“It Was a Real Village”

Abstract

After World War II, members of a small black middle class in southern cities such as Dallas, Atlanta, and New Orleans settled in newly built suburban-style subdivisions of single-family homes. While scholars have examined the design process and political negotiations that led to the development of black middle-class planned subdivisions, very little is known about how and why residents formed communal bonds. This article seeks to understand how original residents in Pontchartrain Park, a subdivision located in New Orleans, Louisiana, created a sense of community in the early years of the neighborhood. The research specifically focuses on the process of community building among adults who spent the majority if not all of their childhood and adolescent years in Pontchartrain Park. Interview data show how residents relied on communal bonds to offset some of their early experiences with racial hostility. Former residents retain strong ties to the neighborhood by attending church services, visiting neighborhood friends and participating in neighborhood organizations. Longstanding communal bonds have also played a vital role in the neighborhood’s post-Katrina recovery.