Atlanta Neighborhood Union: Difference between revisions

Atlanta Neighborhood Union
Formation	1908
Dissolved	1970s
Founder	Lugenia Burns Hope

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The Atlanta Neighborhood Union was an African-American, women-led neighborhood organization in Atlanta, Georgia, started in 1908 by Lugenia Burns Hope, and chartered in 1911.^[1] The Union, "a prototype for self-help and social service organizations,"^[2] was one of the most important organizations for Atlanta's social services, and worked in part by networking with the city's progressive whites.^[3] One of the organizations influenced by it was the Women's Political Council, of Montgomery, Alabama. It was dissolved in the 1970s.

History

Foundation

The Atlanta Neighborhood Union was founded by Lugenia Burns Hope, a social reformer and the wife of Morehouse College president John Hope. The organization got started in June 1908, when Hope convened with eight other middle-class women.^[2] At the time, Atlanta was "the most segregated city in Georgia,"^[4] and black children did not have a place to play: in Atlanta, there was "not a single playground or park for black children." In the end, the women got Morehouse College to give up some of its grounds for a playground; this success encouraged the group to continue.^[5] Morehouse College, especially the president's mansion, also served as a meeting place during the organization's early years.^[6]

The Union's aim was to initiate settlement projects to aid underprivileged black families.^[2] The city's neighborhoods were divided into districts, each of which had a board of directors which investigated living conditions in its area, especially the schooling situation.^[7]^[8] It collected demographic data to identify what types of programs would assist underprivileged citizens, and quickly started classes that taught such subjects as home and personal care. It sponsored health clinics and established after-school programs, and in 1909 began its political activity when it petitioned the Atlanta city council "to rid the community of 'a house of questionable character.'"^[2] The Union started a health clinic in 1915, which examined thousands of children, enrolled parents in health classes, and had boys' and girls' clubs.^[5] It made sure the city paved streets and provided adequate lighting and sewage treatment, and it replaced dilapidated houses.^[7]

The Union was especially interested in education, and besides providing classes itself, it petitioned the Atlanta Board of Education already in 1913 to build two new schools. Organizers at the district level investigated every single school, and reported that they were too small, improperly ventilated and dark, and generally overcrowded. These reports and lobbying efforts led to teachers' salaries being raised and a makeshift school being built in South Atlanta.^[8]

Professionalization

In the 1920s, the Union sought to professionalize, and to that end founded the Atlanta School of Social Work. During the Great Depression, it sought help from the Fulton County Relief Center, but met with race-based opposition from white city officials. The Union had received complaints that no Christmas gifts were given to destitute blacks, though whites did receive such assistance. Hope confronted a city official, and after she was grudgingly granted some gifts, the official added, "The problem of it is that you people do not contribute to these things," after which she explained that blacks were tax-paying citizens just as whites were.^[9]

In the 1930s, the Union went into decline, in part because men's organizations, such as the Atlanta Urban League, began to be active in the field of social work and welfare, and often employed professional workers.^[10] Still, in the early 1930s the organization's health clinic added dental and maternal care; annually, it examined more than 4,000 people.^[7]

Later scholarship

The Union and its founder are the subject of Jacqueline Anne Rouse's Lugenia Burns Hope, Black Southern Reformer.^[11] Recent scholarship has studied the relationship between John Hope's stereotypical masculine language and activism and the limited space it allotted his wife, and to which extent such organizations had a "maternalist" ideology.^[12]

References

^ Friedman, Jean E. (1990). The Enclosed Garden: Women and Community in the Evangelical South, 1830-1900. UNC Press Books. p. 125. ISBN 978-0-8078-4281-2.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Mjagkij, Nina (2001). Organizing Black America: an encyclopedia of African American associations. Taylor & Francis. p. 74. ISBN 978-0-8153-2309-9.
^ Godshalk, David Fort (2005). Veiled visions: the 1906 Atlanta race riot and the reshaping of American race relations. UNC Press. p. 210. ISBN 978-0-8078-5626-0.
^ Rouse, Jacqueline Anne (1999). "The Atlanta Neighborhood Union, 1908-1924". In Paul D. Escott; David R. Goldfield; Sally Gregory McMillen (eds.). Major Problems in the History of the American South: The new South. Houghton Mifflin. pp. 271ff. ISBN 978-0-395-87140-9.
^ ^a ^b Lerner, Gerda; Linda K. Kerber (2005). The majority finds its past: placing women in history. UNC Press. pp. 68–69. ISBN 978-0-8078-5606-2. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
^ Godshalk, David Fort (2005). Veiled visions: the 1906 Atlanta race riot and the reshaping of American race relations. UNC Press. p. 233. ISBN 978-0-8078-5626-0.
^ ^a ^b ^c Tierney, Helen (1999). Women's studies encyclopedia, Volume 2. Greenwood. p. 604. ISBN 978-0-313-31072-0.
^ ^a ^b Neverdon-Morton, Cynthia (1997). "The Black Woman's Struggle for Equality in the South, 1895-1925". In Sharon Harley; Rosalyn Terborg-Penn (eds.). The Afro-American woman: struggles and images. Black Classic Press. pp. 43–57. ISBN 978-1-57478-026-0. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
^ Ferguson, Karen Jane (2002). Black politics in New Deal Atlanta. UNC Press. pp. 49–51. ISBN 978-0-8078-5370-2.
^ Ferguson 279.
^ Scott, Anne Firor (1990). "Most Invisible of All: Black Women's Voluntary Associations". The Journal of Southern History. 56 (1): 3–22. doi:10.2307/2210662. JSTOR 2210662.
^ Godshalk, David Fort (2005). Veiled visions: the 1906 Atlanta race riot and the reshaping of American race relations. UNC Press. p. 315. ISBN 978-0-8078-5626-0.

External links

"Digital Collection: Neighborhood Union Collection". RADAR. Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library.
Newberry, Brittany; Shabazz, Kayin; Wright, Trashinda. "Women Who Changed Atlanta and the World". Digital Exhibits. Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library.

[1] Friedman, Jean E. (1990). The Enclosed Garden: Women and Community in the Evangelical South, 1830-1900. UNC Press Books. p. 125. ISBN 978-0-8078-4281-2.

[mjagkij-2] Mjagkij, Nina (2001). Organizing Black America: an encyclopedia of African American associations. Taylor & Francis. p. 74. ISBN 978-0-8153-2309-9.

[3] Godshalk, David Fort (2005). Veiled visions: the 1906 Atlanta race riot and the reshaping of American race relations. UNC Press. p. 210. ISBN 978-0-8078-5626-0.

[4] Rouse, Jacqueline Anne (1999). "The Atlanta Neighborhood Union, 1908-1924". In Paul D. Escott; David R. Goldfield; Sally Gregory McMillen (eds.). Major Problems in the History of the American South: The new South. Houghton Mifflin. pp. 271ff. ISBN 978-0-395-87140-9.

[lerner-5] Lerner, Gerda; Linda K. Kerber (2005). The majority finds its past: placing women in history. UNC Press. pp. 68–69. ISBN 978-0-8078-5606-2. Retrieved 15 December 2010.

[6] Godshalk, David Fort (2005). Veiled visions: the 1906 Atlanta race riot and the reshaping of American race relations. UNC Press. p. 233. ISBN 978-0-8078-5626-0.

[tierney-7] Tierney, Helen (1999). Women's studies encyclopedia, Volume 2. Greenwood. p. 604. ISBN 978-0-313-31072-0.

[neverdon-8] Neverdon-Morton, Cynthia (1997). "The Black Woman's Struggle for Equality in the South, 1895-1925". In Sharon Harley; Rosalyn Terborg-Penn (eds.). The Afro-American woman: struggles and images. Black Classic Press. pp. 43–57. ISBN 978-1-57478-026-0. Retrieved 15 December 2010.

[9] Ferguson, Karen Jane (2002). Black politics in New Deal Atlanta. UNC Press. pp. 49–51. ISBN 978-0-8078-5370-2.

[10] Ferguson 279.

[11] Scott, Anne Firor (1990). "Most Invisible of All: Black Women's Voluntary Associations". The Journal of Southern History. 56 (1): 3–22. doi:10.2307/2210662. JSTOR 2210662.

[12] Godshalk, David Fort (2005). Veiled visions: the 1906 Atlanta race riot and the reshaping of American race relations. UNC Press. p. 315. ISBN 978-0-8078-5626-0.

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@@ Line 13: / Line 13: @@
 |mcaption       =
 |abbreviation   =
-|motto          = Thy neighbor as thyself
 |formation      = 1908
-|extinction     = 1970s
+|dissolved      = 1970s
 |type           =
 |status         =
@@ Line 36: / Line 35: @@
 }}
-The '''Atlanta Neighborhood Union''' was an [[African-American]], women-led neighborhood organization in [[Atlanta, Georgia]], started in 1908 by [[Lugenia Burns Hope]], and chartered in 1911.<ref>{{cite book|last=Friedman|first=Jean E.|title=The Enclosed Garden: Women and Community in the Evangelical South, 1830-1900|year=1990|publisher=UNC Press Books|isbn=9780807842812|pages=125|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=qocq14NO1ooC&pg=PA125}}</ref> The Union, "a prototype for self-help and social service organizations,"<ref name="mjagkij"/> was one of the most important organizations for Atlanta's social services, and worked in part by networking with the city's progressive whites.<ref>{{cite book|last=Godshalk|first=David Fort|title=Veiled visions: the 1906 Atlanta race riot and the reshaping of American race relations|year=2005|publisher=UNC Press|isbn=9780807856260|page=210|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=e4cauvE3mrwC&pg=PA210}}</ref> One of the organizations influenced by it was the [[Women's Political Council]], of [[Montgomery, Alabama]]. It was dissolved in the 1970s.
+The '''Atlanta Neighborhood Union''' was an [[African-American]], women-led neighborhood organization in [[Atlanta, Georgia]], started in 1908 by [[Lugenia Burns Hope]], and chartered in 1911.<ref>{{cite book|last=Friedman|first=Jean E.|title=The Enclosed Garden: Women and Community in the Evangelical South, 1830-1900|year=1990|publisher=UNC Press Books|isbn=978-0-8078-4281-2|pages=125|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qocq14NO1ooC&pg=PA125}}</ref> The Union, "a prototype for self-help and social service organizations,"<ref name="mjagkij"/> was one of the most important organizations for Atlanta's social services, and worked in part by networking with the city's progressive whites.<ref>{{cite book|last=Godshalk|first=David Fort|title=Veiled visions: the 1906 Atlanta race riot and the reshaping of American race relations|year=2005|publisher=UNC Press|isbn=978-0-8078-5626-0|page=210|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e4cauvE3mrwC&pg=PA210}}</ref> One of the organizations influenced by it was the [[Women's Political Council]], of [[Montgomery, Alabama]]. It was dissolved in the 1970s.
 ==History==
 ===Foundation===
-The Atlanta Neighborhood Union was founded by Lugenia Burns Hope, a social reformer and the wife of [[Morehouse College]] president [[John Hope (educator)|John Hope]]. The organization got started in June 1908, when Hope convened with eight other middle-class women.<ref name="mjagkij"/> At the time, Atlanta was "the most segregated city in Georgia,"<ref>{{cite book|last=Rouse|first=Jacqueline Anne|title=Major Problems in the History of the American South: The new South|year=1999|publisher=Houghton Mifflin|isbn=9780395871409|pages=271ff.|editor=Paul D. Escott, David R. Goldfield, Sally Gregory McMillen|accessdate=14 December 2010|chapter=The Atlanta Neighborhood Union, 1908-1924}}</ref> and black children did not have a place to play: in Atlanta, there was "not a single playground or park for black children." In the end, the women got Morehouse College to give up some of its grounds for a playground; this success encouraged the group to continue.<ref name="lerner">{{cite book|last=Lerner|first=Gerda|title=The majority finds its past: placing women in history|year=2005|publisher=UNC Press|isbn=9780807856062|pages=68–69|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=nAiqhXn112UC&pg=PA|coauthors=Linda K. Kerber|accessdate=15 December 2010}}</ref> Morehouse College, especially the president's mansion, also served as a meeting place during the organization's early years.<ref>{{cite book|last=Godshalk|first=David Fort|title=Veiled visions: the 1906 Atlanta race riot and the reshaping of American race relations|year=2005|publisher=UNC Press|isbn=9780807856260|page=233|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=e4cauvE3mrwC&pg=PA233}}</ref>
+The Atlanta Neighborhood Union was founded by Lugenia Burns Hope, a social reformer and the wife of [[Morehouse College]] president [[John Hope (educator)|John Hope]]. The organization got started in June 1908, when Hope convened with eight other middle-class women.<ref name="mjagkij"/> At the time, Atlanta was "the most segregated city in Georgia,"<ref>{{cite book|last=Rouse|first=Jacqueline Anne|title=Major Problems in the History of the American South: The new South|year=1999|publisher=Houghton Mifflin|isbn=978-0-395-87140-9|pages=271ff|editor=Paul D. Escott |editor2=David R. Goldfield |editor3=Sally Gregory McMillen|chapter=The Atlanta Neighborhood Union, 1908-1924}}</ref> and black children did not have a place to play: in Atlanta, there was "not a single playground or park for black children." In the end, the women got Morehouse College to give up some of its grounds for a playground; this success encouraged the group to continue.<ref name="lerner">{{cite book|last=Lerner|first=Gerda|title=The majority finds its past: placing women in history|year=2005|publisher=UNC Press|isbn=978-0-8078-5606-2|pages=68–69|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nAiqhXn112UC&pg=PA|author2=Linda K. Kerber|access-date=15 December 2010}}</ref> Morehouse College, especially the president's mansion, also served as a meeting place during the organization's early years.<ref>{{cite book|last=Godshalk|first=David Fort|title=Veiled visions: the 1906 Atlanta race riot and the reshaping of American race relations|year=2005|publisher=UNC Press|isbn=978-0-8078-5626-0|page=233|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e4cauvE3mrwC&pg=PA233}}</ref>
-The Union's aim was to initiate settlement projects to aid underprivileged black families.<ref name="mjagkij"/> The city's neighborhoods were divided into districts, each of which had a board of directors which investigated living conditions in its area, especially the schooling situation.<ref name="tierney"/><ref name="neverdon">{{cite book|last=Neverdon-Morton|first=Cynthia|title=The Afro-American woman: struggles and images|year=1997|publisher=Black Classic Press|isbn=9781574780260|pages=43–57|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=sEH2cIKy4aQC&pg=PA45|editor=Sharon Harley, Rosalyn Terborg-Penn|accessdate=15 December 2010|chapter=The Black Woman's Struggle for Equality in the South, 1895-1925}}</ref> It collected demographic data to identify what types of programs would assist underprivileged citizens, and quickly started classes that taught such subjects as home and personal care. It sponsored health clinics and established after-school programs, and in 1909 began its political activity when it petitioned the Atlanta city council "to rid the community of 'a house of questionable character.'"<ref name="mjagkij">{{cite book|last=Mjagkij|first=Nina|title=Organizing Black America: an encyclopedia of African American associations|year=2001|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=9780815323099|page=74|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=cfESrcLSbCcC&pg=PA74}}</ref> The Union started a health clinic in 1915, which examined thousands of children, enrolled parents in health classes, and had boys' and girls' clubs.<ref name="lerner"/> It made sure the city paved streets and provided adequate lighting and sewage treatment, and it replaced dilapidated houses.<ref name="tierney"/>
+The Union's aim was to initiate settlement projects to aid underprivileged black families.<ref name="mjagkij"/> The city's neighborhoods were divided into districts, each of which had a board of directors which investigated living conditions in its area, especially the schooling situation.<ref name="tierney"/><ref name="neverdon">{{cite book|last=Neverdon-Morton|first=Cynthia|title=The Afro-American woman: struggles and images|year=1997|publisher=Black Classic Press|isbn=978-1-57478-026-0|pages=43–57|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sEH2cIKy4aQC&pg=PA45|editor=Sharon Harley |editor2=Rosalyn Terborg-Penn |editor2-link=Rosalyn Terborg-Penn |access-date=15 December 2010|chapter=The Black Woman's Struggle for Equality in the South, 1895-1925}}</ref> It collected demographic data to identify what types of programs would assist underprivileged citizens, and quickly started classes that taught such subjects as home and personal care. It sponsored health clinics and established after-school programs, and in 1909 began its political activity when it petitioned the Atlanta city council "to rid the community of 'a house of questionable character.'"<ref name="mjagkij">{{cite book|last=Mjagkij|first=Nina|title=Organizing Black America: an encyclopedia of African American associations|year=2001|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-8153-2309-9|page=74|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cfESrcLSbCcC&pg=PA74}}</ref> The Union started a health clinic in 1915, which examined thousands of children, enrolled parents in health classes, and had boys' and girls' clubs.<ref name="lerner"/> It made sure the city paved streets and provided adequate lighting and sewage treatment, and it replaced dilapidated houses.<ref name="tierney"/>
 The Union was especially interested in education, and besides providing classes itself, it petitioned the [[Atlanta Public Schools|Atlanta Board of Education]] already in 1913 to build two new schools. Organizers at the district level investigated every single school, and reported that they were too small, improperly ventilated and dark, and generally overcrowded. These reports and lobbying efforts led to teachers' salaries being raised and a makeshift school being built in South Atlanta.<ref name="neverdon"/>
 ===Professionalization===
-In the 1920s, the Union sought to professionalize, and to that end founded the Atlanta School of Social Work. During the [[Great Depression in the United States|Great Depression]], it sought help from the [[Fulton County, Georgia|Fulton County Relief Center]], but met with race-based opposition from white city officials. The Union had received complaints that no Christmas gifts were given to destitute blacks, though whites did receive such assistance. Hope confronted a city official, and after she was grudgingly granted some gifts, the official added, "The problem of it is that you people do not contribute to these things," after which she explained that blacks were tax-paying citizens just as whites were.<ref>{{cite book|last=Ferguson|first=Karen Jane|title=Black politics in New Deal Atlanta|year=2002|publisher=UNC Press|isbn=9780807853702|pages=49–51|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=lKfbWTS_R20C&pg=PA49}}</ref>
+In the 1920s, the Union sought to professionalize, and to that end founded the Atlanta School of Social Work. During the [[Great Depression in the United States|Great Depression]], it sought help from the [[Fulton County, Georgia|Fulton County Relief Center]], but met with race-based opposition from white city officials. The Union had received complaints that no Christmas gifts were given to destitute blacks, though whites did receive such assistance. Hope confronted a city official, and after she was grudgingly granted some gifts, the official added, "The problem of it is that you people do not contribute to these things," after which she explained that blacks were tax-paying citizens just as whites were.<ref>{{cite book|last=Ferguson|first=Karen Jane|title=Black politics in New Deal Atlanta|year=2002|publisher=UNC Press|isbn=978-0-8078-5370-2|pages=49–51|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lKfbWTS_R20C&pg=PA49}}</ref>
-In the 1930s, the Union went into decline, in part because men's organizations, such as the [[National Urban League|Atlanta Urban League]], began to be active in the field of social work and welfare, and often employed professional workers.<ref>Ferguson 279.</ref> Still, in the early 1930s the organization's health clinic added dental and maternal care; annually, it examined more than 4,000 people.<ref name="tierney">{{cite book|last=Tierney|first=Helen|title=Women's studies encyclopedia, Volume 2|year=1999|publisher=Greenwood|isbn=9780313310720|page=604|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=2bDxJW3x4f8C&pg=PA604}}</ref>
+In the 1930s, the Union went into decline, in part because men's organizations, such as the [[National Urban League|Atlanta Urban League]], began to be active in the field of social work and welfare, and often employed professional workers.<ref>Ferguson 279.</ref> Still, in the early 1930s the organization's health clinic added dental and maternal care; annually, it examined more than 4,000 people.<ref name="tierney">{{cite book|last=Tierney|first=Helen|title=Women's studies encyclopedia, Volume 2|year=1999|publisher=Greenwood|isbn=978-0-313-31072-0|page=604|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2bDxJW3x4f8C&pg=PA604}}</ref>
 ==Later scholarship==
-The Union and its founder are the subject of [[Jacqueline Anne Rouse]]'s ''Lugenia Burns Hope, Black Southern Reformer''.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Scott|first=Anne Firor|title=Most Invisible of All: Black Women's Voluntary Associations|journal=[[The Journal of Southern History]]|year=1990|volume=56|issue=1|pages=3–22|accessdate=14 December 2010}}</ref> Recent scholarship has studied the relationship between John Hope's stereotypical masculine language and activism and the limited space it allotted his wife, and to which extent such organizations had a "maternalist" ideology.<ref>{{cite book|last=Godshalk|first=David Fort|title=Veiled visions: the 1906 Atlanta race riot and the reshaping of American race relations|year=2005|publisher=UNC Press|isbn=9780807856260|page=315|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=e4cauvE3mrwC&pg=PA315}}</ref>
+The Union and its founder are the subject of [[Jacqueline Anne Rouse]]'s ''Lugenia Burns Hope, Black Southern Reformer''.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Scott|first=Anne Firor|title=Most Invisible of All: Black Women's Voluntary Associations|journal=[[The Journal of Southern History]]|year=1990|volume=56|issue=1|pages=3–22|doi=10.2307/2210662|jstor=2210662 }}<!--|access-date=14 December 2010--></ref> Recent scholarship has studied the relationship between John Hope's stereotypical masculine language and activism and the limited space it allotted his wife, and to which extent such organizations had a "maternalist" ideology.<ref>{{cite book|last=Godshalk|first=David Fort|title=Veiled visions: the 1906 Atlanta race riot and the reshaping of American race relations|year=2005|publisher=UNC Press|isbn=978-0-8078-5626-0|page=315|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e4cauvE3mrwC&pg=PA315}}</ref>
 ==See also==
@@ Line 58: / Line 58: @@
 ==References==
 {{Reflist|2}}
+==External links==
-[[Category:Neighborhood organizations]]
+{{archival records|title=Neighborhood Union collection}}
-[[Category:Organizations based in Atlanta, Georgia‎]]
+*{{cite web |title=Digital Collection: Neighborhood Union Collection |url=https://radar.auctr.edu/islandora/object/auc.050:9999 |website=RADAR |publisher=[[Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library]] |language=en}}
-[[Category:African American history in Atlanta]]
+* {{cite web |last1=Newberry |first1=Brittany |last2=Shabazz |first2=Kayin |last3=Wright |first3=Trashinda |title=Women Who Changed Atlanta and the World |url=https://digitalexhibits.auctr.edu/exhibits/show/womenwhochangedatlanta/overview |website=Digital Exhibits |publisher=[[Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library]]}}
+{{Woman's club movement}}
+{{Authority control}}
+[[Category:Neighborhood associations]]
+[[Category:Organizations based in Atlanta]]
+[[Category:African-American history in Atlanta]]
 [[Category:Organizations established in 1908]]
-[[Category:1970s_disestablishments]]
+[[Category:1970s disestablishments in Georgia (U.S. state)]]
+[[Category:Organizations disestablished in the 1970s]]
+[[Category:1908 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)]]
+[[Category:Women's clubs in the United States]]
+[[Category:History of women in Georgia (U.S. state)]]