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Roots of violence in Black Philadelphia, 1860-1900
9780674779907, 9780674779792

Author / Uploaded
Roger Lane

Table of contents :
Frontmatter (page N/A)
Introduction (page 1)
1. A Tale of Two Cities (page 6)
2. Racial and Urban Politics (page 45)
3. Justice for All (page 82)
4. The Wages of Sin (page 95)
5. The Price of Crime (page 134)
6. Crime and Culture (page 144)
Epilogue (page 162)
A Bibliographical Note (page 177)
Notes (page 183)
Index (page 207)

Citation preview

ROOTS OF VIOLENCE IN BLACK PHILADELPHIA

1860-1900

ROOTS OF VIOLENCE IN BLACK PHILADELPHIA

1860-1900 Roger Lane

Copyright © 1986 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America

10987654321

This book is printed on acid-free paper, and its binding materials have been chosen for strength and durability. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING IN PUBLICATION DATA

Lane, Roger. Roots of violence in Black Philadelphia, 1860-1900. Bibliography: p. Includes index.

1. Afro-Americans—Pennsylvania—Philadelphia—Social

conditions. 2. Afro-American criminals—Pennsylvania— Philadelphia—History—19th century. 3. Afro-Americans— Employment—Pennsylvania—Philadelphia—History— 19th

century. 4. Philadelphia (Pa.)—Race relations. 5. Philadelphia (Pa.)—Economic conditions. 6. Philadelphia (Pa.)—Social conditions. 7. Violence—Pennsylvania—Philadelphia—History—

19th century. I. Title.

F158.9.N4L35 1986 364.2'08996073074811 85-13929 ISBN 0-674-77990-8 (alk. paper)

To Alfred Baker Lewis

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS A NUMBER Of people contributed to this project, and several of them were essential to it. Ward Childs and his staff at the Philadelphia City Archives were as helpful as always in guiding me and my research assistants through the city’s extensive collection of criminal records. Henry Williams once again supplied data collected by the Philadelphia Social History project. Peter Parker provided ideas as well as materials from the varied manuscript and other resources of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Research funds were provided in part by Robert M. Collins, in honor of his father, Benjamin R. Collins. Cristin Carnell, Mark Gerstein, Claudia Gutwirth, Paul Kelly, Tracy

Kosman, Alfred Skerpan, and especially David Babbitt spent many hours in many places collecting data as research assistants. Several scholars were critically important to the work in progress. Mark Haller contributed his special expertise concerning the operations of the criminal underworld; Allen Steinberg shared his knowledge of Philadelphia’s criminal justice and court system; and Harry Sillcox was an invaluable guide to the substance and sources of the city’s black history. Paul Jefferson and Eric Monkkonen, in addition, gave the full manuscript an intelligent and searching reading. I would like also to thank the editors at Harvard University Press: Aida Donald for her criticism, Virginia LaPlante for her demanding job of editing, and Elizabeth Suttell for her compassion and support. Violet Brown and, once again, Adeline Taraborelli typed the manuscript through several stages with their usual efficiency and good humor. Finally, my wife, Marjorie Merklin, contributed encouragement at every stage, with significant help toward the end from our daughter Joanna Lewis Lane.

CONTENTS Introduction 1 1.