Call Number:

879

Repository:

Temple University Libraries: Special Collections Research Center

Extent:

2.5 linear feet (5 boxes)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Ogontz Area Neighbors Association (Philadelphia, Pa.), Accession 879, Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Date:

1959-1998 (inclusive)

Creator:

Ogontz Area Neighbors Association (Philadelphia, Pa.)

Form:

Administrative records, Articles of Incorporation, Bylaws (administrative records), Clippings, Correspondence, Ephemera, Financial records, Mailing lists, Manuscripts, Minutes (administrative records), Photographs, Publications (documents), and Reports

Abstract:

The Ogontz Area Neighbors Association (OANA) was organized in November 1959 following a meeting between David and Florence Cohen, who had recently moved into the area, and the City of Philadelphia's Commission on Human Relations. The objectives of OANA were to preserve the multicultural character of the neighborhood, maintain high residential standards, and improve the educational, recreational, and cultural facilities for all residents. The boundaries of the neighborhood represented by OANA are from Ogontz Avenue to Broad Street and Olney Avenue to Chelten Avenue in North Philadelphia. Members of OANA paid dues, which covered the cost of leaflets, pamphlets, postage for mass mailings, scholarships for local students, buses to attend hearings, and other expenses. Florence Cohen became the organization's principal leader, serving as Chairman. Kelly Miller served as OANA President from 1965 until 1966. In 1966 Miller became President of the newly formed Citizens against Segregated Schools, an organization dedicated to citywide school integration. Although Vice President, Florence reemerged as the organization's chief spokesperson. In 1963 OANA wages an unsuccessful campaign to have Cohen elected to the Board of Public Education.

The concerns that the organization addressed included zoning issues, the appearance and overall maintenance of the area, school integration, and the goal of equal education for all students. In 1961 OANA successfully pressured the Board of Education to adjust the neighborhood boundaries and transfer African-American students from the Joseph Pennell elementary school to the Kinsey school, effectively integrating the two. Throughout the 1960s the OANA campaigned for the integration and improvement of the Philadelphia public schools, lobbying school officials, testifying before the Board of Education and City Council, and organizing demonstrations to advance their demands. The specific changes sought by the OANA for local schools included the hiring of a crossing guard to protect children attending the Howe elementary school; the building of a new gym and auditorium at the Howe school; and the hiring of additional staff, the creation of an after school enrichment program, and the renovation of the building, at the Pennell school.

In keeping with their emphasis on youth and education, OANA created a scholarship fund, awarding scholarships to area high school students entering Temple University. In 1967, they succeeded in opening Girl's High for evening adult classes and established a Family Center and a boys gym program at the Pennell School. OANA promoted summer youth programs at Kemble Park, established in 1957, two years before OANA was officially organized, and that continued to be a neighborhood project well into the 1980s. OANA also fought for better lighting and the creation of a mini-playground at Kemble Park. They prepared a statement for the City Council Hearings on Appropriations for the Morris Estate, lobbying the City for more acreage to be set aside for a community park and the continuation of a summer arts camp established in 1960.

OANA took action based on Senate Bill 612, allowing for a junior college in Philadelphia and Senate Bill 138, establishing community colleges in Pennsylvania. They lobbied and petitioned Mayor James H. Tate, Pennsylvania senators, and Governor Bill Scranton, working along with the Philadelphia Fellowship Commission. Due to their combined efforts the Philadelphia Community College opened in 1965.

OANA also fought against housing discrimination. They issued statements to neighbors on how to deal with real estate agents pressuring them to sell their homes and worked closely with the City's Committee on Human Relations. Beginning in 1967, they began protesting and petitioning the City against liquor licenses and beer distributorships, which they feared would lead to the decay of their neighborhood. That year, the Federation of Community Councils awarded OANA for "Outstanding Service to Community."

By 1980, OANA won another zoning battle against the construction of a building on Kemble Park. Due to their efforts, the park was renamed, by City Council Bill 1636, the Fanny Kemble Abolitionist Memorial Park. On October 5, 1985, a ceremony dedicated a plaque to all of the Philadelphia abolitionists who worked against slavery. OANA's protests and petitions concerning zoning continued through the 1980s, upgrading their area's zoning from C-2 Commercial, preventing increased commercialization, and from R-9 Residential to R-9A Residential, preventing multiple dwellings. OANA won almost every case placed before zoning board. Their last protest was against Hoagie City in 1992.

For over twenty-five years, OANA lobbied for a Branch Library in Ogontz. After obtaining 1500 signatures, the City included plans for an Ogontz Library in the budget and, in 1986, announced its future site would be the Old Ogontz Theater on Ogontz Avenue. However, not until after OANA organized a demonstration at the proposed site in 1994 did the groundbreaking finally occur.

This collection documents the activities of the Ogontz Area Neighbors Association was its campaign for the integration and improvement of the Philadelphia public schools. More than one third of the collection is comprised of the subseries 3.21, "Integration of Schools," which documents their campaign for school integration and reflecting the centrality of school integration to the organization. Over half of the subseries concerns the organization's protests and lobbying on behalf of the Pennell school.

The collection also provides extensive documentation of the organization's other campaigns, including those for summer youth programs, maintenance and improvement of local parks, and opposition to the establishment of a McDonald's and other businesses viewed as potential community nuisances. Diverse sources document the organization's diverse tactics, including numerous polite but firm letters, mostly from Florence Cohen, to city and school officials; calls for community meetings and other flyers, revealing the face the organization presented to the community; newspaper articles, indicating the organization's ability to attract public attention; and public testimony and policy statements defining the organization's outlook. Letters of complaints from members of the community, with the responses of OANA and the city government's responses, indicate the dynamic between the neighborhood, OANA, and the city. Newspaper articles and other sources indicate the success OANA achieved in many of its campaigns, particularly on zoning issues.

The collection is arranged into 8 series as follows:

• Series 1: Administration, 1960-1998
• Series 2: Correspondence, 1959-1980
• Subseries 2.1: General Correspondence, 1960-1969
• Subseries 2.2: Mrs. Cohen, 1959-1980
• Subseries 2.3: Correspondence of Kelly Miller, 1964-1970
• Subseries 2.4: Hate Mail, undated
• Series 3: Projects, 1957-1992, bulk 1960s
• Subseries 3.1: Crime Prevention, 1964-1970
• Subseries 3.2: Family Career Conference, 1963
• Subseries 3.3: Girls' High Adult School, 1961-1963
• Subseries 3.4: Housing Discrimination, 1958-1986
• Subseries 3.5: Kemble Park Apartments, 1968
• Subseries 3.6: LaSalle College Program, 1962-1966
• Subseries 3.7: Library, 1963, 1985
• Subseries 3.8: Parks and Recreation, 1960-1995
• Sub-subseries 3.8.1: Parks and Recreation, 1962-1968
• Sub-subseries 3.8.2: Kemble Park, 1978-1995
• Sub-subseries 3.8.3: Morris Estate, 1960-1968
• Sub-subseries 3.8.4: Pennell School, 1964-1965
• Subseries 3.9: Philadelphia Community College, 1961-1963
• Subseries 3.10: Campaign against McDonald's, 1969-1970
• Subseries 3.11: School Board Campaign, 1963-1969
• Subseries 3.12: Integration of Schools, 1965-1966
• Sub-subseries 3.12.1: Integration of Schools General, 1960-1979
• Sub-subseries 3.12.2: Integration of Schools, Pennell School, 1960-1979
• Subseries 3.13: Petitions and Protests, 1960-1992
• Subseries 3.14: Zoning, 1957-1992
• Subseries 3.15: Undated Petitions
• Series 4: Scrapbooks and Clippings, 1960-1969
• Series 5: Certificates and Awards, 1961-1984
• Series 6: Photographs, 1969
• Series 7: Publicity, 1961-1978
• Series 8: Publications