{"id":12965,"date":"2019-02-17T18:05:26","date_gmt":"2019-02-17T23:05:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/phillyhistory.wpengine.com\/?p=12965"},"modified":"2019-02-18T16:22:23","modified_gmt":"2019-02-18T21:22:23","slug":"african-american-history-hijacked-the-rise-and-fall-of-phillis-wheatley-on-lombard-street","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/2019\/02\/african-american-history-hijacked-the-rise-and-fall-of-phillis-wheatley-on-lombard-street\/","title":{"rendered":"African-American History Hijacked: the Rise and Fall of Phillis Wheatley on Lombard Street"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Equity Hall (aka The Phyllis Wheatley Social Center), 1024-1026 Lombard Street, April 19, 1917 (PhillyHistory.org)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Slavers kidnapped a frail, 7-year-old girl in West Africa. They forced her aboard The Phillis<\/em>, transported her to Boston, and sold her to John Wheatley, a tailor, and his wife, Susanna.\u00a0Phillis Wheatley (named for the ship) quickly mastered English, became versed in the Bible and learned Greek and Latin. A creative genius, her first poem appeared in print in 1770. Wheatley was lauded as a new, distinctively American poet, a star of the rising anti-slavery movement and a trans-Atlantic literary celebrity. Six cities, including Philadelphia, printed her work. Wheatley’s collected poems were published in London in 1773.<\/p>\n

A century and a half later, the name Phillis (sometimes spelled Phyllis) Wheatley would be considered an inspiring choice for African-American organizations from South Carolina to Minnesota. Equity Hall in Philadelphia\u2019s \u201cBlack 7th<\/sup> Ward\u201d had been serving as a destination since 1894 for banquets, meetings, protests, funerals, balls, boxing matches, concerts and political rallies. In 1922, The Negro Year Book<\/a><\/em> listed the building at 1024 Lombard as the Phyllis Wheatley Social Center.<\/p>\n

When Mayor Hampton Moore confirmed his plan to renovate the hall and build a new playground on the block between 10th<\/sup>, 11th, Lombard and Rodman Streets, it made perfect sense to name it for the poet. \u201cI suggest the name of one who stands for the colored race,\u201d declared the mayor, \u201ca slave child brought to the country and kept here in slavery, who, despite all obstacles became an educated woman\u2014a writer and a poet, a woman who wrote of her people and who sang their songs.\u201d At a dedication ceremony on July 12, 1921, Mayor Moore noted before a crowd of 2,000 that a place previously known as \u201cHell\u2019s Half Acre\u201d was about to be renamed \u201cthe Phyllis Wheatley Recreation Centre.\u201d This choice, he later noted, met the approval of several religious and civic leaders in Philadelphia\u2019s African American community.<\/p>\n

But Mayor Moore had earned himself a few political enemies. Immediately after his election in 1919, Moore unfurled a banner across Market Street proclaiming: \u201cNo boss shall rule this town.\u201d He derailed the political ambitions of Vare loyalist, City Councilman Charles B. Hall, whose district included the playground. And Moore commissioned a study, conducted by sociologist Richard R. Wright Jr<\/a>., that concluded the 1000 block of Lombard Street was \u201cone of the worst pest holes in Philadelphia\u2026 due largely [to the] influence and protection\u201d of an unnamed politician. Wright\u2019s report claimed that city-owned buildings there were being \u201cused for profitable, but illegal practices, including banditry, dope, prostitution, gambling and a series of other crimes too numerous to mention.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hall, the area\u2019s ward leader, looked like the guilty party. He threatened to sue the Mayor for libel\u2014and more, he proposed using what power he did have in City Council to swap out Wheatley\u2019s name with someone who had a direct connection with the 7th<\/sup> Ward, the recently deceased City Councilman (and Hall\u2019s predecessor and mentor)\u00a0Charles Seger<\/a>. \u00a0A fireman turned saloon owner machine politician, Seger was the epitome of political bossism.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Seger Playground with Equity Hall remaining. Atlas of the City of Philadelphia. Geo. W. & Walter S. Bromley, 1922. (Temple University Special Collections)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Moore called Hall \u201ca \u201cbaby\u201d and a \u201cbluffer,\u201d and reiterated the accusation that Hall was \u201clargely responsible for vice conditions in the section of the city where he is in political control.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a usurpation of power which belongs to Council,\u201d claimed Hall of Moore\u2019s proposal for the Wheatley name. \u201cI want that place named Charles Seger Park and I\u2019m going to see that it is named that.\u201d A few members of the city\u2019s African-American press took Hall\u2019s side and interpreted the mayor\u2019s proposal as crass pandering. \u201cThe most regrettable occurrence,\u201d wrote the author of an article entitled \u201cPhyliss Wheatley’s Name in Wrong Hands,\u201d \u201chas been the flippant and disgusting manner in which the mayor of Philadelphia and a few of his colored followers have dragged into the mire of the filthy politics of the city the name of that illustrious Negro woman\u2026\u201d Others in the city\u2019s African-American community disagreed: \u201cNumerous colored churches \u2026 vigorously denounced Councilman Hall for his attempt to name the new playground at 10th<\/sup> and Lombard streets after the late Charles Seger.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mayor Moore wasn\u2019t about<\/em> to back down, even after City Council overwhelmingly voted (15-4) to name the playground for Charles Seger in late July, 1921. He vetoed the bill and presented a plaque of Phyllis Wheatley to hang in the Lombard Street building. A week later, Moore opened the Mayor\u2019s Reception Room in City Hall to 250 citizens interested in maintaining the Wheatley name. \u201cThe masks usually worn by the colored population had been stripped off,\u201d declared the Rev. W.H. Moses of the Zion Baptist Church, \u201cand no matter what Council did the name of the playground to the Negroes always would be the Phillis Wheatley Center.\u201d<\/p>\n

City Council did<\/em> override the Mayor\u2019s veto. And soon after, Council proposed to demolish Equity Hall, aka<\/em> the Phyllis Wheatley Social Center. What would take its place? Councilman Hall had at the ready an ordinance to fund \u201ca modern community and social service house to be named after Fanny Jackson Coppin, a slave girl who rose to be a profound Greek and Latin scholar and the greatest of all Negro educators of all time.\u201d Coppin did<\/em> have strong ties to the neighborhood. Starting in 1865, she ran the Institute for Colored Youth<\/a> only a few blocks away near 9th and Bainbridge Streets.<\/p>\n

But today, the Coppin building is long gone. And, of course, Wheatley\u2019s name is nowhere to be found. What remains is once-contested public space that goes by the name of Seger.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, long-forgotten history forces us to pose a question. In this case, we must ask: Should Seger\u2019s name remain?<\/p>\n

[Sources<\/strong>: [Dedication of Equity Hall], December 11, 1894 (Inquirer<\/em>); “Colored Odd Fellows’ lodges in Philadelphia, 1896,”<\/a> New York Public Library Digital Collections; \u00a0\u201cRepublicans Hold a Rousing Meeting in Equity Hall,\u201d October 26, 1912 (Tribune<\/em>); \u201cSeger Dies at 71,\u201d November 8, 1919 (Inquirer<\/em>); \u201cMoore Clamps Lid Tightly on Cabinet,\u201d Nov. 8, 1919 (Inquirer<\/em>); \u201c\u2019Hell\u2019s Half Acre\u2019 to get New Name,\u201d July 13, 1921 (Tribune<\/em>); \u201cFrom Sproul Down, Vare Rule is Over, Notice From Moore,\u201d Dec. 24, 1919 (Inquirer<\/em>); \u201cMayor Answers Threats of Hall,\u201d July 9, 1920 (Inquirer<\/em>); \u201cMayor Should Clean Up Vice, Declares Hall,\u201d Aug. 25, 1920 (Inquirer<\/em>); \u201cHall Threatens Mayor, Dares Moore to Charge Him with Vice Conditions,\u201d Aug. 28, 1920 (Tribune<\/em>); \u201cMayor Threatened By Hall With Suit,\u201d Nov. 27, 1920 (Inquirer<\/em>); \u201cMayor Threatened By Hall With Suit,\u201d Nov. 27, 1920 (Inquirer<\/em>); \u201cTo Build Playground,\u201d Oct. 23 1920 (Bulletin<\/em>); \u201cMayor Moore Would \u2018Clean-Up\u2019 Seventh Ward Section to Establish His Own Political Headquarters,\u201d Oct. 30, 1920 (Tribune<\/em>); \u201cHell\u2019s Half Acre Is Passing Away,\u201d Jan. 4, 1921 (Inquirer<\/em>); \u201cBill for New Playground,\u201d June 2 1921 (Bulletin<\/em>); \u201cHell\u2019s Half Acre\u201d to get New Name,\u201d July 13, 1921 (Inquirer<\/em>); \u201cWheatley Pa\u2019K How Come?\u201d July 16, 1921 (Bulletin<\/em>); \u201cPhyllis Wheatley\u2019s Name in Wrong Hands,\u201d July 16 1921 (Tribune<\/em>); \u201cMayor Moore Opens New Play Ground\u2026Phyllis Wheatley its Name,\u201d July 16, 1921 (Tribune<\/em>); \u201cHall Defies the Mayor to Veto \u2018Seger\u2019 Centre,\u201d July 22, 1921 (Bulletin<\/em>); \u00a0\u201cBold Attempt to Use Our Churches in City Politics,\u201d July 23, 1921 (Tribune<\/em>); \u00a0\u201cPhillis Wheatley Name To \u2018Stick,\u2019\u201d July 23, 1921 (Inquirer<\/em>); \u201cNegroes Announce Break with Hall over Playground,\u201d Aug. 4, 1921 (Bulletin<\/em>); \u201cColored Residents Demand Park Be Named for Poetess,\u201d Aug. 4, 1921 (Bulletin<\/em>); \u201cThe Mayor Hears Arguments on Play Ground Naming,\u201d Aug. 6, 1921 (Tribune<\/em>). Marcus Anthony Hunter, Black Citymakers: How The Philadelphia Negro Changed Urban America\u00a0<\/em>(Oxford University Press; 2015)].<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Slavers kidnapped a frail, 7-year-old girl in West Africa. They forced her aboard The Phillis, transported her to Boston, and sold her to John Wheatley, a tailor, and his wife, Susanna.\u00a0Phillis Wheatley (named for the ship) quickly mastered English, became versed in the Bible and learned Greek and Latin. A creative genius, her first poem […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12965"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12965\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}