All the Things That This House Has Seen

This starter home at 9148 S. Burnside Ave. isn't just any home. It's the first home I owned as an adult. I was in my 20s when my children and I moved in, and it's where I raised my three kids. I've owned it for almost 50 years.

The house has two bedrooms, and all three of my children slept comfortably in the second one. The two youngest shared a bunk bed set with a matching chest of drawers on one side of the room, and my oldest daughter had her own twin bed with a matching vanity on the other. The kids and their friends hung out in the backyard when they weren't out in the neighborhood, and we hosted plenty of BBQs and birthday parties there. Recently, we upgraded the electricity and put in a new stove, dryer, furnace with central air, and hot water heater, along with full insulation and weatherization.

Interestingly, I was raised at 9150 S. Burnside Ave., right next door to the house I bought to raise my two daughters and my son.

The story of this home, and of all the homes in the Chatham subdivision called West Chesterfield, is long and storied. The homes in my part of the neighborhood were built after World War II, primarily for “Negro” veterans to satisfy the requirements of the GI Bill, which initially was available mostly to white veterans only. Most of the houses on the north end of West Chesterfield were built between 1946 and 1951. The neighborhood grew further south with new homes designed and built by Black architects like Robert Martin, whose family home is on the corner of 94th & Forest Ave., and by Black construction companies. They featured sunken living rooms and finished basements, which were a big deal back in the day. And while much of Chatham was first populated by white residents who fled to the suburbs as Black families started buying homes there, West Chesterfield was always a Black middle class neighborhood.

The community included postal workers (like my parents), police officers, teachers (like my father), lawyers and judges (like the Pinchams), doctors (like Dr. Helen Rhetta, the only Black woman in her class, who made house calls to her patients in West Chesterfield), civil service workers, and business owners like the Gardners, owners of Soft Sheen, and George Johnson of Johnson Products. The gospel group the Clark Sisters have their family home at 91st & Indiana. To this day, many of the homes in West Chesterfield are owned by second and third generation family members.

The unity of that neighborhood made it one of the strongest voting blocs in the city, Black or white, with the power to get things done in our community from the powers that be. Back then, the powers that be were the Daley family and a city council of all white men. Much of that strength comes from the West Chesterfield Community Association (WCCA), formed in 1956 and still going today, with offices at ________ and a strong position at City Hall. My father was a president, and I followed in his footsteps and was also a president of the Association.

When you visit 9148 S. Burnside Ave. and think about buying it, remember the history that goes along with it. This is a community of neighborhoods where people still know each other, have block parties, and gather on Juneteenth and the 4th of July to celebrate. The seniors still look out for the children, and the young adults look out for the seniors.

So when you buy 9148 S. Burnside Ave., you're not just purchasing a home. You're joining a community whose history goes back before the civil rights movement and continues to move forward today.

My original plan was to leave the house to my children, but they have all moved on to own their own properties and businesses. This decision comes with some emotion, but I look forward to sitting across from a family buying their first house and seeing the possibilities in their eyes.

Denise Corder Hall
Publisher, Bronzecomm Newsletter