Bertha Gilkey
Encyclopedia
Bertha Knox Gilkey is an African American
activist of tenant management
of public housing
properties. She set up the first tenant management association in St. Louis, Missouri
that successfully rehabilitated the once decrepit Cochran Gardens
public housing project, and managed it for more than 20 years.
. Emma Green, her mother, relocated to St. Louis in 1960 and raised her fifteen children in a three-bedroom apartment at Cochran Gardens - the first high-rise project of Saint-Louis financed through the Housing Act of 1949
, completed in 1953. Initially intended for low-income whites, the 704-unit block was desegregated in 1956. Emma Green and her children were among its first black tenants.
In 1969 Gilkey, then a 20 year old divorced mother of two who called herself a Black Panther
led a nine-month rent strike
of some twenty-two thousand public housing tenants against mismanagement of municipal agencies and the intolerable living conditions of St. Louis highrise ghettoes—Pruitt–Igoe, Cochran Gardens and the like. The city replaced its Housing Authority board, and after six more years of activism Bertha Gilkey succeeded in persuading the city of St. Louis to surrender management of Cochran Gardens, to an independent tenant management association. By this time, Pruitt–Igoe has already been torn down and Cochran Gardens, nicknamed "Little Nam
", has already been slated for demolition. Her mother, ex husband and siblings eventually left Cochran for better places, but Gilkey preferred to stay.
The Cochran Tenant Management Corporation became the first of its kind in St. Louis. In a short time the new management rehabilitated Cochran Gardens into a relatively safe and comfortable place. Since 1978 the complex was modernized and outfitted with new engineering systems, owing both to Gilkey's fundraising skills and to Cochran's nearly downtown location that could not be ignored by city and federal authorities. By 1992 Cochran received $33 million in federal aid, twice as much as the second-ranking St. Louis project. Gilkey personally managed the staff that reached 47 in 1991; only at this point did Gilkey hire a professional manager and accountant to run the operations. She was not ever paid a salary at Cochran (according to a 1992 source), making a living with consultancies and paid public speaking.
Her experience fell in accord with the Republican
campaign for deregulation
and changing the rules of welfare administration. Gilkey, among other activists, was invited to join Ronald Reagan
as he signed the Housing and Community Development Act of 1987:
Jack Kemp
, Housing Secretary
under George H. W. Bush
, regularly cited Gilkey in an honor roll of civil rights heroes, alongside Abraham Lincoln
, saying that tenant property management is "one of the most powerful manifestations of revolutionary ideals since 1776." President George H. W. Bush visited Cochran Gardens in May 1991, commending tenant management and personally Betha Gilkey and attacking "government bureaucracy" and the "solutions of the 1960's.". Federal supporters of tenant management did not publicize the fact that most of Cochran residents remained poor and lived on welfare throughout the decades of Gilkey's tenure. In 1990 85% of households were headed by single women, only 27% of heads of households had jobs. Vacancy in 1990 was on par with St. Louis average of 25%. Gang wars with drive-by shootings resumed in Cochran in September 1991, prompting Gilkey to lead a public violence awareness campaign.
In 1998 city authorities took over Cochran Gardens, citing tax mismanagement by the tenant association. The buildings, rapidly deteriorated under city management; by 1999 vacancy rate increased from under 10% to one-third and by the end of 2008 all but one of Cochran Gardens buildings have been demolished.
As the co-chair of the New York-based National Congress of Neighborhood Women
Gilkey negotiated for government grants helping establishment of tenant management in New York and other cities.
Gilkey was the subject of an 1993 NBC
show Fired Up! The Bertha Gilkey Story produced by John Singleton.
Bertha Gilkey also played a prominent role in an attempt by the Metropolitan Planning Council in Chicago to implement Tenant Management in Chicago as documented in a 60 minute documentary entitled Fired-up Public Housing Is My Home directed by James R. Martin
(Jim Martin). The film was seen nationally on Public Television in 1989 and 1990.
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
activist of tenant management
Property management
Property management is the operation, control of ususally on behalf of an owner, and oversight of commercial, industrial or residential real estate as used in its most broad terms. Management indicates a need to be cared for, monitored and accountability given for its usable life and condition...
of public housing
Public housing
Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is owned by a government authority, which may be central or local. Social housing is an umbrella term referring to rental housing which may be owned and managed by the state, by non-profit organizations, or by a combination of the...
properties. She set up the first tenant management association in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
that successfully rehabilitated the once decrepit Cochran Gardens
Cochran Gardens
Cochran Gardens was a public housing complex on the near north side of downtown St. Louis, Missouri. Constructed in 1952 and occupied until 2006, it was famous for its residents' innovative form of tenant-led management. In 1976, Cochran Gardens became one of the first U.S...
public housing project, and managed it for more than 20 years.
Biography
According to her own statement, Gilkey was born in bitter poverty in ArkansasArkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
. Emma Green, her mother, relocated to St. Louis in 1960 and raised her fifteen children in a three-bedroom apartment at Cochran Gardens - the first high-rise project of Saint-Louis financed through the Housing Act of 1949
Housing Act of 1949
The American Housing Act of 1949 was a landmark, sweeping expansion of the federal role in mortgage insurance and issuance and the construction of public housing...
, completed in 1953. Initially intended for low-income whites, the 704-unit block was desegregated in 1956. Emma Green and her children were among its first black tenants.
When Cochran was all white, they didn't refer to it as a project. It was called Cochran Gardens. As Cochran became more and more black, I began to see the services reduced. Once it became all black, there was no standards. It moved from being a neighborhood to a project. It became a dumping ground.
Bertha Gilkey, 1999
In 1969 Gilkey, then a 20 year old divorced mother of two who called herself a Black Panther
Black Panther Party
The Black Panther Party wasan African-American revolutionary leftist organization. It was active in the United States from 1966 until 1982....
led a nine-month rent strike
Rent strike
A rent strike is a method of protest commonly employed against large landlords. In a rent strike, a group of tenants come together and agree to refuse to pay their rent en masse until a specific list of demands is met by the landlord...
of some twenty-two thousand public housing tenants against mismanagement of municipal agencies and the intolerable living conditions of St. Louis highrise ghettoes—Pruitt–Igoe, Cochran Gardens and the like. The city replaced its Housing Authority board, and after six more years of activism Bertha Gilkey succeeded in persuading the city of St. Louis to surrender management of Cochran Gardens, to an independent tenant management association. By this time, Pruitt–Igoe has already been torn down and Cochran Gardens, nicknamed "Little Nam
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
", has already been slated for demolition. Her mother, ex husband and siblings eventually left Cochran for better places, but Gilkey preferred to stay.
The Cochran Tenant Management Corporation became the first of its kind in St. Louis. In a short time the new management rehabilitated Cochran Gardens into a relatively safe and comfortable place. Since 1978 the complex was modernized and outfitted with new engineering systems, owing both to Gilkey's fundraising skills and to Cochran's nearly downtown location that could not be ignored by city and federal authorities. By 1992 Cochran received $33 million in federal aid, twice as much as the second-ranking St. Louis project. Gilkey personally managed the staff that reached 47 in 1991; only at this point did Gilkey hire a professional manager and accountant to run the operations. She was not ever paid a salary at Cochran (according to a 1992 source), making a living with consultancies and paid public speaking.
Her experience fell in accord with the Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
campaign for deregulation
Deregulation
Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and regulations that constrain the operation of market forces.Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and regulations that constrain the operation of market forces.Deregulation is the removal or...
and changing the rules of welfare administration. Gilkey, among other activists, was invited to join Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
as he signed the Housing and Community Development Act of 1987:
Joining me are three of our national heroes of the tenant management movement: Kimi Gray, of the Kenilworth-Parkside Resident Management Corporation here in Washington, DC; Bertha Gilkey, of the Cochran Tenant Management Corporation in St. Louis; and Mildred Hailey, the founder of the tenant management movement at the Bromley-Heath Tenant Management Corporation in Boston. And they remind us that ownership or control of one's own residence should be an opportunity for every citizen.
Ronald Reagan, February 5, 1988
Jack Kemp
Jack Kemp
Jack French Kemp was an American politician and a collegiate and professional football player. A Republican, he served as Housing Secretary in the administration of President George H. W. Bush from 1989 to 1993, having previously served nine terms as a congressman for Western New York's 31st...
, Housing Secretary
United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
The United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development is the head of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, a member of the President's Cabinet, and thirteenth in the Presidential line of succession. The post was created with the formation of the Department of Housing...
under George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
, regularly cited Gilkey in an honor roll of civil rights heroes, alongside Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
, saying that tenant property management is "one of the most powerful manifestations of revolutionary ideals since 1776." President George H. W. Bush visited Cochran Gardens in May 1991, commending tenant management and personally Betha Gilkey and attacking "government bureaucracy" and the "solutions of the 1960's.". Federal supporters of tenant management did not publicize the fact that most of Cochran residents remained poor and lived on welfare throughout the decades of Gilkey's tenure. In 1990 85% of households were headed by single women, only 27% of heads of households had jobs. Vacancy in 1990 was on par with St. Louis average of 25%. Gang wars with drive-by shootings resumed in Cochran in September 1991, prompting Gilkey to lead a public violence awareness campaign.
In 1998 city authorities took over Cochran Gardens, citing tax mismanagement by the tenant association. The buildings, rapidly deteriorated under city management; by 1999 vacancy rate increased from under 10% to one-third and by the end of 2008 all but one of Cochran Gardens buildings have been demolished.
As the co-chair of the New York-based National Congress of Neighborhood Women
National Congress of Neighborhood Women
National Congress of Neighborhood Women is a support group for grassroots women's organizations and community leaders involved in providing voices for poor and working-class women.-History:...
Gilkey negotiated for government grants helping establishment of tenant management in New York and other cities.
Gilkey was the subject of an 1993 NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
show Fired Up! The Bertha Gilkey Story produced by John Singleton.
Bertha Gilkey also played a prominent role in an attempt by the Metropolitan Planning Council in Chicago to implement Tenant Management in Chicago as documented in a 60 minute documentary entitled Fired-up Public Housing Is My Home directed by James R. Martin
James R. Martin
James R Martin or Jim Martin is a writer, independent producer, director, and documentary filmmaker. He is best known for his PBS feature-length documentary Wrapped In Steel, broadcast nationally in 1984–85, and PBS documentary Fired-Up Public Housing is my Home broadcast nationally in 1988–89....
(Jim Martin). The film was seen nationally on Public Television in 1989 and 1990.
See also
- Cochran GardensCochran GardensCochran Gardens was a public housing complex on the near north side of downtown St. Louis, Missouri. Constructed in 1952 and occupied until 2006, it was famous for its residents' innovative form of tenant-led management. In 1976, Cochran Gardens became one of the first U.S...
, in St. Louis, MissouriMissouriMissouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...