Avondale, Cincinnati, Ohio
Encyclopedia
Avondale is a neighborhood in Cincinnati, Hamilton County
, Ohio
. It is home to the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden
. It has 18,706 residents, making it Cincinnati's fourth largest neighborhood.
92 percent of the Avondale residents are African-american and more than 40 percent are living at or below the poverty level. More than 77 percent rent housing. Two Cincinnati race riots began in Avondale in 1967 and 1968, which were part of the larger Civil Rights and Black Power
movements in the United States
. The neighborhood is bordered by North Avondale, Evanston
, Walnut Hills, Corryville, and Clifton.
.
Between the 1870s and 1890s, the community was plagued by burglaries, vagrants, public drunkenness, and brawling. Avondale was annexed by the City of Cincinnati in 1896, and the improved police and fire protection that Cincinnati provided significantly reduced Avondale's crime problem and made it a safer, more pleasant place to live. After streetcar
lines were laid less affluent residents settled in the neighborhood; from 1920 until after World War II
, 60% of Avondale was Jewish. It remained a mostly white neighborhood until the construction of the Millcreek Expressway in the 1940s, which displaced residents from the black West End neighborhood. At that time realtors only "permitted" blacks to move into neighborhoods which already had a black population, and Avondale had had black residents since the mid-nineteenth century.
After poor blacks began relocating to Avondale, it split into two increasingly distinct and separate North and South neighborhoods. The residents of North Avondale were able to maintain the value of their property and the character of their streets. The rest of Avondale became known for its rising crime rate, falling land values, and deteriorating housing. Absentee landlords neglected their properties and tenants often abused the buildings. By 1956, the city identified Avondale as blighted and tried to rehabilitate it, but the work from 1965 and 1975 benefited institutions such as the University of Cincinnati
and nearby hospitals, not the residents. The city promised to improve housing, but widespread demolition for street improvements, parking, and institutional expansion reduced housing stock.
that swept major cities in the United States that summer. In May of 1967 Posteal Laskey Jr. was convicted as the Cincinnati Strangler
. Laskey was a black man accused of raping and murdering six white women, and the conviction was considered controversial. On June 11 Peter Frakes, Laskey's cousin, picketed with a sign that read, "Cincinnati Guilty-Laskey Innocent!" Frakes was arrested by police for blocking the sidewalk. Incensed black leaders held a protest meeting on June 12 at the Abraham Lincoln statue on the corner of Reading and Rockdale Roads. At some point the protest got out of hand.
In Avondale, a thousand rioters smashed, looted and attacked cars, buildings and stores. A witness reported, "there's not a window left on Reading Road or Burnett Avenue. The youths are doing it and adults are standing by and laughing. All ages are active. Women could be seen carrying babies." The rioting spread from Avondale to Bond Hill, Winton Terrace, Walnut Hills, Corryville, Clifton, West End, and Downtown
. A white 15 year old boy was critically wounded in front of a fire station that was being fired upon by a car of black rioters. According to an Avondale resident, rioting was over constant police harassment, lack of jobs, and shopkeepers "jacking up prices and selling bad products."
Governor James A. Rhodes ordered 700 Ohio National Guardsmen
into Cincinnati to stop the rioting. The National Guard patrolled the streets in jeeps, armed with machine guns. They were ordered to kill if they were fired upon, but the rioters avoided the Guardsmen. By June 15, when the riot had been contained, one person was dead, 63 injured, 404 had been arrested, and the city had suffered $2 million in property damage.
The day before the riots began Martin Luther King Jr. visited Cincinnati and preached at the Zion Baptist Church in Avondale.
An officer of the Congress of Racial Equality
blamed white Americans for King's death and urged the crowd to retaliate. The crowd was orderly when it left the memorial and spilled out into the street. Nearby James Smith, a black man, attempted to protect a jewelry store from a robbery with his own shotgun. During the struggle with the robbers, also black, Smith accidentally shot and killed his wife.
Rioting started after a false rumor was spread in the crowd that Smith's wife was actually killed by a white police officer. Rioters smashed store windows and looted merchandise. More than 70 fires had been set, several of them major. During the rioting eight young African Americans dragged a white student, Noel Wright, and his wife from their car in Mount Auburn. Wright was stabbed to death and his wife was beaten.
The next night, the city was put under curfew, and nearly 1,500 National Guardsmen were brought in to subdue the violence. Several days after the riot started, two people were dead, hundreds were arrested, and the city had suffered $3 million in property damage.
" to the suburbs. Between 1960 and 1970 the city of Cincinnati lost 10% of its population, compared to a loss of just 0.3% from 1950 to 1960. Cincinnati would continue to lose residents every decade afterwards. Many of the neighborhoods around Avondale experienced steep urban decline, including Avondale itself, which has never recovered from the riots.
The short-term destructive nature of the riots led to decades-long negative consequences for Cincinnati's black neighborhoods as poor black residents were further removed from regions of prosperity and safety. However, after the riots African-Americans were appointed to city boards and commissions—in 1967 all 69 members were white.
Hamilton County, Ohio
As of 2000, there were 845,303 people, 346,790 households, and 212,582 families residing in the county. The population density was 2,075 people per square mile . There were 373,393 housing units at an average density of 917 per square mile...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
. It is home to the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden
Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden
The Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden is the second-oldest zoo in the United States and is located in Cincinnati, Ohio. It opened in 1875, just 14 months after the Philadelphia Zoo on July 1, 1874. The Reptile House is the oldest zoo building in the United States, dating from 1875.The Cincinnati...
. It has 18,706 residents, making it Cincinnati's fourth largest neighborhood.
92 percent of the Avondale residents are African-american and more than 40 percent are living at or below the poverty level. More than 77 percent rent housing. Two Cincinnati race riots began in Avondale in 1967 and 1968, which were part of the larger Civil Rights and Black Power
Black Power
Black Power is a political slogan and a name for various associated ideologies. It is used in the movement among people of Black African descent throughout the world, though primarily by African Americans in the United States...
movements in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The neighborhood is bordered by North Avondale, Evanston
Evanston, Cincinnati
Evanston, Ohio is a neighborhood in the city of Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio, United States. A mostly African American neighborhood since the 1960s, it's known as the birthplace of actress Doris Day, and is bordered by the neighborhoods of East Walnut Hills, Hyde Park, North Avondale, and...
, Walnut Hills, Corryville, and Clifton.
History
During the 19th century Avondale was a rural suburb. Its residents were mostly white Protestants of the merchant class with English or German ancestry. It is claimed that the wife of Stephen Burton, a wealthy ironworks owner, began calling the area Avondale in 1853 after she saw a resemblance between the stream behind her house and the Avon River in EnglandEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Between the 1870s and 1890s, the community was plagued by burglaries, vagrants, public drunkenness, and brawling. Avondale was annexed by the City of Cincinnati in 1896, and the improved police and fire protection that Cincinnati provided significantly reduced Avondale's crime problem and made it a safer, more pleasant place to live. After streetcar
Cincinnati streetcars
Cincinnati streetcars were the main form of public transportation in Cincinnati, Ohio at the turn of the twentieth century. The original streetcar system was dismantled in 1951....
lines were laid less affluent residents settled in the neighborhood; from 1920 until after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, 60% of Avondale was Jewish. It remained a mostly white neighborhood until the construction of the Millcreek Expressway in the 1940s, which displaced residents from the black West End neighborhood. At that time realtors only "permitted" blacks to move into neighborhoods which already had a black population, and Avondale had had black residents since the mid-nineteenth century.
After poor blacks began relocating to Avondale, it split into two increasingly distinct and separate North and South neighborhoods. The residents of North Avondale were able to maintain the value of their property and the character of their streets. The rest of Avondale became known for its rising crime rate, falling land values, and deteriorating housing. Absentee landlords neglected their properties and tenants often abused the buildings. By 1956, the city identified Avondale as blighted and tried to rehabilitate it, but the work from 1965 and 1975 benefited institutions such as the University of Cincinnati
University of Cincinnati
The University of Cincinnati is a comprehensive public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, and a part of the University System of Ohio....
and nearby hospitals, not the residents. The city promised to improve housing, but widespread demolition for street improvements, parking, and institutional expansion reduced housing stock.
Riots of 1967
The 1967 riots began on June 12 and lasted several days. They were just one of 159 race riotsLong Hot Summer of 1967
The "long hot summer" refers to the summer of 1967, which began a year in which 159 race riots erupted across the United States.In June in there were riots in Atlanta, Boston, and Cincinnati, as well as the Buffalo riot in , and a riot in Tampa, Florida.In July there were riots in Birmingham,...
that swept major cities in the United States that summer. In May of 1967 Posteal Laskey Jr. was convicted as the Cincinnati Strangler
Cincinnati Strangler
The Cincinnati Strangler was the name given to a serial killer who raped, then strangled seven mostly elderly women in Cincinnati, Ohio between 1965 and 1966...
. Laskey was a black man accused of raping and murdering six white women, and the conviction was considered controversial. On June 11 Peter Frakes, Laskey's cousin, picketed with a sign that read, "Cincinnati Guilty-Laskey Innocent!" Frakes was arrested by police for blocking the sidewalk. Incensed black leaders held a protest meeting on June 12 at the Abraham Lincoln statue on the corner of Reading and Rockdale Roads. At some point the protest got out of hand.
In Avondale, a thousand rioters smashed, looted and attacked cars, buildings and stores. A witness reported, "there's not a window left on Reading Road or Burnett Avenue. The youths are doing it and adults are standing by and laughing. All ages are active. Women could be seen carrying babies." The rioting spread from Avondale to Bond Hill, Winton Terrace, Walnut Hills, Corryville, Clifton, West End, and Downtown
Downtown Cincinnati
Downtown Cincinnati is the central business district of Cincinnati, Ohio, and one of its 52 neighborhoods.-Geography:Downtown Cincinnati's streets are arranged in a grid configuration. It is bisected by Vine Street....
. A white 15 year old boy was critically wounded in front of a fire station that was being fired upon by a car of black rioters. According to an Avondale resident, rioting was over constant police harassment, lack of jobs, and shopkeepers "jacking up prices and selling bad products."
Governor James A. Rhodes ordered 700 Ohio National Guardsmen
Ohio National Guard
The Ohio National Guard comprises:* Ohio Army National Guard* Ohio Air National Guard-External links:* compiled by the United States Army Center of Military History...
into Cincinnati to stop the rioting. The National Guard patrolled the streets in jeeps, armed with machine guns. They were ordered to kill if they were fired upon, but the rioters avoided the Guardsmen. By June 15, when the riot had been contained, one person was dead, 63 injured, 404 had been arrested, and the city had suffered $2 million in property damage.
The day before the riots began Martin Luther King Jr. visited Cincinnati and preached at the Zion Baptist Church in Avondale.
Riots of 1968
Less than a year later the neighborhood rioted again. The 1968 riots were in response to the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. on April 4, 1968. Tension in Avondale had already been high due to a lack of job opportunities for African-American men, and the assassination escalated that tension. On April 8, around 1,500 blacks attended a memorial held at a local recreation center.An officer of the Congress of Racial Equality
Congress of Racial Equality
The Congress of Racial Equality or CORE was a U.S. civil rights organization that originally played a pivotal role for African-Americans in the Civil Rights Movement...
blamed white Americans for King's death and urged the crowd to retaliate. The crowd was orderly when it left the memorial and spilled out into the street. Nearby James Smith, a black man, attempted to protect a jewelry store from a robbery with his own shotgun. During the struggle with the robbers, also black, Smith accidentally shot and killed his wife.
Rioting started after a false rumor was spread in the crowd that Smith's wife was actually killed by a white police officer. Rioters smashed store windows and looted merchandise. More than 70 fires had been set, several of them major. During the rioting eight young African Americans dragged a white student, Noel Wright, and his wife from their car in Mount Auburn. Wright was stabbed to death and his wife was beaten.
The next night, the city was put under curfew, and nearly 1,500 National Guardsmen were brought in to subdue the violence. Several days after the riot started, two people were dead, hundreds were arrested, and the city had suffered $3 million in property damage.
Aftermath of riots
Avondale's flourishing business district along Burnet Avenue was eradicated by the riots of 1967 and 1968. Many of the damaged areas were left vacant for a decade. The riots helped fuel beliefs that the city was too dangerous for families and helped accelerate "white flightWhite flight
White flight has been a term that originated in the United States, starting in the mid-20th century, and applied to the large-scale migration of whites of various European ancestries from racially mixed urban regions to more racially homogeneous suburban or exurban regions. It was first seen as...
" to the suburbs. Between 1960 and 1970 the city of Cincinnati lost 10% of its population, compared to a loss of just 0.3% from 1950 to 1960. Cincinnati would continue to lose residents every decade afterwards. Many of the neighborhoods around Avondale experienced steep urban decline, including Avondale itself, which has never recovered from the riots.
The short-term destructive nature of the riots led to decades-long negative consequences for Cincinnati's black neighborhoods as poor black residents were further removed from regions of prosperity and safety. However, after the riots African-Americans were appointed to city boards and commissions—in 1967 all 69 members were white.