When asked about Palumbo, L said she actually attended junior high at the building that now houses Palumbo. Back then, it was known as Charles E. Bartlett Junior High:
"I came out of there [Bartlett] in ‘68, I graduated from 9th grade in ‘68."
And y’all are from the neighborhood?
"Yes. And it was 7th through 9th grade. It was the junior high school. But the building, the condominium that’s right there on Fitzwater, that’s our elementary school. Nathaniel Hawthorne. And I went from kindergarten through 6th grade there."
And then when you went up, you went right across the street?
"Right. And then from there to high school. And it just shows you that down through the years everything has just changed so much."
"I came out of there [Bartlett] in ‘68, I graduated from 9th grade in ‘68."
And y’all are from the neighborhood?
"Yes. And it was 7th through 9th grade. It was the junior high school. But the building, the condominium that’s right there on Fitzwater, that’s our elementary school. Nathaniel Hawthorne. And I went from kindergarten through 6th grade there."
And then when you went up, you went right across the street?
"Right. And then from there to high school. And it just shows you that down through the years everything has just changed so much."
The second map, from the 1962 land use survey shows Hawthorne as it looked when L was attending Nathaniel Hawthorne Elementary, shown at the top center of the map. Bartlett, now Palumbo, is the square at the bottom, right of center. Present day Hawthorne park is a beautiful open space by South Philly standards, but, interestingly, is a fraction of the size it was in 1962. The original park was a massive L shape, running from 12th to Park Av. (now Juniper St.), and, on the west side, from Catherine all the way to Bainbridge. This was a colossal park.
Interestingly, the 1942 land use map shows no parks in this area, so sometime in that 20 year period was a massive public works initiative that replaced nearly two entire city blocks with open space.
Interestingly, the 1942 land use map shows no parks in this area, so sometime in that 20 year period was a massive public works initiative that replaced nearly two entire city blocks with open space.
Hawthorne park has since been filled back in with housing. Not only has Hawthorne Elementary been replaced with condominiums, as L mentioned, but the remaining park, now only 1/4 of a city block, is hedged in with newer town houses.
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L has lived through many of these dramatic changes in the neighborhood:
[Have you lived here your whole life?]
"Yeah, and that’s a whole lot of years! I was born and raised right here."
And how has this whole area changed through the course of that time, in your experience?
"Um, I mean, well to me, in the sense… Um… For the better, from one aspect, but personally speaking, a lot of what happened to me wasn’t fair on how it happened, you know, a lot of people lost their homes and, you know, those kind of things. But I mean, that’s the way… It is what it is at this point. The neighborhood is beautiful, I mean, everything is upgraded and all of that, but a lot of the newer neighbors, to me, it’s like, they don’t care about neighbors. When it was, you know, years ago, the neighbors were concerned about neighbors, we looked out for one another..."
So you think it’s lost, kind of, the sense of community that it once had?
"Oh yes. Oh yes, very much so. Very much so, from what I’m used to. And I been here all my life, and that’s like sixty some odd years. So right here in this immediate area is where… Yeah, I mean, yeah, the closeness is just not there."
L chose not to elaborate on the unfair things that happened to her and other members of the community who lost their homes.
[Have you lived here your whole life?]
"Yeah, and that’s a whole lot of years! I was born and raised right here."
And how has this whole area changed through the course of that time, in your experience?
"Um, I mean, well to me, in the sense… Um… For the better, from one aspect, but personally speaking, a lot of what happened to me wasn’t fair on how it happened, you know, a lot of people lost their homes and, you know, those kind of things. But I mean, that’s the way… It is what it is at this point. The neighborhood is beautiful, I mean, everything is upgraded and all of that, but a lot of the newer neighbors, to me, it’s like, they don’t care about neighbors. When it was, you know, years ago, the neighbors were concerned about neighbors, we looked out for one another..."
So you think it’s lost, kind of, the sense of community that it once had?
"Oh yes. Oh yes, very much so. Very much so, from what I’m used to. And I been here all my life, and that’s like sixty some odd years. So right here in this immediate area is where… Yeah, I mean, yeah, the closeness is just not there."
L chose not to elaborate on the unfair things that happened to her and other members of the community who lost their homes.
For full transcripts of the interview cited above, click below.
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