The “Other Half” Still Suffered

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.

The Conditions Were Too Much to Hide

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 .

Slum Areas

Accession Number P75-54-0913g, Hughes Company Glass Negatives Collection,

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.