This document is a research paper written by Tara L. George for Dr. Michelle Scott at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. It examines forms of cultural resistance within Baltimore's African American community from 1930 to 1980, including music, theater, sports, religion, and community institutions, as responses to racial discrimination and segregation. It discusses the origins and growth of Baltimore's black population and neighborhoods like Old West Baltimore. Key figures and events discussed include Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, the Royal Theater, the Negro Baseball Leagues, and the impact of integration, suburban flight, and civil rights legislation on the community from the 1950s onward.

1. African American Cultural Resistance to Racial Discrimination in Old West Baltimore from 1930-1980 Tara L. George Dr. Michelle Scott, Mentor University of Maryland, Baltimore county

3. 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?

4. Literature Review

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

6. Origins of the black community in Baltimore

7. Segregation & racial discrimination Growing sense of fear and racism after emancipation 3 events heightened this fear and racism from 1865-1920’s Job busting Methodist Camp Fight Meeting Legalization of segregation

8. Fear and racism grow Methodist Camp Meeting, circa 1865 Colored School circa 1917

9. 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

10. Old West Baltimore

11. Music counterculture

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

13. The Royal Theater The Royal Theater circa 1920’s

14. The Chitlin Circuit A circuit which gave black performers opportunities denied by segregation ordinances Performers included: Jimi Hendrix Duke Ellington Billie Holiday

15. Jimi Hendrix performs on the Chitlin Circuit

16. The negro League

17. 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

18. The Baltimore Black Sox The Black Sox circa 1929 Championship winners in 1929

19. The Baltimore Elite Giants The Giants circa 1949 Championship winners in 1939, 1949

20. The Black Church

21. The Black Church Sharp Street United Methodist Church Bethel A.M.E. Lovely Lane United Methodist Sharp Street United Methodist Congregation, circa 1940’s

22. Community Devolution

23. Black Flight to the Suburbs NAACP Bethel A.M.E. Middle and Upper Class Black Families

24. Community Devolution INTEGRATION SUBURBAN FLIGHT CIVIL RIGHTS LEGISLATION COMMUNITY DEVOLUTION

25. Community Devolution

26. 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

27. The Royal Theater today

28. Conclusions: Perspectives on the Future

29. Reviving The Community How can cultural forms of resistance be useful to Baltimore's black population today?

30. Acknowledgements Dr. Michelle Scott History Department, UMBC Mentor Dr. Michael Johnson History Department, UMBC Research Advisor The UMBC McNair Scholars Program & Staff

31. References Afro-American “Factional Machine Politics” by Edward Rothman April 27, 1923 Afro American “Don’t Buy Where You Can’t Work” 1933 Afro American 1968 Annapolis Gazette , 1866 Argersinger, Jo Ann. Toward a New Deal in America: People and Government in the Great Depression . Baltimore American November 11 1866 The Baltimore Evening Sun “Jazz Greats Played at the Royal.” Februrary 3, 1971. Baltimore Gazette June 12,1886 Baltimore Sun 1858, 1866, 1968 Brewington, Kelly and Andrew Green. “NAACP Ponders Suburb of DC” The Baltimore Sun August 1, 2006 Bowdon, Mar. “Bossin’ Around: A history of how things got done in Baltimore” The Baltimore CityPaper June 29,1979. Cohen, Charles. “Charmed Life: The Old Ball Game” The Baltimore CityPaper . March 26, 2003 “ Diplomas Court: An essential guide to graduation policies and rates” Education Week (2006) June 22, 2006 Volume 25 Issue 41S Elfenbein, Jessica, John Breihan and Thomas Hallowak, eds. From Mobtown to Charm City: New Perspectives on Baltimore’s Past . Maryland Historical Society, 2005. Elfenbein, Jessica. “A Place of Resort and Help for Their Young Men: Baltimore’s Black YMCA 1885-1925.” From Mobtown to Charm City: New Perspectives on Baltimore’s Past . Eds. Jessica Elfenbein, John Breihan, Thomas Hollowak. Maryland Historical Society, 2005. 149-171 Fuke, Richard Paul. “Race and Public Policy in Post-Emancipation Baltimore.” From Mobtown to Charm City: New Perspectives on Baltimore’s Past . Eds. Jessica Elfenbein, John Breihan, Thomas Hollowak. Maryland Historical Society, 2005. 129-148. Fuller, Nicole. “Experienced Stressed to Convert Upland Apartments” The Baltimore Sun November 15, 2006. Griel, Marcus. “The Woman Who Created Rock and Roll.” Rolling Stone 1993: 659.15, 120-140. Hogan, Lawrence. Shades of Glory: The Negro Leagues and the Story of African American Baseball . National Geographic, 2006. Jackson, Lillie Mae. The Crisis , April 1936 Levine, Lawrence. Black Culture and Black Consciousness . New York: Oxford University Press, 1977. Lewis, Edward S. “Profiles: Baltimore” Journal of Educational Psychology 17.5 (1944): 288-295. McDougall, Harold. Black Baltimore:A New Theory of Community . Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1993. Negro Housing Patterns Report Association for the Condition of the Poor, 1907. Olson, Karen. “Old West Baltimore: Segregation, African-American Culture, and the Struggle for Equality” The Baltimore Book: New Views of Local History Eds. Elizabeth Fee, Linda Shopes and Linda Zeidman. Temple University Press, 1991, 40-57. Olson, Sherry. Baltimore: The Building of an American City . Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997. Orser, W. Edward. Blockbusting in Baltimore: The Edmondson Village Story . University Press of Kentucky, 1997. Phillips, Christopher. Freedom’s Port: The African American Community of Baltimore, 1790-1860 . University of Illinois Press, 1997. Power, Garrett. “Apartheid Baltimore Style: The Residential Segregation Ordinances of 1910-1913.” Maryland Law Review 42.3 November 1983 Reddy, Sumathi and Gus Sentementes. “Interim Chief Taking Over at a Critical Time.” The Baltimore Sun . July 17, 2007. Royster-Hemby, Christina. “Street of Dreams: Pennsylvania Avenue was once the center of Black life and culture in Baltimore. Can it be again?” The Baltimore City Paper 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.

32. Any Questions? Tara George [email_address]