rights

Bill, the courts, and political channels to seek redress, there remained a need to solidify the

black community. The black community was sometimes disjointed by class status, southern

migrants not knowing where they belonged, and the overall struggle of blacks to get ahead.

Many blacks in cities across the country found Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro

Improvement Association as the means by which to do so. Historians Earl Lewis, Joe W.

Trotter, Richard Walter Thomas, and Gilbert Osofsky, to name a few, have included in their

case studies, the influences of the UNIA on blacks in Norfolk, Milwaukee, Detroit, and

Harlem. Garveyism, a black nationalist movement, led to the founding of other satellite

cities of Marcus Garvey’s UNIA including Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he sought to

bring the black community together and promote

race pride.

Marcus Mosiah Garvey was born to Sarah and Marcus Garvey in St. Ann’s Bay,

British West Indies, August 17, 1887.I The youngest of eleven children, Marcus Garvey,

 

lRandall Burkett, Black Redemption: Churchmen Speak for the Garvey Movement,

(Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1978), p. 19. For more information on Marcus Garvey,

see Edmund David Cronon’s, Black Moses: The Story ofMarcus Garvey and the Universal

379

Jr. attended school until age fourteen when his parents could no longer afford to finance his

education. He moved to Kingston, Jamaica, accepting employment in a family-owned

printing business fiom 1903-1907. By the age of twenty, Garvey became a master printer

eventually, editing a newspaper of his own, The Watchman. Garvey traveled extensively to

at least five South American countries and London during the next few years, in observance

of black workers only to find that they faced a serious race problem. As a result, Garvey in

July 1914, decided to create an organization for racial uplift and racial unity, an organization

to embrace the purpose of all black humanity.2

On August 1, 1914, Garvey founded the Universal Negro Improvement and

Conservation Association and African Communities League in Jamaica. Marcus Garvey

argued that it was, “an insult to God to accept a view of oneself as inferior to any other man

or any other race.” He advocated the only protection against injustice in man was physical,

financial, and educational power, and the UNIA encouraged Negroes to obtain them. The

UNIA, was designed to establish a universal confratemity among the race; to promote the

spirit of race pride and love; to establish commissaries in the principal countries of the world

for the protection of all Negroes, irrespective of nationality, and conduct a world-wide

commercial and industrial intercourse.’

With little success in Jamaica, Marcus Garvey relocated the U.N.I.A. ’s headquarters

 

Negro Improvement Association, University of Wisconsin Press (1955) and Marcus Garvey,

Prentice-Hall (1973).

2Burkett, p. 22.

3Edmund David Cronon, Black Moses: The Story ofMarcus Garvey and the Universal

Negro Improvement Association, (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press), 1955, p. 52.

380

 

Figure. 49. Marcus Garvey

381

to New York City in 1918. Historian Randall Burkett writes that "only after Garvey came

to the United States did [the U.N.I.A.] mushroom into a mass movemen ." One of the

reasons accounting for his organization’s new found growth was that New York City was

one of those northern urban communities which experienced a large black population

increase, as a result of the Great Migration and emigration of thousands of West Indians.

They too, were attracted to New York, mainly because of employment opportunities. This

extremely large population of blacks and West Indians provided a wide audience for Garvey

and his movement.

By Spring 1919, Garvey went on a nation-wide tour of 38 states issuing calls for

racial unity through the UNIA and membership in the organization.4 Garvey’s message

spread to the throughout the United States with divisions emerging in Cleveland, Cincinnati,

Ohio; Detroit, Chicago; Evansville, Indiana; and Philadelphia. As Garveyism spread to large

urban cities, it found its way to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. On September 25, 1919, the

Universal Negro Improvement Association of New York held a meeting in Pittsburgh’s

Rodman Street Baptist Church, East End. The purpose of the meeting was to explain to

black Pittsburghers the aims and objects ofthe UNIA and the principal speakers were Marcus

Garvey, president-General, and Ms. Henrietta Vinton Davis, the International Organizer, who

previously worked with renowned abolitionist, Frederick Douglass.

Ms. Davis, whom often accompanied Garvey to various cities promoting the

 

‘Memberships in the UNIA were available in two categories: the active member who

joined the division or branch of the Association and paid regular monthly dues, according to the

constitution and by-laws of the organization making them eligible for all benefits such as death

and sickness; and the ordinary member which meant all Negroes were members by virtue of

their race. This faction was eligible for charity if they could prove they were needy.

382

movement, opened the meeting in Pittsburgh with the following statement: “I am indeed

glad to be with the people of Pittsburgh to be able to tell them about the great uplift

movement now sweeping the entire world of Negroes...the time has come for every Negro

to link himself and herself up with the greatest of all movements, for united we can break

away from the barriers that have been placed in our way for these hundreds of years, and

carve a way to a brighter destiny?” Garvey explained the UNIA to blacks attending the

meeting and sought to recruit them as well:

The Negro has lost 4 hundred million strong to atrocities committed

by whites against him. He ought to organize 4 hundred million

strong. And we have come to you good people of Pittsburgh tonight

ta ask you to link yourselves up to the millions who are now flocking

to the leadership of this Association. When we leave your fair city,

we trust we will be able to say to others in other parts of the world

that Pittsburgh did her duty.6

Although the records to not reveal the actual number or socio-economic classes of

Pittsburghers joining the UNIA, it was clear that enough had joined to form a new division

of Garvey’s black nationalist movement.7

 

5Robert A. Hill, ed. "U.N.I.A. Meeting in Pittsburgh," Volume 1, September 26, 1919,

The Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers, (Berkeley,

California: University of California Press, 1986). p. 28.

Hill’s edited work of Marcus Garvey’s

Papers consists of a series of volumes. The original documents are housed at the National

Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC. Fisk University also has a collection

of Garvey’s personal papers that were donated by one of his sons. This collection is called the

Marcus Garvey Memorial Collection.

6Ibid, p. 28.

7In Pennsylvania, there were 40 Divisions of Garvey’s U.N.I.A. and fifteen chapters of

the same including East Liberty and Woodlawn. For more information see Tony Martin’s Race

First: The Ideological and Organizational Struggles ofMarcus Garvey and the UNIA, 1976.

383

However, many of the city’s black ministers were opposed to Garveyism.8 One of

the key figures in the Pittsburgh division of the UNIA was James Young, a delegate to the

UNIA Convention, signer of the Association’s Declaration of Rights, and leader of the

Pittsburgh Division of the U.N.I.A. and Black Star Steamship Line. He organized a series

of meetings for Garvey in Pittsburgh in September and October 1920. In a report to Garvey,

he wrote, “the preachers are our biggest hold back.” This was perhaps a reflection of the

attitudes of national black leaders such as DuBois who considered Garvey ignorant and a

buffoon. Although racism in Pittsburgh was alive and well, many of the black clergy may

have feared Garvey’s presence would complicate and accelerate racist behavior toward the

city’s blacks and that his “Back to Afiica Movement” was not the answer to racism.

Despite these attitudes, Garvey made it a point to recruit black ministers for the

Universal Negro Improvement Association in Pittsburgh and other satellite cities. First, they

were a direct link to the masses of black people. Second, they were able to raise money and

could help provide the financial resources necessary to support the Black Star Steamship

Line. Third, in his half acknowledged antagonism toward Negro preachers he did not ignore

their powerful influences and attempted to fuse religious experiences of the Negro with his

 

8Scholars of Garveyism point out that the creation of Universal Negro Improvement

Association chapters across the country were often met with some opposition. Various reasons

could have persisted in the rejection of Garveyism among urban blacks. It may have been an

issue of class; the rejection of the "Back to Afiica Movement" by those blacks who had never

been to Africa, felt no cultural ties to it, and therefore, no reason to return; and the rejection of

Garvey’s movement of which many blacks considered a West Indian movement and not a mass

movement among African Americans.

384

program.9

It was therefore, extremely important for Garvey to devise ways to bring black

ministers into the fold. He managed to secure the confidence of Reverend G.W. Gaines,

pastor of John Wesley A.M.E.Z. Church, Hill District, who held a UNIA meeting at his

church, June 25, 1920.‘0 In his opening remarks, Gaines stated: “I have been advised by

certain other colored ministers not to allow Garvey to speak, claiming he was too radical.”

Gaines ignored the appeal of the clergy thus supporting Marcus Garvey in his race uplift

efforts.

An overflow crowd of an estimated 500 people attended the meeting concerning the

“treatment of Negroes by white people.” The aisles were filled, doorways crowded, and

people also stood outside, unable to get into the church to hear Garvey’s message and file

complaints. For example, Mrs. Nettie Clayton, complained about housing conditions in the

city. She stated, “much discrimination was evidenced against the colored people, because

only the dingy, dilapidated houses were being rented to them.” While there is no data

available that reveals if Garvey followed up on this or any other complaints, his Back to

Afiica Movement would provide one acre of land to each Negro adult and child in which to

build a home.

 

9E. Franklin Frazier, "The Garvey Movement," in Essays in Negro Life and History:

The Making ofBlack America, Volume II, eds. August Meier and Elliott Rudwick, (New York:

Atheneum, 1969), p. 206. In this article, Frazier stresses Garvey’s emphasis on race pride,

self-esteem, and the mobilization of black people to "Be Black, Buy Black, and Build Black."

10This meeting was well publicized with posters on telegraph poles which read: "Black

Star Line, I am Sailing for Africa. Come out and hear the Honorable Marcus Garvey, the

greatest leader to-day. Be on time, June 24, thru 26th at 8:00, John Wesley A.M.E.Z. Admission

Free."

385

Evidence suggests that there was some truth to Garvey being “too radical.” During

his visits to Pittsburgh, the Federal Bureau of Investigation became regulars at UNIA

meetings, an attraction never experienced by the city’s local black organizations.” S.A.

Franklin of the Hill District and principal speaker at the Woodlawn UNIA meeting called the

audiences’s attention to the presence of agent F.M. Ames and explained his conducting and

investigation of the Association, because it was too radical and should be disbanded.

Franklin asserted: “Someone in this room is a traitor and has been carrying lies to whites and

that he knew who the guilty one was. If I were sure, I would kill him myself and no

government in the land would question it because it would only be another Negro our of the

way.”‘2 He also pointed out that the purpose of the Klu Klux Klan currently organizing in

Pittsburgh, was to firrther suppress Negroes, but once the Universal Negro Improvement

Association was complete, it would have “an organization far more terrible that the Klu Klux

Klan ever was.”13 This type of behavior was perhaps what many blacks feared along with

the possibility of unnecessary racial violence in Pittsburgh.

While Pittsburgh whites had not yet publicly responded to Garvey’s activities, FBI

Agent Lenon was busy trying to disrupt them. Garvey, who had a reputation for parades in

Harlem which often attracted as many as 10,000 people, including his Military Corps, Black

 

”Some of the FBI. agents attending Universal Negro Improvement Association

meetings in Pittsburgh were H.J. Lenon, F.M. Ames, J .G. Tucker, and RB. Spencer. The

meetings often continued without disruption by the agents who were merely there to observe the

meetings and the message.

12Robert A. Hill, "Report by Bureau Agent H.J. Lenon," September 28, 1920, in The

Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers, Volume 111, September

1920-August 1921, pp. 34-35.

”Ibid, p. 3.

386

Cross Nurses and U.N.I.A. Band, planned a parade for Pittsburgh September 30 and October

1-3, 1920. Garveyite James Young was responsible for obtaining the parade permit, but

Lennon contacted the Pittsburgh Police Chief, Mr. Alderdice to inquire if the permits had

been issued for the parade by the “colored gentry of Pittsburgh’s black belt.” The chief

replied:

Yes, I know all about it. They want permits, but they won’t get them.

We know all we want to know about this gang and if any of them

attempt to pull off a meeting or stage a parade here, they will all land

in the work house. There won’t be any meetings here...We will save

you the trouble of covering any meetings for they won’t be held."

Chief Alderdice (whose first name was not revealed) was correct in stating there would be

no U.N.I.A. parade, but only because it rained.

However, the spirits of Pittsburgh Garveyites were not dampened when

approximately 1500 of Garvey’s 2,000 followers attended the meeting at the Labor Temple

to hear Garvey’s message about driving all other races from Afiica and colonizing it for

black people. These episodes could have strained the relationship between the city’s blacks

and police while Garvey, on numerous occasions, peacefully returned to New York after

U.N.I.A. meetings, black Pittsburghers may have been left to bear any possible brunt

resulting from his activities.

Even though Garveyism in Pittsburgh appeared surrounded by controversy, it

attracted two of the city’s most prominent blacks: the Reverend J .C. Austin and Robert L.

Vann.

Austin, once opposed to Garveyism was overruled by Ebenezer Baptist Church

deacons and trustees who allowed Garvey to speak at the church where the church was filled

 

14Ibid., p. 3.

387

to capacity.

For whatever reasons, Austin, subsequently, joined the U.N.I.A. Some

observers pointed out that he sought financial gains while others stated he wanted to be the

center of attraction. Garvey, in his arrogance, asserted, “When he could do neither, he

jumped on the band wagon.” Given Austin’s impeccable credentials and national reputation

as an outstanding orator, he may have perhaps, in retrospect, saw some validity in Garvey’s

movement.

The U.N.I.A. began to receive a monthly donation of $24.00 from Ebenezer Baptist

Church and Austin became a regular speaker at its meetings, and a defender of the

organization.'5 He characterized it as a peaceful organization—one not meant to fight

Negroes or destroy them, nor was it meant for a particular crowd.

“Segregation, Jim

Crowism, and class distinction, he says, were all lines that the white man had drawn and are

not as injurious to the race as the lines we have drawn for ourselves.” Robert L. Vann, joined

the U.N.I.A. December 1921, and created a column in his newspaper, U.N.I.A. News, to

reach the masses of blacks, and promote and defend the Universal Negro Improvement

Association.

This was to Garvey’s advantage, because Vann’s paper had the largest

circulation of black weekly newspapers in the United States during this period.

The Universal Negro Improvement Association left a permanent memory in

Pittsburgh during the mid-19205. In 1921, when the Pittsburgh Division of the U.N.I.A. was

led by Reverend Jacob Slappey of the Hill District, Ebenezer either rented or donated the

facility permanent meeting place was necessary. On August 3, 1925, Ebenezer Baptist

Church sold its edifice on Colwell and Miller Streets to the Afiican Communities League,

 

l’Ebenezer Baptist Church Archives, Financial Record Book, 1924, p. 106.

388

 

   

Figure. 50. Ebenezer Baptist Church

Wylie Avenue and Davis Street

This property was formerly the church home of the (white) Tenth United Presbyterian

Church of Pittsburgh. On December 1, 1914, the structure was purchased by Ebenezer Baptist

Church for $35,000. Ebenezer made two mortgages, one on December 1, 1914 to William H.

Knox, President of Tenth United Presbyterian Church of $11,600 and the other in the amount of

$9,900. The balance on this edifice was $14,100.

389

to Garvey. With the constant growth and popularity of Garveyism in Pittsburgh, a U.N.I.A.

had club rooms at 2514 Wylie Avenue and an undisclosed location in East Liberty.

Four years later, when Garvey was deported by the federal government for fraud,

Ebenezer Baptist Church sued the Afiican Communities League for failing to pay the

mortgage and taxes on the property as stipulated in the contract. An excerpt from the

affidavit for his particular case read:

...the defendant has made default in the payment of the instalhnent of

principal which was due and payable on July 13’ 1927 in the amount

of $500 and in the payment of the quarterly interest in the amount of

$67.50 on the aid principal balance on July 1, 1927; and has also

failed to pay city and county taxes for the year1928, which said

default continues; $4,500 with interest from July 1’t became justly

due.”

The Afiican Communities League was unsuccessful in meeting its financial obligations, but

not without an effort to keep Pittsburgh’s Liberty Hall. Zebeedee Green, a laborer who

resided on the city’s North Side, vice president of the Pittsburgh U.N.I.A No. 61 in 1927,

and author of several pamphlets including, Why Am I Dissatisfied? He and his wife

Mathilda, frequently, lent money to the Division, the parent body, and the Negro World, the

official organ of the U.N.I.A. They also contributed to special loans for mortgage and

building funds for Pittsburgh’s Liberty Hall. However, the debt was too great, so Zebeedee

cabled the imprisoned Garvey to inform him ofthe organization’ 5 legal troubles and eventual

sale of the building. The case was decided against the African Communities League

 

1"’Office of the Prothonotary, "Affidavit, Ebenezer Baptist Church v. African

Communities League," Allegheny County, April Term 1929, Pittsburgh, PA.

390

@1101» all @101 63 these “Mounts,

$8“ .................. mrclm OMITIES Lemur: o--- .............

a corporation’s a body politic. created by and esisting under the laws ol the Commonwealth nlm having its

I on To rk

domicile in the

city Of How York ---:-County ol

‘9' York --;"in ssidCommonwealth, 1

held and Irmly bound unto

KBENEZE BAPTIST CHURCH OF PITTSBURGH -----------

or corporation or body politic. created by and esisting under the laws ol Commonwealth ol Pennsylvania. having its dom-

cile in the

city or" Pittsburgh --- a County ol --'A11¢¢heny ' ". in said Commonwealth,

in the sum ol

Thlfloen thOUIBDC

(’ 13 .000 ) ----------------- Dollars.

lawlul money at the United States olAmerica. to be paid to the said Rhone ser Baptist Church of

Pr ttsburgh ----------------------------- ~ ----------------- ------ .-------

its certain attovnq. successors and assigns; to which payment well and truly to be made. the said

- -------- ---:-----AFRICAH COIDIUNITIB LEAGUE --------------------- "~-

does bind ltsell, its successors and assigns. and every ol them.joln tly and severally firmly by ghee; presents.

And said serpentine does hereby empower any Attorney ol any Oeuvt el Record within the United States. or elsewhere. to

appear lor it. and alter one or more declarations filed. conless judgment «judgments against it in levee ol the said

-------------serum BAPTIST QUICK 01' PITTSBURGH --------------

aseleny teem lee theahovo penalty. together with costs el suit. attorney’s commission ol 5 per cent. (or collection.

with waiver ol inquisition and condemnation ol any property that may be levied upon by virtue ol any eseeution

which may issue {011wa on lailure to comply with the conditions heml, and hereby waiving the Act ol Assembly.

passed the ninth day ol April. A. D. it“. esempting property to the value ol 8!” Irons levy and sale on ascentson, he"

and with a release el all errors.

In W W, The said party ol the first part has to these presents caused the common eenl ol said Corporation

to sedated hereto.duly attestedon the ---‘1‘h1rd ------- day 0! ---—hu¢ust --- a o. is a a

e

Qlotv the Conbition of the about Obligation to finch, that n the a... um...

--------------------- mien continuum moor. --—----------------

{2.

its successors or assigns shall and do well and truly pay. ores-e to he paid unto the said

BEBE“ BAPTIST CHURCH OF PITTSBURGH ------------------- its certain attorneys

memor- or mist-s. wet-u mm or 81: thousand five hundred ($6 . 500) ." ----------

dollars likelawluimoneyasalo‘résaid I». {0110'32 ”Ct 1038 than 1178 hundred ($500)

Dollars on the principal debt. together with lawful interest on said

principal debt. on October 1st,. 1925 and a like sum of not less than

Flee hundred dollars on the principal debt, together with lawful tnter-

eat on unpaid prlnclpal. on the first.day of’eaob and every third nonth

thereafter ------------------------------------------------------------

 

with in téreet thereon irons the date hereol. at

8 1:

per cent. per annum, payable

quarter-annually, until

the whole el said principal debt or sun: he lully paid; and shall also. Irons time to time. until said debt and interest be

fully paid. renew and hcep alive, by paying the necessary premiums and charges on such policies ol insurance as may he

tahan out to the amount el at least

81: .310“..de {1'0 hundred (s 5 e 500) """""""

Dollars. in as in hehallel the said Ebenezer Baptte t Church of Pittsburgh - --------

its successors and assigns to: the lurtber seeurit ol the said debt upon the bulldirige and lmpeovemen ts described in the

mortgage

 

' ; this present obligationfll State corporation and also all tasce. municipal assess-

r I, ’ ;

‘

ments or charges. assessed against or upon the mortgaged premises. and in case delault be made in payment o! said prin-

cipal debt or sum. or 0! ans installment ol interest or premium ollnsuvance as aloresaid.oe ol all State corporation uses

and any tassepnunleipal assessments or charges.assesscd upon the mortgaged premises as aloreeeid.or ol any part therenl

when due and payable. manly.» the terms o! this obligation. or 1., r... (or the space ol -- thirty-------

days. as alorceaid. the-wholeol the said principal debt or suns. and interest then unpaid. shall thereupon become due and

payable. and eeeeutlon may issue levthwit'h lot the collection ol the same. together with all lees. costs and espeneee ol

collecting she same, including an attorney's commission a! f 170 per cent.. without any lreud or luvthes delay. then

this oblige tion is to be void. otherwise it is to remain in lull lorce and virtue.

03.25 1.11.3. Cancelled.

Secretary__._.__

_. .-—.—..‘.

AFRICAN COWIT IE HAWK

(8”)

by '4‘ T a r-Shorrlll {Act 133 pres ident'

'

.

attest:

G. Enonel Carter

Figure. 51. Ebenezer Baptist Church Deed

391

 

   

 

 
 

 

October 6, 1927.'7

In Garvey’s absence, the Pittsburgh Division of the U.N.I.A. attempted to continue

his program until his release. However, in Pittsburgh as well as other cities, the movement

faltcred. J .C. Austin lefi Pittsburgh for Chicago’s Pilgrim Baptist Church; Robert L. Vann

continued to publish the Courier; and Zebeedee Green was committed to a sanitarium. There

was no additional information on the whereabouts of Reverend Slappey and SA. Franklin,

but it may be logical deduce that they went on with their lives and held on to the dreams

which Marcus Garvey hoped would become a reality.

The Pittsburgh Housewives League

Sociologist W.E.B. Dubois points out that “it is apparent that the largest hope for the

ultimate rise of the Negro lied in his mastery of the art of a social organized life.” While this

may have been true, the ultimate rise of the [Negro] was also indigenous to economics.

Better housing, spending, and employment, for example, were chief concerns of many black

men and women.

The Pittsburgh Housewives League worked diligently to solve the

economic problems of the city’s blacks through boycotting, pressuring white employers to

hire qualified blacks in their businesses, mobilizing the black community, and conducting

economic surveys.

 

1"On April 7, 1930, Pittsburgh’s Liberty Hall was purchased by Mcilich Mallinger for

$2,499.65. The purchase price was the amount owed in taxes by the African Communities

League which included: the cost of the writ, $191.38; county taxes, $3981.75; city and school

taxes, and water rent $1488.50; corporate tax $24.75; and W.H. Stanton, attorney for Ebenezer

Baptist Church, $430.27 for legal fees.

392

.EBENEZER BAPTIST CHURCH 0?

Q 5 G

@o.

April

or; 1929

[PITTSBURGKZ ‘ corpont 10!)

fitstunsnt ant Confession.

l

!

\

versus

PenaltyM

Dark—............84 . 500 .00

mxcw communes mom:

- -

-

r

 

459.75

4_____' 0

4 959.75

A corporat ion ,

'

Attorney‘s Commission,

3

24? I 98

i

W

More!“ of ngm

far-Ir

 

J 5,207.73

j

as.

Count; «Mmegheny-

 

The Plainéifl'a claim in this case is founded on a judgment bond duly signed, sealed anddelirered by the defendant

to the pleint

.

_AFRICAN cmnzm LEAGUE. a. corporation.

°

a'

late ofsnid Corrnty.--'CI °--- summoned to answer RENEE BAPTIST CHURCH -OP- PITTS-

3BURGK. _a. corporation.
.

" ------------ r ------- ‘ ------ of a plea that

1t

K

render

unto

said plaintil

an aunt of the thousand two hundred sev°en and 731100 —--- Dollars.

lawful money of the United States, which to

it . it D: owe I and unjustly detain I , etc. And whereupon the

said plaintifl

b,- ....... I.

n,

stonton; its - ................. .Attorney

,

complain .for that whereas the said defendant

heretofore. to-wit, on the """ 3rd- ' """"" day of

A

“8

ust -- --------------- i

n

u.

e year o 813‘,ng ofeorxfiusa

d

a

r

nd ' e hund ed twent -f17e

nm

y

r

at lieu York - - - - 1o-a-it: in the County and Scum, by it. ~-- certain hood or writing obligatory.

(a true copy of which is attached hereto). accompanying a certain mortgage of even date therewith. which mortgace is re-

corded in the County aforesaid in Mortgage Book. “#00qu 74 and made a part hereof by reference thereto. under

its ----- Wm: , had bound

iteelt -- unto the said plaintitl

in the penal sum of

Thirteen thousand (Q 15 .000 ) -- ---------------------------------- Dollars,

to be released upon payment of the suns of

8 1: thousand five hundred (S 6 . 500) --- Dollars.

with interest at

I 1: per cent. per annum. in installments

after the data thereof upon which

the bat-m nou- due and «in: is Your thousand t he hundred (8 4 , 500 )

-.. -- -- - ......

------------------ - -

- - - - - - - Dollars. with interest from --- -July 1st . ,

Nevertheless the said defendant

, although often required. the aforesa.id sum of money, or any part thereof to the said

plaintil

yet ha I not paid, but hitherto altogether refuse d , and still refuse.

to pay.

plaintil ‘8

damaged to the value of Thirteen thouflmd (813.000) ..-- ........ Dollars,

n 27

Whereupon the said

  

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for Plaintil.

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The idea of the Pittsburgh Housewives League was the result of the Detroit

Housewives League, founded June 10, 1930, by Fannie Peck, the wife of an African

Methodist Episcopal minister. The purpose of this black women’s organization was to help

black families and black businesses survive the 1929 Depression.18 The founding of this

organization can also be attributed to A.L. Holsey, secretary of the National Negro Business

League, who spoke at Bethel AME. Church about the economic power of black

housewives.19 With approximately fifty black women meeting in Bethel’s gymnasium, the

Housewives League of Detroit was established. Historian Richard W. Thomas described the

League as “part of a long tradition of black women’s involvement in black community-

building.” This tradition was also that of black women in Pittsburgh.

A spin-off of the Detroit Housewives League, was the Pittsburgh Housewives

League, designed to change the face of black economics based on the principles of economic

nationalism, mutual aid, and self-determination.20 It encouraged local blacks to patronize

black businesses, provided information on the pricing of goods, and instructions on

household budgeting. Historian Darlene Clark Hine explains that the Detroit Housewives

 

”Darlene Clark Hine, "The Housewives League ofDetroit," in Black Women in

American: An Historical Encyclopedia, Volume I, (New York: Carlson Publishing Company,

1993), p. 585. For more information about the Detroit Housewives League, its records are

housed in Detroit Public Library’s Burton Collection.

”Richard W. Thomas, Life for Us Is What We make It: Building the Black Community

ofDetroit, 1915-1945, (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1993), p. 214. Fannie Peck’s

husband was pastor of Bethel A.M.E. Church where Hosley gave this encouraging speech hoping

it would lead to an increase in the number of Detroit’s black businesses.

20Darlene Clark Hine, Hine Sight: Reconstructing Women ’s History 19154945, (New

York: Carlson Publishing Company, 1996), p. 137. For more information on the Detroit

Housewives League, its records are housed in the Detroit Public Library’s Burton Collection,

Detroit, Michigan.

394

League used a variety of methods to deal with black economic woes. For example, it

organized a research committee to gather and compile data on the black community’s

business needs and dealt with issues relative to direct spending. What initially began as a

local organization of Detroit black women, became a national organization by 1933 as

Housewives League were established in other cities including Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.“

The Pittsburgh Housewives League was spearheaded in August 1937, by Daisy E.

Lampkin, a noted black clubwoman, secretary of the NAACP, and vice president of The

Pittsburgh Courier. Although a series of meetings were held in 1937, it was not until

January 1938 that it was formally organized.

Through the eyes of black women in the

Detroit Housewives League, black women in Pittsburgh realized the true economic spending

power of black Americans. For example, statistics from the Pittsburgh Urban League

revealed that 83,000 blacks resided in Allegheny County and spent approximately $63

million annually.22 At a meeting, Daisy Lampkin asserted, “We have talked about education,

physical and cultural [issues], but neglected to educate our dollars. Let’s take off our kid

gloves and get to work.”23

In a concerted effort to accelerate this movement of black economics among

 

2'The National Housewives League was organized in Durham, North Carolina.

Housewives Leagues were also created in Chicago, Baltimore, Harlem, and Cleveland.

22Minutes of the Housewives Cooperative League, September 15, 1937, p. 1. AIS,

MSS 81 :1 1, Box 7, FF 321,Urban League Papers of Pittsburgh, Hillman Library, University of

Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

23"Big Meeting Next Friday First ofSeries To Educate Your Dollars," The Pittsburgh

Courier, August 31, 1937, (no page number). The Pittsburgh Housewives League collected a

donations from those attending its meetings to help support their efforts. These monies were

basically used for operational costs such as stamps for mailings and mailing cards reminding

members of upcoming meetings. On October 22, 1937, they collected $7.05.

395

Pittsburgh’s black women, Frances Stewart, Mrs. Bethel, Cora Jones, Alma Illery, Mrs.

Bayless, Mrs. Hightower, and Laura Parr joined Lampkin in a quest to direct black spending.

“If [black dollars] are wisely spent they would open new avenues of

employment in the way of clerks, white collar, and some skilled

jobs...break down Jim Crowism in

Pittsburgh, and abolish

discourteous discrimination. There is no reason why we should not

have something in return for the money we spend?“

The Pittsburgh Housewives League vowed to educate local housewives to be more

discriminate in spending, organize buying power, make black dollars get more respect, and

obtain jobs for blacks by concentrating their buying power.25 Determined to “Teach Their

Dollars to Have More Cents,” by banding together, these women felt they could do a

constructive job of making black dollars work for black people in Allegheny County.”

They employed many strategies to boost the organization’s membership which

included hosting speakers from other cities active in Housewives Leagues. These lectures

focused on various aspects of black economics. On August 6, 193 7, the Pittsburgh Leaguers

formed seven committees: General Steering, Program, Publicity, Meeting, Finance, and

Research. The Research Committee, probably the most important ofthese seven committees,

conducted surveys of Pittsburgh’s black businesses, the types of products used by blacks,

 

2"Minutes of the Pittsburgh Housewives Cooperative League, September 15, 193 7,

AIS, MSS 81 :1 1 Urban League Papers of Pittsburgh, Organizations-Housewives Cooperative

League, Box 7, FF 321, p. 1.

25Minutes of the Housewives Cooperative League, (undated), AIS, MSS 81 :11 Urban

League Papers of Pittsburgh, Box 7, FF 321, p. 1.

26Minutes Housewives Cooperative League, September 15, 193 7, AIS, MSS 81 :1 1,

Urban League Papers of Pittsburgh, Box 7, FF 321, p. 1. Hillman Library, University of

Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA.

396

made maps designating black businesses, and distributed literature about the same.27 Surveys

of white businesses in the black community were also completed in order to ascertain where

blacks spent their money. If these surveys were not done, it would have been extremely

difficult to initiate a “change the face of black economics.”

On behalf of the city’s black consumers, the Pittsburgh Housewives League in

September 193 7, orchestrated several projects including “Don’t Buy Where You Can’t Work

Campaigns.” This tactic was characteristic of many northern cities such as Chicago,

Cincinnati, Harlem, Cleveland, and Detroit where black consumers similarly, experienced

economic disadvantages because of racial discrimination. For the most part, this strategy

was designed to end the victimization of blacks in a vicious economic system from which

they obtained few or no benefits.28 The PHL was interested in successfully pressuring white

businesses to hire blacks by first completing a survey on the basic commodities used by black

consumers which were bread, milk, gasoline, and coal. Second, it completed a roster of the

two types of black businesses: service, i.e., barbershops, beauty salons, mortuaries; and

distribution which included confectioners, news dealers, and grocery stores.29

Third, the

Research Committee pressured white businesses into purchasing advertisements in The

 

”Ibid, p. 2. On the important point of constructing maps of black businesses, it was

suggested that university students perhaps from Carnegie Tech assist the League in three areas of

this project: spot maps; block maps; and draw graphs designating areas with the largest

populations of blacks and businesses.

It was also suggested that a project of this size would

require at least twenty-five students.

28Hine, Hine Sight, p. 79.

29Committee Meeting, Housewives Consumers’ League, September 7, 193 7, p. 2.

AIS, MSS 81 :11 Urban League Papers of Pittsburgh, Box 7, F 321, Hilhnan Library,

University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA.

397

Pittsburgh Courier and hiring blacks in exchange for establishing and maintaining the

patronage of black consumers. These projects produced positive attitudes among black

consumers and, at the same time, irritated selected local white businessmen.

According to the research committee’ 5 findings, blacks were large consumers of milk

and bread. The Pittsburgh Housewives League then, led a “frontal attack” against two of

the city’s dairy companies, Meadow Gold and Otto. They contacted both companies to

discuss black employment opportunities, solicit advertisements for the Courier, and on

October 23, 193 7, requested information regarding the number of blacks employed only to

find it had none. The inquiry also dealt with the possibility of Meadow Gold hiring a black

driver, but Mr. Churchfield, the owner, of Meadow Gold Milk Company stated “he was not

interested.”30 The PHL’s Publicity Committee responded to Churchfield by launching its

first “Don’t Buy Where You Can’t Work” campaign and sent him a letter telling him why

“Negroes would no longer buy his milk.”

The dissemination of information about boycotting Meadow Gold Milk Company

spread among black housewives and expanded to Pittsburgh’s larger black community. For

example, Elizabeth Bass assumed responsibility for informing black church groups; Daisy

Lampkin, the Lucy Stone League; other black women’s clubs, Frances Stewart, Anna Miller,

Wilhelmina Brown, and Mrs. Bayless; Jeanne Walls, college women’s groups and the City-

County Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs; Grace Lowndes the various Urban League

Units; and Mrs. Miller to assist in Homewood.31 During the 19303, there were approximately

 

30Minutes of the Housewives Cooperative League, October 23, 193 7, p. 1.

31Ibid., p. 3.

398

40 black women’s clubs and more than 150 black churches in the city and their cooperation

in the boycott along with other facets of the black community was sure to cause a substantial

monetary loss to the dairy company.

With the boycott of Meadow Gold Milk Company and the black community

instructed to purchase Reick’s Milk, the PHL experienced a taste of success for themselves

and local black consumers.32 A representative of Meadow Gold Milk Company contacted

the League and stated, “it could not hire any Negroes at present, but if it could in the future,

he would call.”33 The evidence does not suggest, however, that Meadow Gold hired any

blacks or advertised in the Courier, but it does tell us that the boycott had an apparent impact

on its business. Moreover, this protest demonstrated that black purchasing power could, in

fact, be mobilized.

The PHL continued its protest activities by targeting three of the city’s baking

companies: Haller, Homestead, and Royal as a result of the research committee’s survey.

Using the same approach, members of the Housewives League requested information

concerning black employment from each company. While Homestead Baking Company

reportedly employed only one [Negro] bread truck driver, and Royal Baking Powder

Company, six colored demonstrators, Haller employed two “colored” oven attendants,

 

32Minutes Housewives Cooperative League, October 22, 193 7, p. 2. AIS, MSS 81 :11

Urban League Papers of Pittsburgh, Box 7 FF 321, Hillman Library, University of Pittsburgh,

Pittsburgh, PA. The Pittsburgh Housewives League sanctioned the purchase of Reick’s Milk,

because, it advertised in the Pittsburgh Courier, employed several "colored" help and placed

exhibits in the Courier ’3 Cooking School. The exhibits were probably related to the significance

of dairy products for cooking use and better health.

”Minutes of the Housewives Cooperative League, October 23, 193 7, p. 1.

399

several colored helpers in their garage, and were pleased with [Negro] help.34

Unlike two of the three dairy companies scrutinized by the Housewives League, all

three baking companies, had at least one black employee and it encouraged them to hire more

blacks, because of the enormous amount of bread purchased by Pittsburgh blacks.

Haller

Baking Company, in a possible attempt to avoid a boycott of its business, developed a

relationship with the PHL. For example, it volunteered to provide cooking demonstrations

by one of its hostesses. On one occasion, it successfully arranged a demonstration which also

included “talking show pictures” and furnished cake for 35 people.” Haller also advertised

in the Pittsburgh Courier. There is no evidence that black employment increased, but

perhaps this gesture indicated that Haller Baking Company at least recognized that blacks

largely supported its business.

Civil Rights

The movement for civil rights among blacks was not confined to southern blacks

alone, who fought against segregationist forces in education, public transportation, and

disfranchisement.

In northern urban communities, blacks were also victims of racial

discrimination and prejudice brought on by the Great Migration. For example, as northern

industrial cities swelled with large numbers of southern migrants, blacks competing for jobs

 

34Minutes Housewives Cooperative League, October 23, 1937, p. 1. AIS, MSS 81 :11

Urban League Papers of Pittsburgh, Box 7, FF 321, Hillman Library, University of Pittsburgh,

Pittsburgh, PA.

35Minutes of the Pittsburgh Housewives Cooperative League, October 23, 193 7, pp. 1-

400

threatened the employment stability of whites. In response to this threat, northern whites

attempted to tighten the color bar not only in employment, but in schools, housing, and

public accommodations. Scholars of the Civil Rights Movement have not hesitated to point

out that “southern racist practices became northern racist practices” as blacks in the North

began to experience the wrath of white society.

Between 1914-1945, Pittsburgh blacks were discriminated against in every aspect of

their existence even though their were no written segregation laws. For example, they were

refused admission to public places including restaurants and local swimming pools. Black

Pittsburghers were excluded from employment opportunities in the Pittsburgh Public

Schools, downtown department stores, and other places of business. The city’s black

leadership was no longer willing to tolerate racism and segregationist practices and

organized, used the courts, and political connections through Pennsylvania State

Representative Homer S. Brown, a race man.

Education

During the early 20th century, the controversial issue of black teachers and mixed

schools for the education of black children was a debatable issue among Pittsburgh blacks,

because there were two schools of thought. One school favored separate schools for Negroes

with an all Negro faculty and the other, mixed schools and mixed faculties.36 For example,

race leader and minister, Dr. J .C. Austin, though not speaking for all of Pittsburgh’s black

 

36James H. Brewer, Robert Lee Vann and The Pittsburgh Courier, Master’s Thesis,

University of Pittsburgh Graduate School, Pittsburgh, PA 1941, p. 61.

401

ministers, wrote:

We do not plead nor pray for any form of separation aside from sin

and uncleanliness. We want to see the white and colored child sit in

the same classroom, study the same textbook, solve the same

problem, contend for the same high school honors and come forth in

the world thoroughly convinced that the other is nothing more nor

less than a man. We are anxious to see mixed faculty, so that money

spent by this Great Commonwealth (sic) in training our young men

and women for such positions will not be spent in vain.”37

Robert L. Vann, felt that the hiring of black teachers would benefit black children more than

white teachers, because sympathy, patience, interest, and love for his race were qualities

innate and natural and did not have to be acquired.38 He also pointed out that black teachers

were especially important during the “plastic period,” i.e., kindergarten and elementary levels

when they were most vulnerable. Black teachers, he thought, could instill values in, and

mold black children into productive race people. Other Pittsburgh blacks were content with

the Pittsburgh Public Schools, but verbally objected to its lily-white faculty and refusal to

hire qualified black teachers. In addition, a fear among some blacks that the “prejudice of

many white teachers (toward black students) would undermine a normal school-student

relationship.”39

It was ironic that the Pittsburgh Board of Education refirsed to hire black educators

when the qualifications were easily met. William McCoy’s History ofthe Pittsburgh Public

 

37Reverend J.C. Austin, " Who Said, Separate Schools?" The Pittsburgh Courier, April

24, 1923, p. 8.

38Brewer, p. 62.

39Herbert Aptheker, ed. A Documentary History of the Negro People in the United

States, (New York: The Citadel Press, 1969) p. 401.

402

Schools: 1811-1942, carefully documented the board’s teacher qualifications. During the

earliest years, preparation for teaching was almost unheard of; the teacher qualifications

depended on the school’s management; and without any established or generally recognized

educational standards of preparation. The ability to discipline students was greater than the

ability to instruct and a brief formal education combined with some general reading was

enough to convince authorities that an applicant was sufficiently trained to perform duties

as a teacher.40 It was not until 1845, when the Pittsburgh Public schools implemented an oral

and written examination which were conducted until 1868, marking the establishment of the

School District of Pittsburgh.

From this point until 1911, the superintendent of the Public Schools conducted

examinations for applicants to teach in city schools. He also points out that the results of the

teacher examinations were not always the deciding factor, because there were instances

where white applicants failed, but were given jobs. A college degree, regardless of the type

of training, was acceptable for employment.

Prior to 193 7, at least two campaigns for black teachers in Pittsburgh were launched,

the first by The Pittsburgh Courier in 1914, and the Pittsburgh Urban League in 1929.

Robert L. Vann, owner of the Courier, argued that Pittsburgh blacks “furnished a definite

percentage of attendance and paid a substantial percentage of taxation in districts where the

black population was thickest.

”41

The Urban League formed the Committee on Placement

 

”McCoy, p. 134.

“Andrew Bimi, Robert L. Vann and the Editorial Page ofthe Pittsburgh Courier,

(Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1960), p. 56. Other organizations were also

involved in the fight for colored teachers in the Pittsburgh Public schools such as the Lucy Stone

403

Effort for Colored Teachers on April 5, 1929, which advocated the hiring of colored teachers

in the school system, suggested they be placed where colored students predominated, and

placed restrictions on any shift or transfer of students from one school to another to prevent

them from becoming segregated.42

However, it was not until 1935, that the campaign for colored teachers in Pittsburgh

produced positive results. Black civil rights activists, Robert L. Vann, Daisy Lampkin,

Thomas Harrison, and Homer S. Brown, met with S.E. Weber, Associate Superintendent of

the Pittsburgh Public Schools, regarding the employment ofblack teachers. Weber conceded

that school officials needed assurance that black citizens wanted black teachers and that there

were in fact, such qualified teachers available.

In 193 7, 35 black teachers applied for

employment as educators in the Pittsburgh Public School system, but only nine of these

applicants qualified to take the teacher examination.

In September 1935, Paul Lawrence Peeler, a musician and graduate of Carnegie

School of Technology, was appointed as Pittsburgh’s first black teacher and placed in a

predominantly black school, although he was only part-time.“3 While the hiring of one black

 

”Minutes Employment of Colored Teachers, April 5, 1929, AIS, MSS 81 :11 Urban

League of Pittsburgh Box 3, FF145, Hillman Library, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA;

Letter to Mrs. William Lampkin from Alonzo C. Thayer, April 17, 1929, AIS, MSS 81 :11

Urban League of Pittsburgh Box 3, FF 145, Hillman Library, University of Pittsburgh,

Pittsburgh, PA.

”Ralph Proctor’s Ph.D. dissertation, Racial Discrimination Against Black Teachers

and Black Professionals by the Pittsburgh Board ofEducation, 1834-1973, University of

Pittsburgh, (1979) points out that Peeler posed no threat to white teachers, because he was only a

music teacher. Music, Proctor implies was an acceptable occupation for blacks, according to

many white teachers and whites, in general. This was perhaps based on the stereotype that

blacks were musically inclined. He also says that Peeler took the Teacher Eligibility Test three

404

teacher in the Pittsburgh school system may have been an indication that the Board of

Education had taken its first step to eliminate discriminatory hiring practices, black civil

rights activists were not satisfied. For example, Pennsylvania State Representative, Homer

S. Brown, in 193 7, successfully introduced legislation calling for an inquiry into the alleged

racial discrimination in the selection of teachers for the Pittsburgh Public Schools. As a

result, all members of the Board of Education were subpoenaed to appear before the five-

member legislative committee.“

Members of Pittsburgh’s Board of Education and school superintendents have been

personally aware, but officially ignorant for the past 25 years of the non-existence of colored

teachers in the public schools. Dr. Ben Graham, school superintendent, insisted that no

discrimination existed in the hiring of “colored” teachers. Attorney Richard F. Jones and

Joseph Givens, proponents of the Assembly resolution calling for the current probe into the

racist hiring practices of the Board of Education, produced an array of witnesses to testify

about this unfortunate and racist atrocity.

Represented by black Pittsburgh attorney Richard F. Jones, a native of Lynchburg,

Virginia and 1923 graduate of the University of Pittsburgh Law School, were seven [Negro]

 

times before his name appeared on the eligibility list, but does not indicate if this was because

Paul Lawrence Peeler failed the test. Peeler taught at Minersville, Rose, Watt Street and Conroy

Schools.

“The Pittsburgh Board of Education was established in 1911. The members of its Board

of Directors, all white males, were Marcus Aaron, a member of the Board since its inception,

N.R. Criss, A.L. Lewin, Frank L. Freese, Robert Beckley, and Thomas Doyle who were referred

to by The Pittsburgh Courier staff as the "six old men."

405

Figure. 53. Paul Lawrence Peeler

406

 

girls who qualified for teaching positions in the city’s schools between 1915-1922."5 Five

of these women provided testimony concerning their experience to attain jobs as teachers in

Pittsburgh. For example, Georgine Pierce Brown testified: “I was graduated in 1920 for

kindergarten teachers at the old Pittsburg (sic) Training School. I was the only colored

member of the kindergarten group. All my class members were given teaching positions in

the school, but I was not.”46 Ms. Miller testified that “she and Mary Wood completed the

elementary course in 1922;” and Robinson and Pollard finished the elementary course in

1919, with credit, but none of them were employed by the Board of Education. Some of

them further testified that William Davidson, the deceased former school superintendent, told

them, “they would not be admitted to the Pittsburgh Public School system and urged them

 

45Richard F. Jones graduated in the top of his law school class and was the first Negro

inducted into the Order of the Coif, a national honorary legal fratemity. He was once an

assistant District Attorney in Pittsburgh and was a member of the Colored YMCA and board

member of the Metropolitan YMCA; Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity; Chadwick Civic League; the

Elks, Masons, and Pythians. A religious man, Richard Jones was an active member of the Holy

Cross Church. Georgine Pierce Brown, Vivian Pollard Robinson, Helen Pollard, Helen Miller,

and Mary Wood represented five of seven black women refused employment in the Pittsburgh

Public Schools and who testified at the inquiry. The data does not provide the names of the other

two women.

“"City Fights for School Teachers: Victims of Color Barrier Testify," The Pittsburgh

Courier, May 1, 1937, p. l, 4. The Pittsburgh Training School for Teachers also known as the

Henry Clay Frick Training School, was organized in September 1912. Maintained by the

Pittsburgh Board of Education, the establishment of this school was based on the premise that "in

order to teach well, teachers must first be taught how to teach." The Pittsburgh Training

School trained kindergarten and elementary teachers. While a one year course was offered

to graduates of Fifih Avenue Normal School and students of the Kindergarten College, graduates

of other high schools were required to take a two year course, pass physical, psychological , and

scholastic tests. This school was first located in Colfax Elementary School on Beechwood

Boulevard.

407

to go South.”47

School board members were enraged by the testimony and charges of discrimination

by these black women and questioned the motives ofthe legislative inquiry committee. N.R.

Criss, solicitor of the Board of Education, remarked "he never heard of them." School Board

president, Marcus Aaron claimed, "Davidson never presented the names" ofthe black women

to the Board of Education for employment while at the same time, condemned the

investigation:

"Might I say in kindness, you are harming the cause which you are

championing and that for every friend you are making on the outside, you are making a

dozen enemies. You are creating a public issue where none exists." He also implied that the

hearing had political overtones, but was scolded and quickly reminded of the reason for the

inquiry by State Representative, Al Tronzo, a member of the legislative committee:

The purpose of this committee is to bring to light in full view of all

the people in an official session of the committee any pertinent facts

bearing on the question submitted to the committees by the House of

Representatives, a question which is, and of right, ought to be a

matter of public concern to all citizens enjoying the protection of the

Constitution.48

Following the testimony, the legislative committee concluded that Pittsburgh’s

"buck- passing" local school board was guilty of flagrant discrimination. The Board of

Education, of course, denied all charges, but shortly, after the inquiry, two black teachers

were hired.

In September 1945, one black male and six black females were hired

 

"7 " Quiz School Board Head Charges Politics Caused Probe," The Pittsburgh Courier,

May 3, 1937, pp. 1, 4. Many of Pittsburgh’s colored teachers, in fact, did relocate to the South

for an opportunity to teach school.

“Ibid, p. 4.

408

permanently, as teachers in the Pittsburgh school system bringing the total to eleven. Still,

the number of black teachers was minute compared to the enrolhnent of black children and

the 3,000 white teachers employed by the Board of Education, but the efforts ofblack leaders

to integrate the Pittsburgh Public Schools with a substantial number of black educators

persisted .

Integration of Public Places

On June 29, 1935, the Equal Rights Bill was passed in the Pennsylvania Legislature

which granted all persons, regardless of creed, color, equal privileges in all public places.

For all cases of racial discrimination, the bill mandated "fines from $50-$100 or

imprisonment for thirty days or both for any person refusing to furnish such rights." The first

reported violation of the Equal Rights Bill occurred in January, 1936, when a restaurant

owner, John Psaras, told two city snow shovelers, (white) Terry McManus and (black)

Walter Wilson, that "we do not serve colored people in here"and subsequently, refused them

two cups of coffee.” In 1938, the East End restaurant owner was found guilty by a jury of

twelve white men under Pennsylvania’s Equal Rights Law, setting a precedent for

Pennsylvania restaurants, hotels, theaters, and dance halls. However, the Equal Rights Law

did not apply to equal employment opportunities for blacks.

 

"9"Race: Two Cups of Coffee and the Equal Rights Law, The Bulletin Index, June 4,

1936, (no page) Vertical File, Pittsburgh Negroes, Discrimination, 1935-1937, The Carnegie

Institute of Pittsburgh, The Pennsylvania Department, Pittsburgh, PA. Wilson ordered the

coffee, but when Psaras refused to serve him, McManus would not accept a cup of coffee.

McManus accompanied Wilson, who filed suit under the Pennsylvania Equal Rights Law against

Psaras, to court and testified as a witness to the incident.

409

Employment

In 1941, the Pittsburgh Railways Company (PRC), one of the city’s largest utilities,

refused to hire blacks as motormen while experiencing a severe manpower shortage during

the World War II era, which also attributed to poor transportation service as thousands of

Pittsburgh men had enlisted in the military.

It fostered a rigid policy of discrimination

against blacks. An excerpt from a PRC advertisement in Pittsburgh newspapers read: "For

permanent work with PRC applicants should be 25-40 years old; 5'8" or over and

experienced in driving motor vehicles."50 When blacks responded to the advertisement, they

were rebuffed and afier months of advertising for streetcar operators, a PRC spokesperson

informed Pittsburgh Courier officials that, "these jobs were not open to blacks. It has not

been the policy of this company to hire blacks as operators and we do not contemplate a

change in that policy."51 But, it is interesting to note that PRC was willing to hire white

women to fill the positions vacated as a result of the war.

Appalled by such discriminatory behavior, the Citizens Coordinating Committee and

Pittsburgh Courier in 1945 organized a meeting with other interested groups to devise a

means by which to break down the PRC’s Jim Crow barriers.

On February 10th,

approximately 60 organizations gathered at the Kay Boy’s Club for that purpose. The CCC

and Pittsburgh Courier led the campaign against PRC by completing applications for

employment with the company and using the press to publicize its discriminatory hiring

 

5°"Local Transit System Bars Negro Operators: Not Our Policy Company Informs

Pittsburgh Courier Reporter," The Pittsburgh Courier, November 8, 1941, p. 1.

”Ibid, p. 1.

410

practices. They argued two points: that blacks were capable of operating streetcars as

demonstrated in local transportation systems of Cleveland, Detroit, and New York; and that

blacks spend thousands of dollars each year on public transportation, but were only hired by

PRC as custodians.

In this four year struggle for the employment of black motormen, PRC refused to

change its hiring policy. Even with the help of State Senator Elmer Holland who had

recently, introduced a Bill in the Pennsylvania Legislature to investigate the financial

practices of the Pittsburgh Railways Company, joining in the fight for the fair employment

of blacks as streetcar operators, all efforts failed. The CCC, Pittsburgh Courier, the Urban

League, and the Interracial Action Committee, and representatives from the Hotel and

Restaurant Worker’s Union were, however, successfirl in meeting with Charles D. Palmer,

PRC’s commercial manager, to discuss the employment of black motormen, but to no

avail.52 But, the protests by these organizations were an aggressive attempt to eliminate

discriminatory hiring practices and as the Pittsburgh Courier pointed out, "it was strictly an

issue of color, and rather than employ blacks in Pittsburgh’s streetcar company, labor unions

were prepared to let the public suffer.”3

 

52During this meeting, Palmer, explained to those in attendance that white motormen had

threatened to quit if the Pittsburgh Railway Company hired any Negroes. He also stated that

even if they did quit, he could not guarantee the hiring of Negro motormen to replace them.

Negroes pointed out that the PRC Company could at least hire Negro motormen on routes where

Negroes mainly traveled including those in the Hill District and East End.

53 "State Senator May Probe Ban Against Negro Operators: Pittsburgh Railways

Company Sticks to Rigid Policy ofNot Hiring Negro Operators on Street Cars Here, " The

Pittsburgh Courier, January 20, 1945, pp. 1,4. Editorial, "Color Not Need," The Pittsburgh

Courier, November 22, 1941, p. 2.

411

Black leaders everywhere were confi'onted with discriminatory hiring practices in the

North, particularly, during the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. They

were especially disgruntled by the lack of employment opportunities for blacks in the

nation’s defense plants and federal government agencies. With the threat of a March on

Washington by labor leader and member of the Socialist Party, A. Philip Randolph, FDR and

his cohorts were at least willing to listen to the demands of black leaders and black members

of his cabinet, known as the his "black brains trust."

This protest by black leaders led to a memo to FDR which spelled out civil rights

leadership demands for executive orders to bid on government contracts being awarded to

firms not hiring blacks; to end racial bias in all departments and federal government

agencies; to end discrimination and segregation in the armed forces; and requested Congress

to deny benefits of the National Labor Relations Act to unions excluding blacks.54 If these

demands were not met black leaders would forego their plans to march in Washington, DC.

Rather than face this damaging possibility, Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802 which

stipulated that all employers, unions, government agencies concerned with vocational

training programs must provide for full and equitable training programs must provide full

and equitable participation, because ofrace, creed, color, or national origin. Executive Order

8802 created the Committee on Fair Employment Practices designed to "receive and

investigate complaints, redress grievances, recommend to the government further measures

 

“Harvard Sitkoff, A New Dealfor Blacks: The Emergence of Civil Rights as a

National Issue, Volume I: The Depression Decade, (New York: Oxford University Press,

1978), p. 321.

412

if necessary."

In Pittsburgh, blacks were not only denied employment opportunities in the city’s

defense plants, but in other places of businesses as well. In protest, black leaders sought to

eliminate racism and discrimination in the work place.

Executive Order 8802 was

implemented on the federal level and some states, like New York, introduced and passed

similar legislation to deal with discriminatory hiring practices on the state level of

government. State Representative Homer S. Brown of Pittsburgh championed the fight of

black Pittsburghers for equal opportunities by introducing FEPC legislation in the

Pennsylvania Legislature.

In 1945, Homer S. Brown introduced his Fair Employment Practices bill in the

Pennsylvania State Legislature to defend the rights of blacks.

This bill set forth the

following demands: to seek and secure employment for blacks; win promotions; and provide

protection against discriminatory practices (for the Jewish, Catholic, and Protestant

communities) and safeguard the rights, opportunities of all qualified persons to seek, obtain

and hold gainful employment without discrimination.

It also covered a wide range of

punishments for FEPC offenders. For first or second offenses, fines not exceeding $100

were imposed and for third offenses, the party was guilty of a misdemeanor, fined $500-

$1000 or imprisoned for one year. It also included provisions for educational programs for

schools, colleges, universities against discrimination on account of race, creed, color,

national origin, and ancestry.55

 

’5 " Clark Interprets Full Meaning of FEPC," The Pittsburgh Courier, February 10,

1945, p. 2. John L. Clark engaged most controversial and political issues involving Pittsburgh’s

413

Pittsburghers rallied behind Brown and the FEPC legislation, House Bill #3 54, with

a grassroots movement. For example, people from various backgrounds supported the bill

and a delegation of approximately 100 were expected to attend the Harrisburg hearing March

27, 1945. Bill #354 was supported by local politicians, prominent individuals, community

organizations, and labor unions. Pittsburgh’s Mayor Scully stated, "I am all for Homer S.

Brown’s FEPC Bill and willing to encourage its passage in any way I can." Individuals

supporters of the bill were: W.T. Poole, Mrs. J .L. Reizenstein, Dr. Willard Hotchkiss, and

Robert Lieberman. Organizations responding favorably to the bill were: the Crispus Attucks

American Legion Post, the Achievement Clubs of Pittsburgh, the Citizens’ Coordinating

Committee, and the Western Pennsylvania District Sunday School Convention which sent

Reverend Bert Logan, as its representative and a resolution supporting the FEPC

legislation.56

The Pennsylvania Industrial Council, an affiliate of the CIO sent a directive to the

legislative committee throughout the state urging "urging House bill 354, FEP Bill is the Bill

to support passage by the CIO. Do not make any commitments to any other FEPC Bill." A

letter from the Pennsylvania CIO read: "Write at once or talk to each house member in you

legislative district and urge that they use their influence with members of the House Labor

 

black community. His opinion, in most cases, was widely respected in Pittsburgh. Clark, a world

War I veteran and Pittsburgh Courier reporter, often brought important issues affecting the black

community to light and, more ofien than not, made his position on the issues clear.

5" "Pittsburghers To Attend Hearing in Harrisburg," The Pittsburgh Courier, March

17, 1945, p. 4. Bert Logan was a Pittsburgh Courier reporter and active member of

Pittsburgh’s Sixth Mount Zion Baptist Church, East End.

414

committee to have House Bill 354 reported out of that committee without delay for a public

hearing and place it on its way to final passage.57 Representative Brown’s legislation was

also supported by the United Electrical Worker’s Union which comprised an estimated

22,000 members.

Even with the overwhelming support of black and white Pittsburghers, opposition to

the Pennsylvania FEPC Bill became a concern when State Representative Samuel W. Sales

of Philadelphia introduced another FEPC bill which was sort of a diluted version of Brown’s

bill.

This resulted in a "split" among the ranks in the Pennsylvania State House of

Representatives. An enraged Homer S. Brown, retaliated by organizing a meeting of his

supporters in Pittsburgh and urging them to send telegrams and letters to the State

Legislature. During this meeting, he stated: "There is a definite plot developing to kill the

bill in favor of Sales’ legislation. There are some people trying to put a wrench in the FEPC

machine. I have tried to present a fool-proof Bill, because I covered everything in it.

However, some people are fighting it and I can see a split in the general FEPC ranks.”8 He

also pointed out that the opposition was coming from the eastern part ofthe state, especially,

Philadelphia.

Governor Edward Martin led the campaign against House Bill #354 with the

 

’7 John L. Clark, "PA CIO Backs Brown ’s FEPC Bill: Industrial Council Rallies to

Push Brown ’s Proposal," The Pittsburgh Courier, March 3, 1945, p. 1. Clark was a columnist

for the Pittsburgh Courier and one of his regular columns was "Down Wylie Avenue" and during

election time, "Political Watch." He also provided extensive and opinionated coverage of the

Steel City Banking Company’s difficulties and developed a reputation for often criticizing the

city’s black leadership.

58 "Bill Introduced By Sales Perils Brown ’s FEPC Legislation," The Pittsburgh

Courier, February 24, 1945, p. l.

415

Republicans having developed a political bloc against the measure. He stated, "You can’t

make equality by legislation. You can, by education and other means create a better feeling

among the different races, religions, and nationality groups. To my mind that’s the way it

will be done eventually, but you can’t force it."59 Martin also denounced New York’s FEPC

Bill and replicas of it. In addition, he felt the bill would be too expensive for the State and

that education, and not legislation, was necessary to correct unfair job practices.

Conclusion

With the exception of the Pittsburgh Division of Garvey’s U.N.I.A., the numerous

protests of black Pittsburghers drew the attention of the city’s whites and enabled them to

make surmountable progress to end racism and discrimination in Pittsburgh. Garvey’s

movement, though considered, by many Garvey scholars, as the largest mass movement

among blacks in the history of the United States, did little to combat racism and

discrimination against Pittsburgh blacks. While he may have been successful at building

race pride among his 2,000 followers in the city, the U.N.I.A.’s presence seemed to only

ruffle the feather of the F.B.I., anti-Garveyites, and the city police. Nonetheless, the protest

of black Pittsburghers managed to solve many of their problems relative to the struggle for

black civil rights.

 

5” "Caravan ofPittsburghers Ready for FEPC Hearings: Supportfor Bill Growing,"

The Pittsburgh Courier, March 25, 1945, p. 1. Black Pittsburghers were at last beginning to

mobilize in large numbers for issues affecting their quality of life. The leadership and success of

Homer S. Brown was undoubtedly a factor in this change of attitude that once reflected an

apathetic people. .

416

Short of violence, the protests of the Pittsburgh Housewives League, Hill District

Citizens Committee, the Universal Negro Improvement Association, and other efforts by

blacks in their struggle for equality made some gains in this direction. While each of the

above had different strategies as to obtaining black equality none of their efforts were in

vain. The Pittsburgh Housewives League mobilized black women in local communities for

a series of boycotts against white Pittsburgh businesses, taught women the benefit of

shopping economically, increasing the number of black-owned businesses, and patronizing

those businesses which employed blacks.

This viable organization also impacted the

community in terms of the importance of showing its strength in numbers and utilization of

all the black community’s resources.

The Hill District’s Citizens Committee Coordinating Committee and Homer S.

Brown fought the a battle for equal rights in local and state courts using legislation. The

black protests for black civil rights involved the employment of black educators in the city’s

public schools, public transportation, and the right to frequent public places fiom which

black were currently barred, because of segregation. In their struggle to eliminate the second

class citizenship of Pittsburgh blacks, the leadership managed to attract much of the city’s

black population to the protest for black civil rights to the point where they attended

community meetings and even traveled as far as Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to for hearings on

the Fair Employment Practices Bill. For black Pittsburgh, racial solidarity and protest using

different strategies, was to follow the failure of Garveyism.

417

Black Pittsburgh’s Claim To Fame, Negro Baseball: An Institution

Chapter 8

“...it was black athletes who truly captured the heart of Afiican America.

Poor disheartened black men and women identified with the victories of

the era’s great black athletes, in a personal way. When a black athlete out-

performed a white competitor, the average black person felt a thrill of

vicarious triumph.”'

As the previous chapters have shown racism and discrimination against blacks, in

general, often dictated the events and activities in their communities. Segregated sports were

a part of this dictation and extremely significant to the black community. Historian Douglas

Henry Daniels’ significant urban study on black San Francisco makes several important

points. For example, sporting activities provided an outlet for blacks; blacks, who were

winners in sports, were kings among people denied opportunities in business and politics;

and that physical competition enabled blacks to stand out, win money, and attract adulators."z

Daniels’ points are well taken and , also indicative of black participation in sports, especially,

baseball.

Black athletes were the real pioneers of black baseball who sparkled the diamonds

of Pittsburgh from the late 19205.3 This chapter shows that Pittsburgh’s black baseball

players transformed the game into one of their own, eventually, becoming Pittsburgh’s claim

 

‘Darlene Clark Hine, Path to Equality From the Scottsboro Case To Breaking the

Color Barrier of Baseball, (New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1995), p. 73.

2Douglas Henry Daniels, Pioneer Urbanites: A Social and Cultural History ofBlack

San Francisco, (California: University of California Press, 1990), p. 140.

3Jimmy Dunn, “He Realized a Dream By Playingfor the Grays,” The Pittsburgh Post-

Gazette, March 20, 1997, Section E, p. 12.

418

to fame by acquiring national and international reputations. Focusing on the Homestead

Grays and Pittsburgh Crawfords, it traces the history of both teams as independent baseball

clubs, and later, Negro League affiliated clubs. Also importance are the individuals who led

Pittsburgh’s black baseball teams and the players whose special talents created championship

teams attracting spectators by the thousands.

Despite the many clashes among black

baseball’s leadership, the Crawfords and Grays remained two of the most popular and

talented teams in the history of Negro baseball.

History of Baseball

In the history of America, the first few centuries produced relatively few organized

sports.4 However, the game of baseball rapidly spread in army camps, military prisons in the

North and South during the Civil War, and was soon considered the national pastime of the

United States by Americans.’

Although the game of baseball is credited to Abner

Doubleday, who was said to have invented it in 1839, in Cooperstown, New York, many

historians argue that baseball had its origins in England. The rules were adopted by

Alexander Cartwright and a group of New York baseball players established the modern

game.

Cartwright, a surveyor and member of the New York Knickerbockers Club,

 

4Michael Novak, The Joy of Sports: End Zones, Bases, Baskets and Balls, and the

Consecration ofAmerican Spirit, (New York: Basic Books, 1976), p. 63.

5 Robert Peterson, Only the Ball Was White, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1970),

p. 17. This is an excellent source of information on Negro League baseball players.

In addition

to writing the story of Negro League Baseball, Peterson provides a list of Negro Leagues player’s

names, teams for which they played, years of participation in the League, and field position (5)

they played.

419

established the baseball diamond and its geometrical make up while Henry Chadwick created

a precise mathematical system for game statistics.

From the mid 18008, baseball permeated American life. For example, schools,

towns, clubs and charitable organization established baseball teams across the nation.

Amateur and professional teams were even organized after the Civil War. Baseball historian

A.S. Young tells us that the New York Knickerbockers was America’s first amateur baseball

team, founded in 1845, and baseball its oldest team sport. By the turn of the century,

baseball was a substantial business operation. Almost every town and urban neighborhood,

both black and white, had its own baseball team providing recreation for players and

spectators alike.

Origins of Black Baseball

The early participation of blacks in baseball can be traced from enslaved blacks on

southern plantations who played baseball during time off from work to scattered black

amateur baseball players in the Northeast prior to the Civil War.6 Sports historians have

 

6A.S. Doc Young, Negro Firsts in Sports, (Chicago: Johnson Publishing Company, Inc.,

1963), p. 16; Walter Schlicter, ed., Sol White’s Official Baseball Guide, (Columbia, South

Carolina:

Reprint of Camden House Library of Baseball Classics, 1984), p. 1. This book is a

valuable source of information, because it is a first hand account of Negro baseball and written

by So] White, a Negro baseball player. White, born June 12, 1868, was a native of Bellaire,

Ohio, and one of the first professional Negro baseball players. He first played professional

baseball with the Pittsburg Keystones (1887), a member of the earlier Colored [Baseball]

League, as a lefi fielder. Upon the collapse of the Colored League, White played baseball in the

white Ohio League for Wheeling, West Virginia, where he placed second in batting with a .381

average. Sol White’s baseball career in the Ohio League ended when team owners decided to

ban Negroes from playing in this league. He continued to play baseball with independent teams

including the Gorhams of New York (1889) and Pennsylvania’s York Monarchs (1890). Sol

White played for at least six other teams; organized the Philadelphia Giants in 1902; and

managed the Brooklyn Royal Giants, Lincoln Giants, Boston Giants, and Cleveland Browns

420

revealed that baseball games had been played in Brooklyn, New York between the Colored

Union Club and the Unknown Club in 1860. Baseball was also popular among black

military troops such as the 25‘” Infantry which defeated every opponent in the Philippines.

After the Civil War, black baseball existed on the professional level and four of the

earliest teams were: the Philadelphia Orions, New York Gothams, and Brooklyn Uniques.

The Cuban Giants was the first Negro professional baseball team organized in 1885, by

Frank Thompson, headwaiter ofNew York’ 3 Argyle Hotel. Comprised of bellhops, waiters,

and other hotel personnel, they displayed their athletic prowess against white semi-

professional baseball teams in New York. Other teams included the Philadelphia Mutuals,

the Atlantics of Baltimore, the PBS. Pinchbacks of New Orleans, and Black Stockings of

St. Louis.

Black athletes could also be found on college and university baseball teams. Blacks

attending white colleges and universities played on their respective school teams. J. Francis

Gregory played college baseball for Amherst and Yale, and Merton P. Robinson, Oberlin.’

Black baseball players also comprised teams at black colleges including Howard and Atlanta

Baptist Seminary, during the 18603 and 18905.

Moreover, blacks played baseball on organized white baseball teams. During the

18905, three blacks played with white baseball teams: John “Bud” Fowler, Moses Fleetwood

 

between 1910-1924. Sol White was also an educated Negro having attended Wilberforce

College four years.

7Mabel M. Smythe, ed., The Black American Reference Book, (Englewood Cliffs:

Prentice-Hall, 1976), p. 930.

421

Walker, and George Stovey.8 Fowler played with fifteen white teams, in six leagues, and

five different positions on the baseball field. Walker, the son of a physician and once a

student at Oberlin College, was a catcher whose baseball career spanned from 1883-1899,

with five clubs, six leagues, he also made contributions as baseball manager and club officer.

George Stovey began his career as a pitcher with Jersey City in 1886, playing for five teams

in two different baseball leagues. All three of these black athletes were exceptional baseball

players whose names would not have otherwise appeared on white rosters.

But, blacks on white baseball teams soon became persona non grata as the managers

of all-white baseball teams refused to play teams with black players. Adrian C. Anson,

manager of the Chicago White Stockings, a National League team, refused to field his team

it George Stovey, a black pitcher who won 35 baseball games in one season, played in the

Newark v. White Stockings game. Anson was deemed responsible for creating the color line

in baseball barring blacks from participation with whites. As a result, the additional presence

of black baseball players on white teams ended though Fowler, Walker, and Stovey remained

with white teams. In other words, no more contracts were awarded to black players in white

baseball leagues. After 1898, white [baseball teams] refused to compete against all-black

teams and white baseball leagues such as the International and National Association of Base

Ball Players passed resolutions against black players, a serious indictment of racism in

 

8Bud Fowler, born in Fort Plain New York, March 16, 1858, was the son of a

Cooperstown barber. In 1872, he became the first black baseball player salaried by a white New

Castle, Pennsylvania, baseball team. A versatile athlete, Fowler’s baseball prowess enabled him

to play any position on the field. Walker, a Mt. Pleasant, Ohio native, was born October 7, 1859.

Though he attended Oberlin College, where he took courses in math, engineering, and chemistry,

Fowler did not graduate choosing a career in professional baseball. His first debut as a

professional baseball player was in the Northwestern League with Toledo.

422

baseball.9 As William Brashler points out, “Negro baseball was a product of segregation and

simple prejudice brought its first color line.” By 1900, blacks played with whites only on

opposing teams and in exhibition garnes.‘o

Establishment of Baseball Leagues

Given baseball’s racial climate, both white and black baseball owners established

leagues during the late 19‘" and second decade of the 20‘" century respectively, to solidify

organized baseball. The first of these leagues the National Association of Professional Base

Ball Players for amateurs was organized (1871), the American League, (1876) which

comprised teams other than those affiliated with the National League, and the National

Association of Base Ball Players (1878) which barred Negro baseball clubs from

membership. Each of these leagues began to thrive amidst the color bar. There were also

at least ten other white baseball leagues established in the 20‘" century.”

While white teams attempted to establish themselves in organized baseball during the

mid-19th century, black players were not idle. The first Negro League, although short-lived,

 

9Steven A. Reiss and Donn Rogosin, “Blacks in Baseball,” in Encyclopedia ofAfrican

American Culture and History, eds. Jack Saltzman, David Lionel Smith, and Comel West, Vol.

I, (New York: Simon and Schuster and Prentice-Hall International, 1996), p. 271; Young, p. 6.

White baseball teams also refused to play all-black teams, because of their failure to defeat them.

This often caused anger and embarrassment among white baseball players for having lost to what

many teams considered an inferior people.

'°“Sou1 ofthe Game Debuting on HBO,” The Pittsburgh Courier, April 26, 1996,

Section, B, p. 5.

”They included the Virginia, Connecticut, Ohio and Pennsylvania, Tri-State, Ohio

Interstate, cotton States, Texas, Oklahoma, New York, and Blue Grass Leagues. For more

information, see The Pittsburgh Courier, “Leagues Forced to Disband,” August 4, 1912, p. 8.

423

was the League of Colored Baseball Club comprised of eight teams only lasted one week of

1887. In the first decade of the 20‘" century, was the National Negro Baseball League

founded by Frank Leland, owner of the Chicago Union Giants, which did not last long

enough to play a single game. ‘2 The semi-pro Negro Texas League was later formed in 1919.

However, it was not until the 19203 that the Negro Baseball League was formally

organized by Andrew “Rube” Foster, born September 17, 1878 in Calvert, Texas.‘3 The son

of a Methodist Episcopal minister and eighth grade drop-out, Foster migrated to Chicago as

a pitcher for baseball for Frank Leland’s Chicago Union Giants. He later, became the owner

ofthe first independent black baseball team in the Mid-west, with two leagues: the Mid-West

and Eastern Leagues. C.I. Taylor, owner of the Indianapolis ABCs explained the slow

development of the Negro Leagues:

“...a lack of organization. We have the goods, but lack of

organization to deliver them. I had written many times to men in all

parts of the country active in the game urging them to get together to

organize. Only a deaf ear was turned to my pleading. But, after years

on the right track, but wrong direction, the big men of colored

baseball brought face to face wit the same alternative which in time

eventually face a every big Negro enterprise of the country---

organization.”l4

 

12Reiss and Rogosin, p. 272.

‘3 Foster’s baseball career began as a pitching coach with the New York Black Giants and

continued as a pitcher for the Philadelphia Athletics. Sports historian A.S. Doc Young,

recognizes Foster as one of the early black Negro baseball stars. Two of Foster’s numerous

baseball accomplishments included the organization of the Leland Giants and founder of the

National Negro Baseball League.

l“Ira F. Lewis, “National Baseball League Formed, “ The Competitor, Volume 1, 1921,

pp. 66-67; C]. Taylor, “The Future of Colored Baseball,” The Competitor, Volume 1, 1921, p.

76.

424

Taylor and Foster concluded it was necessary to “take steps, make sacrifices for the

perpetuity of the game, conservation of their own business interests, and enterprise.” The

organization of Negro Leagues would similarly, allow black players to “compete and excel

within their own ranks.”

Patterned after the big leagues, the Negro Leagues were to provide an avenue for

black organized baseball.” More importantly, the purpose of the Negro League was to

control economic power and leadership over black baseball from white booking agents who

often took most of the profits, underpaid players, managers, and owners.” Just as white

baseball leagues sought to maintain control over its leagues, blacks had a similar idea which

dealt more with economics than race. For example, while their were no black teams in any

of the white baseball leagues, two white teams were members of the Eastern Colored League

which was comprised of six teams, four black and two white ones.

In addition to Negro League baseball becoming an economic enterprise, it was also

to provide entertainment to black communities. Baseball’s black leadership attempted to

attract teams fiom all cities with large populations of blacks in both the North and South to

the Negro Leagues and most cities had teams affiliated with the league except Pittsburgh and

Cleveland. Baltimore, New York, Kansas City, Detroit, St. Louis, Birmingham, Nashville,

and Philadelphia all had teams affiliated with the Negro Leagues.

Obtaining a Negro

baseball team in Pittsburgh to play in the leagues was of special interest to Foster and Taylor

 

‘5Peterson, p. 82. The proposed Mid-West League was to be comprised of Negro teams

from Chicago, Cincinnati, Detroit, St. Louis, and Kansas City and the Eastern League,

Washington, DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland.

l"Reiss and Rogosin, p. 273.

425

to facilitate other teams traveling through the city en route to challenge Negro League teams

in the East.

Baseball in Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh baseball began with the Pittsburgh Alleghenies, April 15, 1876, when it

brought professional baseball to the city. '7 The first game was played in Union Park and the

next year, the team affiliated with the short-lived minor league’s International Association.

In 1882, the Alleghenies joined the National League when president William A. Nimmick

applied for membership. By April 30, 1887, the Alleghenies won the league championship

against the Chicago White Stockings. The team’s name was later changed to the Pittsburgh

Pirates, because the owner stole players from other teams. The Pirates had their own

baseball field, Recreation Park, where they played from April 30, 1887 to September 1890. ‘8

Although a professional baseball team, the Pittsburgh Pirates were not the only

baseball team in Pittsburgh attracting attention and providing recreation for the local

community. The first Negro team in Pittsburgh was organized during the 19‘" century, the

Pittsburgh Keystones. Not much is known about the Keystones except they existed well into

the second decade of the 20‘" century, they stole players from other Negro teams, as did most

other teams, and eventually, became rivals of the Blue Ribbon Nine. The Blue Ribbon Nine

 

17“History of the Pittsburgh Pirates,” Vertical File, Pittsburgh Sports, Baseball, Pirate

History, The Carnegie Institute of Pittsburgh, The Pennsylvania Department, Pittsburgh, PA, p.

l.

l8Two other baseball parks later became the home of the Pittsburgh Pirates: Exposition

Park, April 22, 1891-June 29, 1909, and, subsequently, Forbes Field.

426

was organized in 1900, as a sandlot team by Negro Steelworkers mainly from Homestead,

the place noted for the historic Steel Strike of 1892, the most serious labor conflict in

Pittsburgh’s history.19 By 1910, they were called the Murdock Grays, an amateur team,

which played on weekends against the same in Pittsburgh and surrounding areas. Two years

later, the team name was again changed to the Homestead Grays, probably, for logistical

reasons. It was in 1912, that the legacy of the Homestead Grays began.

The Homestead Grays

Blacks in Pittsburgh had a major influence on America’s favorite sport. Although

Jerome Veney organized the Grays in 1908, it was Cmnberland Posey who led to team to

national fame. Cumberland Posey, Jr., an outfielder for both the Murdock and Homestead

Grays, was born in Homestead to a well-to-do family, June 20, 1890.20 He was also a star

basketball player for both Penn State and Duquesne Universities, but never graduated from

either institution perhaps to pursue his interest on the baseball diamond. Posey, was highly

respected by both blacks and whites in Homestead, as a political activist, school board

 

19William Serrin, Homestead: The Tragedy of an American Steeltown, (New York:

Random House, 1992), p. 21; Frank C. Harper, Pittsburgh Forge of the Universe, (New York:

Comet Press Books, 1957), p. 177. Page Smith in The Rise of Industrial America: A People’s

History of the Post— Reconstruction Era (1984), tells us that Homestead was founded by

Andrew Carnegie as a model community to house the workers of the Carnegie Steel Company.

The Homestead Strike was precipitated by decreased wages to Carnegie Steel Company

employees when the price for steel declined, an expired union contract, and the decision by

company officials to destroy the union. Strikers attacked 300 private guards brought into the

plant to protect strikebreakers where twenty men were wounded and seven guards killed, during

the melee. See Smith, pp. 469-481.

20Mark Galloway, “A Look Back at Negro Baseball,” Tribune-Review, August 29, 1993,

Section D, p. 8; Posey’s father, Captain Cumberland Posey, Sr., owned a fleet of ships, and had

a lucrative shipping business, and became one of Pittsburgh’s wealthiest black entrepreneurs.

427

member, and Homestead’s leading black sports entrepreneur, but not as a black man.

Homestead whites often reminded him of the color of his skin. For example, Posey could

buy drinks for white patron’s at Straka’s Bar & Restaurant, but could not drink at the bar and

had to come and go using the side door.“

Despite the racial attitudes of Posey’s fellow Homesteaders, he did not allow them

to interfere with his baseball. By 1916, Posey was manager of the Homestead Grays and he

deve10ped one of the most renowned Negro baseball teams and became one of the Negro

League’s early “movers and shakers.” The Grays were an independent baseball team which

played numerous teams in Pittsburgh and surrounding areas including Scottdale and West

Newton. For example, in 1923, they played the Beaver Falls Elks for the first time in two

years and were defeated in a nation-wide elimination series. While playing as independents,

the Grays always drew enormous crowds. More than 4,000 people watched the Grays play

Bellevue and just as many when they shut-out the J .J . Deans 6-0. The Homestead Grays had

even established a reputation for shutting out teams. In 1923, they had eleven shut-out

victories which was more than usually comes in two seasons.22

Though Negro baseball was slow to develop, independent baseball did have a few

enforceable rules which oftentimes encouraged players to react in an unsportsmanlike

manner. The Grays as independents sometimes behaved that way on the field as did other

players. For example, Captain Jap Washington, who played in the Negro Leagues fiom 1922-

1937, was ejected from a game after he attempted to hit referee Cal Bolster, following a

 

21Serrin, p. 21.

22“Grays Notes,” The Pittsburgh Courier, August 11, 1923, p. 6.

428

decision on second base which subsequently, placed the Grays in the lead. Another player

was ejected from a game for sliding into first base and fined five dollars. He refused to pay

and was banned from the game until the fine was paid.

Cumberland Posey, Jr.’ 5 Homestead Grays remained an independent Negro baseball

team until 1929, when he organized the East-West Baseball League comprised of six Negro

teams: the Baltimore Black Sox, Cleveland Stars, Cuban Stars, Hilldale, Newark Browns,

and Detroit Wolves. Like many other organized Negro Leagues including the League of

Colored Baseball and Southern Negro League, the East-West League was short-lived folding

in 1932. After organizing the East-West League, Posey also founded the Greater Pittsburgh

Colored Baseball League consisting ofthe Gimbels Browns, Northside Elks, Garfield ABCs,

Duquesne Lights, and Woodmen semi-pro teams. The purpose of this league was to move

toward a closer cooperation among sandlots and help elevate the game to a higher level.23

It is difficult to ascertain if the Grays affiliated with another Negro baseball league,

but they continued to play and defeat their opponents. Many Negro teams, perhaps

intimidated, and spectators thought the Grays were invi. During the 1930 baseball season,

the Homestead Grays after defeating Youngstown 10-1, meant twenty consecutive victories

for the record and attendance at this particular game, was larger than any other game played

last season.“ The Grays, during the week of May 17‘" hit a record 87 hits.

 

23“Posey To Head Up Loop,” The Pittsburgh Courier, May 10, 1930, Section 2, p. 5.

The Gimbels Browns and Duquesne Lights represented black employees of Gimbels Brothers

Department Stores and Duquesne Light Company, one of two Pittsburgh utility companies; and

the Northside Elks, a black fraternal lodge.

2““Grays Win in Opening Tilt Here: Big Crowd Sees Ohio Massacre,” The Pittsburgh

Courier, May 17, 1930, Section 2, p. 2; “Grays Notes,” The Pittsburgh Courier, Section 2, p. 2.

429

 

Figure. 54. Cumberland Posey, Jr.

430

However, the Grays were far fi'om invincible when they suffered several defeats from

the Homewood Club, whose pitcher, Joe Semler was considered “poison” by the Homestead

Grays. In a three game series, Homewood beat the Grays 8-1; the second game he limited

them to only five hits; and the third game, three hits. Semler’s performance was not always

superb, as the Grays in another game, sent him to the dug-out in the seventh inning after

successfully hitting an excessive number of his pitches, defeating Homewood 11-0. The

Grays continued their winning streak by demolishing Zanesville, Ohio, 14-4 and Memphis

in a four game series.

Given the number of victories credited the Grays, an arrogant and confident

Cumberland Posey created innovative ways in which to draw publicity to Negro baseball.

He publicly challenged New York’s Lincoln Giants, considered the best Negro team on the

seaboard and colored baseball. In a letter published in The Pittsburgh Courier, August 9,

1930, Posey was certain this game would pay-off financially, and, of course, thought the

Grays were the better team. He made the following proposition: “The Grays would play for

45 percent of the gross admission of fifiy cents in New York or Pittsburgh; each team would

play on the basis of 50-50 afier advertising, baseballs, umpires, park fee, park expenses were

deducted; eleven consecutive games‘were to be played on consecutive days; and Posey would

deposit $500 that would be forfeited if he used another man not listed on the roster with New

York under the same terms.” The data do not reveal the outcome of the game or if it even

took place.

431

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55

The Homestead Grays

432

The Grays: Centered in Controversy

Under Cum Posey’s leadership, the Homestead Grays were fi'equently, subjected to

negative criticism, because of his attitude, but mainly his decisions regarding the players and

those made by the National Negro League. The Grays like many Negro League teams had

to deal with the loss of players and sometimes fruitless attempts to retrieve them. For

example, Jesse Brooks, a third baseman for the Homestead Grays, stopped at the Litchfield

Hotel in Columbus at the expense of the Grays. The Cleveland Red Sox, simultaneously,

stopped in Columbus offering Brooks a larger salary than the Grays and he “went South with

them.” Although the Negro League Commissioner ruled Brooks the property of the

Homestead Grays, he was ignored and incapable of enforcing the regulations as Cleveland

refirsed to release Brooks, in as much, as Brooks refused to return to the Grays.

Posey’s problems became even more acute when he and the Homestead Grays were

expelled from the National Negro Association League in 1933, for “violating its constitution”

which included a series of infi'actions. Posey, during the regular season, secured bookings

of his own choice; decided James “Jimmy” Binder, third baseman for the Detroit Stars, and

Williams should be transferred to his roster without consulting Jim “Candy” Taylor, a player

and manager, since the onset oforganized Negro baseball; and engaged negotiations with Vic

Harris and Leroy Momey before he was reinstated.” When questioned about his unethical

 

25“Posey Refuses to Return Two Detroit Players,” The Pittsburgh Courier, July 1, 1933,

Section 2, p. 4. Jimmy Binder played Negro League Baseball from 1930-1936 as a second and

third baseman. In addition to the Detroit Stars, Binder played with four other teams during his

baseball career: the Memphis Red Sox; Indianapolis ABCs; Homestead Grays; and Washington

Giants. Jim “Candy” Taylor, also a second and third baseman, was affiliated with at least 17

teams within the Negro Leagues including the Homestead Grays. Vic Harris, a native of

Pensacola, Florida was born in 1905.

Harris, whose baseball career began in 1923, played for

433

behavior, he canceled a series of games with the Chicago American Giants in Pittsburgh.

The Grays were suspended for the remainder of the 1933 baseball season evidenced by the

absence of the Grays from the East-West Game, an All-Star Game, where not one of the

Grays names appeared on the ballot they previously dominated.

Though Posey was suspended from the league for the reasons previously mentioned,

he led the public to believe that the Grays withdrew fi'om the National Negro League on its

own volition as the following quote reveals:

Afier due consideration, the Homestead Grays withdrew fiom

membership in the NNA. This step was taken mainly to assure men

associated with me, including players and who have confidence in my

judgement, that every effort being made to uphold the caliber of the

Grays Club and to insure financial returns which would permit the

Grays to keep standing as the recognized leader of the colored clubs,

especially, in Western Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia.“

Nor did Posey acknowledge the reasons for the suspension. According to Posey, the Grays

were not benefitting financially, and as a result, withdrew fiom the league. The Grays were

playing for 35 per cent of the gross with five percent going back to the league and [before

affiliating with the Negro National League], the Grays never played any games for less than

 

several teams as well, including Cleveland’s Tate Stars; the Homestead Grays; and Pittsburgh

Crawfords. He eventually, changed roles and became a Negro League manager and coach. From

1932-1944, Momey played shortstop, second and third base for the Crawfords, Columbus Giants,

Elite Giants, and New York Black Yankees. For more information on Harris see Vic Harris’ and

John Holway’s “Baseball Old Timers, Vic Harris Managed Homestead Grays,” Dawn

Magazine, March 8, 1975, pp. 12, 19.

26“Independent Ball Only Hopefor Survival,” The Pittsburgh Courier, July 8, 1933,

Section 2, p. 4.

434

games weekly at Greenlee Field, and the benefits from the games were insufficient to pay

salaries as well as incidental expenses. Nonetheless, the Posey’s Gray’s were forced to play

independent baseball until the suspension was lified.

In 1934, the problems experienced by Posey and the Grays continued coupled by his

behavior which angered many National Negro Association League owners. On January 13,

193 4, Eastern Club owners met in Philadelphia. Cum Posey, who violated league rules the

previous baseball season, was not invited, but attended the meeting anyway and participated

in the discussion. Second, Posey wanted to be reinstated into the Association without

compensating the Chicago American Giants and the losses incurred by RA. Cole, who

became the team’s owner after Rube Foster’s death.” These owners perhaps felt Posey had

a blatant disregard for the league and its regulations, but not for long, as the first National

Negro League Commissioner, Rollo Wilson, took Posey to task.29

Wilson, dismissed Posey’s claims to Vic Harris, Homestead Grays pitcher, Leroy

Momey, who played shortstop, second and third base, thus giving them to the Crawfords.

He based his decision on the following grounds: No receipts were signed by the players or

canceled checks submitted by Posey to support his claims that salary matters had been

settled; and from July 1933-March 10, 1934, the Grays were suspended from the league for

 

28“Clark Answers Posey ’s Charges: League Secretary Scores Poseyfor Tactics,” The

Pittsburgh Courier, June 2, 1934, Section 2, p. 7.

29Rollo W. Wilson, prior to becoming National Negro Baseball League Commissioner,

was a highly respected newspaperrnan, former reporter for the Pittsburgh American, and Deputy

Athletic Director of Pennsylvania.

435

tampering with players on member clubs.30 Posey responded to Wilson’s decision in Cum

Posey’ s “Pointed Paragraphs,” his regular column in The Pittsburgh Courier. He contended

that the “whole affair was not fair and the decision giving Harris and Momey to the

Crawfords would cause the public to lose interest in baseball.”

The problem, however, seemed to have been a little more complicated than it

appeared. Ironically, both players in question received loans from Gus Greenlee, owner of

the Pittsburgh Crawfords during the winter. But, Greenlee explained “he had no claim on

either player except the sum of money loaned them and would relinquish the claim if the

loans were repaid.” At the same time, Momey was offered a contract for $60 more and

Harris $25 by Gus Greenlee to play for the Pittsburgh Crawfords. Most baseball players took

advantage of larger salaries offered by team owners which often created a great deal of

tension within the league relative to the loss of players and disruption in the line-up.

The Grays and Homestead Fans

Club owners and Homestead blacks often showed their appreciation for the

Homestead Grays aside from showing a conspicuous attendance at the baseball games. In

honor of the Grays and their 1926 winning record of 102 games of 114, and 43 consecutive

victories, Charles Walker, the Grays co-owner who played in the NNL from 193 0-1 93 4, gave

the team a banquet at their Wylie Avenue Clubhouse. On April 10, 1933, Homestead fans

led by Jew McPherson gave a reception and dance in honor of the 1933 Homestead Grays

 

30“Commissioner Wilson Awards Harris and Morney to Crawfords,” The Pittsburgh

Courier, March 31, 1934, Section 2, p. 5.

436

held at the Manhattan Hall.3|

Individual honors were also given Gray players. Smokey Joe Williams, who played

for eight teams between 1908-1932 as a pitcher and manager; the “grand old man of

baseball;” and one of the players who helped make the Homestead Grays famous, was also

honored for his years as a Homestead Gray. Deemed as one of the “most popular and

masterful moundsmen ever to play baseball in the Pittsburgh District,” Smokey Joe.32 At

the age of 52, Williams pitched a no-hitter against Akron which made him extraordinary to

baseball fans. He became a member of the Grays in 1925, and ended his baseball career with

the same in 1932. In August 1934, Williams returned to Pittsburgh from New York to pitch

for an NAACP benefit game against the Fort Wayne Berghoffs of Fort Wayne, Indiana.33

On game Sunday, the city of Pittsburgh gave Williams a standing ovation to show its

appreciation for his outstanding baseball career spanning 24 years.

Origins of the Pittsburgh Crawfords

The Pittsburgh Crawfords, in 1926, was a sandlot team representing the Crawford

 

3“‘Boosters To Honor Grays At Big Fete,” The Pittsburgh Courier, April 3, 1933,

Section 2, p. 4.

32Smokey Joe Williams a native of Texas, was a pitcher in Negro League baseball. He

played for five teams prior to becoming a Homestead Gray which included the San Antonio

Bronchos, Leland Giants, Chicago Giants, Lincoln Giants, and Brooklyn Royal Giants. His

baseball career with the Grays began when Cum Posey through Buck Leonard, heard about

Smokey Joe Williams. Posey, subsequently, paid Williams’ transportation to Wheeling, West

Virginia where they Grays were in Spring training for the 1934 baseball season. For more

information about Williams’ record see Peterson, p. 396.

33 The Berghoff team, sponsored by Bergoff Brewing Company, was comprised of black

and white players. The white players symbolized the light colored beer and the colored players

typifying the darker brews.

437

Bath House in the Hill District. Formed by Harold “Hooks” Tinker, a Birmingham, Alabama

native and former center fielder for the Pittsburgh Monarchs and Edgar Thompson Steel

Works in Braddock, was comprised of “five players from the Homestead Grays who played

baseball together all their lives to establish the Crawfords.”34

In one year, the Crawfords

defeated all challengers. Bill Harris, born in Calhoun, Alabama, who also played for the

Crawfords, entered the team in the Pittsburgh’s Recreation League Tournament in 1926, and

shortly thereafier, became a serni-professional team when its current competition proved

weak.

In 1931, William “Gus” Greenlee became owner of the Crawford Giants, renaming

them the Pittsburgh Crawfords afier one of his business establishments. He was born in

Marion County, North Carolina in 1897. Like many Pittsburgh blacks, he was a migrant,

moving to Pittsburgh in 1916, where he worked a variety of jobs prior to owning the

Crawfords. For example, Greenlee was employed as a bootblack, construction laborer,

fireman, and taxi driver. He was also a World War I veteran serving in the 367‘" Infantry.

Afier the war, Gus Greenlee returned to Pittsburgh and became the owner of several

businesses, all of which were not legitimate, such as, his speakeasies and illegal numbers

business.

However, Greenlee owned the Workingmen’s Pool Hall, Sunset Café, and

Crawford Grill which were, in fact, legitimate businesses, even if the possibility existed that

they were established with proceeds fi'om his numbers business. His broad and lucrative

economic base allowed him to play a vital part in the development of black Pittsburgh and

 

3“Barbara Solow, “Taking Note of Baseball Greatness,” Vertical File, Pittsburgh Sports,

Baseball, Homestead Grays, Carnegie Institute of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Department,

Pittsburgh, PA.

438

 

Source: Pittsburgh Courier Photographic Archives

Figure. 56. William A. Gus” Greenlee

439

they were established with proceeds from his numbers business. His broad and lucrative

economic base allowed him to play a vital part in the development of black Pittsburgh and

its sporting life.” Rob Ruck, who has written extensively on the Negro Leagues, wrote that

Greenlee financed the Crawfords with his profits from his numbers business. If this is true,

does this imply that none of his legitimate business ventures were profitable?

In 1931, Greenlee’s Crawfords became a professional baseball team and he

subsequently, told his players to quit their full-time jobs for baseball as a career. However,

not all of the Crawfords were willing to relinquish their job security, even though most of

them were domestic workers. Harold Tinker, for example, refused to quit his full-time job,

because he had five children and a wife to support which was the basis of his decision. It

was bad enough that an injury on the baseball field could threaten his employment and

family’s stability, not to mention a variety of other possible problems impacting the Negro

Leagues or baseball, in general. Other players on the team with fewer obligations adhered

to Greenlee’s demand.

The Pittsburgh Crawfords professional baseball team prior to Greenlee’ 5 ownership,

often scrounged for rides to and from games. According to “Buck” Leonard, rides on rickety

buses purchased a twenty-two seat bus to transport his players so, the Crawfords were no

longer forced to ride uncomfortably in overcrowded cars.“

In 1932, Greenlee built a

 

3 5 Rob Ruck, Sandlot Seasons: Black Sport in Pimburgh, (Chicago: University of

Illinois Press, 1990), p. 149.

3"Buck Leonard was a noted Negro League player during the 19305 and 19405. A native

of Rocky Mount, North Carolina, Leonard was born September 7, 1907. At an early age, he

worked as a bootblack and later, employed in railroad shops. He first played semi-professional

baseball with teams in Virginia and Maryland, the Portsmouth Firefighters and Baltimore Stars.

440

baseball stadium for the Crawfords for an estimated $75,000 on Bedford Avenue with

seating for approximately 7,000 baseball fans and 10,000 for boxing.37 It was said by many

observers that Greenlee Field was “a state of the art facility.”

With this stadium, Greenlee attracted and bought some of the best talent to play in

it including James “Cool Papa” Bell, Daltie Cooper, and Bertrum Hunter. Bell, a Starksville,

Mississippi native born May 17, 1903, played for the Crawfords as its leading pitcher. He

was considered by many players and fans as the speed demon of baseball, because he was

so fast that he once stole two bases on the same pitch.” During the 1933 baseball season,

Bell stole 175 bases in 200 games. Bertrum, a pitcher, played in the Negro Leagues from

1931-1935 with the St. Louis Stars, Detroit Wolves, and later, the Pittsburgh Crawfords.

Hunter was also a pitcher who played for nine teams during his career in the Negro Leagues.

Unlike other Negro League teams which rented white baseball fields, the Crawfords,

now had a field of their own. According to Peterson, other Negro clubs were at “the mercy

of white club owners and could only use white parks when the white teams were on the

 

At twenty-five years old, Buck Leonard became a professional Negro League Baseball player as

the Homestead Grays’ first baseman. He also played for the Brooklyn Royal Giants.

37Andrew Buni, Robert L. Vann and the Editorial Page of the Pittsburgh Courier,

Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 160, p. 249; Galloway, p. 8. Greenlee Stadium, the

first stadium built by a Negro Baseball League owner, opened April 29, 1932, to a capacity

crowd in Pittsburgh’s Hill District community..

38Kram, p. 66. Harry Salmon who played Negro League baseball for the Birmingham

Black Barons, Pittsburgh Crawfords, and Homestead Grays also provided a testimony to Bell’s

speed by having witnessed his stealing of two bases on the same pitch. Baseball historian John

Holway in Voicesfrom the Great Black Baseball Leagues (1975), wrote that “everyone who

saw Bell agreed that he was probably the fastest man ever to play baseball.” Cool Papa Bell’s

speed was also witnessed by baseball fans when he played for the St. Louis Stars; Kansas City

Monarchs; Detroit Senators; Chicago American Giants; Homestead Grays; and those in the

Dominican Republic and Mexico.

441

 

Source: Pittsburgh Courier Photographic Archives

Figure. 57. Greenlee Field

442

road.” Other factors, however, also interfered with the use of white stadiums. Effa Manley,

whom along with her husband, owned the Newark Eagles stated, “the Eagles were ousted

from Newark’s Ruppert Stadium to make way for the Rocky Graziano-Tony Zale fight?”

Also, white baseball clubs found renting to black teams quite profitable. For example, a

Negro team leased the Cincinnati Reds Ball Park for $4,000 per season and extracted 20 per

cent of the gate receipts until the full amount was paid.“0 Greenlee, however, also realized

the profitability of owning a stadium which was part of the earlier Negro League discussions

between Foster and Taylor, relative to Negro baseball as an economic venture.

Greenlee’s Influence on the Negro Leagues

W.A. “Gus Greenlee” played an influential role in the Negro Leagues as not only a

club owner, but as the leader of the reorganization and further development of the Negro

Leagues. In 1930, the National Negro League folded, as a result of the Depression, but was

reorganized by Greenlee three years later. He was appointed temporary chairman ofthe NNL

by Negro League owners and under his leadership, the league began to thrive, so club owners

unanimously elect him president of the National Negro League in 1933. One of his

 

39John Holway, Voices From the Great Black Baseball Leagues, (New York: Dodd,

Mead & Company, 1975), p. 317. During Holway’s interview with Manley, she pointed out

that the Eagles played their games wherever they could which also attributed to “erratic

scheduling.”

’oPeterson, p. 87. The fact that Negro League teams did not own stadiums ofien

impacted the scheduling of their baseball games. Negro League owners were sometimes forced

to schedule their games around those of white major league teams for this reason. In addition to

the problem of leasing white stadiums, other issues of finances existed for Negro League team

owners. They were responsible for hotel bills when they could acquire accommodations, meals,

and other on the road expenses. Baseball was indeed and expensive enterprise.

443

accomplishments was to hire a baseball commissioner independent of club owners in an

attempt to add structure to the league.

Rollo W.Wilson, whose experience as Deputy

Athletic Director of Pennsylvania and the fact that he had no ties to the NNL, qualified him

for baseball commissioner. During this same year, a new league was established when the

National Association ofNegro Baseball Clubs met in Pittsburgh which also elected Greenlee

as chairman.“

At the onset of the Negro Leagues, scheduling created a great deal of commotion

and always in disarray. Greenlee’s organizational skills enabled league teams to have a full

schedule of baseball games which was an accomplished task.

The National Negro Association finished the first half and arranged

a schedule for the second half and that is progress over what

happened last season when the Ewes loop lasted less than a month.

Much of the credit for organizing...to overcome the major handicaps

which it faced must go to Gus Greenlee of Pittsburgh. Gus has spent

plenty of time and money in trying to make the Association go and

has surrounded himself with a group of men who have become

enthused about the possibilities.42

Many league-affiliated team owners were of the opinion that current problems experienced

by the Negro Leagues such as regulations governing the leagues, the enforcement of the

same, salaries, game schedules, and the “snatching of players” could, in fact, be easily

resolved.

On January 13, 1934, the first meeting of the National Negro League met in

 

"“‘Greenlee Named New League Head,” The Pittsburgh Courier, February 18, 1933,

Section 1, p. 1; “Officers Elected Big Issues Debated, The Pittsburgh Courier, February 25,

1933, Section 2, p. 4. The other officers were James “Candy” Taylor, Indianapolis, vice

chairman; Robert Cole, Chicago, treasurer; and Dizzy Dismukes, Pittsburgh, secretary.

42“The League Moves Forward,” The Pittsburgh Courier, July 8, 1933, Section 2, p. 4.

444

Pittsburgh to deal with its problems."3 At the same time, Greenlee worked to establish a solid

plan for the Negro Leagues. He wanted to induce all groups to cooperate on certain and

definite principles relative to player problems, salaries, and booking arrangements.

It

appeared that Negro League teams were beginning to coalesce to meet a common goal—an

organized Negro baseball league that would attract more players, spectators, large revenues,

and most of all, respect.

To bolster Negro League baseball, Greenlee created the East-West competition in

1933, which was an all-star game comprised of players from seven NNL teams and the

Kansas City Monarchs, to be selected by baseball fans. They were elected by a popular vote

conducted through weekly and daily newspapers; and ballots could also be mailed directly

to league headquarters. Once the ballots were tallied, the roster for the East was dominated

by the Crawfords."4 Greenlee was responsible for the promotion along with two other club

owners, R.A. Cole and Thomas Wilson, with all operations directed from the league’s

Pittsburgh headquarters.

Sports writers of 55 weeklies and 90 daily newspapers were

notified and invited to comment and criticize.

45

However, there is no record of newspaper

reporters who actually accepted the invitation.

 

"3“To Probe Baseball Status, Meet Here, Opens Saturday,” The Pittsburgh Courier,

January 6, 1934, Section 2, p. 4. The meeting was held in the Crawford Grill’s second floor

dining room. The teams represented at the meeting were the Philadelphia Stars, New York Black

Yankees, Newark, Atlantic City, Cleveland, Chicago, and Cincinnati.

“Seven Crawfords were selected to the East team: pitchers, Streeter, 28,989 votes; Page

23,089; Hunter, 22,965; Josh Gibson 35,376, catcher; first base, Oscar Charleston, 43,793;

second base, Russell 29,846; outfielders, Cool Papa Bell, 27,984 votes. The team was coached

by John Lloyd.

”John L. Clark, “Game to Inspire Players, Plan To Aid League, The Pittsburgh

Courier, June 29, 1934, Section 2, p. 4.

445

 

Source: Pittsburgh Courier Photographic Archives

Figure. 58. The Pittsburgh Crawfords

446

The East-West Game was the biggest event in black baseball with the first being

played in Chicago’s Comiskey Park in 1933, which attracted a mixed crowd between

30,000-40,000 baseball fans. Comiskey Park was chosen for the East-West game, because

Charles Comiskey, owner of the Major League’s Chicago White Stockings, “commented

favorably on the caliber of the Negro ball player and expressed hope that [one day not far

when] black players would bring back some of the much needed color to the national past-

time.” He undoubtedly realized that he could make tremendous profits. The costs for park

rental and percentage ofthe gate were not revealed, but the idea and positive response of fans

and owners, this particular game was another credit to Greenlee’s leadership and creativity.

League rules and regulations were created under Greenlee. For example, rules were

established to protect the umpire. Any umpire who does not report an episode when a player

shoves or strikes him shall be immediately fired by the league and players who continuously

hold up the game by wrangling with the umpire shall be put out of the game and fined.“

The league finances were also influenced by Greenlee. The 1938 NNL Report read that the

league’s finances were found to be in good order than at any other time since the league

formed.

Gus Greenlee, often called “the Baron of Wylie Avenue and greatest builder of

baseball,” was also the catalyst behind Sunday afternoon baseball games which had been

prohibited by the National Negro League in the past. Saturday and Sunday league baseball

games were played as independent bookings. It was thought by league owners that “Sunday

 

““Protect Players Is Plea At Pow Wow,” The Pittsburgh Courier, February 4, 1939, p.

l 7.

447

All East Selection

East-West Game (1933)

Pitchers

Votes

Street, Pittsburgh Crawfords ....................................................................................... 28,989

Britt, Homestead Grays ............................................................................................... 26,716

Paige, Pittsburgh Crawfords ....................................................................................... 23,089

Hunter, Pittsburgh Crawfords ..................................................................................... 22,965

Catchers

Mackey, Philadelphia Stars ........................................................................................ 37,883

Gibson, Pittsburgh Crawfords .................................................................................... 35,376

First Base

Charleston, Pittsburgh Crawfords .............................................................................. 43,793

Second Base

Russell, Pittsburgh Crawfords .................................................................................... 29,846

Third Base

Wilson, Philadelphia Stars ......................................................................................... 37,832

Shortstop

Lundy, Philadelphia Stars .......................................................................................... 39.832

Outfielders

V. Harris, Homestead Grays ....................................................................................... 28,385

“Cool Papa” Bell, Pittsburgh Crawfords .................................................................... 25,984

Dixon, Philadelphia Stars ........................................................................................... 25,715

Page, Pittsburgh Crawfords ........................................................................................ 23,847

Jenkins, New York Black Yankees ............................................................................ 23,260

Source: The Pittsburgh Courier, September 9, 1933, p. 5.

448

baseball was legitimate ball on the Sabbath aftemoons, because it would furnish some place

for fans to go and certainly speed up the whirling of the turnstiles?”7 Given the number of

games already played by league teams, one wonders how avid Negro League baseball fans

were able to afford back-to-back admission fees. And, surely other types of social activities

were sponsored on Sunday afiemoons by the city’s numerous black social and fraternal

organizations.

Having demonstrated an aggressive and respected leadership in the NNL, Gus

Greenlee resigned as chairman of the advisory board in February 193 9, to pursue his boxing

interests. The Crawfords remained in the league, but without Greenlee. Six years later,

Greenlee attempted to return to the NNL with the Crawfords when his prize fighter light

heavy-weight, John Henry Lewis’ eyesight began to fail, but to no avail. Greenlee was

denied membership by the National Association and National Negro Leagues to which he

made significant contributions. There is no record explaining his rejection though the

competitiveness of his team was perhaps the reason. However, Greenlee established the

United States Baseball League in 1945 with six independent Negro teams.

Impact of Crawfords and Grays on Black Community

Negro baseball league teams were the centerpieces of the black community in every

city they represented, provided entertaining baseball, and became symbols of black pride and

 

"Sez Ches, “Negro Baseball Meeting,” The Pittsburgh Courier, January 13, 1934,

Section 2, p. 5.

449

eventually woven into the black community’s social fabric.“8 The notorious Crawfords and

Grays impacted every facet of the black community. For example, men were not the only

spectators of the Negro Leagues. Black team owners acknowledged black women with a

regular “Ladies Night” at Greenlee Field which was designated for Monday nights. A

reporter for the Pittsburgh Courier described one of these evenings “as being celebrated in

gala fashion with more than 2,000 of the fairer sex rallying enthusiastically to the matchless

thrill of the nocturnal type of diamond game.” This game between R.A. Cole’s Chicago

Giants and the Crawfords attracted close to 5,000 spectators and almost half were women.

The Homestead Grays hosted the Black Sox in a three game series, Saturday, Sunday, with

Monday as “Ladies Night” at Greenlee Field. It is difficult to ascertain if women were given

a discount admission price or free admission as well as their regular attendance without

“Ladies Night.” Nonetheless, they seemed to take advantage of this very special evening.

Ladies were not the only facet of the community the Pittsburgh’s Negro baseball

teams hoped to attract. Negro baseball players, played the game, because they loved it, they

traveled, and could make money. Sometimes there were contractual disputes about money,

but Negro baseball players did not always play for themselves or their fans. In Pittsburgh,

the Crawfords ofien played benefit games for the city’s inadequately funded black

institutions which consistently needed funds to provide sufficient social services. In other

words, a percentage from the gate was given to the benefactors.

Oftentimes, benefit games boosted attendance, but more importantly, they provided

 

48Rosalyn Story, “A Museum of Their Own,” The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 10,

1997, Section C, p. 1; “Fifty Years ofBlacks in Baseball,” Ebony, June 1995, p. 39.

450

an “opportunity for every Pittsburgh fan to demonstrate charity in either a small or large

way.” On July 26, 1930, the independent Crawford Giants played a benefit game against

Stowe for the Coleman Home with the proceeds to send the children to summer camp for a

month. This game attracted an enormous crowd, because the Crawfords had not been

defeated on their “home lot” since the onset of the season afler playing 25 games.

Livingstone Memorial Hospital also reaped some ofthe benefits fi'om other Crawford games.

The Grays also played benefit games for charity.

Even though the color line had long been drawn in baseball, the Crawfords and Grays

attracted white spectators to their baseball games. “Buck” Leonard says, “the thing about

Pittsburgh was that they came from all around, black and white.” In 193 8, the Crawfords

played and defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates in Forbes Field which generated a mixed crowd

of baseball fans. Both the talented Grays and Crawfords attracted white audiences wherever

they played. From the beginning, Negro League baseball had distinguished itself fi'om the

Maj or Leagues with a more daring, exciting, and aggressive style of game that utilized speed,

something most fans could appreciate. During one game, Cool Papa Bell stole two bases on

one pitch, an action daring enough to excite any crowd.

One of the most exciting and memorable games for Pittsburgh’s Negro baseball fans

was the Crawford Grays 25‘" birthday celebration in August 1938, when the old-timers

returned to Pittsburgh for the occasion. From out of the fog and haze of the past, diamond

greats of yesterday played and defeated a team of white players who had also been benched

451

by “Father Time.”49 Observers found Smokey Joe Williams was not so Smokey, as “his fast

ball was just a zip and his curve ball just a wrinkle.” Chester Washington, sports writer for

the Courier, wrote that “Father time had taken its toll on the legs and arms which were once

strong and speedy and had lost their useful pep, but stalwart hearts were still full of fight and

courage.” Honey Pangbum, once the fastest outfielder of the Grays, “was in and out of the

dugout during the game and could not play, because he tipped the scales at 250 pounds;” and

they could not find a uniform to fit him. This old-timers game drew an estimated 5,000

excited fans and considered an affair colorful baseball show worth repeating. The younger

Grays followed the old-timers game with a league game giving them two victories on their

25‘" anniversary.

Negro Baseball: lst Class Citizenship and Economic Development

An even greater impact on the black community was that baseball advanced the black

quest for first-class citizenship and black economic development. Gerald Early, an Afiican-

American Studies scholar, wrote:

For blacks always approached professional baseball from the time

they were denied an opportunity to play it alongside whites in the

18805 as a vehicle for assimilation, black cultural, and commercial

venture. Black baseball demonstrated black independence as much

as it showed whites that blacks were able and very competitive and

desired much to play baseball with them.’0

 

49Wendell Smith,“SmittJ"s Sport Spurts,” The Pittsburgh Courier, August 13, 193 8, p.

l 6.

50Gerald Early, “American Integration, Black Heroism, and the Meaning of Jackie

Robinson,” The Chronicle ofHigher Education, May 23, 1997, p. B-4.

452

This denial by whites to integrate baseball did nothing to diminish the hopes of Negro

baseball players or Negro team owners by continuing to “express their desire for freedom,

respect, and esteem through entrepreneurship and enterprise.” Black baseball owners and

managers demonstrated their business acumen and organizational skills and, for the most

part, rejected all offers of wealthy whites to infiinge upon and manipulate an enterprise of

their own making.

From an economic standpoint, Negro League baseball and entrepreneurship also

created markets for Negro umpires, managers, and coaches.

Fans were afforded an

opportunity to “bet” on their favorite teams. Black business owners were also able to

capitalize on Negro baseball before and after games as fans often patronized black

restaurants, drinking establishments, dance clubs, and possibly places of vice. Some blacks

attending Negro League games traveled from nearby cities, but not close enough to return

home afterward, stayed in Negro hotels. In Pittsburgh, the most popular of such

establishments was Hotel Sutton." As Gerald Early points out, black business owners had

a virtual monopoly of their own relative to the enterprise created by Negro League baseball.

Furthermore, Greenlee’s ownership of the only Negro League baseball stadium

certainly represented first-class citizenship and entrepreneurship. As a result, blacks were

 

5 lHotel Sutton, owned by Frank Sutton, was located on Wylie Avenue between Fifth and

Sixth Avenues, Hill District. It is reputed as Pittsburgh’s first Negro hotel, a rendevous for

sportsmen, politicians, and prominent blacks including Booker T. Washington, and Jack Johnson,

Heavyweight Champion of the World. Theatrical troupes and musicians also frequented Sutton’s

when performing in Pittsburgh. It became a place of rest for Pullman Porters as well. The hotel

had a national reputation among blacks for its decor and hospitality. Sutton has been described

as “an outstanding figure of Wylie Avenue, an aristocrat in manner and dress who spoke polished

English.”

453

 

Source: Pittsburgh Courier Photographic Archives

Figure. 59. Negro League Umpires, John Craig and Moe Harris

454

employed to operate concession stands and ticket booths; work as ticket takers at the stadium

gate; score keepers; parking attendants; and maintenance workers.

Although this

employment was seasonal, Greenlee provided jobs and many of Pittsburgh’ Negroes, were

probably satisfied to eventually work for one of “their own.” Because of Greenlee’s success

and that of Negro League players, a quest for first-class citizenship emerged along with

economic development whereas the proceeds from Negro League baseball games remained

in the black community. This helped to create a sense of race pride among not only

Pittsburgh blacks, but those almost everywhere.

The Crawfords, Grays, and Discrimination

Aside from being relegated to a separate baseball league for blacks, Negro baseball

players often felt the brunt of discrimination, especially while on the road. Bus travel was

tough and living conditions often horrid.52 Some of these experiences have been described

by both players of the Grays and Crawfords. Monte Irvin who played for the Newark Eagles,

the Crawfords and Grays; and against all-tirne great white players, Babe Ruth and Lou

Gehrig stated:

 

52Ron Cook, “Greatness Touched by Negro Leagues,” The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,

September 9, 1988, Section D, pp. 1, 6. It is important to note that the conditions on which

Negro baseball players traveled were explained by Effa Manley who managed the Newark

Eagles. She contends that road accommodations were bad because of Jim Crow, and not that

Negro League owners refused to spend the necessary funds for the comfort of their team. See

Gerald Early’s American Integration, Black Heroism, and the Meaning of Jackie Robinson” in

The Chronicle ofHigher Education, May 23, 1997, p. B-4.

455

“In Zanesville, Ohio, we weren’t allowed to use the regular clubhouse

[so we] dressed in the YMCA or what-have-you. There was a little

hotel on Route 40 and a lady heated water for us in the bathtub.

After the ball game we had one tub of water half full and the whole

ball club took a bath in one tub. We had to get the grime off, because

we had to ride from there to Columbus [Ohio]. This was the kind of

life we had to live?”3

Because of segregation, racism and discrimination, the Crawfords were often forced to sleep

on the bus or in parks when white hotels refused them accommodations. In cases where

black baseball clubs were given rooms in Negro hotels, they were often bug-infested flea

bags. In some towns, no black motel would accommodate them.” The reason for this is

unclear, but if motel owners were afraid of not receiving the room fees, perhaps they should

have requested payment in advance. Given the reputation of Negro baseball teams, perhaps

it should have been an honor to provide lodging for them and a way of drawing attention to

their business establishment, unless they were not legitimate.

Negro Leagues were also discriminated against by the white press and media. In

Pittsburgh, KDKA, the world’s first commercial radio station in the city, licensed October

27, 1920, faithfully broadcasted the Pirates’ games.” The Pittsburgh Crawfords and

 

53Ted Page and John Holway, “Playback: The Homestead Grays and Other Highlights

of Baseball ’5 Dark Ages,” Pittsburgh Renaissance, April 1974, p. 22. The Newark Eagles were

owned by Abe and Effa Manley. Abe Manley, like Gus Greenlee, acquired his fortune from the

numbers business and purchased the Newark Eagles in 1935.

54“Black Baseball Pioneers Honored,” the Pittsburgh Courier, November 30, 1988,

Section A, p. 13. Baseball historians agree that the denial of accommodations and meals in

restaurants to Negro League players were often contingent upon where they were traveling.

Peterson, for example, contends that the mid-west was a little more tolerant on the segregation

issue than the South during this period and did not add to the already existing traveling

difficulties they experienced.

55Vince Gagetta, Pittsburgh Fulfilling its Destiny, ( Northridge, California: Windsor

Publications, Inc., 1986), p. 131.

456

Homestead Grays, despite their great athletic abilities, national reputations, and baseball

records, they were ignored by KDKA and the city’s white newspapers. The East-West All-

Star game and the National Negro League World Series were equally important as the

National and American League World Series, because they both readily attracted large

crowds. However, Pittsburgh’s National League team also had a wide listening audience

through KDKA, but the Crawfords and Grays were not totally without the public’s eye.

Reporters for The Pittsburgh Courier covered the Crawfords and Grays games

extensively and sent a representative to National Negro League and National Negro

Association meetings to report their activities and those of their players. Robert L. Vann had

three sports reporters on staff: Wendell Smith, an advocate of integrated baseball and who

despised blacks who attended Major League games; Chester Washington, a native

Pittsburgher and graduate of Virginia Union College where he studied journalism; William

Nunn; a postal employee who relinquished his job stability to write for The Courier; and

Cum Posey, Jr., who had a regular column on the Courier ’5 sports page. In any given week,

The Pittsburgh Courier published at least four pages of sports news relative to the

Crawfords, Grays, and the Negro Leagues in general. The July 28, 1923 issue of the Courier

sports page had eleven articles on Negro baseball. Black Pittsburghers who were urged by

Vann to pass their Courier ’s on to another reader, were sure to be abreast of their local

team’s activities.

For example, they published baseball scores, schedules, and photographs of Negro

League baseball players in almost every issue of the Courier during the life of the Negro

leagues. Even disputes within the leagues and clashes between the “movers and shakers”

457

were published. So, the Pittsburgh Pirates had KDKA and several local white newspapers

and the Negro Leagues had The Pittsburgh Courier which did not discriminate. As early

as 1911, the Courier printed stories about white teams and the American Association of

baseball including, “Slide to First is Barred” and “Zinn Proves Clever,” and “Scheckerd

Helps the Cubs.” It also published a column called, “Baseball News and Notes, Up to Date

Gossip.”5" There did not appear to be a record of the Pittsburgh Keystones in the Courier

during the second decade which may have been the result of their game schedules and scores

not being reported.

Though the black press did not discriminate, some of Negro baseball’s leadership

thought it did not cover the leagues to its utmost ability, especially, in the Mid-West where

the Negro leagues originated. Ira F. Lewis, sports reporter for The Pittsburgh Courier and

The Competitor, stated that the heaviest handicap under which the teams, in particular, and

league, in general, has labored, has been unsportsman-like, unbusiness-like, and weak-kneed

support given the organization by the colored newspapers of the Middle-West."7

Scores,

batting statistics, and Negro League standings rarely appeared in Negro publications.

Attempts were also made to take advantage ofNegro League players by team owners.

Cool “Papa” Bell explained, “One team told me to pay my expenses from St. Louis to

Memphis, they’d give it back to me they said. I get there and they say no. The owner of the

 

56For more information see, The Pittsburgh Courier, August 5, 1911, p. 2. This

particular article was about the White Sox, and several white baseball players including Jimmy

Doyle, Christy Mathewson, Jimmy Johnson, and Babe Adams.

57Ira F. Lewis, Athletics: Big League Making Progress, The Competitor, 1921, Volume

1, p.

458

 

club was a dentist. I say to’em I didn’t come down here ‘cause I got a toothache, so I went

back home.”"’ To Bell, the owner’s race made no difference which suggests that their only

interest was winning games at little or no expense. Perhaps the refusal of the dentist to

reimburse Bell’s expenses was with hopes that he was financially unable to return to St.

Louis and forced to play for him for a minimal salary.

Despite the negative of experiences of the Grays and Crawfords, they maintained

positive attitudes which is evidenced by LeRoy Satchel Paige who asserted, “the Crawfords

played and won like we invented the game.

”59 White players accustomed to segregatbd

games emphasizing the long ball over speed and cunning, were run ragged by black teams."0

Walter “Buck” Leonard, first baseman for the Grays, reaffirmed Paige’s attitude. He stated,

“segregation of black and white players was a part of black life back then. We didn’t even

think about them. We had our league, like another world, and we played like no other league

existed?”I

Oftentimes, white big league clubs considered obtaining black players, but were

hindered by segregationist thought. One major league club owner stated, “There is a catcher

 

”Mark Kram, “No Place In the Shade,” Sports Illustrated, June 20, 1994, p. 66.

59Leroy Satchel Paige, was born July 7, 1907 in Mobile, Alabama, to John Paige, a

gardener, and Lulu, a washerwoman. A pitcher, Paige began playing in the Negro Leagues in the

19205 with the Birmingham Black Barons. During his career, he pitched as many as 55 no-

hitters. Paige was not only notorious for his pitching, but for the frequency with which he

switched teams. His behavior often annoyed his teammates, Negro League owners, and fans.

”Alan Robinson, “60 Years Ago, Pittsburgh Crawfords Ruled Baseball,” The

Pittsburgh Courier, October 8, 1994, Section A, p. 10.

“Diana Nelson Jones, “Homestead Grays Superstar, Member ofBaseball Hall of

Fame,” The Pittsburgh Press, November 29, 1997, p. 3.

459

any big league club would like to buy for $200,000, named Josh Gibson. He can do

everything. He hits the ball a mile. And, he catches so easy he might as well be sitting in

a rocking chair. He throws like a rifle. Too bad this Gibson is a colored fellow.”"2 Many

major league club owners maintained this attitude, but they new that many Negro League

players were far more talented than white professional baseball players. C .1. Taylor of the

Negro Leagues asserted, “We produce splendid players, men of brilliant talents many of

whom could play rings around organized players in white leagues if given the opportunity.”

Pearson, of the NNL was given a major league tryout by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the

Spring of 1923, but did not make the team.‘53 More than a decade later, no other blacks were

given such an opportunity. Ford Frick, 1939 National League president, made the following

statement in a Pittsburgh Courier interview relative to blacks in the major leagues:

 

“Josh Gibson was born December 21, 1911, in Buena Vista, Georgia and the eldest of

Mark Gibson and Nancy Woodlock’s three children. His father, a former sharecropper, migrated

to Pittsburgh in 1924, where he obtained employment in the Homestead Steelworks. Josh, who

became disillusioned with school by the time he reached the ninth grade, dropped out and opted

for an apprenticeship at an airbrake company. At sixteen, he played baseball for Gimbels

Brothers baseball team and began what was to become an outstanding baseball career with the

Crawford Colored Giants in 1929. In 1930, he played for the Grays and two years later joined

the Pittsburgh Crawfords for a lucrative $1200 salary. Most Negro League salaries did not

exceed $500.

63The writer is uncertain of Pearson’s first name. Robert Peterson lists Jimmy Pearson

(New York Cubans) and Lenny Pearson (New York Eagles and Baltimore Elite Giants) in the

appendix of Only The Ball Was White. However, the former did not play in the Negro Leagues

until 1949 and the latter from 193 7-1950. So, it is doubtful that the Pearson mentioned above is

either of these Negro baseball players.

460

 

 

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Ev

Maj or League baseball is willing to accept Negro players today. But,

fans are of the opinion that major league baseball does not want

Negro players, but that is not rue. We have always been interested in

Negro players, but have not used them, because we feel that the

general public has not been educated to the point where they will

accept them on the same standard as they do white players. Also a

ball club spends six weeks in the deep South and half the season on

the road and there are many places where we could not take a Negro

player, because of social problems. I am sure any if major league

managers would use colored players if they thought fans in their

particular cities would stand for it. There was a time when Jewish

players were not wanted."4

Nonetheless, black baseball players remained outside the major leagues.

Clashes Between the Powers That Be

W.A. “Gus” Greenlee and Cum Posey, Jr., often had differences of opinion which

subsequently, led to clashes on and off the baseball diamond. This was, in part, because their

teams, the Pittsburgh Crawfords and Homestead Grays were rivals and had been since the

Crawfords were a sandlot team. The following quote clearly indicates this rivalry:

Rivalry between the Pittsburgh Crawfords and Grays while the

Crawfords were still a sandlot team and the Grays were professional.

They described the Crawfords as a snappy bunch of young players

who can hit and run, but were planning to give the Grays a real run

for the honors of the game. The Grays were confident that they could

take the youngsters into camp. The battle would be one of age and

experience pitted against youth and daring. Sometimes youth must

be served.“

 

64“General Public Must Be Changed,” the Pittsburgh Courier, February 25, 1939, p. 1.

For more information on Jewish baseball players see, Peter Levine’s Baseball History: An

Annal of Original Basede Research, 1989.

65“Sandlot 9 Primes to Trip Vets,” The Pittsburgh Courier, August 23, 1930, Section 2,

p. 4.

462

Posey’s animosity showed “when the Crawfords agreed to join his East-West League by

imposing stipulations on them to resist competition with the Crawfords?“ Although the

specific stipulations were not revealed, perhaps Posey limited the number of games the

Crawfords could play; scheduled no games between the two teams for fear of losing; or

undermine Greenlee’s leadership and respect given him by other Negro League owners and

players. Further speculation involves Posey’s desire to become one of the power brokers

which may explain the earlier formation of his own Negro baseball league. This rivalry,

however, was to continue throughout the 19405 when Greenlee was rejected from the NAL

and NNL.

Posey, at times, seemed to feel overshadowed by Gus Greenlee’s reputation almost

to the point of envy. Because of the many humanitarian gestures by Greenlee to blacks who

had “fallen on hard times,” especially, during the Depression when it appeared the only he

had money, many people thought Gus could have whatever he wanted. Posey, in his Pointed

Paragraphs, was quick to point out that, “it would be well to get the idea out of people’s

heads that Greenlee can get any player he goes after for his club.” Despite Posey’s feelings,

there may have been some truth to that statement. In the Negro Leagues, players consistently

switched baseball teams for those teams paying the highest salaries. Satchel Paige and Josh

Gibson, for example, frequently, switched from the Crawfords to the Grays and back to the

Crawfords, because of higher salaries."7

 

“Rob Ruck, Sandlot Seasons, p. 155.

”See John Holway’s “Josh Gibson” in the Dictionary ofAmerican Negro Biography,

eds. Rayford W. Logan and Michael Winston, New York, W.W. Norton, 1982, pp. 259-261.

Both players were valuable, because of their exceptional talents as baseball players. For

463

Origins of the Negro Welfare Interplant Baseball League

Organized baseball in Pittsburgh went beyond the sandlots into the city’s industrial

plants even before the Crawfords became the Pittsburgh Crawfords and the Homestead Grays

affiliated with the Negro Leagues. The Negro Welfare Interplant League was organized by

John T. Clark, executive director of the Pittsburgh Urban League, with the help of Negro

Welfare Workers.“ They were considered by the National Urban League as “the key figures

in industrial companies, who were responsible for leisure time activities of black industrial

workers.”"9 Negro Welfare Workers such as Cyrus T. Greene, were often the managers of

Interplant baseball teams.

This league was not limited to the participation of black southern migrants working

in Industrial plants in Pittsburgh, but surrounding areas including Homestead, Duquesne,

Clairton, McKees Rocks, and Braddock. Based on the principles of the Pittsburgh Urban

League, the purpose of the Interplant Baseball League was to encourage good sportsmanship

among amateur baseball players, the development of “esth de corps” among different

groups working in industry in and around Pittsburgh, and for industrial plants to provide

 

example, Gibson hit as many as 67 homeruns in one season and won at least four batting

championships between 1933-1936. See Holway’s Voices of the Great Black Baseball Leagues

(1975). Paige won 2,000 of 2,500 games he pitched. To obtain Gibson, Posey offered and

Gibson accepted $2500 to return to the Grays.

""See Nancy J. Weiss’ The National Urban League, 1974. She points out that the idea

of establishing recreation for Negro migrants in industrial plants was at the suggestion of the

National Urban League, because the Negro migrant “needed wholesome amusements” and this

was one of the ways it could be achieved. Urban League affiliates were therefore, encouraged to

create organized baseball and basketball teams. The PUL was one of the affiliates that

successfully organized an industrial baseball league.

”Peter Gottlieb, Making Their Own Way: Southern Blacks’ Migration to Pittsburgh

1916-1930, (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1987), p. 130.

464

athletic and recreational programs for employees.70 For industrial plant owners, the reasons

justifying the organization of these teams and those of the Pittsburgh Urban League differed

significantly.

Industrial plant employers recognized high turnovers among black male

employees, oftentimes, due to the reckless social lives many of them led. Indulgence in

various types of vice including crap games and excessive drinking which sometimes resulted

in tardiness and absenteeism, many employers realized the necessity of dealing with the

problem, because for the most part, blacks were productive workers.

Plant owners found it necessary to formally organize the leisure time of black

industrial workers as a means of “detaching young clack men working in the mills from

informal social lives, boardinghouses and street comers.” Many of the largest steel

producing plants in Pittsburgh created networks of company-sponsored social and

recreational groups such as band, glee clubs, and more importantly, athletic teams which

were established between 1917-1921.71 Athletic teams sponsored by the city’s industrial

plants, therefore, “served the employer perhaps more than their employees participating in

the league.” In other words, employers who provided extra-curricular activities, lessened the

time black employees had to frequent places of ill-repute and engage activities that would

otherwise interfere with their work performance.

 

7oNegro Industrial League Guide, Roster, and Schedule (undated), Archives of

Industrial Society, MSS 81:11, Urban League of Pittsburgh Papers, Box 7, FF 332, Hillman

Library, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA.

7|Gottlieb, p. 130. Also see Nancy J. Weiss’ The National Urban League, 1974, pp.

116-117. She discusses the importance of wholesome recreation for Negro migrants and the

National Urban League’s efforts to establish recreational programs for the same. The Detroit

Urban League, for example, established numerous programs for its southern migrants including

regular dances and activities for thier children.

465

  

Contrary to historian Rob Ruck, who contends the Negro Industrial League began

between 1922-1923, other evidence reveals the league actually started in 1921. Several

industrial companies had already established colored baseball teams including Carnegie Steel

Plant which had three teams represented Lockhart Iron and Steel, Jones & Laughlin Steel

Company, and Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Companyf"2

These teams

comprised the Negro Interplant League of 1921, and were hard at work preparing for the

opening game of the Negro Industrial League of the Pittsburgh District, the 1"‘ Sunday in

May.73 The following quote further substantiates the beginning of the Interplant League:

“We shall be pleased to publish the schedule of the sporting columns of this paper for write-

ups of games and standings of clubs during the season.”

John T. Clark initially planned for at least eight teams in the Negro Industrial League,

but as of May 1921, only six teams were registered. However, he continued to solicit two

additional teams by writing letters to industrial employers. In a letter to Standard Sanitary

 

72Jones & Laughlin was founded in 1853, by B.F. Jones and James Laughlin; Carnegie

Steel Plant, 1856 by Andrew Carnegie; and Lockhart Iron & Steel by Charles Lockhart in 1905.

For more information, see The Story ofPittsburgh and Vicinity, (Pittsburgh: The Gazette Times,

1908); James McBride’s History of the Carnegie Steel Company, (Pittsburgh: University of

Pittsburgh Press, 1991). Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company was founded in

1886 by George Westinghouse in East Pittsburgh. The first Negro was hired as a janitor one year

after the company was organized.

73List ofIndustrial League Teams, Archives of Industrial Society, University of

Pittsburgh Special Collections, MSS 81 :11 Pittsburgh Urban League Papers, Box 7, FF 331. A

Proposed Base Ball Schedule of the Negro Welfare Interplant League of the Pittsburgh District

of 1921 Season lists eight teams in the Negro Interplant League: Donora, Braddock, Clairton,

Duquesne, Homestead, McKees Rocks, Woodlawn, and WEMCO with games beginning April

16, 1921 through September 4, 1921.

7“Letter to Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company (WEMCO) from

William G. Nunn, May 6, 1921. Archives of Industrial Society, University of Pittsburgh Special

Collections, MSS 81:11, Pittsburgh Urban League Papers, Box 7, FF 332.

466

Roster of Players

Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company (WEMCO)

Interplant Baseball League

Manager:

Finley T. Davis #6 Morrow Street, E.E. Pittsburgh, PA

Grounds:

Homewood Playground, Lang Avenue and the railroad, St. car #76 (sic)

Players:

Finley T. Davis

Walter France

Ralph Melix

C. Griffith

Frank Bloomer

John Bush

W.R. Gordon

Elsie Robinson

Chauncey Foster

Herman Grooms

John Thompson

Maryland Perry

Charlie Wilson

H. Tinker

Edmonds

Trice

Matlock

Newman

Source: Urban League Papers Pittsburgh, MSS 81 :11 Box 7, FF 333. It is unclear if the

names of the last four players also began with an “H.” This roster is written as is from

the original document.

467

Manufacturing Company, Clark wrote:

I understand there has been a Base Ball (sic) Team organized

among colored employees of the plant. I am wondering if such a

team is being planned again this season. Several of the colored

teams from Industrial Plants in this district are forming a league to

begin the 1" of May. There are places for two teams and I am

wondering if this letter could be referred to management of this

colored team and if he would be urged to get in touch with us

concerning the matter.75

Clark subsequently, sent a similar letter to the colored employees of the Braddock works

inviting them to join the Negro Interplant Base Ball (sic) League.

Clark received negative replies from two industrial companies: Standard Sanitary

Manufacturing and Presses Steel Car. A representative from Standard replied: “Beg to

state that owing to the fact we now support one base ball team, we feel it rather

impossible for us to do anything further in this matter.” The response from Pressed Steel

Car read: “Replying to your letter dated May 5‘" up to this writing, the boys have not

formed a base ball team mostly due to the fact that our plant has not been in operation

during the past six months. Therefore, do not figure on a team for your schedule fi'om

this particular plant.

9976

Although unsuccessful in securing Negro baseball teams from

these plants, Clark still managed to attract teams from Fort Pitt Malleable Iron, Duquesne

 

7"Letter to Theodore Taffelfrom John T. Clark, April 11, 1921. Archives of Industrial

Society, University of Pittsburgh Special Collections, MSS 81 :11 Pittsburgh Urban League

Papers, Box 7, FF 331.

“Letter to the Pittsburgh Urban Leaguefrom J. Rannsbrusher, May 8, 1922, Archives

of Industrial Society, University of Pittsburgh, Hillman Library Special Collections, MSS 81 :11

Pittsburgh Urban League Papers, Box 7, FF 333.

468

Steel Foundry, and two athletic clubs: Duquesne and Belvon.77

Organizational Structure of the Negro Interplant League

Rules and regulations governed the Interplant League which were enforced by its

officers, John T. Clark, president; Cyrus T. Greene, secretary; and William P. Young,

treasurer; and the captains of each team comprised the Protest Committee which met when

called by the president to schedule and hear the circumstances surrounding a written

complaint." Each team was required to send a list of all players to the Urban League office

by June 15‘" not to exceed eighteen players; a player not on the roster must file his name in

the president’s office one week before he was eligible to play; pay a $15 joining fee payable

by July 1, 1921; furnish the umpire at each game; send the scores to the Urban League office

for publication no later than 8:00 Saturday evening; be responsible for its own transportation

to and from the grounds of the opponents; pay five dollars to be used to purchase a trophy

 

77Fort Pitt Malleable Iron Company in McKees Rocks and situated on eleven acres of

land,was led by Frank J. Lanahan, president; Otto F. Felix, vice-president; William Heyl,

secretary; and R.J. Davidson, treasurer. Fort Duquesne Steel Foundry was established October

1899, by prominent white Pittsburgh businessmen to manufacture steel castings of various kinds,

such as cast steel-rolled car wheels. The officers of this company were: W.A. Herron, president;

T.H. Bakewell, vice-president and treasurer; and L.W. Frank, secretary. The name Duquesne

was selected in honor of Canada’s governor whose French troops defeated the English at the fork

of the Ohio River (1754). The English were in the process of building a fort before being

captured, and French troops subsequently, completed and named the fort. Streets, towns, hotels,

and banks also bore Duquesne’s name.

78Cyrus T. Green, an employee of the PUL, was the welfare director for colored

employees of Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company, baseball coach of the

company’s Interplant team, and secretary of the Negro Industrial League. W.P. Young, a

graduate of Lincoln University, was employed as a welfare worker for the Pittsburgh Urban

League. His first PUL assignment was with Lockhart Iron and Steel Company. A former college

quarterback, Homestead Gray, and member of the Loendi Basketball team, Young’s athletic

experience led him to become baseball coach of Lockhart’s Negro Interplant team.

469

for the team winning the series, runner-up, and a small trophy for the players of the winning

team.79

The Interplant League was not as complex and controversial as the East-West, and

later, National Negro League. For example, players of the Interplant League were only

allowed to represent the industrial plants of their respective employers which meant they

could not switch teams or play for the highest bidder. Nor were they paid additional monies

for participating in their company’s athletic programs. Because the players in the a Negro

Interplant League were full-time employees and amateurs, bamstonning and international

travel were not part of their repertoire. Fatigue from traveling and absence from the home

were uncommon among players in the Industrial League, but often commonplace for the

Pittsburgh Crawfords and Homestead Grays.

Problems within the Interplant Base Ball (sic) League were minimal, especially

teams, were more popular teams, compared to those of the Negro Leagues which were

plagued by the “stealing” of players from competing teams and leagues; bickering among

team owners; dismissals of teams from the Negro Leagues due to various types of

infractions; and quarreling between players and owners relative to contract negotiations and

personality clashes. The Interplant League experienced nothing ofthis magnitude. However,

its officers received several written complaints regarding game schedules, player eligibility,

and discrepancies concerning questionable calls made by game umpires.

In 1922, Henry Freeman of the Woodlawn Greys filed a complaint with John T.

 

79Statements of the Interplant Baseball League, Archives of Industrial Society,

University of Pittsburgh Special Collections, MSS 81:11Pittsburgh Urban League Papers, Box 7,

FF 332.

470

Clark about the Negro Interplant Base Ball Schedule who responded:

You are under the impression there are less games scheduled for you

at your home grounds than for any other team in the league. This is

not true. Each team has eight games on their home grounds and eight

games away. We could not arrange the schedule so that the games

could be played every other Saturday.

There is absolutely no

difference between your schedule and make an effort to have some

representative present whenever there is a [league] call meeting.”

During July of this same year, two letters protesting Interplant games filed by the Alpha Club

of Carnegie against Woodlawn and Lockhart Iron and Steel Company were received by

Clark. The first letter read: “After learning that the second game with Woodlawn played July

4‘" was not an independent game as was arranged, it is with regret that we are protesting it

on ruling that all players were not eligible. The score was 13-0.”

The second letter of protest involved Carnegie Alpha Club which led the charge

against Lockhart, during its July 15‘" game. The “game was not played according to 1922

National League rules. The base umpire called him [the runner] safe and the chief umpire

called him out?”9 No record exists regarding the outcome of these game protests, but in the

second instance, the evidence points out that the issue was argued on the field among

managers and umpires, but not to the satisfaction of Randolph Frits, manager of the Carnegie

 

58Letter to Henry Freeman from John T. Clark, June 7, 1922. Archives of Industrial

Society, University of Pittsburgh Special Collections, MSS 81 :11 Pittsburgh Urban League

Papers, Box 7, FF 332.

59Letter to the Urban Leaguefrom Randolph Frits, July 15, 1922. Archives of

Industrial Society, University of Pittsburgh Special Collections, MSS 81 :11 Urban League of

Pittsburgh Papers, Box 7 FF 333.

471

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Figure. 61. Greater Pittsburgh Baseball Commission Official Contract

Players in the Interplant Baseball League were required to sign a contract as it further

developed to dissuade players from switching teams during the baseball season.

472

Alpha Club.

It is unclear as to the impact of the league on Pittsburgh’s black community or the

industrial companies participating. However, several other points are clear. It is without

question that the Grays and Crawfords overshadowed the Industrial Negro Baseball teams

by far, as spectators flocked to their games in the thousands to cheer their exceptional

players. During the regular baseball season, the Pittsburgh Courier, extensively covered the

activities of the Grays and Crawfords, Pittsburgh’s claim to athletic fame.

Though William Nunn, sports writer for the Pittsburgh Courier agreed to publish the

scores of the Negro Industrial teams provided they supply the information, there was no

evidence of such reports, especially, during the 1921 baseball season. Copies of the Courier

were inaccessible. The players of the Industrial League were also amateurs whereas those

of the Grays and Crawfords were professional and semi-professional players. Industrial

League teams though not as popular among Pittsburgh’ 5 premiere teams, were more popular

among mill families and communities which was, in part, the reason for its inception.

In other words, the league was an attempt to unite mill workers, families, and

communities. One way in which this was accomplished was social events such as picnics

sponsored by the Negro Industrial League. For example, a picnic was held August 31, 1922,

for players and their families with eight teams participating in the event. John T. Clark wrote

letters to all company presidents with Industrial League teams requesting that Negro

employees be excused to attend the picnic. Seven of the companies granted Clark’s request

with Lockhart Iron and Steel relenting. A letter from T.J. Gillespie read:

473

Replying to your inquiry of 10th inst. (Sic) we certainly object to our

Negro employees attending a picnic on Thursday, August 3 1 st. The

picnic should be arranged for either a Saturday afiemoon or a regular

holiday. Would suggest that as the first Monday of September is

Labor Day it would be a good time to hold such a picnic without any

interference with our work.

According to the League’ 5 financial statement, each team contributed five dollars for

the picnic and approximately 615 tickets were subsequently, sold to the public. The total

expenses for the picnic were $297.05. The records also show that the picnic was held at

Homestead Park and provisions were made to obtain a dance hall, music, and haul athletic

equipment.“

The Negro Interplant Baseball Team was not only a contribution to

Pittsburgh’s Negro baseball legacy, but another attempt by the Pittsburgh Urban League to

build two bridges: one between black migrant workers and Pittsburgh’s black community;

black migrant workers and the Pittsburgh Urban League; and the Pittsburgh Urban League

and industrial employers.

 

”The records of the Interplant Baseball League also lists the athletic events to be held

during the picnic. They included the following: the 50 yard dash, a potato race, tug of war, sack

race, a ball throwing competition, and a pillow fight. These athletic events were designated for

boys and girls eight to twelve years old; married and single women; and men. The baseball game

among Interplant teams was to start at 4:00 pm. Prizes were also awarded to each winner.

474

Roster of Players

Lockhart Iron and Steel

Interplant Baseball League

Manager:

Willie George, 14, Lockhart Street, McKees Rocks, PA

Grounds:

Grayber Field

Players:

Willie George

Henderson Fay

Walter Eason

Joe Sanders

Ralph Simion

R.Goldsmith

Jason Jones

M.O. Fields

Willis Hightower

Sam Ramey

Henry Rice

James Mills

C. Luther

Carl McKee

James Leghorn

Bill Stewart

Bill Chatrnan

Bill McArthur

Source: Urban League ofPittsburgh Papers, Box 7, FF 333.

475

Conclusion

The Pittsburgh Crawfords and Homestead Grays once independent teams and later,

affiliated with the Negro Leagues, left a legacy of Negro baseball in Pittsburgh,

Pennsylvania. The Crawfords remained dominant in the National Negro League with most

of its best players until 193 7, when Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson led the exodus to Santo

Domingo, largely because of contract disputes with Greenlee, and Satchel, of course, had

been barred from the Negro Leagues. At the same time, the salaries paid by the Cubans far

exceeded those of the Negro Leagues. After six successful and colorful years, Gus Greenlee,

subsequently, dissolved the team, because of financial difficulties and transition from

baseball to boxing, but not without leaving a trail of unique Negro baseball memories.

Cum Posey’s Homestead Grays were a marvel in the history of Negro of America’s

national past time.

Preceded by the Pittsburgh Keystones, the Grays were city’s second

oldest Negro team which started on the city’s sandlots like the Crawfords, and ended with

national and international prominence. Negro baseball records reveal that the Homestead

Grays were the Negro League champions from 1937-1945. At least three factors contributed

to the demise of the Grays, Cum Posey’s death, the difficulties experienced by his wife who

subsequently, owned the team, and National League owner, Branch Rickey’s eventual

drafting of Jackie Robinson to the Maj or League’s New York Yankees, impacting the entire

Negro League and its players. Despite the lifting of the color bar in baseball, the Grays also

left more memories to their fans than could be counted.

Pittsburghers and baseball fans from surrounding areas, both black and white, male

and female attended the games of the Crawfords and Grays by the thousands where they

476

cheered and made wagers for and against their favorite team. During the 1933 and 1936

baseball seasons, Rob Ruck estimated 200,000 fans attended the Crawfords games. Just as

many probably attended the Grays games. They watched Negro baseball these teams whose

rosters were filled with brilliant, colorful, dazzling players who knew and appreciated the

game. Negro League baseball in Pittsburgh became an economic venture by which black

business owners were able to capitalize. The flare of the notorious Pittsburgh Crawfords and

Homestead Grays both had an impact on the Hill District community, because it gave it

national identity and self—respect decades before the integration of baseball.

477

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Wood, Hollingsworth. "The National Urban League." The Journal of Negro History, 9

(April) 1924, pp. 117-126.

Woodson, Carter, G. "The Negro in Pennsylvania."

The Negro History Bulletin, 5

(December) 1941, pp. 52-58.

Wulf, Steve. " The Guiding Light." Ebony (September) 1994, pp. 150-158.

Wyatt, Dave.

"Athletics: National League of Colored Clubs Prepare for Seasons

Opening." The Competitor, Volume I (1920), pp. 73-74.

Theses and Dissertations

Bell, William Y. Commercial Recreation Among Negroes in the Hill District M.A. thesis,

University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 1938.

Berkeley, Charles. TheAnalysis and Classification in Four Pittsburgh Newspapers, 191 7-

193 7. M.A. thesis, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 1937.

Bond, J. Max. The Rosenwald WCA: Developmentfor Negroes. M.A. thesis, University

of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 1931.

Brewer, John H. Robert L. Vann and the Pittsburgh Courier. M.A. thesis, University of

Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 1941.

Davidson, James Allie. Baptist Beginnings in Western Pennsylvania. Ph.D. dissertation,

University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1941.

500

Hand, Walter. A History of the Background and Development of the Pittsburgh Baptist

Association. Ph.D. dissertation, University ofPittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, June 1944.

Hill, Ralph L. A View of the Hill: a Study of Experiences and Attitudes in the Hill

District ofPittsburgh, PA, 1900-1973. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Pittsburgh,

1973, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Moron, Alonzo G. Distribution ofthe Negro Population in Pittsburgh, 1910-1930. M.A.

thesis, University of Pittsburgh, 1933.

Pittler, Alexander Z. The Hill District in Pittsburgh-A Study in Succession. M.A. thesis,

University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1930.

Proctor, Ralph, Jr.

Racial Discrimination Against Black Teachers and Black

Professionals in the Pittsburgh Public School System, 1834-1973.

Ph.D.

dissertation, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1979.

Rosenbloom, Miriam. An Outline of the Negro in the Pittsburgh Area. M.A. thesis,

University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1945.

Simmons, Ruth Louise. The Negro in Recent Pittsburgh Politics. M.A. thesis, University

of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 1945.

Smoot, Pamela. The History of a Black Church: the Ebenezer Baptist Church of

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1875-1975. M.S. thesis, Tennessee State University,

Nashville, Tennessee, 1983.

Stevenson, Ruth Lucretia. The Pittsburgh Urban League. M.A. thesis, University of

Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1931.

Weiskopf Betty Ann. A Dictionary ofSome ofthe Organized Administration, University

of Pittsburgh, 1943, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Pamphlets and Church Souvenir Booklets

Bethel AME. Church, " We Celebrate Our Heritage, 1808-1988," Pittsburgh, PA

Ebenezer Baptist Church, "Four Scores Years ofService ofthe Ebenezer Baptist Church

ofPittsburgh, PA 1955." Pittsburgh: Pemell Printing Company, 1955.

"Bethesda Presbyterian Church: A History," Pittsburgh, PA.

"Bidwell Presbyterian Church History," Pittsburgh, PA.

501

Homewood A.M.E.Z. Church, "Historical Sketch, 18 71-1996," Pittsburgh, PA.

Macedonia Baptist Church, " The Beacon on a Hill for Eighty Years: 80“ Anniversary

1903-1983, Pittsburgh, PA.

Metropolitan Baptist Church, "135" Anniversary, To God Be the glory—Praise Ye the

Lord," November 9-10, 1985, Pittsburgh, PA

. Metropolitan Baptist Church, "History, 1850-1982," Pittsburgh, PA.

Nunn, Bill, Sr. " The Pittsburgh Courier Story, 50“ Anniversary 1910-1950, Pittsburgh,

PA.

Rodman Street Baptist Church, "98“ Anniversary, Will the Real Church Please Stand Up,"

May 1, 1983, Pittsburgh, PA.

St. James A.M.E. Church Anniversary Souvenir Booklet, " Visions Becoming Reality for

120 Years, 1966-1986," Pittsburgh, PA.

St. Paul A.M.E. Church, " Celebrating 140 Years of God’s Resourcefor Faith, Hope, and

Love, August 15, 1986," Pittsburgh, PA.

Souvenir Program, "97" Annual Session of the Pittsburgh Annual Conference," Bethel

A.M.E. Church, September 22-27th, 1964.

Warren Methodist Church, " Church History Highlights," Pittsburgh, PA

502