Context Part 2: Southside Neighborhood: 100 Years of Stories and Recipes (Centennial Cookbook)
Chandler’s history was marked by a whirlwind of change in the next three decades, 1940-1979. In December of 1941, the United States entered World War II. Chandler residents enlisted and served in the Armed Forces, even leaving high school to do so. Those who stayed in Chandler assisted the war effort by purchasing bonds, collecting scrap metal and growing victory http://gardens.In May of 1943, the American Legion hired Mesa sign maker Pedro Guerrero to build an “Honor Roll” billboard in Dr. A.J. Chandler Park. The billboard displayed the names of men and women from Chandler, Higley, Queen Creek, Chandler Heights and Goodyear/Ocotillo that were in the service. By the war’s end, more than 700 names were listed. Some of the Southside residents that served during World War II were Raul Navarrete, Roosevelt and Lenny McDaniels, Gilbert Rosales, Theophilus Barnett, Eulogio Soto, Alejandro and Miguel Baldenegro, Willie Mitchell, Feliciano Ayala, Santiago Vidal and four Aguilar brothers: Frank, Tony, Refugio and Jose. Williams Air Force Base, a major training facility for the military, segregated Black and White servicemen at the time.[1]
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As a result of the post-World War II boom, new neighborhoods popped up in Chandler, such as Carla Vista, Hulet, Westwood Manor, Whitten Addition, Wingfoot Gardens and Wingfoot Village. In 1945, George Hoy and James Shelly purchased the land previously known as the “Chandler Part-Time Farms,” situated between Chandler Boulevard and Erie Street, Nebraska and Hartford Streets. They subdivided the lots, and Park Manors opened between 1946 and 1947. Prominent businessmen, farmers and others bought these new lots and built custom homes.[2]Northeast of Park Manors, Hoy Homes offered returning veterans a less expensive alternative to custom homes by supplying small, ranch-style houses between Arizona Avenue and Iowa Street along Galveston, Oklahoma and Tulsa streets. By 1949, Chandler’s boundaries extended a little south and a little north of the original town site; not quite to Pecos Road and not quite to Ray Road. Chandler officially became a city in 1954, after meeting the required population of 3,000. Chandler’s first hospital, located at McQueen Road and Chandler Boulevard, opened in 1961. By Chandler’s 50th Birthday in 1962, the population was almost 10,000. In the 1970s, some residential growth occurred south of Chandler, such as Sun Lakes, developed by Robson Communities.
Southside
While some of Chandler’s farm land transformed into family homes in the 1940s, the Kesler and Dobson additions expanded Southside’s boundaries from the three original streets (Hidalgo, Saragosa and Morelos). In July of 1940, R.D. and Maude Kesler subdivided their land into lots along Kesler Lane and Pecos Valley Road (now Pecos Road). Six years later, Johnson Dobson subdivided the land north of Fairview Road and south of Frye Road, between Arizona Avenue and Delaware Street. Many African-American families purchased lots and built homes in the Dobson Addition during the 1950s. Their community spread out toward Colorado, Fairview and Delaware while the Hispanic community moved into the area along Washington Street, between Frye Road and Boston Street. Anglo residents began moving into Southside along Kesler Lane. Despite the Kesler and Dobson additions, Southside was still on the outskirts of town. Robert (Cisco) Baldenegro remembers, “Our streets were dirt. The feed lots made a lot of dust, maybe that’s why it was called the Dust Bowl.”[3]The streets were unpaved and unlit. Many families used outhouses.
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In April of 1952, Chandler Town Superintendent of Water, L.C. Calley, reported that “… sanitary conditions in the Dobson Addition were very bad and that some action should be taken to correct these conditions which, if left unattended could and might cause a serious epidemic.”[4]Southside residents like Billy Woods, Eliazar Escandon, Sam, Tom, and Sid Payne, William Nickell, Chris Boel, Reverend Meliton Moncivaiz, and Frank and Melba Perez signed petitions for annexation.[5]On July 27, 1953, Mayor Otho Dixon signed ordinances 122, 145, and 146, annexing Southside into Chandler’s town limits. This allowed municipal services, such as electricity and running water, into the neighborhood. Saragosa and Morelos streets were paved in 1954; Hidalgo Street remained a dirt road until the 1970s. Electric street lights brightened Southside’s streets for the first time in the early 1960s.[6]
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Compared to the standard tract homes going up in neighborhoods like Park Manors, Southside’s residents built or modified homes using many materials and simple floor plans. Construction materials included wood frame, adobe, brick, and block. Pete “Ocie” Payne remembers his family’s first home being wood in the front and adobe in the back. His parents and sisters slept in the front, which also had a small kitchen and living room. He and his brothers slept in the adobe room, “At night, we just went and got in the bed, and that was it. We didn’t see too much because we had no lights, nothing but a lamp. We had a lamp, a kerosene lamp.”[7]Families, such as the Vidals and Joneses, purchased buildings that previously housed Japanese “relocated” during World War II to the Gila River Internment Camp. Obie Jackson remembers that buyers rolled the buildings into town on rollers and then remodeled them into single family homes, some with stucco on the outside. Charletta (Jones) Jackson’s home was one of these former barracks. It was two feet by six feet, and had a double roof to keep it cool during the summer. After Charletta got married, her husband cut one of the roofs off and put in air conditioning. When they first moved in, there was running water outside and electricity, but they used an outdoor bathroom.[8]Southside resident Charles Scott constructed some of the homes in the neighborhoodin the 1960s.
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Despite the changes introduced by the war, such as ration stamps and more women working outside the home, Chandler’s main industry remained agriculture. The price of cotton rose as it was in high demand for parachutes and tires. After the war, cotton remained an important crop, along with alfalfa. The Chandler Heights Citrus Growers Association picked and packed oranges, grapefruit and lemons.[9]Non-agricultural industry arrived in the 1960s. In 1964, the Spreckels Sugar Company built a sugar processing plant south of Chandler to extract sugar from sugar beets. Later that decade, Harry Winston Minerals of Arizona opened a diamond cutting and polishing business, and Pimalco, United Mobile Homes and Pima Valve moved into west Chandler. In 1967, Chandler picked up the high-tech industry with the arrival of Rogers Corporation, an electronics manufacturer.[10]Soon after, General Instruments followed.
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Although the manufacturing industry was growing in Chandler, Southside residents mainly worked in the agricultural industry, as in years past. Southside’s residents began to move into other areas of work. They found jobs in restaurants and the food industry, domestic work, construction, grounds keeping, etc. Young people got jobs at the Chandler Arizonan, worked as shoe shine boys, caddies at the San Marcos Hotel. Those who went to college often received degrees in education.Obie Jackson recalls the Spreckels plant being an employer for people from the community.[11]Pete “Ocie” Payne remembers:
“It was kind of rough at that time for Blacks, especially because we had a pretty rough time of finding something for work or do because most of it was farm work, and that was it. There might have been other jobs, but they wasn’t hiring any Blacks at that time …you couldn’t get a job working in any of the stores, because they used their family for most of the work in those places. So, we had to go to the farms to work. That was the only work we had.”[12]
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Businesses in Chandler were segregated at this time. Ocie Payne states that the movie theaters were segregated. There were different sections for African-Americans and Hispanics. If African-Americans wanted a soda or ice cream, they went inside to order but had to go outside to enjoy their treat. Restaurants, such as Ortega’s and the Sip ‘n’ Bite, did not allow African-Americans inside.[13]
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Racial barriers also affected the children of Southside. Before 1943, African-American students attended school in Mesa at the segregated Booker T. Washington Elementary. In 1943, the Chandler Unified School District designated the old classroom buildings at Goodyear/Ocotillo as Chandler’s segregated school, with grades one through eight. Students continuing to high school then rode public bus lines 24 miles to George Washington Carver High in Phoenix, until 1949, when Chandler High School integrated. Former Mayor and Southside resident Coy Payne describes going to high school:
“Chandler had worked out a reciprocity deal with the Phoenix Union School District so that any African-American kid who had graduated from the 8th grade and wanted to go to high school could receive tuition; the Chandler Unified School District would pay the tuition to the Phoenix Union District for Black kids to go to school, plus provide transportation.”[14]
The first four African-American students to attend Chandler High School were Robert and Artie Mae Turner, and Willie and Joella Arbuckle in 1949. Robert and Willie graduated in 1951. In 1953, Judge Fred Struckmeyer ended segregation in all Arizona high schools.[15]The District shut down Goodyear School in 1954, when Arizona’s grade schools integrated. Former Southside resident Obie Jackson recalls his Anglo teachers and classmates treating him like he was anyone else. When he played football in high school, the Sip ‘n Bite restaurant offered a steak dinner to the player who scored the first touchdown. Jackson scored the first touchdown, but because he was African-American, the restaurant refused to serve him; the manager then said he’d serve Jackson in the kitchen. Students at Chandler High School ended up boycotting Sip ‘n Bite until the manager came to the football field and offered Jackson the steak dinner. African-American and Hispanic children from Southside attended Winn School until its closure in 1969.
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There were several restaurants in Southside during these decades. Jenny (Vidal) Salzman remembers the Cozy Café, on the east side of Arizona Avenue between Elgin and Fairview streets, had the best burgers in town.[16]Other restaurants included Miss Bea’s Café on Elgin Street and Frye Road, Mr. Lee’s on Saragosa Street, and of course, N.J. Harris’ BBQ Café. Families shopped at Bashas’, the Escandon Grocery on Saragosa Street, the Ong’s grocery store on Arizona Avenue, and Lucky Market on Arizona Avenue. The Rainbow Inn, Southside Tavern, El Rodriguez and El Mambo provided entertainment. El Mambo, owned by Tino Valenzuela, included a ballroom and a restaurant. The ballroom hosted Western dances on Fridays and “Spanish” dances on Sundays, while the restaurant served American and Mexican dishes from 11 a.m. until 1 or 2 a.m.[17]The ice plant, cotton gin and the alfalfa mill (under new ownership by the Bogle family) were still operated on the borders of the neighborhood. The Bogle Family ran a feedlot just east of the neighborhood, and there was a fruit packing plant near Nevada and Frye roads.
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Southside’s churches saw more attendance due to the population increase. In August of 1940, Reverend Edward R. James started his tenure as pastor of Mt. Olive Baptist Church. At that time, there were ten active members. “On October 14, 1941, under the leadership of Rev. James, this small band of baptized believers purchased a lot and built a small house of worship. This was done on a cash basis.”[18]In 1949, church members bought the Colorado Street lot on which the church currently sits and rebuilt in 1950, with the addition of a fellowship hall. Reverend James built a teen center on Delaware Street for the younger members of Mt. Olive, with a skating rink. This later became apartments. In 1962, Reverend James retired. That year, Reverend Theodore Roosevelt McDaniels became pastor.
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In the 1950s, the Pentecost Church of Jesus Christ moved into the neighborhood. Located on Delaware Street, the church was originally founded in Mesa in 1940. The church has had four pastors, starting with Pastor Riley Tomlin; in 1972, current pastor, Willie Arbuckle Sr., became pastor.
Most of Southside’s Hispanic families continued to attend St. Mary’s. “Father Patterson built a basketball court for us, and in the basement of the church were pool tables, a boxing ring, and a soda fountain,” George Rodriguez remembers.[19]Father Patterson built four classrooms, and in 1944, opened St. Mary’s Catholic School with four teachers. By 1950, four more classrooms were added. In 1954, Father Patterson founded Seton High School on Chandler Boulevard, west of Delaware Street. It moved to Dobson and Ray roads in 1983. During the 1960s, Father McMahon became pastor of St. Mary’s. On October 9, 1977, St. Mary’s new location on Galveston Street was dedicated by Bishop Rausch of Phoenix.
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During the 1950s, Chandler’s sons were once again called into the service. With the entrance of the United States into the Korean War, the Federal Government instituted the draft. Coy Payne, Zora Folley, Willie C. Vanley, Robert Turner and James Arbuckle were just a few of the men who represented Southside. When the United States officially became involved in the conflict with North Vietnam in 1965, Joe and Jerry Woods, and Lincoln Hardy were among those who left Southside to join the military.
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One of Southside’s former residents, Raul Navarrete, served as Chandler’s first and only Hispanic mayor. Born in Chandler in 1924, Raul enlisted in the Navy upon graduating from Chandler High School in 1943. Raul was honorably discharged in 1946. Upon returning to Chandler, he attended Arizona State University for two and a half years, worked at Williams Air Force Base and married Alicia Durazo in 1955. They had four children: Renee, Raul Jr., Gina and Marci. Raul served as Captain in the Artillery unit in the Arizona National Guard. He ran for City Council in 1966 and was elected. Chandler residents elected him as mayor in 1972, and he served until 1976. During his tenure as mayor, he dedicated the Chandler Museum, established Future Farmers of America Week, broke ground on the new library, dedicated Folley Park, and tried to get a professional football stadium built in Chandler while equalizing city hiring practices and developing an easy-to-understand budget. The Chandler Arizonan noted he was “… solid as a piece of granite, noted for his rugged honesty, his straightforwardness, and his perception into affairs is keen.”[20]He passed away unexpectedly in 1982.[21]
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By 1970, Chandler’s population reached 14,250 people. The city’s small town feel started to diminish. Although Southside was basically split into a Hispanic section and an African-American section, the neighborhood retained its close-knit feeling. LaVon Woods remembers, “You made it point to know whom you lived by. You made it a point to know who the children where. You watched out for mine, and I watched out for yours. There was a sense of family, although you weren’t family, not naturally. To me, that is what a neighborhood should be about. You have to have concern for people.”[22]Ester Vidal summed up the general feeling of the neighborhood during these years: “We all got along, and our parents all knew each other. Our neighborhood had a feeling of warmth and togetherness. Neighbors were always willing to help each other out and parents looked out for all the kids, not just their own.”[23]
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[1]Payne, Coy. 13 February 2012.
[2]Park Manor Park Kiosk.
[3]Baldenegro, Cisco. Submission Form.
[4]Chandler Town Council. Special Meeting. 30 April 1952.
[5]Petition for Annexation to Town of Chandler: Dobson, Kesler and Winn additions.27 July 1953.
[6]Payne, Pete “Ocie.” Oral History with Jean Reynolds. 30 January 2012.
[7]Ibid.
[8]Jackson, Charletta. Oral History with Melanie Hartmann. 3 February 2012.
[9]Chandler Arizonan. 17 May 1946.
[10]Solliday, Scott. Chandler: Pioneer City of the New West.
[11]Jackson, Obidiah. Oral History with Melanie Hartmann. 3 February 2012.
[12]Payne, Pete. Oral History with Jean Reynolds. 30 January 2012.
[13]Ibid.
[14]Payne, Coy. Oral History with Jean Reynolds, 7 December 2005.
[15]Athenaeum Public History Group. African American Historic Property Survey. 2004.
[16]Salzman, Jenny. 28 December 2011.
[17]“El Mambo Restaurant Here to be Managed by Former Tucsonans.” Chandler Arizonan. 18 July 1957.
[18]Woods, LaVon. Mt. Olive History.
[19]Rodriguez, George. Oral History with Dr. Santos Vega. 5 December 2011.
[20]“Chandler People Like Their Mayor.” Chandler Arizonan. 2 February 1974.
[21]Navarrete, Marci. Family History Presentation. 5 October 2005.
[22]Woods, LaVon. 5 January 2012.
[23]Vidal, Ester. 28 December 2011.