AphroChic Magazine: Issue No. 1

IT’S A FAMILY AFFAIR
At the beginning of 1956, the Belfield area of Philadelphia was a predominantly white
part of the city. With few exceptions, just about all of the African Americans to be found
there were domestic workers, coming in and out of houses as they finished their work as
maids. But in October of that year, a new family arrived. Made up of three generations
- a grandmother, her four children, and two grandchildren - they were only the second
Black family to move onto the block.
My mother was a few days past
her seventh birthday when she moved
with her family into the new house.
They came from North Philadelphia,
and a house where they had
lived along with even more family
members. Purchasing the new home
had been a group effort - one that
required the whole family to pool
their money together. But a new
home meant new possibilities, and
buying the home in Belfield eventually
led to the purchase of others.
The home was a row house,
something of a staple in Philadelphia.
Row homes are attached
houses, appointed with sizable front
yards and smaller back lots. With
three-stories, three bedrooms, and
a full basement, it was large enough
for a family of six to live in comfortably.
And over the next six decades,
“the house,” as we’ve always called it,
has been a cornerstone for my family.
A place for holidays and casual visits,
a place for kids to run and for pets to
live, a perfect place for being together
at any time and for any reason. While
the list of occupants has changed over
time, the house has always been ours
and it’s always been there for anyone
who needed it. Someone moving up
from the South? They can stay at
the house. A grandchild in need of
a place to live after college? There’s
room at the house. A new baby on
aphrochic