Exploring the Community of East Baltimore

Introduction

The East Baltimore community of the 1970’s was unique in its makeup - described as a “microcosm of the American experience” by one of the project leaders Joan Netherwood, the community was composed primarily of European immigrants, of which the largest groups were Italian, Polish, Irish, Ukranians, Greeks, Czechs, and Germans. The vast majority of those who belonged to these ethnic groups were second generation Americans, with substantial retention of their country of origin’s culture and language. They were also largely Catholic, although each ethnic group generally had its own place of worship. It is important to note that these groups had their own specific neighborhoods within East Baltimore. Highlandtown was home to Italians and Greeks; Little Bohemia was a neighborhood of largely Eastern Europeans and Black people. Within these neighborhoods residents created pockets of culture and tradition. Mary and Jim Bready, a couple who had lived in East Baltimore for decades, expand on this, saying:

“People in east Baltimore spoke their language of their origin longer than in some other place. They kept it up and uh, the Italians particularly continued to have grandmothers in the house, and so on, and you spoke one language home and another out. You were not quickly getting into the American stream of things. You were one language on the street and one language at home.” (1)

Strength of the Community

This adherence to tradition was a defining trait of the East Baltimore residents and provided strength to the community. Despite the seclusion of each group to their designated neighborhood, the similarities in their way of life allowed them to band together when necessary and create a tight knit community. Doors were left unlocked, and social gatherings at Patterson Park were attended by all. It was common for multiple generations to live within the same household, or at least on the same block. Again, Jim Bready acknowledges this, noting that:

 “Everything is against individualism. It’s tribal.” (2)

Additionally, as mentioned previously, a significant portion of the population was Catholic. It can be inferred that the role of the church in the community also played a major part in its adherence to tradition. At the time, the churches were just beginning to have services that were not in Latin, and even that small change was met with reluctant acceptance. As such, there were certain topics that the residents shared similar opinions on. Many families required strict discipline and respect from their children, which if crossed, often led to physical punishment. Physical punishment also extended into the education system, as many children went to Catholic schools which implemented severe discipline on their students. This meant that although residents were attending different places of worship and going to different schools, they still had many shared experiences, which contributed to their similar way of life.

The prominence of Catholicism also resulted in residents holding the same opinion on a number of social issues. As shown above, this contributed to many successful social efforts. However, this also meant that when one held an identity or committed an action that was not in line with the opinion of the community, the social isolation and prejudice was overwhelming to bear. Father Esposito, a priest at Our Lady of Pompei (an Italian church in East Baltimore) touches on this, recounting the experience of a boy in the neighborhood who was a former drug addict:

“…..he's been rejected too many times by employers, because of the fact that he was involved in drugs. And he cannot stand a negative attitude of some people, oh, you're a drug addict, I don't want to have anything to do with you. Which is a big problem in our neighborhood they will not accept him at all. He has to take a lot of kidding, down-right mocking on the part of some the neighbors……..As I said, once you're marked, this neighborhood prejudice, if you're marked, you're marked.” (3)

Resistance to Change

Dedication to tradition subsequently brings resistance to change. This trait is not inherently a good or bad quality. For instance, this trait provided a political strength that was critical to the success of many organized political efforts that took place at this time. A prime example of this was the organized (and successful) effort, led by community activist Gloria Aull to prevent a freeway being built right through East Baltimore, which would have fractured the landscape of East Baltimore, removing many homes in its path. However, as shown in the case of the school boy Father Esposito mentioned, this resistance also resulted in an air of prejudice and a lack of empathy. Other residents recounted their experiences of Anti-Semitism, as well as the Anti-Black rallies that occurred in Patterson Park. Even residents new to East Baltimore at the time of the tapes, such as white couple Chris and Craig Russell, speak on being excluded and feeling distance from the community:

“I don't think we are accepted. I think we expected to find that people in the neighborhood were interested in meeting us, just as we'd be interested in them and that there would be some common ground in our involvement in making the neighborhood better. We have not found that. There's a little bit of, I don't know, skepticism on their part and equally a little bit of holding back on our part.” (4)

Dynamic Period in East Baltimore's History

It is important to note that during the time of the oral histories being recorded, East Baltimore was in a very dynamic period. White flight, the fleeing of white people from urban areas to the suburbs, was in full swing, and this contributed to a change in the demographics of the area. Chris and Craig Russell again touch on this phenomenon when speaking to the structure of the community: 

“...I think that the neighborhood population is basically divided into three segments: one, newcomers like ourselves; secondly, the older residents, more or less senior citizens who have been here for a long time, maybe even born in the neighborhood, who may have wished to get out, but economically could not do so. And then there's the other group, maybe a little more transient in nature, the ones, I guess, at the lower end of the economic scale, so to speak, who don't seem to care or have as much invested financially or emotionally in the neighborhood.” (5)

This fleeing of white residents subsequently resulted in the influx of people of color into the community, who were often discussed by white residents using very coded language, as shown in the quote above, where they are “the other group,” cast off as not caring for or investing into the community. As mentioned previously, the community in East Baltimore was incredibly prejudiced. And even as the minority population continued to grow, there was still a refusal to integrate, or even acknowledge this group as part of the community. 

Comparing census data of 1980 to 2000, the white population dropped by over ten percent, going from 43.9% to 31.6%. However, in order to understand the depth of the change, it is important to know that beyond racial and ethnic demographics, socioeconomic status, level of education, and industry were also changing.  Change in industry from factory work to medicine and education (brought on by the rise of Johns Hopkins University) meant that East Baltimore, a neighborhood of largely blue collar workers, faced massive unemployment. Unemployment means loss of patrons for small businesses and other places within the community, forcing them to close. This means people began moving away, whether that’s for work, to follow their family that has already moved, or again, white flight. Houses are left vacant and to rot, affecting the curb appeal; means people are moving in slower than they’re leaving. All of these resulted in a slow deterioration of East Baltimore. To emphasize this, in the same 20 year period between 1980 and 2000, housing vacancy doubled, jumping from seven percent to 14.1%. To sum it up, a community that was once made of tightly knit ethnic groups who lived by tradition experienced major change, whether they liked it or not. And rather than adapt, many chose to flee. Streets that were once lively and social were empty, political activity dwindled; the tight knit, interpersonal relationships that defined East Baltimore deteriorated. 

Conclusion

Today, East Baltimore looks very different from the past. Highlandtown, a historically Greek neighborhood, now consists largely of a strong Latinx population and is an arts district. The can factory that gave the neighborhood Canton its name is now a shopping center. Again, these are neither good nor bad changes. They just are. Communities evolve, landscape is renovated; no one can expect an area to look the same 40 years later. However, this acknowledgement of change yields the question: how can one retain the unique, positive qualities of a community while adapting to change? It’s a question that community organizations in east Baltimore are exploring today. When speaking about the changes to East Baltimore, something to note is that many of the major structures within the community are still present. Patterson Park is still open and popular. A large portion of the ethnic churches still reside in East Baltimore and actively hold service. There is potential to rebuild the community, to bring back the warmth and strength that defined East Baltimore while making it accessible for all. The oral histories contained within this collection reveal the characteristics unique to East Baltimore, and the acknowledgement of this past will be critical to the growth of the future.