Historically Black Neighborhood of Swarthmore
Prior to the Civil Rights Movement, Swarthmore was a segregated town. Local organizations, businesses, housing, and even schools were racially segregated. This area, composed of Union, Brighton, Kenyon, and Bowdoin Ave, was the predominant Black neighborhood in Swarthmore, with its own church and community center, known as Jones Hall. The town gradually integrated, with school desegregation in 1939 and housing desegregation in 1961.
Sources: Jeanine Osayande, Neighborhood Elders