I have been in the news, lately, with my new friend Gayle Jones. Links to the news reports – both print and television – are included at the end of this article.
On January 29 of this year, I delivered a sermon[1]
which used as an illustration church members Melvin and Thyra Bonds who in 1965 had sued the city of
Webster Groves for having changed the zoning around their home from residential
to light industrial. The lawsuit ended in 1968 when, after losing on appeal,
the Bondses were denied any further appeal or a transfer of the case to the
state Supreme Court.
Learning a few weeks after delivering the sermon that the Bondses’ daughter Gayle Jones lives in her childhood home, I sent Gayle a letter along with a copy of my sermon. Shortly afterward, she and I determined that we would seek a protected status for her home, for a number of reasons of historic import:
- First and foremost, her home was the demonstration model of a 13-unit development called “Marvin Court,” which had been conceived by Bennie Gordon, Jr., in 1955 and marketed specifically to middle-class African Americans in 1956;
- Mr. Gordon did this at a time when Webster Groves had was seeking to restore and revitalize areas historically owned and occupied by its Black population (North Webster / Webster Heights);
- In 1957, white neighbors literally said, “Not in my back yard,” in some cases selling their homes that adjoined the development, and threatened Roosevelt Federal Savings & Loan, the lender for the project, with boycott. This caused the financial institution to withdraw its funding going forward and scuttled any further hope for the development; and
- In 1964, in pursuit of an Urban Renewal Plan established by the city’s Land Clearance for Reclamation Authority in 1960 (shortly after annexing Webster Heights), the City Council rezoned all 13 acres adjoining the Bonds home to the west and the north, including land platted for the Marvin Court development (Bennie Gordon’s Subdivision);
- Gayle and I wanted to prevent the possible future purchase of the home by an adjoining business and its subsequent rezoning to match properties around it; and, finally,
- We hoped to affirm her parents’ courage and Bennie Gordon’s vision.
My personal opinion is that this recognition ought to be just the "tip of the iceberg" along the way toward restorative justice for the residents of an historic neighborhood replaced for the most part by an industrial park... All of those whose homes were cleared away by the City in the name of urban renewal deserve to have their stories told and historic wrongs reversed in their favor. There will be more to come.
LINKS THAT TELL THE STORY
My Testimony at Oct 11 Historic Preservation Commission Meeting
Webster-Kirkwood Times – Nov 16, 2023 – https://www.timesnewspapers.com/webster-kirkwoodtimes/the-hidden-history-of-webster-groves-15-marvin-court/article_59ac84a8-7f08-11ee-a5d2-0b9c7719e715.html
KMOV – Nov 7, 2023 – https://www.kmov.com/2023/11/08/should-bring-shame-us-city-webster-groves-takes-first-steps-correcting-mid-20th-century-racial-wrongdoing/
KMOV – Oct 18, 2023 – https://www.kmov.com/video/2023/10/18/webster-groves-home-clears-first-hurdle-becoming-historic-site-after-racist-past/
KTVI – Oct 11, 2023 – https://fox2now.com/news/missouri/webster-groves-woman-continues-parents-fight-to-get-historic-status-for-home/
[1] Read the
sermon at https://pastordavedenoon.blogspot.com/2023/11/balancing-act.html
or view it at https://youtu.be/NBKFmN45maA?si=Yrf9cV4ssk0bNKDh&t=1478
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