“They Helped Shape Philadelphia between 1950 and 2000”

WD Palmer

Description

Compiled in this publication are interviews with community members and residents of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania who lived through historical moments in the city’s history and many of whom fought voraciously for the rights of Black people in Philadelphia and beyond. Each of these interviews sheds light on these historical moments and details how each person helped shape the trajectory of Philadelphia. These oral histories allow us to understand the events of the past from a first-hand perspective and remain connected with those interviewed. Each of these interviews contributes to the broader history of Philadelphia and recognizes the lasting legacy of each of the interviewees.

Sujets

• Sociologie, société et politique
• Social Science

Informations

• Publié par: AuthorHouse
• Date de parution: 30 juin 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9798823010894
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

“THEY HELPED SHAPE PHILADELPHIA BETWEEN 1950 AND 2000”
 
ORAL HISTORIES OF PHILADELPHIA COMMUNITY ORGANIZERS AND COMMUNITY ADVOCATES
 
VOLUME II
 
 
 
WD PALMER
 
 
 
 
 
AuthorHouse™
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.authorhouse.com
Phone: [phone]
 
 
 
 
© 2023 WD Palmer. All rights reserved.
 
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.
 
Published by AuthorHouse 06/30/2023
 
ISBN: 979-8-8230-1088-7 (sc)
ISBN: 979-8-8230-1089-4 (e)
 
 
 
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
 
 
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
Contents
C redits
Walter D. Palmer Leadership School
About the Artist
The Mural Arts Project
A Brief Biography of Professor Walter Palmer
Disclaimer
Intro duction
1. Cody Anderson
2. Lou Anderson
3. Anonymous
4. Carl Bailey
5. Kathy Barlow
6. Mr. “Brother” Battles
7. James Luther Bevel
8. Louise Williams Bishop
9. Jannie L. Blackwell
10. Robert Brand
11. Gwendolyn Brightful
12. Dr. Stanford Brown
13. Malcolm Byrd
14. Frederick Caliman
15. Dwight Campbell
16. Curtis Carson
17. Professor Carter
18. Robert Carter
19. Joe Certaine
20. Judy Claude
21. David Cohen
22. Jane Cosby
23. Barbara Cox
24. Thomas Paine Cronin
25. Elsie Cross
26. Judge Charles Cuffield
27. Paul Dandridge: Interview 1
28. Paul Dandridge: Interview 2
29. Ira Davis
30. Monsignor Devlin
31. Mel Dorn
32. Dr. Sermon Evans
33. Clarence Farmer
34. David Fattah
35. Richard Fernandez
36. Harold Franklin
37. Lana Felton Ghee
38. Thomas Gilhool
39. Shirley Gregory
40. Jim Grey
41. Charles P. Hammock
42. Rufus Harley
43. Charles Harmon
44. Willie Harris
45. Warren Haskins
46. Joanne Hawkins
47. Mark Heiman
48. Tom Henry
49. Elbridge C. Holloway
50. Lorina Marshall
51. Thaddeus Mathis
52. Shuna Ali Miah Jr.
53. Jerome Mondasaire
54. Dr. Tony Monteiro
55. Jettie Newkirk
56. Michael A. Nutter
57. Shirley Randall
58. Isadore Reivitch
59. Linda Richardson
60. Calvin Robinson
61. Bob Ross
62. James Royal
63. Sheela Allen Stevens
64. Stanley L. Straughter
65. Bennie Swans
66. Dr. Napoleon Vaughn
67. Frances Walker
68. Hugo Warren III
69. Ron Washington
70. Linn Washington
71. Richard Watson: First Interview
72. Richard Watson: Second Interview
73. Harold Watson
74. Reverend David Weeks
75. Kaleb Whitby
76. John F. White
77. John White Jr.
78. Jewel Williams
79. Shavon Williams
80. Woody Woodland
81. Alex Woodley
82. Jessie W. Woods Jr.
83. Ralph Wynder
Bibliography
Works Cited
Credits
They Shaped Philadelphia
Between 1950-2000
Coordinator/ Cover La yout
Ashley Scott
Digitization/ Edi ting
Ashley Scott
Brianna Camero
Marisol Sanchez
Albert Valentino
Nicole Babiarz
Lydia Yoo
Walter D. Palmer Leadership School
 
 
Walter D. Palmer is the founder and director of The W. D. Palmer Foundation (est. 1955), a repository of information-gathering on racism in health, education, employment, housing, courts, prisons, higher education, military, government, politics, law, banking, insurance, and more.
He is also the founder of the Black People’s University of Philadelphia (1955) Freedom School, which was the grassroots organizing and training center for grassroots community and political leadership both in Philadelphia and nationally.
These organizations were run as nonprofit unincorporated associations from 1955 until 1980, when the W. D. Palmer Foundation received its 501(c)(3) federal tax exemption status.
W. D. Palmer has also been a professor, teaching American Racism at the University of Pennsylvania since the 1960s and today he is a member of the President’s Commission on 1619, the 400-year anniversary of African slavery in America.
Professor Palmer has been a social activist leading the fight against racial injustice for over 70 years in Philadelphia and around the nation. In 2018, Philadelphia honored him for the organizing work he did to reform the Philadelphia school system in 1967.
In 2020, Philadelphia honored him for 65 years of fighting for social justice throughout the country. In 1980, he led the fight for parental school choice which helped the Governor of Pennsylvania get a law passed in 1997, and in 2000 he created the Walter D. Palmer Leadership Charter School.
In 2005, he borrowed $11,000,000 to build a 55,000 square foot two-story building on two acres of land in North Philadelphia, which was donated to the school by the City of Philadelphia, and because of the school’s rapid growth, in 2010 he acquired the Saint Bartholomew Catholic High School for his middle and high school.
In 10 years, the school grew from 300 elementary and middle school students to 200 preschoolers and over 1,000 kindergartens to twelfth graders. In 2005, W. D. Palmer commissioned a muralist to paint over 400 pre-selected portraits on the school walls, corridors, and stairwells, with a goal to paint 30 15-foot murals in the gymnatorium.
Although the Walter D. Palmer Leadership School recruited at-risk children that were from 17 of the poorest zip codes in Philadelphia and 300% below poverty, the school boasted a 95% daily attendance, 100% high school graduation rate, and 100% postgraduate placement in four-year and two-year colleges, trade and technology schools, or military, until the school’s closing in 2015.
About the Artist
 
 
 
 
 
 
My Life in The Suns hine
Colored pencil, gouache, marker, collage on paper
34” x 26”
1987
Cavin Jones is a painter and muralist from Philadelphia. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting from the Tyler School of Art in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania. He then went on to receive his Master of Fine Arts in Painting from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.
He has a unique style, including collage, which he says allows him to distill his various ideas and interests into a single painting. Cavin sees his work as a way to stimulate dialogue about issues surrounding race and environmentalism. He has been featured in many prestigious collections and exhibitions. Cavin’s art is inspired by American history, environmental exploitation, and the African American experience.
The Mural Arts Project
The mural arts project was created by Professor Walter Palmer, then designed, drawn and painted on the walls of the institute between 2005 and 2014 by Philadelphia muralist Cavin Jones. The project, which has been described as a national and international treasure and a living museum of literacy, history, social studies and humanities through art, is unparalleled to anything like it in the nation or around the world.
A Brief Biography of Professor Walter Palmer
After a tumultuous juvenile life, Professor Palmer graduated from high school and was hired by the University of Pennsylvania hospital as a surgical attendant and was eventually recruited by the University of Pennsylvania School of Inhalation and Respiratory (Oxygen) Therapy.
After his certification as an inhalation and respiratory therapist, he was hired by the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia as the Director of the Department of Inhalation and Respiratory (Oxygen) Therapy, where he spent 10 years helping to develop the national field of cardiopulmonary therapy.
In 1955, Palmer created the Palmer Foundation and the Black People’s University of Philadelphia Freedom School and would spend the next 70 years developing leaders for social justice nationally.
Professor Palmer has also pursued further education at Temple University for Business Administration and Communications, Cheyney State University for a Teacher’s Degree in History and Secondary Education. And at age 40, acquired his juris doctorate in law from Howard University.
Between 1965 and 1995, he produced and hosted radio programs on Philadelphia WDAS, Atlantic City WUSS, and WFPG Radio, in addition to Philadelphia NBC TV 10 and New Jersey Suburban Cable Television.
In 2006, he was inducted into the Philadelphia College of Physicians as a Fellow for the body of work he had done over the past 70 years, after having spent ten (1980-1990) years as a licensed financial officer teaching poor people how to overcome poverty by saving and investing three dollars per day.
During that entire period, Professor Palmer led the Civil Rights, Black Power and Afrocentric movements in Philadelphia, around the country as well as the Caribbean and West Indies.
In the 1980s to 2015, he led the school choice movement, organized a state-wide parental school choice group which collected 500,000 petitions in 1997, which were used to create a charter and cyber school law in Pennsylvania, and in 2000 the Walter D. Palmer School was named after him.
In 1962, he created a school without walls on the University of Pennsylvania’s campus a