Street neighborhoods were teeming with children. The schools in the area accommodated more students than they were designed to serve. 105 For example, Forrest Elementary had twice the number of students it was designed to accommodate, with 886 students attending despite its capacity being set at 462. 106 Similarly, Forrest Elementary, Hill, and North Avenue Elementary schools lacked sufficient land for play areas or green spaces. Additionally, the closest park for Black children was over a mile away. 107 However, children did what children do, they played; played on the porch, under the house, and in the streets. 108 Games included sticks and rocks, dolls, ball, hopscotch drawn with rocks and with improvised toys. 109 Despite the absence of safe and inviting places for children to play or the lack of community gathering spaces such as a neighborhood park, green space, or recreational facilities, the neighborhood took on this. For example, First Congregational Church members took up $100 in donations to cover the membership costs for children living in Buttermilk Bottom at Butler Street YMCA. 110 Churches also established baseball, basketball, and other inter-mural teams to support youth development. 111 The community members supported one another in a variety of ways. The community was highly skilled and self-sufficient, with residents taking care of each other and served as the workforce to the city. 112 And worked with both Black and White employers. 113 In “We Were Descendants of Buttermilk Bottom, Atlanta, Georgia”, Cassandra Huff shares that her granddaddy was the delivery man carrying soda for Coca-Cola and becoming an electrician through apprenticeship. 114 Another family, The Lacey Family were multi-skilled and provided carpentry, plumbing, mechanic and electrical work for the community. 115
105 Joan Sanders, “Urban Anthropology”, May 1979. 106 The Atlanta Urban League Collection, Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library and Archives Research Center. 107 Huff, “Descendants”.
108 Sanders, “Urban Anthropology”. 109 Sanders, “Urban Anthropology”. 110 Sanders, “Urban Anthropology”. 111 Sanders, “Urban Anthropology”. 112 Sanders, “Urban Anthropology”. 113 Sanders, “Urban Anthropology”.
114 Huff, “Descendants”. 115 Huff, “Descendants”.
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