Artist Research: Selden Richardson

Author Selden Richardson is a native of Richmond and serves as the President of the Board of A.C.O.R.N., the Alliance to Conserve Old Richmond Neighborhoods. He received a Master's degree in Architectural History from VCU, and has an undergraduate degree in history. Mr. Richardson's book "Built by Blacks", which was published in 2006 and is currently in it's second edition, is a comprehensive history of Richmond's black neighborhoods and architecture. The book begins with the origins of the slave trade in the Shockoe Bottom District, and gives detailed accounts of what the jail's, auction houses and slave quarters looked like in the city. The book also reveals the hardships that black communities and churches struggled through during the Jim Crow Era of the 20's and 30's, up through the Civil Rights Movement of the 1970's. Many of the stories in this book seem unbelievable, particularly the story of a community that almost didn't survive, called "Westwood". Westwood is a small neighborhood in Richmond's West End. It's origins date back to the late 1800's when a community of former slaves who lived in the West End, inherited land after emancipation through it's transference to the Westwood Colored Baptist Church. This small and close-knit community, which was completely surrounded by white residents, became isolated and self-sufficient with it's own store, church and school. Westwood's small, two room schoolhouse, served the community for several years before it was closed in 1948. Black students then had to be bussed twenty minutes away to the Carver School even though the nearby Westhampton School for white children could literally be seen from Westwood homes. In the years that were to follow one attack after another was made upon the community in an effort to force them to vacate by the surrounding white residents. After it's annexation into the city the withholding of essential public services such as water and sewage began. Many of the wells that served Westwood citizens were condemned and in 1945 two hundred of it's citizens were forced to walk to a pump at the corner of (today) Willow Lawn Dr. and Patterson Avenue for all of their drinking water. Wait a minute, let's go over that one more time because every time I read this story it becomes more difficult for me to believe. So, 62 years ago in 1945, in our community two hundred tax paying law abiding families were denied the right to water and sewage in their homes and had to walk to a pump if they wanted a glass of water. What? I'm sure that someone at my school has grandparents who remember when this happened however, had I not read this book I never would have known about it. At the same time that this was going on taxes were increased so the community was paying more money to live in houses where basic public services had been denied. When the Health Director requested that sanitary living conditions be extended to Westwood, the Board of Aldermen members expressed their fear that providing city water and sewage would "be followed by enlargement of the Negro settlement". Conditions remained the same for 53 out of 65 homes until April of 1947. During these same years however, Westwood citizens faced another danger when several West End community associations supported a proposal to demolish the homes for the purpose of creating a community park. The residents in favor of the proposal stated that not only was there much need for a park in the area, but that it "would result in the greatest good for the greatest number". Once again, I have to remove myself from what I know of Richmond in 2007 and try to imagine the West End in 1945. There was no Target, no Barnes and Noble or Ritz Camera. What is currently littered with strip malls and fast food places was a couple of houses and big open plots of land. There were plenty of locations where a public park could been established without having to bulldoze and entire community. Citizens who opposed the park proposal stated that Westwood citizens would have nowhere to go if their houses were destroyed. To this the Civic Associations attorney L. Gleason Gianniny replied "There are hundreds of places for them to go". His suggestion was the areas south of Cary and east of Meadow St.