Sandy's Written Creations
Writings by Sandra Harrison including poetry, essays, fiction, non-fiction; children's literatire.
Notable Afro-Americans of White Plains
Copied here is information from handout given out at White Plains Local History Roundtable Feb 2018.
NAACP in area covers Greenburgh & White Plains (WP). Housing in WP was segregated and Battle Hill was part of Greenburgh till 1916 when WP annexed the area as a City.
Many Afro-Americans lived in the Business District till Urban Renewal (1960’s through 1970’s) that demolished much of Business District. Winbrook Public Housing Development (1949) remained. In the last decade, the redevelopment of Winbrook begun. Called now Brookfield, one new building The Prelude was completed but demolishment of the older buildings and construction of the second phase has yet to start. WP Housing Authority manages the development.
There are other affordable income buildings in the City (DeKalb, Lake and Ferris) but many blacks and black businesses were driven out during Urban Renewal. Some businesses went to WP Mall.
The use of Affordable housing is now the preferred word for housing for lower income residents. Newer buildings constructed in designated areas of the City are required to have affordable units. In the construction of City Center apartments, Trump Tower, The Lofts, and One City Place, and then the Ritz Carlton Residences by Cappelli Construction affordable housing was placed in a separate structure under the NY Sports Club called The Summit at the City Center.
The book On the Streets Where We Lived published in 2011 by Roots of White Plains, Ltd. (established 2007 at 23 Montgomery Ave in Elmsford) and Harold Esannason is available at the library. It is a pictorial study about the experiences of Blacks in WP from 1900 to 1960.
Sandy's Written Creations 