Accession Number P75-54-0908g, Hughes Company Glass Negatives Collection
Courtesy of the Photography Collections, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
The neighborhoods of Baltimore between the Wars went through a change to more modern homes and were a precursor to the suburbs we see today. But these neighborhoods also reflect the history of racism and segregation in Baltimore. Prior to the annexation, Baltimore had a massive population increase in the nineteenth century. The new population arrived during Baltimore’s industrialization. Between 1880 and 1890 the population increased from 332,000 to 509,000, as the manufacturing centers increased forty percent. Many of these newcomers came from rural Maryland and states such as Virginia and Pennsylvania. The influx of people also changed neighborhoods as the number of housing units increased dramatically by seventy-six percent. As Baltimore began to modernize its industry, new residents settled as the parents of the Baltimore residents that changed the neighborhoods after 1918.
Accession Number P75-54-0905ag,Hughes Company Glass Negatives Collection
Courtesy of the Photography Collections, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Baltimore experienced a flow of immigrants to the city yet their experience was not as severe as for example New York. In New York, masses of immigrants from Europe moved into the city causing major overcrowding. The new immigrants were forced to live in deplorable conditions in tenement housing. There were neighborhoods in Baltimore in poor condition, but they did not experience the overcrowding of New York. Many immigrants such as the Polish, Irish, and Germans rented and bought homes in places such as Fells Point and Jones Falls.
Baltimore had an increase in another population, African Americans whose experience reflects the story of segregation in the city. After the Civil War, numerous Blacks moved from other cities to Baltimore creating the largest free black population. These generally poor, less skilled Blacks moved next to native free Black populations of educated homeowners. Black neighborhoods expanded rapidly around Pennsylvania and Druid Hill Avenues. The strong Black middle class moved into homes previously owned by Jewish immigrants and created a solid community.
However, the change in Black neighborhoods was not welcomed by all. Many middle class Blacks moved to Druid Hill to get away from congested neighborhoods. But once Black lawyers, George W. McMechen and W. Ashbie Hawkins purchased homes on Druid Hill Avenue, Whites responded with uproar. Because Blacks were moving closer to Whites and eventually into their neighborhoods, the mayor passed the residential housing Segregation Ordinance in 1910 which stated Blacks were prohibited from moving into neighborhoods that were more than fifty percent white and vice versa. This meant they could not move into properties east of McCulloh Street, north of North Avenue or west of Gilmor Street. This law was eventually removed in 1917, right before the annexation which would open up the boundaries of the city and provide options for new homes. Yet who was actually able to move to the new homes, is an important part of the story.
Accession Number P75-54-0906g, Hughes Company Glass Negatives Collection,
Courtesy of the Photography Collections, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
The annexation meant not only an increase in land but also more opportunity for home construction. Many of the areas acquired by the annexation were green, park like areas which house builders saw fit for development. As a result, there was an entrepreneurial boom which changed the look of neighborhoods. Builders capitalized on the daylight rowhouse design similar to the picture above and used the design as a foundation to expand their businesses. Some of the most notable developers were Frank Novak, Edward Gallagher (builder of the houses in photo), and James Keelty. By the mid-twenties, these builders created around 6,000 houses a year. Builders offered well built, low cost homes to middle class families allowing some couples to be first time homeowners.
Accession Number P75-54-0680g, Hughes Company Glass Negatives Collection,
Courtesy of the Photography Collections, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Accession Number, P75-54-0915g,Hughes Company Glass Negatives Collection,
Courtesy of the Photography Collections, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
These builders transformed the new neighborhoods into modern suburban communities. The photos above are a dramatization, but I picture this transformation of the annexed neighborhoods as beginning with simply houses (similar to the top photo) and later transformed into developed communities with paved streets (like the bottom photo). The builders were the first settlers so to speak who initiated the change. Builders such as James Keelty and Edward Gallagher were successful because they offered a “package” (nice location, low cost, house size, style) to buyers. Some locations like Edmonson Avenue also offered new amenities with water supply and sewage systems. Many families moved out of the center away from the old houses to these new suburbs leaving many areas vacant. The suburbs were significant because the newly annexed areas were homogeneous communities of middle class, second and third generation immigrants with white collar professions. The suburbs that we see today began their development at this time.
Yet while these upscale neighborhoods developed on the outer skirts of Baltimore, the poor, specifically Black residents suffered within the interior. Even though the Segregation Ordinance was removed, Blacks quickly faced another barrier of neighborhood covenants which put similar racial restrictions on neighborhoods. These restrictions were particularly hard on poor Blacks. The Black population in Baltimore dramatically increased due to the “Great Migration” from 1920-1930 giving the city the fourth largest Black population in the country. With little options of where to move, Blacks were forced into crowded areas with upwards of 50,000-100,000 people per square mile. So while the middle class lived in luxurious and spacious homes with rooms like this:
Accession Number P75-54-N894,Hughes Company Glass Negatives Collection,
Courtesy of the Photography Collections, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Many poor Blacks had no choice but to live like this:
Accession Number P75-54-0244g, Hughes Company Glass Negatives Collection,
Courtesy of the Photography Collections, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
The bottom picture is significant not only because of what is taking place but because the Hughes Collection has very few pictures of people in these houses let alone African Americans. It shows how important and perhaps shocking to the photographers to see living conditions like this.
Accession Number P75-54-N968g, Hughes Company Glass Negatives Collection,
Courtesy of the Photography Collections, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Accession Number P75-54-0993g, Hughes Company Glass Negatives Collection,
Courtesy of the Photography Collections, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Blacks in poverty suffered through more than overcrowding. These areas were known for their deplorable conditions. One area off of Pennsylvania Avenue was known as “Lung Block” because the death rate from tuberculosis was 958 per 100,000 when the city average was 131.1. The conditions resemble the findings of Jacob Riis in his work, How the Other Half Lives.
Courtesy of the Photography Collections, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
“Slums” all over the city gained publicity for their conditions. Many houses in the slums were built in the 1800s, and did not include amenities such as electricity or indoor plumbing. Builders in the twenties and thirties focused on creating homes in the annexed areas for the middle class. The poor moved into their homes afterwards. These homes were most likely passed down to those middle class families from their parents who first moved to Baltimore in the 1800s. The increasing poor population as author Mary Ellen Hayward described became more “visible” in Baltimore especially during the Depression. Perhaps they were also visible because Whites who feared poor Blacks would move closer to them, also realized their White, middle class neighbors were leaving in large numbers while poor Blacks took their places.
Fearing the poor population would not be contained much longer, White residents decided to fix the problem. This led to a “slum clearance” program created by Baltimore’s Public Works Administration (PWA). The plan was to replace the worst houses in Baltimore with better low cost housing for the poor. A PWA committee surveyed Baltimore and chose five of the worst areas and planned for their rebuilding. These areas had particularly high Black populations and disease rates. The map below diagrams the areas chosen to be cleared.
(Baltimore Housing Authority, "The Geography of Blight, Choosing Sites for Slum Clearance," in Mary Ellen Hayward, Baltimore's Alley Houses: Homes for Working People Since the 1780s (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, 2008), 243)
The project began in 1940 and was funded by the federal government, yet, there were numerous issues. A reoccurring problem was the relocation of residents during construction. Some residents misunderstood the program and believed they would be able to move back into the homes once construction was complete. However, many were forced to move to areas just as bad because the housing authority did not provide them new housing in time. The ultimate defeat was during WWII when the federal government prohibited housing production unless the houses were for defense workers. The sudden focus of building for defense workers caused low-cost housing programs to be halted as well. Housing developments such as the Armistead and the Perkins which were meant for both black and white low income residents were instead used for workers who came to Baltimore.
Image Number Neg Z9. 269. PP8, Hughes Studio Photograph Collection,
Courtesy of the Prints and Photographs Division, Maryland Historical Society
The annexation provided more opportunity for builders to change what was considered a “neighborhood” in Baltimore. Their creations led to “White flight” in Baltimore well before the widely known period after WWII. This period in Baltimore shows not only the shift toward contemporary housing but also a focus on housing reform. Organizations such as the Baltimore Housing Authority formed during this time, showed both a city and federal focus on state of housing. It is important to acknowledge that the slum clearance program was meant to fix housing but more important contain the poor, specifically Black residents. After WWII, the Housing Authority planned for the creation of high rise apartments to control the poor population. The expansion of Baltimore neighborhoods between the wars initiated issues still battled today, as many cities see middle class families move away to upscale secluded suburbs, leaving exposed poor conditioned neighborhoods within the city.
