THE INTERPLAY OF HOUSING, EMPLOYMENT AND CIVIL RIGHTS IN THE EXPERIENCE OF SAN FRANCISCO’S AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY, 1945-1975 _________________________________________________________ A Dissertation Submitted to the Temple University Graduate Board __________________________________________________________ in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY __________________________________________________________ by Paul T. Miller August, 2008 iii © by Paul T. Miller 2008 All Rights Reserved iv ABSTRACT Title: An African-centered History of African Americans in San Francisco, 1945-1975 Candidate's Name: Paul T. Miller Degree: Doctor of Philosophy Temple University, 2008 Doctoral Advisory Committee Chair: Dr. Sonja Peterson-Lewis The war industries associated with World War II brought unparalleled employment opportunities for African Americans in California's port cities. Nowhere was this more evident than in San Francisco, a city whose African American population grew by over 650% between 1940 and 1945. With this population increase also came an increase in racial discrimination directed at African Americans, primarily in the employment and housing sectors. The situation would only get worse throughout the 1950s and 1960s as manufacturing jobs moved to the East Bay where race restrictive housing policies kept African Americans from moving with them. In San Francisco, most African Americans were effectively barred from renting or buying homes in all but a few neighborhoods, neighborhoods often characterized by dilapidated structures and over-crowded conditions. Except for the well educated and lucky, employment opportunities for African Americans were open only at or near entry levels for white collar positions or in unskilled v and semi-skilled blue collar positions. Despite such challenges, San Francisco's African American population nearly doubled between 1950 and 1960. This community would push hard against the doors of discrimination and find that with concerted effort they would give way. During the 1960s and 1970s, civil rights groups formed coalitions to picket and protest thereby effectively expanding job opportunities and opening the housing market for African American San Franciscans. This dissertation examines the challenges and exigencies of San Francisco's growing African American community from the end of World War II through 1975. It describes and explains obstacles and triumphs faced and achieved in areas such as housing, employment, education and civil rights. No scholarship presently available presents as detailed an examination of San Francisco's post-Industrial African American population as does this work. It is not however, meant as a comparative study among Bay Area cities but rather narrowly focused study examining San Francisco's African American population to the exclusion of other Bay Area cities with sizable African American populations such as Oakland, Berkeley or Richmond. This dissertation also adds to the body of scholarship about the intersection of race and geography as it relates to the post-Industrial African American experience. vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND DEDICATION Writing an acknowledgments and dedication page for a dissertation seems like a token that is far too little for those who really helped the work and the writer along. At the same time, knowing full well that few people will ever read this, it seems entirely self-indulgent and gratuitous. However, there are clearly some individuals without whose help this project would have never been completed and they deserve to be recognized. First, without the encouragement of and a firm shove from Dr. D. Philip McGee (1943-1999), I would have never gone to graduate school at all let alone considered African American Studies as a viable course of study for a small white boy from San Francisco. Although it has not been the smoothest of roads to say the least, I think Phil would have been proud that I stuck with it and finished. Here I acknowledge the debt I owe to the ancestors for it is their work before me that made it possible for me to reach this goal; but, it is clearly Dr. Phil McGee that is most responsible for my current path and subsequent achievements. Next, to the members of my committee, Drs. Peterson-Lewis, Okur and Sanders, I express my sincerest gratitude for your patience, understanding and encouragement. Dr. Peterson- Lewis has been a stalwart proponent of mine since I first entered the Master's program in African American Studies at vii Temple back in 1994. She challenged my assumptions, taught me the value of rigorous research and never let me settle for anything less than the very best effort I was capable of producing. More than any other single person at Temple, Dr. Peterson-Lewis has guided my professional development and taught me the value of staying true to myself, for that I cannot thank her enough. Dr. Okur has been a true friend in this process. She made it abundantly clear that the choices I made in graduate school were not only academic choices but political as well. Without her help this work would have never been completed. Dr. Sanders was a god-send. When no other professor in my own department would help me, Dr. Sanders read my proposal and added to my committee at the 11th hour even though it meant taking on more work for herself. Her comments were valuable and her willingness to step in and help me complete my dissertation will never be forgotten. I wish I had met Dr. Sanders much earlier, it would have both improved the quality of my scholarship and made the doctoral process much less political and more focused on the work itself. Dr. Grant Venerable deserves special mention. Grant has taught, advised and mentored me since I met him as an undergraduate at SF State in 1988. Over the course of 20 years he has provided me with much needed critiques of my work, written me countless letters of recommendation, counseled me in personal matters and served as the outside viii advisor to my dissertation. Dr. Venerable is one of very few people who, for whatever reason, made it a personal mission to see me succeed. He has always been there with positive input, constructive criticism, sobering evaluations of my work and a sincere belief that I am able to contribute meaningfully to the field of African American Studies. He has pushed long and hard to see me reach this goal and it is with an appreciation that words cannot express deeply enough that I thank him. As with any work that contains a component of ethnography, this dissertation relied on a group of people who were willing to give their time freely and tell their life stories so that this study would be more complete and ring true. I am grateful to Thomas Fleming, David Johnson, Dr. Daniel Collins and Gerald Johnson for their participation. Their contributions have made this work more valuable and compelling than it would have been without them. I also owe a debt of gratitude to SF-AAHCS librarian Mary Manning, now Library Director for the National Hispanic University in San Jose, for helping me locate archival materials as the library was under-going reorganization. Mary allowed me to comb through the archives at my own pace and even help with the reorganization despite my lack of formal library training. ix Finally to my friends and family who have supported me throughout, I could not have done this without you. There are too many of you to name and too many instances of kindness to recount here but know that I appreciate all you've done for me. However, I would be remiss if I did not specifically thank Greg DeAnda and Wendy Hutchinson. They opened their home to me, lent me their furniture, fed me and helped me make the best of a difficult situation. Their generosity and kindness is boundless--I would not have survived Philadelphia without them. I want to dedicate this work to a few very special people, people who have inspired me, challenged me and made me a better scholar and, I believe, a better person. Their contributions to my life both directly and indirectly influenced this work. They are: Dr. Phil McGee, Dr. Grant Venerable, Dr. Sonja Peterson-Lewis, Samuel Mark Hopkins, Penny Fong, Norine and Jack Miller and Marcus Wells, Jr. While "Mark" Hopkins and Phil McGee did not live to see this work completed, they certainly did inspire it. I hope that it would meet their high expectations and, perhaps more importantly, that it would make sense to them. I credit Dr. Peterson-Lewis with pushing me to become a better student and scholar. It is impossible to overstate the debt I owe here for taking over as the chair of my dissertation committee when she was already submerged with work. She has made many insightful and constructive suggestions along the x way and I truly appreciate her guidance while realizing that any errors in this work are solely my own. Grant has been a teacher, mentor and friend for over 15 years. He has offered me encouragement when I was down, criticism when I got too full of myself and even officiated my wedding. It is not hyperbole to note that I would not have made it this far without his help. It is commonly acknowledged that without family it is difficult to succeed. This is certainly true in my case. First, to my parents, Jack and Norine, thank-you for everything. When I decided to pursue African American Studies at the graduate level, although they may not have exactly understood why I wanted to do it, they encouraged my decision. When, at the last minute, I choose to attend Temple rather than Dartmouth, although it killed them, they supported my choice. When they showed up to see my apartment in Philadelphia they brought me shopping to make sure I had the things I needed, like a mattress.