I'll look up Hetty Green this weekend. I don't know anything about the history of the Gage Park neighborhood, I guess I just figured it had always been there. I'm not even sure if our house was in the Gage Park neighborhood, maybe we were in the Elsdon neighborhood. I have read that Elsdon used to be a separate town that grew up around the old railroad station that was located where all those tracks running parallel to Lawndale Avenue crossed 51st Street. It appeared that 51st used to intersect with Pulaski, but it had been blocked off some time previous, and 51st kind of petered out and became a side street west of Kedzie. It seemed almost rural out there, but it was actually industrial land that wasn't being used for much and had been overgrown with tall grass and weeds. My buddy Jack and I and my two beagles used to chase rabbits all around there, but that's a whole nother story, which I'm sure I've told you before.
I thought I had also told you about my experiences with Blacks in Berlin, but maybe not. The army had been fully integrated long before I joined, I think Harry Truman did it shortly after World War II. It didn't bother me at the time, but some of the good old boys from the South weren't happy about it. They mumbled and grumbled amongst themselves, but I never saw them make a fuss in mixed company. I don't know what the percentage was during the six months I spent in training, but colored folks were pretty scarce in Berlin when I first got there. Rumor had it that was because Berlin was classified as a politically sensitive area and nobody who had any kind of police record was sent there. As Vietnam escalated, Berlin became less important on the world stage, and I suppose that restriction was lifted, if indeed it ever existed. For whatever reason, by the time I left, the Black population was approaching 50%.
Everybody got along pretty well at work but, now that I think about it, there wasn't much social mixing. They had their own bar downtown, actually it was a walled compound with a guard at the gate who wouldn't let any White males enter therein, but White females were more than welcome. I don't think anybody tried to keep the Blacks out of all the other bars but, for some reason, they seldom went to them. I never heard of any rules or laws dictating this stuff, I think it was just social custom. On post, there were two bars that were reserved for soldiers and their invited guests who had to be signed in at the gate. One was called the EM Club (enlisted men), and the other was the NCO Club (non-commissioned officers, which means sergeants). There must have also been an Officer's Club, but it wasn't in our compound. Blacks, Whites, and Hispanics mixed freely at these clubs, and nobody thought anything of it. I don't know why it was different downtown, it just was, and nobody questioned it.
In the early days, when the Black population was minimal, I'm guessing not over 10%, interracial friendships were not uncommon but, as the percentage went up, the Blacks started keeping to themselves more. I don't know why, nobody told them to do this, they just did it on their own. By the time I left, and the percentage was approaching 50%, tensions were starting to build. I heard later that, shortly after I went home, there was some kind of racial violence. I didn't get a lot of the details, at least I don't remember them if I did. I guess I got out of there just in time, like I got out of Chicago just in time. I didn't leave either place because of any racial issue, I didn't like it there for other reasons, which I'm sure I have already told you about.
Have a nice weekend.
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