Parks, Golf, and Desegregation in Baltimore
>> Monday, March 30, 2009
Summary of: Separate but equal? Desegregating Baltimore’s golf courses. Wells et al. 2008.
The environmental justice literature connects patterns of inequity to the socio-political processes that create them, using spatial techniques, and importantly, a historical approach to uncover these processes. This article uses original minutes of Baltimore’s Board of Public Park Commissioners (BPPC) meetings, newspapers, and other historical sources to demonstrate the racial and ethnic struggles that shaped access to Carroll Park.
Seeking a park in southwestern Baltimore to complement the parks in other regions, the BPPC purchased the Mount Clare Estate from the heirs of Charles Carroll, as well as 20 surrounding acres. All former Carroll Family land was acquired by 1898, and Carroll Park was opened to the public that same year. While Charles Seybold, the park superintendent, envisioned a wide array of recreational facilities, his plans were never realized because the majority of funding was directed towards Druid Hill Park. As a result, much of the park had deteriorated and crime began to rise. The Olmsted Plan of 1904 reinforced the demands of men representing sporting clubs for police protection, more athletic facilities and better upkeep of existing services. One strip of land at the west, declared unsuitable by the BPPC, was sold to Montgomery Ward Company in 1924 for development. Charles Hook, Parks and Recreation Director, announced plans to build a 65 acre golf course on the remaining undeveloped property to allow urban golfers to exercise and get some fresh air. But the constructed Carroll Park golf course earned the reputation as the worst in Baltimore.
In the 1930s, the Monumental Golf Club of Baltimore, an African American organization led by Edward Lewis, began to campaign for access to golf courses. While all golf courses were previously white only, the BPPC began to allow African American golfers to play at Carroll Park. The Councilman representing the community southwest of Carroll Park threatened that his community would not support the mayor and the BPPC, and thus a compromise was reached in which whites and African American golfers were given privileges to Carroll park on split days. In an effort to force integration, the National Association For the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) targeting the wallets of those who promoted segregation by seeking to improving the quality of the facilities and schools to a level equal to white golf courses. Since attempts to desegregate all golf courses were met with strong resistance from Baltimore citizens, attorney Dallas Nicholas of the Monumental Golf Club engaged himself in a legal struggle for the improvement of the Carroll Park golf courses seeking renovation of facilities. Charles Law continued this campaign in 1947 by arguing that 9 holes are not equal to one. This political struggle was successful in returning to a gradual desegregation scheme. With petitions for additional time for African American golfers, and further threats of legal action, desegregation rules were finally relaxed. With Brown vs. Board of Education in 1953, the full desegregation of parks followed in 1955.
While the reaction to these changes was initially negative, racial tensions subsided, though partially due to “white flight”. The present arrangement of parks, now favoring African Americans in terms of walking distance to parks in Baltimore, was the product of legal struggles, demonstrating the importance of human agency in generating uneven access to environmental amenities and disamenities.
The environmental justice literature connects patterns of inequity to the socio-political processes that create them, using spatial techniques, and importantly, a historical approach to uncover these processes. This article uses original minutes of Baltimore’s Board of Public Park Commissioners (BPPC) meetings, newspapers, and other historical sources to demonstrate the racial and ethnic struggles that shaped access to Carroll Park.
Seeking a park in southwestern Baltimore to complement the parks in other regions, the BPPC purchased the Mount Clare Estate from the heirs of Charles Carroll, as well as 20 surrounding acres. All former Carroll Family land was acquired by 1898, and Carroll Park was opened to the public that same year. While Charles Seybold, the park superintendent, envisioned a wide array of recreational facilities, his plans were never realized because the majority of funding was directed towards Druid Hill Park. As a result, much of the park had deteriorated and crime began to rise. The Olmsted Plan of 1904 reinforced the demands of men representing sporting clubs for police protection, more athletic facilities and better upkeep of existing services. One strip of land at the west, declared unsuitable by the BPPC, was sold to Montgomery Ward Company in 1924 for development. Charles Hook, Parks and Recreation Director, announced plans to build a 65 acre golf course on the remaining undeveloped property to allow urban golfers to exercise and get some fresh air. But the constructed Carroll Park golf course earned the reputation as the worst in Baltimore.
In the 1930s, the Monumental Golf Club of Baltimore, an African American organization led by Edward Lewis, began to campaign for access to golf courses. While all golf courses were previously white only, the BPPC began to allow African American golfers to play at Carroll Park. The Councilman representing the community southwest of Carroll Park threatened that his community would not support the mayor and the BPPC, and thus a compromise was reached in which whites and African American golfers were given privileges to Carroll park on split days. In an effort to force integration, the National Association For the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) targeting the wallets of those who promoted segregation by seeking to improving the quality of the facilities and schools to a level equal to white golf courses. Since attempts to desegregate all golf courses were met with strong resistance from Baltimore citizens, attorney Dallas Nicholas of the Monumental Golf Club engaged himself in a legal struggle for the improvement of the Carroll Park golf courses seeking renovation of facilities. Charles Law continued this campaign in 1947 by arguing that 9 holes are not equal to one. This political struggle was successful in returning to a gradual desegregation scheme. With petitions for additional time for African American golfers, and further threats of legal action, desegregation rules were finally relaxed. With Brown vs. Board of Education in 1953, the full desegregation of parks followed in 1955.
While the reaction to these changes was initially negative, racial tensions subsided, though partially due to “white flight”. The present arrangement of parks, now favoring African Americans in terms of walking distance to parks in Baltimore, was the product of legal struggles, demonstrating the importance of human agency in generating uneven access to environmental amenities and disamenities.
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