Page 9 - Microsoft PowerPoint - Hidden History - DFW v2.pptx
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Throughout the ‘50s, there were at least 50 unsolved bombings in the neighborhood. It’s believed
that the Dallas Police Department and the Ku Klux Klan were involved. Dallas never pursued any
investigations or legal actions against the perpetrators. Not long after, the city came for them.
Dallas City Hall and the State Fair of Texas had teamed up to take land away from hundreds of black
homeowners in Fair Park. It was for “parking,” they claimed, but the real reason shows up in a 1966
report commissioned by the State Fair corporation. They wanted to get rid of the “poor Negroes in
shacks” so white fair‐goers wouldn’t feel unsafe or uncomfortable. “All that is required is to eliminate
the problem from sight,” the report states.
Jackson and the Fair Park homeowners notified the city that they would block the highly anticipated
Cotton Bowl Parade on national television with 600 protesters if the mayor did not meet with them.
Don reminds us that in 1970, Dallas was desperate to recreate its image in light of the JFK
assassination. An undefeated and top‐ranked Texas Longhorns team seeking consecutive national
championships was the perfect opportunity.
The mayor would meet with the Fair Park homeowners if Jackson called off his planned protest
scheduled for New Years Day, 1971. Although the black homeowners still lost their homes, they were
able to negotiate more money for their property than before the threat of a Cotton Bowl protest.
Deep Ellum Diversity
Deep Ellum, we were told, was the one area of town where blacks, Hispanics, and whites would
gather for shopping, music and entertainment. Famous blues musicians Bessie Smith, “Blind Lemon”
Jefferson, Huddie “Leadbelly” Ledbetter, Robert Johnson and Sam “Lightnin’” Hopkins played in the
clubs and cafés.
“Many of the Jewish merchants who lived on South Blvd. and surrounding neighborhoods owned a lot
of the business that were part of the Deep Ellum landscape,” Don told us. “Unlike the major
department stores of downtown Dallas, the Jewish merchants in Deep Ellum would actually let their
black clients try on their clothes in their stores. So you didn’t just have to purchase it and hope it fits.
You could actually try on clothes in Deep Ellum.”
Don noted the historical Knights of Pythias Temple, which is now being restored and converted into a
boutique hotel as part of a mixed‐use project that will house Uber. The building will be called The
Pittman Hotel, named after Texas’ first African American architect William Sidney Pittman — son‐in‐
law of Booker T. Washington — who designed the temple, the first commercial building in Dallas built
by and for black professionals. 9