[ebooks] Highlands by Dr. Randolph Preston Shaffner at Arts-Photography

Description

With the migration of African American sharecroppers to northern cities in the first half of the 20th century; the African American population of Milwaukee grew from fewer than 1;000 in 1900 to nearly 22;000 by 1950. Most settled around a 12-block area along Walnut Street that came to be known as Milwaukee�s Bronzeville; a thriving residential; business; and entertainment community. Barbershops; restaurants; drugstores; and funeral homes were started with a little money saved from overtime pay at factory jobs or extra domestic work taken on by the women. Exotic nightclubs; taverns; and restaurants attracted a racially mixed clientele; and daytime social clubs sponsored �matinees� that were dress-up events featuring local bands catering to neighborhood residents. Bronzeville is remembered by African American elders as a good place to grow up�times were hard; but the community was tight.