When:
November 14, 2018 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
2018-11-14T19:00:00-06:00
2018-11-14T20:30:00-06:00
Where:
North Point Lighthouse
2650 N. Wahl Avenue
Milwaukee
Wisconsin 53211

With the migration of African American sharecroppers to northern cities in the first half of the 20th Century, the African American population of Milwaukee grew from fewer than 1,000 in 1900 to nearly 22,000 in 1950. Most settled around a 12-block area along Walnut Street that came to be the known as Milwaukee’s Bronzeville, a thriving residential, business, and entertainment community.

Barbershops, restaurants, drugstores, and funeral homes were started with little money saved from overtime pay at factory jobs or extra-domestic work taken on by the women. Exotic nightclubs, taverns, and restaurants attracted a racially mixed clientele, and daytime social clubs sponsored “matinees” that were dress-up events featuring local bands catering to neighborhood residents.

Bronzeville is remembered by African American elders as a good place to grow up—times were hard, but the community was tight.

About Paul H. Geenen

Paul H. Geenen is an entrepreneur, a community activist, an author and a grandfather of eight. He is the author of Milwaukee’s Bronzeville: 1900 – 1950, Schusters and Gimbels: Milwaukee’s Beloved Department Stores, Sherman Park: A Legacy of Diversity in Milwaukee and Civil Rights Activism in Milwaukee: South Side Struggles in the ‘60s and ‘70s. He volunteers with Big Brothers/Big Sisters and with OFA (Organizing For Action), an organization that works on progressive causes.

At the Door Admission: $10 | Seniors/Students with IDs: $5 | Members: FREE

2018 Series Sponsors:

Landmark Credit Union is Wisconsin’s largest credit union and serves over 300,000 members at over 30 branch locations. As a not-for-profit financial cooperative, Landmark returns profits to its members in the form of better rates and lower fees on a full range of straightforward financial options. By choosing Landmark, members save money, so they have more for the things that really matter.