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Registering History
Subdivision developments are rarely recognized as historic places, but that's
exactly what a group of residents and activists are aiming for in adding Pontchartrain
Park, a planned subdivision created in the 1950s for upper- and middle-class African
Americans, to the National Register of Historic Places.
The area, which is bounded by Press Drive,
Dreaux Avenue and Mithra Street and houses Southern University at New Orleans
(SUNO), was established in part by philanthropic efforts of local white families
including the Rosenwalds, Kellers and Sterns with support from Mayor deLesseps
S. "Chep" Morrison. In 1954, models of the homes to be sold were advertised
in the black community, for people whose housing options were limited under
Jim Crow. "[The neighborhood] attracted many African-American families that
were looking to move out from the urban areas and avoid all the crime and problems,
but weren't allowed to move to white suburbs," says Dr. Ernestine Bennett-Johnson,
an author and academic that's lived in Pontchartain Park her entire life. "These
people were professionals -- doctors, lawyers, bankers, teachers -- who wanted
to live in a quiet, safe place and share the same values as their neighbors."
Bennett-Johnson considers her neighborhood,
with its tidy ranch homes and well-landscaped lawns, historically significant
as a model for a development that was the first of its kind in Louisiana and
later spread to other areas afflicted by segregation. Pontchartrain Park has
produced many noted local figures, including Marc Morial and Eddie
Jordan.
To celebrate the area's unique past and present,
as well as to gain momentum in the effort to have it added to the National Register
of Historic Places, a reception will be held at 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 10, at SUNO's
Multi-Purpose Building (6400 Press Dr.). Residents and former residents are
invited to bring any 1950s-era memorabilia, maps, pictures and other sorts of
documentation, along with memories and stories to be taped. Collected material
will be sent to the National Register of Historic Places for assessment. For
more info, call 288-5840 or email Bennett_Johnson@hotmail.com.
-- Frank Etheridge
Meeting
at the Masjid
Once again, the government is telling you what most people know by walking down
their street -- people are hurting, financially.
Last week, the U.S. Census Bureau announced
that the nation's official poverty rate rose from 11.7 percent in 2001 to 12.1
percent in 2002. Four out of 10 of those poor people live in the South, the
poorest part of the nation. In Louisiana, the poverty rate is a third higher
than the United States as a whole. Over the past three years, 17.9 percent --
nearly one in five people -- have been poor in this state. That's basically
a tie for highest poverty rate in the nation with Arkansas, where the poverty
rate officially stands at 18 percent.
So what better time to circle the date Oct.
17, the annual celebration of "the International Day for the Eradication of
Poverty"? This year, from 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Masjid ur-Rahim (1238 N.
Johnson St., just off Esplanade Avenue), people will get together to eat, listen
to music, discuss and -- for the kids -- play games around the theme "To Imagine
a World Without Poverty is to Imagine a World at Peace." The event is sponsored
by the masjid's Muslim community and local poverty-focused groups such as the
Fourth World Movement, Pax Christi, and the Money Management Advocacy Council
Icon.
The idea of such a day began in Paris on Oct.
17, 1987, when Father Joseph Wresinki, founder of the Fourth World Movement,
unveiled a commemorative stone honoring the Victims of Extreme Poverty. In 1992,
the United Nations' general assembly adopted a resolution and made an official
day to be recognized worldwide.
Volunteer Leon Rudloff quotes Martin
Luther King about why it's important to participate: "The well-off and secure
have too often become indifferent and oblivious to the poverty and deprivation
in our midst. No individual or nation can be great if it does not have a concern
for the 'least of these.'" -- Katy Reckdahl
It Takes a Village
Fittingly enough, the Idea Village began with an idea. The local nonprofit blossomed
from conversations over cocktails within a group of young professionals that
met Thursday evenings in the International House's Loa Bar. The group eventually
formed under the moniker The Loa Group that in 2000 held a business-plan competition
with 75 entrepreneurs competing for almost $150,000 in cash and professional
services.
"The Idea Village is a community for entrepreneurs
and those who believe in them," says Ellie Rand, a marketing consultant
with the group. "We build businesses, working with entrepreneurs that are thinking
about starting a business, actually starting a business, or looking to grow
their company."
The Idea Village's principal goal is to foster
economic development in New Orleans, a focus personal to its two founders, president
Tim Williamson and chief operating officer Allen Bell, both natives
who returned home after living in cities with more robust economies. The Idea
Village offers free membership and assistance that ranges anywhere from linking
a client to a tax attorney -- out of its pool of professional members, many
of whom donate their services pro bono -- to pitching ideas to investors to
conducting months of intensive research for development of a business model.
"Not to sound too bold, but we've been successful
in elevating entrepreneurship to the top in the local discussion of economic
development," Rand says, citing local and state government partnerships and
initiatives. "This isn't about just passing around business cards at a party.
It's about working together in professional partnerships to build businesses."
The Idea Village will hold a fundraiser and
membership drive Friday, Oct. 10, at the W Hotel (333 Poydras St.). A patron
party begins at 6:30 p.m., the main event follows at 8 p.m. and includes food,
drinks and live music from a band featuring Sir Earl Toon of Kool & the
Gang, Willie Tee and more. Tickets to the event are $75 per person or
$1,500 for a table for eight; $300 for the patron party. For more info, call
304-3284 or visit www.ideavillage.org.
-- Etheridge
Other Stories This Week in News & Views:
Commentary
Share the Road
News Feature
Offsetting Penalties
Bouquets & Brickbats
The Best and the Worst of the Week
Politics
How to Handle A Woman?
Letters to the Editor
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