A section of University City will now be called Black Bottom, again
The neighborhood formerly known as Black Bottom was demolished in the 1960s to build up the area around Penn and Drexel.
Philadelphia City Council voted Thursday to formally recognize Black Bottom, a predominantly Black neighborhood in West Philadelphia that was largely demolished in the 1960s to make room for a research park and other institutional development.
The resolution restores official recognition of a name that former residents have kept alive for decades, even as the area between 32nd and 40th Streets and University and Lancaster Avenues became known as University City. It also calls for future city communications and actions to acknowledge Black Bottom’s importance.
The resolution acknowledges that displaced residents were excluded from the prosperity the new development created. But it does not provide compensation or establish a way for families to return. Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, whose district includes Black Bottom, introduced the legislation and described the resolution as a first step. “We still have much more work to do,” she said in an email, “but this is an important milestone in repairing the harm that the City and others inflicted here.”
Black Bottom emerged during the Great Migration, when Black Southerners moved to Philadelphia in search of work and opportunity. By the mid-20th century, it was a thriving community of homes, businesses, theaters, and clubs. But after the passage of the 1949 Federal Housing Act, the city deemed the neighborhood blighted and used federal urban renewal funds to demolish it, clearing homes and businesses for projects backed by the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University. Thousands of Black residents were displaced as a result, forced to resettle in new parts of the city.
Those former residents and their descendants never forgot about Black Bottom, though. They have held annual reunions since 1974, while activists like Walter Palmer have spent decades documenting the neighborhood and organizing efforts to preserve its history.
A Black Bottom celebration and renaming ceremony will take place on Wednesday, Oct. 7, at the northwest corner of 36th and Market Streets.
