African-American neighborhoods or black neighborhoods are types of ethnic enclaves found in many cities in the United States . Generally, an African American neighborhood is one where the majority of the people who live there are African American. Some of the earliest African-American neighborhoods were in New Orleans , Mobile , Atlanta , and other cities throughout the American South , as well as in New York City . In 1830, there were 14,000 " Free negroes " living in New York City.
80-477: The Sweet Auburn Historic District is a historic African-American neighborhood along and surrounding Auburn Avenue, east of downtown Atlanta , Georgia , United States. The name Sweet Auburn was coined by John Wesley Dobbs , referring to the "richest Negro street in the world," one of the largest concentrations of African-American businesses in the United States. A National Historic Landmark District
160-739: A gift shop and an exhibit on desegregation in the Atlanta Fire Department . The " I Have a Dream " International World Peace Rose Garden, and a memorial tribute to Mohandas K. Gandhi are part of the site, as is the " International Civil Rights Walk of Fame " which commemorates some of the courageous pioneers who worked for social justice. In 2019, the National Park Foundation purchased the Life Home of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Sunset Avenue, where
240-550: A national historic site on October 10, 1980; it is administered by the National Park Service (NPS). A 22.4-acre (91,000 m ) area including 35 contributing properties was covered, including 22 previously included in the NRHP historic district. The area covered in the NRHP designation was enlarged on June 12, 2001. In 2018, it was redesignated as a national historical park, adding Prince Hall Masonic Temple to
320-527: A Grand Foyer, large theater/conference auditorium, bookstore and resource center, and various works of art from across the globe. The Grand Foyer features art from Africa and Georgia. The paneling lining the staircase is from the sapeli tree, which grows in Nigeria . In 1990, Behold , a statue honoring Martin Luther King Jr., was dedicated near Ebenezer Baptist Church. As of 2006, the King Center
400-632: A bathroom. The visitor center offers free tours of the house led by National Park Service rangers, but with limited availability. In 1968 , after King's death, Coretta Scott King founded the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change ( a.k.a. the King Center). Since 1981, the center has been housed in a building that is part of the King complex located on Auburn Avenue adjacent to Ebenezer Baptist Church. In 1977,
480-487: A business district integrated as far as business ownership was concerned. But competition between working-class whites and blacks for jobs and housing gave rise to fears and tensions. In 1906, print media fueled these tensions with hearsay about alleged sexual assaults on white women by black men, triggering the riot, which left at least 27 people dead (25 of them black) and over 70 injured. Black businesses started to move from previously integrated business district downtown to
560-499: A dozen properties over the next 20 years to create a parking lot as well as a pedestrian greenway to link the King district to the Jimmy Carter Presidential Center . In 2008, The Trust for Public Land acquired one of the remaining historic properties in the neighborhood, on the corner of Auburn Avenue. By U.S. Congressional legislation, the site with associated buildings and gardens was authorized as
640-563: A former slave from Walton County, Georgia . The central building of the Atlanta Life Insurance Company complex is a Beaux Arts building facing Auburn Avenue. The district also includes the Rucker Building, Atlanta's first black-owned office building , constructed in 1904 by Henry A. Rucker , a former slave turned businessman and politician. Also located on Auburn Avenue was The Atlanta Daily World ,
720-498: A given neighborhood not to sell to blacks. Whites who broke these agreements could be sued by "damaged" neighbors. Not until 1948 did the Supreme Court strike down restrictive covenants. The National Housing Act of 1934 contributed to limiting the availability of loans to urban areas, particularly those areas inhabited by African Americans. In Chicago's northside, property owners of Chicago Uptown Association in 1931 listed
800-402: A large increase in the residential racial segregation and urban decay in the United States. Urban renewal , the redevelopment of areas within large cities, including white flight , has also been a factor in the growth patterns of African-American neighborhoods. The process began an intense phase in the late 1940s and continues in some places to the present day. It has had a major impact on
880-539: A memorial tomb was dedicated to King. His remains were moved to the tomb, on a plaza between the center and the church. King's gravesite and a reflecting pool are located next to Freedom Hall. After her death, Mrs. King was interred with her husband on February 7, 2006. An eternal flame is located nearby. Freedom Hall at 449 Auburn Avenue features exhibits about Dr. and Mrs. King, Mahatma Gandhi and American activist Rosa Parks . It hosts special events and programs associated with civil rights and social justice. It contains
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#1732798826840960-530: A row with no hallways. This African American house design is found in both rural and urban southern areas, mainly in African-American communities and neighborhoods (especially in New Orleans ). The term "shotgun house," is often said to come from the saying that one could fire a shotgun through the front door and the pellets would fly cleanly through the house and out the back door. However,
1040-463: A stylized "Freedom Road". The Children of Courage exhibit, geared towards children, tells the story of the children of the civil rights movement with a challenge to our youth today. Video programs are presented on a continuing basis and there is a staffed information desk. The statue of Mohandas Gandhi was donated by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations , India, in collaboration with
1120-404: A term of endearment for where the individual person has been brought up or lives. Although some black neighborhoods may suffer from civic disinvestment , with schools assumed to be of lower quality due to some schools showing lower test scores, less effective policing and fire protection, there are institutions that help to improve the physical and social capital of black neighborhoods. And with
1200-645: A visitor center and museum. These places, critical to the interpretation of the life of Martin Luther King Jr. and his legacy as a leader of the American civil rights movement , were originally included in the National Historic Site or National Historic Landmark listings first established on October 10, 1980. The site was expanded and designated as a national historical park through a bipartisan bill long championed by John Lewis and signed on January 8, 2018, by President Donald Trump . In total,
1280-500: Is a privately owned inholding within the authorized boundaries of the park. The King family has debated among themselves as to whether they should sell it to the National Park Service to ensure preservation. The visitor center at 450 Auburn Avenue was built in 1996 and features the multimedia exhibit Courage To Lead , which follows the parallel paths of King and the civil rights movement. Visitors can also walk down
1360-527: Is an annual festival held the first weekend in October on Auburn Avenue. Civil rights leader Hosea Williams founded the first festival in 1984. Charles Johnson founded the festival in 1994 as a way to celebrate the African American achievements as established on Auburn Avenue. The festival offers food, art, and entertainment throughout the day while celebrating Auburn Avenue's past and growth, and
1440-545: Is operated by the Sweet Auburn Committee. The festival's entertainment varies from comedians to up and coming artists from diverse genres of music. The Sweet Auburn Heritage Festival searches for entertainment from cities such as Atlanta, Macon, Savannah, Augusta, Huntsville and Chattanooga in hopes to help non- established artist's path to stardom. Artist such as Usher Raymond , Outkast , India.Arie , and Raven-Symoné have started out performing on stage at
1520-576: Is predominantly Black. While the Great Migration helped educated African Americans obtain jobs, while enabling a measure of class mobility, the migrants encountered significant forms of discrimination in the North through a large migration during such a short of period of time. The African-American migrants were often resented by working classes in the North, who feared that their ability to negotiate rates of pay, or even to secure employment at all,
1600-520: Is what’s inside." Playwright August Wilson used the term "ghetto" in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (1984) and Fences (1987), both of which draw upon the author's experience growing up in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, first a neighborhood of early European immigrants, then a black ghetto. Depending on the context and social circles, the term 'ghetto' or 'hood' (short for neighborhood) can be
1680-1171: The South Fulton Neighbor in Atlanta, the Capitol Update in Tallahassee, the Chicago Defender in Chicago, the Amsterdam News in New York City, and the Star in Omaha. Segregation in schools and universities led to the creation of many Black schools. Public elementary, junior and senior high schools across the United States existed during the period of legal segregation. Students that attended school went through either vocational classes or regular high school. Vocational school offered several subjects such as cosmetology, tailoring and welding. On
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#17327988268401760-801: The African American Museum and Library at Oakland , the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit, DuSable Museum in Chicago, and The African American Museum in Cleveland were created by African Americans to teach and investigate cultural history that, until recent decades was primarily preserved through oral traditions. Major movements in literature, music, and the arts have their roots in African American neighborhoods: Blues , Gospel , Jazz , Soul , Rap , House , Hip hop , Rock 'n' roll and others. Cities were
1840-671: The Downtown Connector freeway that split it in two. In 1992 the National Trust for Historic Preservation recognized that it was one of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places and, in 2005, the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation included the area in its 2006 list of Places in Peril . The Historic District Development Corporation (HDDC) was formed to turn the trend around, starting with houses surrounding
1920-564: The Emancipation Proclamation two years late, because slaveholders had purposefully kept this information from them. Today, several Black communities in Texas and beyond recognize June 19 as a complicated but celebratory holiday. It is also known as Jubilee Day. Many African American neighborhoods are located in inner cities or are a part of an urban center. These are the mostly residential neighborhoods located closest to
2000-417: The central business district . The built environment is often 19th- and early 20th-century row houses or brownstones, mixed with older single-family homes that may be converted to multifamily homes. In some areas there are larger apartment buildings . Shotgun houses are an important part of the built environment of some southern African American neighborhoods. The houses consist of three to five rooms in
2080-541: The churches have been important sources of social cohesion and activism. For some African Americans, the kind of spirituality learned through these churches works as a protective factor against the corrosive forces of racism. Churches may also do work to improve the physical infrastructure of the neighborhood. Churches in Harlem have undertaken real estate ventures and renovated burnt-out and abandoned brownstones to create new housing for residents. Churches have fought for
2160-433: The public domain . African-American neighborhood The formation of black neighborhoods is closely linked to the history of segregation in the United States , either through formal laws or as a product of social norms. Black neighborhoods have played an important role in the development of African-American culture . Some neighborhoods endured violent attacks. Black residential segregation has been declining in
2240-707: The 20th century, renewal often resulted in the creation of urban sprawl and vast areas of cities being demolished and replaced by freeways and expressways , housing projects , and vacant lots, some of which still remain vacant at the beginning of the 21st century. Urban renewal had a disproportionate and largely negative impact on African-American neighborhoods. In the 1960s James Baldwin famously dubbed urban renewal "Negro Removal" . The creation of highways in some cases divided and isolated black neighborhoods from goods and services, many times within industrial corridors. For example, Birmingham's interstate highway system attempted to maintain racial boundaries established by
2320-460: The 4600 block of North Winthrop Avenue as the only block where African Americans could live. In some cities, the influx of African-American migrants as well as other immigrants resulted in racial violence, which flared in several cities during 1919. This significant event and the subsequent struggle of African-American migrants to adapt to Northern cities was the subject of Jacob Lawrence's Migration Series . This series, exhibited in 1941,
2400-460: The African American population from return migration. Despite these pervasive patterns, many changes for individual areas are minor. Thirty years after the civil rights era, the United States remains a residentially segregated society in which both blacks and whites inhabit different neighborhoods of vastly different quality. Cities throughout history have contained distinct ethnic districts. But rarely have they been so isolated and impoverished as
2480-655: The African-American districts found in U.S. cities today. See Gentrification in the United States for development and gentrification of Black neighborhoods Due to advancements caused by the Civil Rights Movement, the social and political activism of the African-American community (religious and educational institutions), have been a strong prominent advent of the black middle class and black white-collar professionals. This has helped produce majority black populations with significant middle to upper class black neighborhoods. Many of these communities are found in
Sweet Auburn - Misplaced Pages Continue
2560-651: The Atlanta Baptist Preparatory Institute site, Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church , Fire Station No. 6 , and the Triangle Building at the intersection of Old Wheat Street and Auburn Avenue. Much of the area was designated as a national historic landmark district on May 5, 1977. The Trust for Public Land purchased 5 single-family homes along Auburn Avenue in the late 1970s, the same block Martin Luther King Jr. grew up on. The Trust for Public Land purchased more than
2640-575: The Mahatma Gandhi was inevitable. If humanity is to progress, Gandhi is inescapable. He lived, thought and acted, inspired by the vision of humanity evolving toward a world of peace and harmony. We may ignore him at our own risk. The International Civil Rights Walk of Fame was created in 2004 and honors some of the participants in the Civil Rights Movement. The walk along the Promenade, includes footsteps, marked in granite and bronze. According to
2720-630: The Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, MD as well as the suburbs of Atlanta, GA, and scattered around the country such as Cedar Hill, Texas , Oak Park, Michigan , and LaPlace, Louisiana . The residents of these communities are highly educated and work in white-collar professional jobs. Such communities have also developed in many of the larger cities of the United States. Even some of those that traditionally have high poverty and unemployment have also had neighborhoods with middle class and affluent blacks. Cities' policies of gentrification ,
2800-636: The National Federation of Indian American Associations and the Embassy of India to the United States. The inscribed bronze plaque reads: Nonviolence, to be a potent force, must begin with the mind. Nonviolence of the mere body without the cooperation of the mind is nonviolence of the weak of the cowardly, and has, therefore, no potency. It is a degrading performance. If we bear malice and hatred in our bosoms and pretend not to retaliate, it must recoil upon us and lead to our destruction. Tribute to
2880-458: The National Park Service, the Walk of Fame was created to "pay homage to the "brave warriors" of justice who sacrificed and struggled to make equality a reality for all." The new addition to the area is expected to enhance the historic value of the area, enrich cultural heritage, and augment tourist attractions. The Walk of Fame is the brainchild of Xernona Clayton , founder and executive producer of
2960-706: The New York City Ballet, Arthur Mitchell founded a school and dance company in Harlem. Alvin Ailey created dances out of the African American experience with his Alvin Ailey Dance Company . Chicago stepping is a name given to a dance that was created in Chicago 's predominantly African American neighborhoods. House music, a form of Electronic Dance Music was first developed in Chicago in
3040-652: The Philadelphia Horticultural Society, have helped communities organize gardens to build community feeling and improve neighborhoods. They can be places for socialization, fresh vegetables in neighborhoods poorly served by supermarkets, and sources of traditional African American produce. Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park The Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park covers about 35 acres (0.14 km ) and includes several sites in Atlanta , Georgia related to
3120-489: The South. The rise in net gain points to Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, and Houston being a growing hot spots for the migrants of The New Great Migration. The percentage of Black Americans who live in the South has been increasing since 1990, and the biggest gains have been in the region's large urban areas, according to census data. The Black population of metro Atlanta more than doubled between 1990 and 2020, surpassing 2 million in
3200-665: The Top Hat Club when it opened in 1938, the club hosted local talent and national acts such as B.B. King , the Four Tops , the Tams and Atlanta's own Gladys Knight . One of the many significant commercial buildings within the district is the Atlanta Life Insurance Company . The second-largest black insurance company in the United States, Atlanta Life Insurance was founded in 1905 by Alonzo Herndon ,
3280-631: The U and H street corridors in Washington, DC, and Harlem in New York City during the Harlem Riots . In 1968, the Civil Rights Act removed racial deed restrictions on housing. This enabled middle-class African Americans to move to better housing, in some cases in the suburbs, and to desegregated residential neighborhoods. In some areas, however, real estate agents continued to steer African Americans to particular areas although that
Sweet Auburn - Misplaced Pages Continue
3360-556: The United States and many black people are moving to white suburbs. Black people continue to live in poorer neighborhoods than white people and Americans of other races. African American neighborhoods originated from segregation . Slavery had shaped housing options for blacks. Blacks and sometimes Jews, Asians, and Latinos were barred from white neighborhoods. The Great Migration was the movement of more than one million African Americans out of rural Southern United States from 1914 to 1940. Most African Americans who participated in
3440-514: The United States have been called "the ghetto" or "the projects." The use of this term is controversial and, depending on the context, potentially offensive. Despite mainstream America's use of the term "ghetto" to signify a poor urban area (predominantly African-Americans), those living in the area often used it to signify something positive. The black ghettos did not always contain dilapidated houses and deteriorating projects, nor were all of its residents poverty-stricken. For many African Americans,
3520-489: The anniversary of King's April 4, 1968, assassination in Memphis, Tennessee . The Martin Luther King Jr. Historic District, an area bounded roughly by Irwin, Randolph, Edgewood , Jackson, and Auburn avenues, was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on May 2, 1974. The district included Ebenezer Baptist Church, King's grave site and memorial, King's birthplace, shotgun row houses , Victorian houses ,
3600-442: The avenue, such as Big Bethel AME and First Congregational, helped build and maintain the heritage of the street. Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church , located just off the avenue, was also a significant force as the first Black Catholic parish in the city. The Royal Peacock Club provided an elegant setting where many African Americans could perform and bring the changing styles of black popular music to Atlanta. Originally called
3680-497: The birth home of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. , and working outward. In 2014, the city of Atlanta completed the installation of the Atlanta Streetcar , a line that creates a loop connecting the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park to downtown and the tourist attractions of Centennial Olympic Park . The streetcar travels east along Edgewood Avenue and west along Auburn Avenue. Several churches located along
3760-579: The buildings included in the site make up 35 acres (0.14 km ). The visitor center contains a museum that chronicles the American Civil Rights Movement and the path of Martin Luther King Jr. The King Center for Nonviolent Social Change includes the burial place of King, and his wife, activist Coretta Scott King . An 1894 firehouse ( Fire Station No. 6 ) served the Sweet Auburn community until 1991, and now contains
3840-421: The city's 1926 racially based zoning law. The construction of interstate highways through black neighborhoods in the city led to significant population loss in those neighborhoods. It was also associated with an increase in neighborhood racial segregation. The riots that swept cities across the country from 1964 to 1968 damaged or destroyed additional areas of major cities, for instance Detroit 's 12th Street,
3920-541: The college level, a handful of historically Black colleges and universities developed before the Civil War and many more established after 1865. These colleges and universities are historically often surrounded by Black neighborhoods. In the U.S. city of Philadelphia , the Odunde Festival (also known as "African New Year") claims to be the largest gathering of African Americans that happens annually on
4000-557: The cost of services, such as banking , insurance , access to jobs, access to health care, or even supermarkets to residents in certain, often racially determined, areas. The most common use of the term refers to mortgage discrimination . Data on house prices and attitudes toward integration suggest that in the mid-20th century, segregation was a product of collective actions taken by whites to exclude blacks from their neighborhoods. This meant that ethnic minorities could secure mortgage loans only in certain areas, and it resulted in
4080-430: The couple moved into the house, where King Jr. was born in 1929. The King family lived in the house until 1941. It was then converted into a two-family dwelling. The Rev. A. D. Williams King , King Jr's brother, lived on the second floor in the 1950s and early 1960s. The first level includes the front porch, parlor, study, dining room, kitchen, laundry, bedroom and a bathroom. The second level includes four bedrooms and
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#17327988268404160-549: The early 1980s. By the 1990s, it had spread both nationally and globally. Hip hop is both a cultural movement and a music genre developed in New York City starting in the late 1970s predominantly by African Americans . Since first emerging in the South Bronx and Bedford-Stuyvesant , the lifestyle of rap/hip hop has spread globally. Many African American neighborhoods produce their own newspapers, including
4240-627: The family moved in 1965, from the estate of Coretta Scott King and transferred it to the National Park Service for restoration before it is opened to the public as an expansion of the National Historic Park. Annual events celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day in January typically draw large crowds. Speakers have included presidents of the United States , national and local politicians, and civil rights leaders. Remembrances are also held during Black History Month (February), and on
4320-507: The festival. Ultimately, the Sweet Auburn Heritage Festival entertainment has grown much farther than originally anticipated from its beginning stages in 1984. Edgewood Avenue which runs through the heart of Sweet Auburn has become a hotspot for viewing for street art in Atlanta . Works by international artists such as Sten Lex and local artists such as Dr. Dax and Chris Veal can be found on Edgewood Avenue and
4400-581: The first black-owned daily newspaper , which was founded here in 1928. (The Atlanta Daily World is still the nation's longest running African American newspaper.) In 1948, the Atlanta Police Department was integrated, hiring eight black police officers , all of whom were assigned to Auburn Avenue. Sweet Auburn celebrates the annual Auburn SpringFest , and in the Fall, the Sweet Auburn Heritage Festival. The Sweet Auburn Heritage Festival
4480-613: The formation and expansion of African-American neighborhoods in these cities. Chicago 's South Side and adjoining South Suburbs together constitute the largest geographical predominantly Black region in America , stretching from roughly Cermak Road (22nd St) on the north in the Near South Side to the far south suburb of University Park - a distance of approximately 40 miles. There are various races and ethnic groups in this huge expanse such as Whites, Latinos, Asians, and Arabs, but it
4560-471: The ghetto was "home", a place representing authentic African American culture and a feeling, passion, or emotion derived from the rising above the struggle and suffering of being black in America. Langston Hughes relays in the "Negro Ghetto" (1931) and "The Heart of Harlem" (1945): "The buildings in Harlem are brick and stone/And the streets are long and wide,/But Harlem’s much more than these alone,/Harlem
4640-588: The goal of justice and the tireless exertions and passionate concern of these dedicated individuals." Located at 332 Auburn Avenue, the Prince Hall Masonic Temple is where the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) established its initial headquarters in 1957. This historic and distinguished civil rights organization was co-founded by King, who also served as its first president. Owned by
4720-472: The life and work of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Within the park is his boyhood home, and Ebenezer Baptist Church — the church where King was baptized and both he and his father, Martin Luther King Sr. , were pastors — as well as, the grave site of King, Jr., and his wife, civil rights activist Coretta Scott King . The park is administered by the National Park Service and has
4800-466: The migration moved to large industrial cities such as New York City , Chicago , Philadelphia , Detroit , Cincinnati , Cleveland , St. Louis , Kansas City, Missouri , Boston , Baltimore , Pittsburgh , Los Angeles , Washington, D.C. , Minneapolis , New Orleans , Milwaukee , Oakland , and Long Beach as well as many smaller industrial cities. Hence, the Migration played an important role in
4880-631: The most recent census. The Black population also more than doubled in metro Charlotte while Greater Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth both saw their Black populations surpass 1 million for the first time. Several smaller metro areas also saw sizable gains, including San Antonio; Raleigh and Greensboro, N.C.; and Orlando. Primary destinations are states that have the most job opportunities, especially Georgia , North Carolina , Maryland , Virginia , Tennessee , Florida and Texas . Other southern states, including Mississippi , Louisiana , South Carolina , Alabama and Arkansas , have seen little net growth in
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#17327988268404960-646: The name's origin may actually reflect an African architectural heritage, perhaps being a corruption of a term such as to-gun , which means "place of assembly" in the Southern Dohomey Fon area. During the periods of population decline and urban decay in the 1970s and 1980s, many African American neighborhoods, like other urban minority neighborhoods, turned abandoned lots into community gardens . Community gardens serve social and economic functions, providing safe, open spaces in areas with few parks. Organizations such as Philadelphia Green, organized by
5040-521: The places where young artists could meet and study with other artists and receive recognition, as did Jacob Lawrence when his "Migration Series" was featured by the Museum of Modern Art in New York when he was still in his 20s. African American neighborhoods have also generated African American theater and numerous dance companies in a variety of styles. After his career as a classical ballet dancer with
5120-459: The process of renovating a district so that it conforms to middle-class taste, has also played a factor. Racial segregation in the United States is most pronounced in housing. Although people of different races may work together, they are still unlikely to live in largely integrated neighborhoods. This pattern differs only by degree in different metropolitan areas. Due to segregated conditions and widespread poverty , some black neighborhoods in
5200-633: The protected area. The King Birth Home is located at 501 Auburn Avenue in the Sweet Auburn Historic District . Built in 1895, it sits about a block east of Ebenezer Baptist Church. King's maternal grandparents, the Rev. Adam Daniel (A. D.) Williams, who was pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church, and his wife, Jennie Williams, bought the house for $ 3,500 in 1909. In 1926, when King's father married Alberta Williams,
5280-445: The relative safety of the area around the Atlanta University Center west of downtown, and to Auburn Avenue in the Fourth Ward east of downtown. "Sweet" Auburn Avenue became home to Alonzo Herndon 's Atlanta Mutual , the city's first black-owned life insurance company, and to a celebrated concentration of black businesses, newspapers, churches, and nightclubs. In 1956, Fortune magazine called Sweet Auburn "the richest Negro street in
5360-434: The renowned Trumpet Awards and a civil rights activist in her own right. Clayton said, "This is a lasting memorial to those whose contributions were testaments to the fact that human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable. This historic site will serve as a symbol of pride and a beacon of hope for all future generations. We are looking forward to building a monument to the civil struggle that depicts every step taken toward
5440-415: The right to operate their own schools in place of the often inadequate public schools found in many black neighborhoods. The African American Museum Movement emerged during the 1950s and 1960s to preserve the heritage of the black experience and to ensure its proper interpretation in American history. Museums devoted to African American history are found in many black neighborhoods. Institutions such as
5520-417: The second Sunday of June in the Southwest Center City section of town. Also, the District of Columbia celebrates April 16 as Emancipation Day as a public holiday, which is an observance of the emancipation of slaves of African origin. Although Juneteenth has increased in national and international popularity, the holiday began among Black Texans in Galveston , Texas when enslaved persons learned of
5600-410: The social mobility of many African Americans, there has been the rise of many communities with better schools and safe neighborhoods. But these issues may be more due to economics than race since middle class blacks with middle-class neighborhoods tend to live in better neighborhoods and children attend better schools than those from lower income neighborhoods or schools districts. In black neighborhoods
5680-426: The suburbs and have left the inner cities of former industrial powerhouses behind. In the New Great Migration , black college graduates are returning to the South for jobs, where they generally settle in middle-class , suburban areas. This includes states such as Texas , Georgia , and Maryland , three of the biggest gaining states of college graduates. The New Great Migration is not evenly distributed throughout
5760-479: The surrounding streets. Several of the Sweet Auburn murals can be found on the Atlanta Street Art Map . The Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History is an institution dedicated to preserving and highlighting African American culture and history. This article incorporates text from the National Park Service website, a work of the U.S. government, and therefore in
5840-399: The urban landscape. Urban renewal was extremely controversial because it involved the destruction of businesses, the relocation of people, and the use of eminent domain to reclaim private property for city-initiated development projects. The justifications often used for urban renewal include the "renewal" of residential slums blighted commercial and industrial areas. In the second half of
5920-584: The world", a phrase originally coined by civil rights leader John Wesley Dobbs from the poem The Deserted Village by Oliver Goldsmith . Sweet Auburn and Atlanta's black colleges formed the nexus of a prosperous black middle class and upper class which arose despite enormous social and legal obstacles. Sweet Auburn was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976. However, like so many other inner-city neighborhoods, Sweet Auburn fell victim to lack of investment , heavy, widespread crime , homelessness , and abandonment , compounded by construction of
6000-448: Was being developed on the outskirts of the cities, to get away from the pressure of new groups of residents. The migrants also discovered that the open discrimination of the South was only more subtly manifested in the North. In 1917, the Supreme Court declared municipal resident segregation ordinances unconstitutional. In response, some white groups resorted to the restrictive covenant , a formal deed restriction binding property owners in
6080-550: Was called Shermantown for many years. It developed quickly being near the Georgia Railroad and in 1879 was at the endpoint of a newly graded road called simply Boulevard , which led from the railroad to North Avenue near Ponce de Leon Avenue and Angier Springs. The rise of Auburn Avenue as "the" black business district in Atlanta was to a great extent an outcome of the 1906 Atlanta Race Riot . Prior to this time black businesses operated largely in downtown Atlanta —
6160-507: Was designated in 1976, covering 19 acres (7.7 ha) of the neighborhood, significant for its history and development as a segregated area under the state's Jim Crow laws . Sweet Auburn was also added to the National Register of Historic Places the same year. Sweet Auburn is one of 242 officially recognized neighborhoods of Atlanta . It is bounded by: The first settlement here was on land formerly occupied by Union troops and
6240-487: Was now illegal. By 1990, the legal barriers enforcing segregation had been replaced by decentralized racism, where whites pay more to live in predominantly white areas. Some social scientists suggest that the historical processes of suburbanization and decentralization are instances of white privilege that have contributed to contemporary patterns of environmental racism . At the same time, however, middle-class and upper-class Black people have also paid more to live in
6320-455: Was responsible for bringing Lawrence to the public eye as one of the most important African-American artists of the time. From 1940 to 1970, another five million people left the South for industrial jobs in cities of the North and West. Sometimes violence was the outcome of some of the pressure of this migration. In response to the influx of Blacks from the South, banks, insurance companies, and businesses began redlining —denying or increasing
6400-623: Was threatened by the influx of new labor competition. Populations increased very rapidly with the addition of African-American migrants and new European immigrants, which caused widespread housing shortages in many cities. Newer groups competed even for the oldest and most rundown houses because the poorly constructed houses were what they could afford. African Americans competed for work and housing with first or second generation immigrants in many major cities. Ethnic groups created territories which they defended against change. More established populations with more capital moved away to newer housing that
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