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December 19, 2011

President and Members of the Board Upper Holmesburg Civic Association P.O. Box 39263 Philadelphia PA 19136 Dear President Cywinski and Members of the Board, In May 2011 the placement of a marker in Upper Holmesburg commemorating the history of Liddonfield Housing Project was brought to a vote by your organization. As you know, the Boards decision was opposed to the creation and placement of the marker, pending future consideration. I am at this time pursuing this matter by submitting a written proposal to the UHCA Board. President Stan Cywinski had previously suggested I provide a list of names to be inscribed on the proposed marker. They were to be the names of former Liddonfield Housing Project tenants who have served their community or achieved some special accomplishment. I have put together a partial list of candidates. Since the completion of this list is a time consuming endeavor requiring lengthy research, outreach to former Liddonfield tenants, personal interviews and validation of facts I am proposing an alternative type of marker in its stead. However, the taking of oral histories is planned for the next Liddonfield Reunion. These oral histories may be a significant aid in securing a list of candidates for a Liddonfield Honor Roll, the nature of which is to be determined. In light of these circumstances, I have limited the current proposal to that which is most obtainable and expedient, a marker placed at the site of the old housing project inscribed with historic details of Liddonfields origin. Much credit is due to Fred Moore of the Northeast Philadelphia History Network for researching the history of the housing project in regard to Liddonfield (as the area comprising much of Upper Holmesburg was known in the late 19th and early 20th century) and its ties to the Pennock family. Based on his research and research of my own, it seems appropriate to understand the Liddonfield Housing Project as a defining factor in the development of Upper Holmesburg and to recognize its importance. I thank you in advance for considering this proposal, the purpose of which is to encourage you to bring the matter up for a vote once again before the Board and to have it approved. Sincerely,

Rosemary Reeves, Founder PublicHousingStories.com cc: State Representative Mike McGeehan State Senator Mike Stack Fred Moore, Northeast Philadelphia History Network Michael Johns, Philadelphia Housing Authority

Liddonfield Housing Project was a defining factor in the development of Upper Holmesburg.
Fred Moore, Northeast Philadelphia History Network

Proposal for Historic Liddonfield Marker In Upper Holmesburg, Pennsylvania


Written and submitted by Rosemary Reeves 12/19/2011 To Upper Holmesburg Civic Association

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Public Housing Historic Preservation History of Liddonfield Housing Project Summary

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PUBLIC HOUSING HISTORIC PRESERVATION

In 1992, the US government issued a mandate known as HOPE VI. Under this program, public housing is replaced by privatized, mixed-income neighborhoods. Since then, over 200,000 public housing units have been demolished across the country. Atlanta, Georgia was the first city in the US to have demolished all of its housing projects. Public housing as we now know it is a disappearing American legacy. In order to preserve the history of public housing, officials within the Chicago Housing Authority created the National Public Housing Museum (www.publichousingmuseum.org). In light of the ongoing transformation of Chicagos public housing communities, CHA residents are joined by civic leaders, preservationists, historians, and cultural experts who also want to create a new architectural landmark that will be recognized as an important historic site. Source: National Public Housing Museum website (www.publichousingmuseum.org). The museum, which opens in 2012, will display photos, documents and artifacts relevant to public housing. It will also feature oral histories of former public housing tenants as well as recreated period living spaces from 19382002 and offer a tour through a section of historic Jane Addams Homes. The museum is expected to receive approximately 65,000 visitors its first year. The establishment of a National Public Housing Museum has received the support of such notables as Barack Obama and Jesse Jackson and organizations such as the Field Museum and Council of Large Public Housing Authorities. (Please see the attached letters of support). Upper Holmesburg has the opportunity to be the first neighborhood in the state of Pennsylvania to become a leader in introducing public housing historical recognition to the general public by the placement of a marker at the former public housing site. Furthermore, the high turnout at UHCA meetings where the general public was invited over the years in regard to the subject of Liddonfield suggests that it has for a long time been a matter of keen interest to the citizens of Upper Holmesburg and Northeast Philadelphia. The placement of a marker at the former Liddonfield site will sustain that interest indefinitely. In addition, such a marker will bring awareness to the fact that the citizens of Upper Holmesburg have themselves created Liddonfields history. Such a marker will prompt them to reflect upon the actions they have taken, and in that reflection, realize their importance as individuals in the political process and the evolution of Upper Holmesburg. Whats more, the UHCA has been profoundly instrumental in the making of Liddonfield history through the decisions of its Board, its discussions of the housing project where the general public was invited, its information gathering, and sometimes its function as a catalyst for organized protest.

To ignore the history of Liddonfield is to bury the historic contributions of the UHCA. Current and future public officials and civic leaders will want to know the actions the UHCA has taken in the wake of the Liddonfield controversy as a means to chart their own course in the creation of public policy. To have a record of those actions taken as an organization and as individual UHCA Board members is a historic imperative, as news articles fall by the wayside over time. Though Liddonfield has been demolished, I humbly remind the Board that the time to take action in regard to the housing project is not over. Your work on recording the historical facts of the matter has only just begun. The placement of a marker at the former Liddonfield site is the first step in establishing a historical record.

Source: National Public Housing Museum website (www.publichousingmuseum.org).


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Source: National Public Housing Museum website (www.publichousingmuseum.org).

Source: National Public Housing Museum website (www.publichousingmuseum.org).


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HISTORY OF LIDDONFIELD HOUSING PROJECT

Upper Holmesburg history is very closely associated with Liddonfield . The area east of Frankford Avenue north of Pennypack Creek, at least from approximately Blakiston Street to about Linden Avenue, was being referred to as Liddonfield at the turn of the 20th century (1900). This probably was a result of the renaming of the Pennypack Railroad Station to the Liddonfield Station as early as 1890. S F Hotchkin refers to the new station in The Bristol Pike, published in 1893. The name Liddonfield derives from Liddonfield Farm in old Upper Darby, near todays City Avenue and Westchester Pike, where Abraham Liddon Pennock (well known abolitionist; 1786-1868) was raised by his maternal grandparents, Abraham and Isabella Liddon. In about 1815, A L Pennock purchased the old Pennypack Grist Mill. The mill operation remained in the Pennock family for much of the 19th century. Pennocks son, Joseph Liddon Pennock, and his children acquired a considerable portion of the land north of the Pennypack that would become Upper Holmesburg. They brought with them the familys old Liddonfield Farm connection. Source: Fred Moore of the Northeast Philadelphia History Network (NEPHN). The Pennock website, The Pennocks of Primitive Hall (www.pennock.ws), includes a genealogy entitled, Rashs Surname Index, which indicates: Abraham Liddon Pennock was born in Philadelphia, PA on August 7, 1786. For thirty years he resided in that city, engaged in business, first as a dry goods merchant, the firm being Pennock & Robbins, and afterwards in the wire business of the firm of Sellers and Pennock. Here he was the originator of the riveted hose, the superiority of which over the sewed method enabled the firm to bring it into universal use, and caused the United States government to enter its contract with them for the making of all mail bags used in its service. In 1840 he retired from business and moved to Haverford Township. Subsequently he undertook the care of a number of estates. In the fall of 1845 he moved to Upper Darby Township, where he remained until his death on May 12, 1868. He was preeminently a man who had the courage of his convictions. When slavery was advocated in the South, as a "divine institution," and apologized for in the North, he would neither use the products of slave labor nor allow his family to do so, preferring at greater expense and trouble to procure goods elsewhere. The poet John Greenleaf Whittier wrote of him: "He was my friend and councilor in the dark and troubled times of 1838-39 and 40, a man of antique heroism, against whom the bitterest enemies of freedom could find nothing to urge. He was a zealous advocate of abolitionism, active in the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society, and made his country home an underground station for runaway slaves. At the Darby Meeting of the Society of Friends, on May 24, 1810, he received certification to marry, doing so on June 7, 1810, to Elizabeth Sellers, daughter of John and Mary (Coleman) Sellers, of Philadelphia. She was born August 26, 1791, in Philadelphia, and died June 18, 1870.
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Fred Moore of NEPHN further indicates that Abraham Liddon Pennock purchased the 1697 Pennypack Grist Mill in about 1815 and owned it for much of the 19th Century. The name Joseph E Pennock appears on the 1895 Bromley map. He is the son of Joseph Liddon Pennock. Joseph Liddon Pennocks grandmother was Mary Liddon (1766-1788). Her family had a prerevolutionary war farm near the Westchester Pike and City Line Avenue called Liddonfield Farm. The 1929 Bromley map (www.philageohistory.org) shows the Liddonfield Realty Company owning most of the property from Strahle to Tolbot east of Frankford Avenue to the railroad tracks. (Also seen on that map is the Liddonfield Railroad Station at Pennypack Street. That station name actually show1s up for the first time on the 1895 Bromley (same philageohistory site).
LIDDONFIELD A DEFINING FACTOR IN THE DEVELOPMENT IN UPPER HOLMESBURG

1942 Land Use Map showing Liddonfield as the designated name for the largely vacant area east of Frankford Ave to Tulip St between Blakiston and Tolbut Sts

Liddonfield Housing Project was a defining factor in the development of the area. Upper Holmesburg grew up around it and would not be what it is today if it wasnt for Liddonfield.

1953 map showing undeveloped land at what was later to become Liddonfield site.

In 1953 Lone Star Cement Corporation contracted with the Philadelphia Housing Authority to build Liddonfield Homes. It constructed the housing project at the impressive rate of two apartments per week, due to a fast-drying cement for which it held the patent. (See Lone Star Cement Corp. ad dated April 1956). By 1956 Liddonfield was complete, providing low-income housing for 412 families.
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1956 map showing the Liddonfield development in Upper Holmesburg

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Local shops in the area thrived as the public housing residents became some of their most loyal customers. Upper Holmesburg businesses such as Shellys Pharmacy and the Torresdale Diner prospered from their patronage. Developers built new homes on the undeveloped land in Upper Holmesburg during the real estate boom of the late 1950s and into the 1960s, a time when many Americans were migrating away from urban areas to the suburbs. Upper Holmesburg became an ideal location, offering a suburbanite lifestyle with the convenience of the city. Liddonfield Housing Project was conceived and built during the Eisenhower administration of the early 1950s. On a typical day during that decade, Liddonfield housewives hung laundry out to dry on clotheslines strung up inside their bullpens, which were concrete enclosures in front of their public housing units. The bullpens were also used for storage of items such as bicycles and to keep unsightly garbage cans from the public eye. Children took delight with the concrete enclosures and often played inside them. A bullpen substituted as a childs play house or club house and they sometimes made cardboard signs that said Boys Keep Out, Animal Doctor or General Store which they placed at the entrance of the bullpen while they played their makebelieve game. This tradition continued until the bullpens were taken down in the 1990s.

Liddonfield Bullpen

Liddonfield men went to work each day at low-paying jobs to support their families. Many did manual labor, such as janitorial or maintenance work at schools and businesses in Philadelphia. While Eisenhower was president a significant number of Liddonfield families were first or second generation Americans of Irish or Italian descent. In 1954 there were five black families in the housing project, the Coleman family being the first to move in.

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But public housing and middle-class homes were a volatile mix in Upper Holmesburg. Homeowners who lived near the housing project complained that their property values were lowered due to their close proximity to Liddonfield, dividing Holmesburg citizens into two diametrically opposed groups based on social class, whose personal and economic interests contradicted each other. This led to stereotyping and bigotry on both sides of what became the Liddonfield controversy. In 1960 John F. Kennedy was running against Richard Nixon in the presidential race. At that time, 88 percent of Americans had a television. An estimated seventy million Americans, about two-thirds of the electorate, watched the first debate on September 26th. Source: John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. Liddonfield residents were no exception. By now some, if not most, had televisions and also kept abreast of the televised debates. Many Liddonfield residents were strong supporters of Kennedy, as it was stressed that poverty was an important issue in his public speeches. It is rumored that John F. Kennedy visited Liddonfield during his 1960 presidential campaign. *This bears further research in order to substantiate.

Boy in Liddonfield Housing Project, circa 1965

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After the assassination of Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson took office in 1963. Also a Democrat, Johnson greatly escalated direct American involvement in the Vietnam War. *Source: Wikipedia Young men from Liddonfield were drafted into military service. Some served in Vietnam. These young Liddonfield soldiers included Danny McLaughlin, a door gunner on a chopper and Barry Reeves, who served two tours in Nha Trang. As more middle-class families moved into Upper Holmesburg, the residents of the housing project were seen as a curiosity. People driving by slowed down to rubberneck, staring at the public housing residents as they went about their daily lives. They became known as the poor people or the Liddonfielders instead of Upper Holmesburg citizens. The local media exacerbated this tendency toward separation and exclusion, often ignoring the interests and concerns of the Liddonfield families or suggesting by omission that they were not Holmesburg residents. This media bias continued up until the housing projects demolition (See NEast Phillys May 4, 2011 article by Temple University journalism student Morgan Zalot entitled Upper Holmesburg Residents Glad to See Liddonfield Go.

THE REAGAN ERAS IMPACT ON LIDDONFIELD

In his 1976 presidential campaign, Ronald Reagan coined the term Welfare Queen during one of his speeches. In the speech, he told the story of a woman in Chicago who committed welfare fraud. Reagan claimed she drove a shiny new Cadillac and made over $150,000 tax-free dollars a year while on welfare. The story was later debunked, but its impact on Americas perception of the poor as cheats still lingers to this day and politicians continue to use Reagans characterization of people on public assistance to further their political agendas. Susan Douglas, a professor of communication studies at the University of Michigan and author of The Mommy Myth: The Idealization of Motherhood and How It Has Undermined All Women stated in her book: "He specialized in the exaggerated, outrageous tale that was almost always unsubstantiated, usually false, yet so sensational that it merited repeated recounting And because his examples of welfare queens drew on existing stereotypes of welfare cheats and resonated with news stories about welfare fraud, they did indeed gain real traction." The welfare queen story was a debacle for poor Americans, in particular single mothers on public assistance, giving rise to the idea that they were lazy cheats looking for handouts. The notion of the deserving poor was cast aside and anti-poor sentiment washed over the American

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landscape like a tidal wave. Public housing fell further into disfavor with the general public and its residents became virtual pariahs in their own neighborhoods. While this backlash was outrageous and unjustified, problems did emerge within Liddonfield. Some of these problems were a direct result of the increased marginalization following the welfare queen debacle. Existing tensions between the Liddonfield residents and middle-class homeowners in Upper Holmesburg heightened dramatically and Liddonfield residents withdrew further into their own isolated subculture. Disillusionment with the American dream was pervasive in the housing project, which would lead to violent repercussions in the coming decade. Many Liddonfield residents abandoned hope of becoming homeowners themselves or were unwilling, preferring the subculture they grew up in, surrounded by friends and family rather than assimilate into Upper Holmesburgs middle-class neighborhood, the same neighborhood where they felt unwelcome.

Children playing on Liddonfield lawn

By the same token, residents nearby the housing project considered Liddonfield an eyesore, as it began to exhibit neglect and decay due to scarcity of funds for upkeep. Federal monies that previously went toward maintenance of public housing were channeled instead to homeownership, ensuring the abundance of Fannie Mae mortgages. Opposition to Liddonfield grew with the perception that its decline was ruining the image and beauty of Upper Holmesburg.

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Upper Holmesburg residents glad to see Liddonfield go 3


May4

Belongings and broken glass are all that remains of the families who once resided in the Liddonfield development. As part of a two-part series, NEast Philly goes inside two housing projects to examine what works, what doesnt and whats to come. In the first part, we take a look at the soon-to-bedemolished Liddonfield. No plans are set for the 32-acre site in Upper Holmesburg where construction crews will eventually demolish the 436-unit Liddonfield Homes, but many neighbors are breathing a sigh of relief at the public housing developments closure. They were saying for years they were going to close Liddonfield, and it never closed, Maria Asterga, whose parents immigrated to the United States from Cuba and moved across the street from the development in 1964, said. It was trouble and drugs. The cops came a lot. As a child, I was worried about walking up there.

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Asterga and her parents said rumors flew around the community since they moved there that the development, built as military barracks in the 40s and converted to public housing in the 50s, would be shut down. Until earlier this year, however, at least 174 families remained in the development, before the Philadelphia Housing Authority issued relocation notifications to them, when officials decided to close Liddonfield. PHA Executive General Manager for Operations Keith Caldwell said the process of moving families out of the development was ongoing for several years as a result of its costly and outdated plumbing, heating and electrical systems. Liddonfield was one of our older public housing developments, and it became functionally obsolete, Caldwell said. The cost of upkeep far exceeded the benefit. The decision was made we would relocated families and demolish the site. All the families fell under the Uniform Relocation Act [for relocation] to other developments within PHA or to be issued Housing Choice vouchers, formerly known as Section 8 vouchers. Watch the video for a peek inside the Liddonfield homes. He said the last family moved out of Liddonfield April 2 and that families issued Housing Choice vouchers had the option of moving into any Section 8 housing in the nation, adding that families were treated with dignity and respect during the process. Its a challenge for people who have lived there for most of their lives, if not all of their lives, to be told, You have to relocate, he said. And unfortunately, we have no other close development to Liddonfield other than our Hill Creek site [in Olney], because everyone wants to stay in the Northeast and they want to stay in PHA. No concrete plans were made to demolish or revamp Liddonfield until August 2006, when, according to a PHA press release, the agency received $3.5 million in funding from the state. That money was to go toward compiling the $94 million it would need to fund its then-planned project demolishing the old homes, filling 12 acres of the space with 225 brand-new PHA units and leaving the other 20 acres for private developers to build market-rate homes. That plan fell flat three months later, though, when PHA was denied $20 million in federal funding for the project, according to a Northeast Times article. The PHA website lists no information regarding the four-year halt on Liddonfields demolition. Caldwell said no concrete plans have been made for the site, denying rumors that Holy Family University, located several blocks north of the development, is eyeing the space for student housing. The video below is an audio slideshow featuring more photos from inside and outside Liddonfield.

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Jessica Spinosi, a mother of three young children who moved from Mayfair into a cul-de-sac across the street from Liddonfield a year ago, said she is glad to see the development shut down, but hesitant about what demolition might bring. All the mice and rats, Im not looking forward to that, she said. [But] Id rather have noise than violence. Like Asterga, Spinosi said she noticed issues with crime she related to the development. It wasnt so much the kids as the adults causing trouble. There was so much fighting and drug dealing, she said. [Some nights,] there were groups of people, not just one or two, but seven or 12, walking up and down the street. There was a hooker. As for crime issues, Caldwell said anytime PHA learned of problems in the development, agency authorities dealt with it properly, even evicting some families found to be associated with drug use or dealing. In an urban area like Philadelphia, where you have that kind of surroundings, youre always going to have some type of activity going on, Caldwell said. When that was brought to our attention we took the appropriate action, but not every crime or not every issue with drugs was associated with Liddonfield. He said because Liddonfield was an open development located just off Frankford Avenue, a major Philadelphia thoroughfare, it was easy to get to and from for outsiders who may have caused trouble around the development as well. There was always some issue with some neighbors that felt like the people there were a problem, he added. But we certainly did not move to relocate them because there was a problem. Morgan Zalot is a Temple University journalism student working with Philadelphia Neighborhoods, a class devoted to covering under-reported areas of Philadelphia. *This article is also viewable online at neastphilly.com.

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By the late 1980s crime was rampant in Liddonfield. In response to the July 1988 murders of two drug dealers a special meeting of the Liddonfield Tenants Council was called. Tensions were high during the meeting. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that desperate Residents of Liddonfield screamed with anger as they blamed lack of police diligence in quelling the drug trade within the project. (Philadelphia Inquirer, page 6, pub. 7/28/88.) In November of 1989 City Councilwoman Joan Krajewski invited 23 city officials to a discussion regarding the growing drug trade in Liddonfield. News reports indicated that 300 protestors showed up with signs decrying the housing projects severe drug problem. (Philadelphia Inquirer, page 3, pub. 11/15/1989.) Law abiding Liddonfield residents were in fear due to frequent shootings within the public housing development, particularly at night. Nearby homeowners were justifiably concerned for the safety of their families. By the dawn of the millennium, Liddonfields physical decline rendered it almost uninhabitable. Residents of the housing project complained of mold, broken pipes and lack of diligent maintenance by the Philadelphia Housing Authority. Liddonfield had outlived its original purpose, which was to provide safe and comfortable housing for low-income families. In 2011, sufficient funds were appropriated for the planned demolition of Liddonfield. The local press reported that homeowners near the housing project cheered its impending demise, an insensitive smite against Liddonfield residents, who endured the loss of public housing friends and neighbors after receiving notices to vacate. Those who lived there in days gone by were saddened at its passing. For the generations of families that benefitted from the safe and comfortable low-income housing it provided during its heyday, it was the place that held their most cherished childhood memories. Liddonfield existed for over half a century and had a major influence on Upper Holmesburgs landscape, citizenry, politics, schools and businesses through five decades, the terms of eleven U.S. presidents and the administrations of Mayors Joseph S. Clark, Jr., Richardson Dilworth, James Hugh Joseph Tate, Frank L. Rizzo, William J. Green III, W. Wilson Goode, Edward G. Rendell, John F. Street and Michael Nutter.

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SUMMARY

In making its decision regarding the placement of a marker at the former Liddonfield Housing Project site, the UHCA Board must consider the following:

1. The high turnout at UHCA meetings where the general public was invited over the years in regard to the subject of Liddonfield suggests that the housing project has for a long time been a matter of keen interest to the citizens of Upper Holmesburg and Northeast Philadelphia. The placement of a marker at the former Liddonfield site will sustain that interest indefinitely. 2. Liddonfields name has ties to abolitionist Abraham Liddon Pennock and the Liddonfield Railroad. A Liddonfield marker bearing such an inscription will arouse interest in 19th Century Holmesburg history. 3. Liddonfield Housing Project was a defining factor in the development of Upper Holmesburg. 4. Liddonfield had a significant influence on Upper Holmesburgs expansion and commercial growth. 5. Liddonfield existed for more than half a century, through eleven U.S. presidents and the administrations of Mayors Joseph S. Clark, Jr., Richardson Dilworth, James Hugh Joseph Tate, Frank L. Rizzo, William J. Green III, W. Wilson Goode, Edward G. Rendell, John F. Street and Michael Nutter. 6. The UHCA has been profoundly instrumental in the making of Liddonfield history through the decisions of its Board, its discussions of the housing project where the general public was invited, its information gathering, and sometimes its function as a catalyst for organized protest. Current and future public officials and civic leaders will want to know the actions the UHCA has taken in the wake of the Liddonfield controversy as a means to chart their own course in the creation of public policy. The placement of a Liddonfield marker is an important step in the establishment of a historical record.

____________________________ Rosemary Reeves, Founder PublicHousingStories.com

__________________________ Date Submitted

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