African American Cultural Resistance to Racial Discrimination in

Old West Baltimore from 1930-1980

Tara L. GeorgeDr. Michelle Scott, Mentor

University of Maryland, Baltimore county

Major research Questions

Why the time period 1930-1980? What is cultural resistance? Why study cultural forms of

resistance? Why study Baltimore’s African

American history at all?

Literature Review

Literature Review

Black Culture and Consciousness Freedom’s Port From Mobtown to Charm City Blockbusting in Baltimore Baltimore: The Building of an American

City

Origins of the black community in Baltimore

Segregation & racial discrimination

Growing sense of fear and racism after emancipation

3 events heightened this fear and racism from 1865-1920’s Job bustingMethodist Camp Fight MeetingLegalization of segregation

Fear and racism grow

Methodist Camp Meeting, circa 1865

Colored School circa 1917

Old west Baltimore

By 1904, over 50% of Baltimore’s black population lived in an area known as old west Baltimore

South Baltimore was the second black neighborhood, but was contaminated with diseases (tuberculosis)

Old west Baltimore was the preferred neighborhood

Old West Baltimore

Music counterculture

The Music Counterculture

Two distinct countercultural forms of music arose: Jazz (Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong)Doo-wop (The Orioles)

The Royal Theater

The Royal Theater circa 1920’s

The Chitlin Circuit

A circuit which gave black performers opportunities denied by segregation ordinances

Performers included: Jimi HendrixDuke EllingtonBillie Holiday

Jimi Hendrix performs on the Chitlin Circuit

The negro League

the Negro League overview

1867: The National Association of Ball Players rejected the all black Pythian Clubs application

1885: Cuban Giants Form

1901: Baltimore Orioles deny John McGraw a spot on the team

1916: Negro League Baseball comes to Baltimore

The Baltimore Black Sox

The Black Sox circa 1929

Championship winners in 1929

The Baltimore Elite Giants

The Giants circa 1949

Championship winners in 1939, 1949

The Black Church

The Black Church

Sharp Street United Methodist Church Bethel A.M.E. Lovely Lane United Methodist

Sharp Street United Methodist Congregation, circa 1940’s

Community Devolution

Black Flight to the Suburbs

NAACP Bethel A.M.E. Middle and Upper Class Black Families

Community Devolution

INTEGRATIONSUBURBAN

FLIGHT

CIVIL RIGHTSLEGISLATION

COMMUNITY DEVOLUTION

Community Devolution

Penn Ave. Today

1953: Destruction of Lafeyette Market 1968: Middle and Upper Class Blacks Begin to

Flee the City 1970: The Royal Theater Closes 1980: Drug War Begins 1990-present: Urban Renewal Efforts Take Place

The Royal Theater today

Conclusions: Perspectives on the Future

Reviving The Community

How can cultural forms of resistance be useful to Baltimore's black population today?

Acknowledgements

Dr. Michelle Scott History Department, UMBC Mentor

Dr. Michael Johnson History Department, UMBC Research Advisor

The UMBC McNair Scholars Program & Staff

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February 2, 2005. “Tipping Point: Maryland’s Overuse of Incarceration and the Impact on Community Safety” Justice Policy Institute. Towers, Frank. “Job Busting at Baltimore Shipyards: Racial Violence in the Civil War Era South” The Journal of Southern History 66.2 (2000): 221-256. Wilerkson, Doxey. “The Negro Press” The Journal of Negro Education 16.4 (1947) Zeidman, Linda. “Sparrows Point, Dundalk, Highlandtown, Old West Baltimore: Home of Gold Dust and the Union Card” The Baltimore Book: New Views of Local History

Eds. Elizabeth Fee, Linda Shopes and Linda Zeidman. Temple University Press, 1991, 155-175.

Any Questions?

Tara George tgeorge1@umbc.edu