Jamaica, L.I.

• Jamaica, L.I.

• Summer 1954

Backyard photo of Umi standing near her mother who is seated and holding her younger brother. There are two other children, one white and one Black, who appear to have come over to play.

Notes: According to a 1958 study, in 1950, the entirety of the Jamaica section of Queens was 78% white and 21% Black, with Black residents concentrated in South Jamaica. Seven years later, Jamaica was 63% white and 36% Black and "only 161 Negroes were found in Jamaica proper." When I was a young child in the early 80s, I vaguely remember a lone elderly white woman that lived next door — she had not taken flight. Umi's friend, Violet, who also grew up in South Jamaica, explained that when they were growing up, there were not many white children in the neighborhood and the white residents who had remained were older and “their children probably had moved away.” I wonder if this child is someone's grandchild.