REMEMBERING BRONZEVILLE
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Early Days

  • Just before WWII, there was a small, cohesive African American community in Milwaukee's old Sixth Ward, a place we now call "Bronzeville."
  • We interviewed 16 people who grew up in the neighborhood at the time. Their recollections are the backbone of our documentary film "Remembering Bronzeville."
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Bronzeville around the time of WWII.
Resources
Barbera, Improvised World, pp. 52-65, 71, 77
African Americans newly arrived to Milwaukee were directed to Walnut Street where, if they were lucky, relatives or friends would take them in. Norma Jean Sims
Surveying the neighborhood in 1939, a Milwaukee Journal reporter ​observed the rundown appearance of the neighborhood and noted its relatively high death rate, the consequence, he said, of “poor housing, hard and hazardous jobs, and faulty eating habits geared to lean pocketbooks.” He commented on the racial mix of the neighborhood, where “Negro children play around the feet of bearded Jewish elders conversing in Yiddish.” He sought out nightclubs where the owners “cater to and expect white patronage, although there are always enough Negroes around to provide atmosphere.” Finally, he observed, reassuringly, that “contrary to the general belief among whites, there is not much serious crime among Negroes. The great majority of the offenses they commit consist of misdemeanors, and are usually committed, not against a white, but against other Negroes.” Source: Milwaukee Journal, “Milwaukee’s ‘Harlem’ Is a Busy, Changing Community,” Nov. 26, 1939.
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Formal and informal housing discrimination confined African Americans to some of Milwaukee's oldest and most undesirable housing. They carried on as best they could in difficult conditions ("polar existence").
​“The present [1942] Milwaukee Negro district is one of the oldest sections of the city. It is what in the early days of the City of Milwaukee … was the "Gold Coast." ... Here lived the wealthy people and here they constructed many large homes. Although many of the [original owners] have moved out of the district they still retain ownership of the houses. … Many of them have been turned into rooming houses having many one and two room apartments in which several people are crowded into one room.” Imse, “The Negro Community,” pp. 8-9, 11.
"Rats and roaches was everywhere." William "Monk" Campbell
"It was an attic apartment." Martha Freeman
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Photo: Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee
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"Milwaukee's Negro Community," March 1946

​
This report draws a detailed picture of the Bronzeville neighborhood at the end of WWII.

Among the key findings:

A combination of "gentlemen's agreements" and restrictive racial covenants confined the city's non-white population to a small, overcrowded district just north of downtown -- comprised of the oldest and most rundown housing stock in the city. The degree of segregation in Milwaukee was similar to what was found at the time in Birmingham, Alabama, and Atlanta, Georgia.
​
The black unemployment rate was 51%, compared to 17% for whites. Those blacks who did have work were employed almost entirely in unskilled, low-wage jobs, most commonly as laborers, janitors, porters and domestics.

How did folks get along back in the day?
  • Most worked at hard, low-paying jobs in tanneries, foundries and packing plants or, for women, as domestics.
"My dad worked three jobs." Martha Freeman
  • Didn't lock their doors
  • Took care of each other
  • Adults kept an eye on the neighborhood
"You didn't lock your doors." Irene Goggins
"Folks looked out for each other." Evelyn Williams

Second Great Migration

Milwaukee's black population expanded dramatically after WWII. 

​Why did they come to Milwaukee?
  • Economic opportunity
  • Better schools
  • Escape from overt racism​
  • Chain migration
"My father...came up here and got a job and got a place." LeHavre Buck
​The need for labor during the late forties and early fifties finally opened up the industrial segment of the economy to African Americans. … Overall, though, advancement was slow and black workers continued to suffer from hiring discrimination, union restrictions, and unequal wages and benefits. Jones, “Selma of the North,” p. 27.
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Finishing a casting, Crucible Steel Casting Co. Photo: Wisconsin Historical Society

A Vibrant Community

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Seventh and Walnut Streets, looking west, ca. 1951. Photo: Wisconsin Black Historical Society
  • Social clubs
  • Social centers
  • Preparation of newcomers for urban life
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J. Anthony Josey (center) is feted by the Mary Church Terrell Club upon his inauguration as “mayor” of Bronzeville. Photo: Wisconsin Black Historical Society
​Social clubs – big and small, formal and informal – brought folks together in Bronzeville to socialize, network and get things done in the community.
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Social club matinee at the Flame night club. These events were a source of classy entertainment and a fundraising opportunity for community groups. Photo: Paul Geenen
Community groups and the county-run Lapham Park Social Center offered classes to help newcomers from the rural South adjust to urban life.


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Homemaking class at the Lapham Park Social Center. Photo: Wisconsin Black Historical Society
The children of Bronzeville had a wide variety of recreational opportunities. Parks, the Lapham pool, after-school programs, community centers, sports leagues, and social clubs were all close at hand.  If they needed a break from organized activities, there were street games, fishing and the zoo.  Or they could just hang out with friends and family. The front porch was a favorite spot when the street lights came on.
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In 1940, a Milwaukee Journal reporter praised the newly-opened Lapham pool as a “Shining Mirror of Democracy” where blacks and whites mingled freely without conflict. Milwaukee Journal, “Shining Mirror of Democracy is Bronzeville Swimming Pool,” July 14, 1940.
Black police officers such as the legendary Felmers Chaney were authority figures who belonged to the community, even if they didn't necessarily live there. They were embraced and respected by the law-abiding folks in Bronzeville.
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Felmers Chaney (left) on patrol in 1968. Photo courtesy Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
"You didn't want to run into Brother Chaney." William "Monk" Campbell
"They were respected people." Irene Goggins

"The Scene"

  • Jazz joints, black and tans
  • Record shops
  • Taverns, bars and hang-outs
From a 1939 edition of the Milwaukee Journal: "By day, except for a few loiterers here and there, [Walnut Street] presents a sedate business appearance. But by night electric signs light up, the sidewalks take on life, couples appear walking hand in hand, the younger crowd comes out – especially on Saturday and Sunday nights – laughter is heard and gaiety prevails.” In Bronzeville, the reporter found a profusion of Negro business enterprises, including some professional offices, a co-operative store, and an estimated 12,000 African American residents [the official 1940 census was 8,800, but that was likely an undercount]. Source: Milwaukee Journal, “Milwaukee’s ‘Harlem’ Is a Busy, Changing Community,” Nov. 26, 1939.
  • After hours clubs
  • Color bar in lodging
"We could get into the back room of the Pelican Club." William "Monk" Campbell
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"Black and tans" attracted a mixed-race clientele. Photo: Wisconsin Black Historical Society
  • ​"Day people" and "night people"
  • Coexisted by avoiding each other.
  • White cops clashed repeatedly with the "night people."
  • Prostitution, gambling, drugs and alcohol were all part of "the Scene" after nightfall.
"In the community there were two types of people." Reuben Harpole

Decline

  • Growing population exacerbated an already difficult housing situation for both blacks and whites post WWII.
  • "Slum clearance" campaign by civic leaders
  • Hillside: public housing as a means to accomplish "blight removal" in the oldest parts of Bronzeville
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The original Hillside Terrace housing project is in the background of this photo. The site of the much-larger Hillside Addition is in the foreground, with demolition already under way. Photo: Wisconsin Black Historical Society
Resources
Barbera, Improvised World, pp. 65-72

"They put me out of the neighborhood." William "Monk" Campbell
Picture
Twelfth and Walnut Streets, 1958. Photo: Milwaukee Public Library.
  • Urban renewal financed the demolition of homes and businesses on both sides of Walnut Street.
  • The black population moved north and west. That shift, along with urban renewal, spelled the end of the Walnut Street business district, once dominated by African American entrepreneurs.
  • Finally, Interstate 43 and the Park West expressway further disrupted neighborhoods that had become black enclaves after WWII.
"Disruption of a business...is devastating." Fred Reed

Rebirth

The Bronzeville Cultural and Entertainment District was conceived in 2005. The expressed intent was to recreate a bit of the old Bronzeville on North Avenue between King Drive and Seventh Street. According to the plan it was to be a place "specifically focused on the attraction and promotion of African-American arts, entertainment and culture. Bronzeville will be a year-round tourist destination celebrating a rich cultural heritage by offering authentic ethnic music, art and cuisine." Redevelopment Authority of the City of Milwaukee (2005), "A Bronzeville Cultural and Entertainment District: Redevelopment Plan Amendment to the North Seventh Street-West Garfield Avenue Redevelopment Project Area."
​

​Progress to Date:

  • Inner City Arts Building (Haywood Group)
  • Pete's Fruit Market (Haywood Group)
  • The Griot/ABHM (Maures Development, J. Jeffers & Co.)
"We are on track." Rock Marcoux and Ald. Milele Coggs (2017 interview)
Funded by a Marquette University Innovation Grant 
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