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Morris Milgram | |
|---|---|
| Born | |
| Occupation | Real estate developer |
| Relatives | Grace Milgrim née Smelo |
Morris Milgram (1911-1997) was an American real estate developer, civil rights activist, and writer. Milgram built integrated housing for over 20,000 people in several states and the District of Columbia between the 1940s and the 1960s. Milgram was a pioneer in the construction of integrated housing prior to the passage of the Fair Housing Act of 1968, which banned racial segregation in real estate. Notable integrated developments built by Milgram include Greenbelt Knoll in Philadelphia and Concord Park in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Milgram also developed the first integrated apartments in Silver Spring, Maryland, as well as integrated apartments in Washington, D.C. for diplomats at the request of President John F. Kennedy, Jr. Milgram also built housing in California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Texas and Virginia.[1][2][3][4][5]
Early life
[edit]Milgram was born in New York City in 1916. His parents were poor Orthodox Jewish refugees who had fled persecution in Czarist Russia and worked as garment workers on Manhattan's Lower East Side. His father was a peddler. As a young man, Milgram attended the City College of New York, and was expelled in 1934 for organizing protests against Italian fascism. In 1939, he graduated from Dana College in Newark, New Jersey.[6][1]
Career and advocacy
[edit]
Following graduation, Milgram became an organizer and later the national secretary for the Workers' Defense League (WDL), a socialist and anti-racist labor rights organization. While working for the Workers' Defense League, he met and married fellow labor activist Grace Smelo. Grace Milgram's father William M. Smelo operated a small construction firm in the Philadelphia metropolitan region. After joining his father-in-law's firm, Milgram redirected the company's focus to the construction of integrated housing. [6] In order to attract buyers, Milgram advertised his housing in progressive publications such as The Nation.[7]
As WDL secretary, Milgram attended the 1942 funeral of Odell Waller following his execution by the Commonwealth of Virginia. He was the only white person in attendance, as other white people had been asked not to attend. According to one reporter, "[the black community] did not want 'Odell Waller's murderers' to look on his face in death".[8]
Between 1952 and 1957, Milgram developed the integrated Greenbelt Knoll neighborhood of Philadelphia. In order to promote his goal of integration, Milgram required that 45% of all homes in the neighborhood be sold to non-whites and 55% to whites.[6]
In 1954, Milgram developed Concord Park in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Concord Park was an early example of an integrated suburban development and was meant to serve as a national model for integration.[9]
In 1959, Milgram tried but failed to build integrated housing in Deerfield, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. The project was defeated due to local community backlash and the development land was converted by local authorities into public parks.[10]
In 1962, Milgram was asked by President John F. Kennedy, Jr. to purchase all-white apartments in Washington, D.C. and convert them into integrated apartments to ensure that diplomats of all races would have access to housing. The integration of the apartments occurred without controversy.[6]
In 1975, Milgram and the African-American civil rights leader James Farmer together founded the Fund for an OPEN Society, a housing advocacy non-profit that helped Black Americans and others purchase homes in integrated neighborhoods at below the market rate.[6]
As a writer, Milgram published numerous articles. In 1977, he published Good Neighborhood: The Challenge of Open Housing.[6]
Throughout his career, Milgram received many awards for his advocacy. In 1957, he was honored with the Walter White Award for Distinguished Service in Housing by the National Committee Against Discrimination. In 1968, he was honored with the National Human Rights away by the federal Department of Housing & Urban Development. In 1990, the Philadelphia Commission on Human Rights honored him with the Clarence Farmer Service Award.[6]
Death and legacy
[edit]Milgram died on June 22, 1997, at the age of 81 at the Attleboro Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Langhorne, Pennsylvania.[1][6] Milgram was survived by his ex-wife Grace and their two children.[11]
The Historical Society of Pennsylvania maintains an archive of Morris Milgram's papers from 1923 to 1994.[12]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c "Morris Milgram, 81; Built Interracial Housing". The New York Times. Retrieved 2025-09-26.
- ^ "The "Problem" of the Black Middle Class: Morris Milgram's Concord Park and Residential Integration in Philadelphias Postwar Suburbs". Penn State. Retrieved 2025-09-26.
- ^ "MORRIS MILGRAM, PIONEER IN INTERRACIAL HOUSING". Sun Sentinel. Retrieved 2025-09-26.
- ^ Monicken, Hannah (2017-11-10). "Silver Spring's Jewish history 'long and complicated'". Washington Jewish Week. Archived from the original on 2018-08-25. Retrieved 2025-09-26.
- ^ "Brief History of Downtown Silver Spring". The Moco Show. Retrieved 2025-09-26.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Greenbelt Knoll" (PDF). Philadelphia Register of Historic Places. Retrieved 2025-09-25.
- ^ "Houses tore down walls". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2025-09-26.
- ^ Sherman 1992, pp. 167–169.
- ^ Cite error: Unknown parameter "black" in
<ref>tag; supported parameters are dir, follow, group, name (see the help page). - ^ "Morris Milgram". Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Retrieved 2025-09-26.
- ^ "GRACE MILGRAM DIES AT 83". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2025-09-26.
- ^ "Morris Milgram papers". Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Retrieved 2025-09-26.
Bibliography
[edit]- Sherman, Richard B. (1992). The Case of Odell Waller and Virginia Justice, 1940–1942. University of Tennessee Press. ISBN 9780870497339.
Category:1916 births Category:1997 deaths Category:20th-century American Jews Category:American anti-racism activists Category:American housing rights activists Category:Jewish American writers Category:Jewish anti-fascists Category:Jewish anti-racism activists Category:People from Langhorne, Pennsylvania Category:People from New York City Category:Real estate and property developers from Maryland Category:Real estate and property developers from Pennsylvania