Article 4 Volume 3 May 10, 2013
In the fifties and sixties violence occurred often in Pleasant Hill and South Suffolk. We didn't have newspapers and television covering negro news back then, like they do now. Some of my good friends were recently expressing their opinion about how calm and peaceful everything were in the good ole days in the community.
I remember the quiet peaceful days when I grew up on Baker Street. Also, I remember some very violent times too.
I discussed those times with my brother Al "Pete" Bryant and Frank Kahan. We recalled murdering, robbery, rape and shootings galore.
I'm going to do a street by street review of some of the violence that occurred in what some call the " good ole days." All of these events happened in the late fifties and early sixties.
300 block of Duke Street
A man was shot dead on his front porch while holding a baby in his arms.
300 block of Baker Street
A man was killed and his body put on the railroad track.
200 block of Webb Street
A lady was sliced to death with a knife. She ran into our backyard in the 200 block of Baker Street and died. It was all about some matter involving children.
300 block of Webb Street
My friend Bob King was gunned down by a 13 year old teenager. He died in the middle of the street.
300 block of Hunter Street
A man was killed and his body was left in a ditch.
There was also lots of violence at both ends of Hunter Street. On the west end was Pond Town and on the east end was a community called "Little Korea."(named after the conflict in Korea).We were advised to stay out of those communities at night. Well in Pond Town, the Webb Street section was okay.
300 block of Pleasant Street
A man was killed in a house early one Sunday morning. The shooting was senseless.
A short period later, in the same house, the lady of the house who was confined to a wheelchair and her son, who was home on military leave was gunned down. Again, senseless, and about nothing.
200 block of Charlotte Ave
A man was cut with a razor blade by a woman. He survived.
100 block of Lewis Ave
Homicide. (reference omitted)
Cedar Street
Homicide. (reference omitted)
Woodrow Ave
Mr. Mary, a prominent barber in the community was robbed and killed.
Spruce and Lewis Ave
Guck (nickname) King was killed.
That is a total of 12 murders that occurred in our neighborhood in a short span of time. There are more, but by choice, I elect not to cite them.
There was also a group of young men who called themselves the untouchables. They were involved in criminal activities.
A group of young men robbed a bank. Hid the money in mattress in a home on Webb Street. Somebody talked. The robbers were jailed.
Rape occurred, but it was generally a waste of time to report it to the police. The women and girls were often blamed and the rapists were seldom charged if the victim was a black woman or girl.
There was also a young man who terrorized the whole community. We prayed and prayed that he would be arrested. My sister Audrey came home one day with her dress ripped. She told us that this mean spirited youth had cut her dress with a knife. Eventually he was arrested for other crimes and spent a lot of his youthful years and early adult life in confinement..
In those days these crimes didn't get too much media attention. You might see a four line paragraph in the Suffolk News Herald. Many citizens in the community didn't read newspapers or listen to the radio.. In fact, a lot of the citizens probably never heard about these incidents.
I doubt if there have been as many homicides in the community in the last 49 years as there were in the eight year period cited in this report.
Violence in the neighborhood is bad now, but it was probably worse in the "good ole days."
Similar story will be published on Grady Bryant's East Suffolk High Looking Back website. in June 2013.
Copyright Grady E. Bryant 2013. All Rights Reserved.
In the fifties and sixties violence occurred often in Pleasant Hill and South Suffolk. We didn't have newspapers and television covering negro news back then, like they do now. Some of my good friends were recently expressing their opinion about how calm and peaceful everything were in the good ole days in the community.
I remember the quiet peaceful days when I grew up on Baker Street. Also, I remember some very violent times too.
I discussed those times with my brother Al "Pete" Bryant and Frank Kahan. We recalled murdering, robbery, rape and shootings galore.
I'm going to do a street by street review of some of the violence that occurred in what some call the " good ole days." All of these events happened in the late fifties and early sixties.
300 block of Duke Street
A man was shot dead on his front porch while holding a baby in his arms.
300 block of Baker Street
A man was killed and his body put on the railroad track.
200 block of Webb Street
A lady was sliced to death with a knife. She ran into our backyard in the 200 block of Baker Street and died. It was all about some matter involving children.
300 block of Webb Street
My friend Bob King was gunned down by a 13 year old teenager. He died in the middle of the street.
300 block of Hunter Street
A man was killed and his body was left in a ditch.
There was also lots of violence at both ends of Hunter Street. On the west end was Pond Town and on the east end was a community called "Little Korea."(named after the conflict in Korea).We were advised to stay out of those communities at night. Well in Pond Town, the Webb Street section was okay.
300 block of Pleasant Street
A man was killed in a house early one Sunday morning. The shooting was senseless.
A short period later, in the same house, the lady of the house who was confined to a wheelchair and her son, who was home on military leave was gunned down. Again, senseless, and about nothing.
200 block of Charlotte Ave
A man was cut with a razor blade by a woman. He survived.
100 block of Lewis Ave
Homicide. (reference omitted)
Cedar Street
Homicide. (reference omitted)
Woodrow Ave
Mr. Mary, a prominent barber in the community was robbed and killed.
Spruce and Lewis Ave
Guck (nickname) King was killed.
That is a total of 12 murders that occurred in our neighborhood in a short span of time. There are more, but by choice, I elect not to cite them.
There was also a group of young men who called themselves the untouchables. They were involved in criminal activities.
A group of young men robbed a bank. Hid the money in mattress in a home on Webb Street. Somebody talked. The robbers were jailed.
Rape occurred, but it was generally a waste of time to report it to the police. The women and girls were often blamed and the rapists were seldom charged if the victim was a black woman or girl.
There was also a young man who terrorized the whole community. We prayed and prayed that he would be arrested. My sister Audrey came home one day with her dress ripped. She told us that this mean spirited youth had cut her dress with a knife. Eventually he was arrested for other crimes and spent a lot of his youthful years and early adult life in confinement..
In those days these crimes didn't get too much media attention. You might see a four line paragraph in the Suffolk News Herald. Many citizens in the community didn't read newspapers or listen to the radio.. In fact, a lot of the citizens probably never heard about these incidents.
I doubt if there have been as many homicides in the community in the last 49 years as there were in the eight year period cited in this report.
Violence in the neighborhood is bad now, but it was probably worse in the "good ole days."
Similar story will be published on Grady Bryant's East Suffolk High Looking Back website. in June 2013.
Copyright Grady E. Bryant 2013. All Rights Reserved.
