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Cook's Point economic survey report, 1963
1963-10 Racial Justice in Iowa Page 1
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Volume 26, No. 8 October, 1963 Racial Injustice in Iowa As part of our contribution to the forthcoming report of the Iowa Committee of the United States Civil Rights Commission it was suggested that we include some pages of the story of Davenport's contribution to man's inhumanity ti man, especially the Spanish American and the Negro. First let us consider Davenport's Mexicans. Early in the present Century they arrived here encouraged by the rail companies and Bettendorf companies. Middle-aged and older Davenporters can recall their homes in the box-cars of Bettendorf. True some were also located in Silvis, East Moline and down along the rail tracks in West Davenport, but best remembered were the box-car dwellers of Bettendorf's "Holy City". Usually handicapped by lack of knowledge of English, these Spanish-speaking Catholics were of necessity quite aloof from other citizens. Their abject poverty was obvious enough though passed off as somehow unimportant. Besides they sported flashy colored silk shirts on Sundays which suggested that, like the Negro, they were unaffected by suffering. These Davenport Mexicans suffered discrimination. One such was their ejection from Bettendorf after World War I. When the demand for their labor lessened in the rail yards and the shops, the spectacle of their lowly lives became too embarrassing to tolerate. So under cover of night they were removed to Cook's Point, then a miserable place in Southwest Davenport bordering on the Mississippi River and the City Dump - on a site formerly occupied by lumber mills. These words are to be taken literally. For example, before their later removal from this "home" we have pictures (see Davenport Democrat and Leader, April 24, 1949) revealing one dilapidated home on stilts extending over the river. Nearby, also on stilts and extending over the water, stands the out-door toilet accessible by walking a sort of gang plank. On the same page of the Democrat are other scenes worth mentioning here. Below the above described scene is a picture of a group of young lads playing ball in a " 'playground'. There are no slides, swings, jungles, gyms or other apparatus for the children to play on. A ball game was being played with a large ball of string serving as a base ball". Another scene shows little Mexican boys and girls pursuing a snake already escaped into their little pond left by the lumber mills. Still another shot shows several young lads filling a five-gallon container with water from the only pump in the area. Our St. Ambrose College Sociology Department survey revealed that another pump had been abandoned several years prior to the survey and that when the lone remaining pump was damaged, a free enterpriser brought in water for a "small fee". The comment under this pump picture reads: "Cook's Point rests within view of the bustling business district of Davenport yet lacks almost completely any modern conveniences". One final picture depicts a pitiful abode unworthy even of the type boy gangs are wont to fashion as shacks in connection with their hunting or fishing sports. The Democrat comments: "This structure... is typical of most dwellings on Cook's point where the Industrial and Human Relations Club of St. Ambrose College has completed a survey. Om;y two of the 56 homes visited by the club were found to have electricity. Not one has running water and consequently no bath or toilet facilities inside". The undersigned can point up the dismal poverty of these people by citing the testimony of his sisters, then teachers in one of the public schools to which the poor and usually hungry Mexican children attended of necessity despite their hunger and pitiful clothing. The truant officers saw to their attendance, but no agency seemed concerned about their chronic hunger and lack of clothing. Our treasured athletic sweaters disappeared into the hands of these little Mexican children, useless though they were in the face of the cold winter blasts. But there was no thought of protest. Rev. William T. O'Conner
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Volume 26, No. 8 October, 1963 Racial Injustice in Iowa As part of our contribution to the forthcoming report of the Iowa Committee of the United States Civil Rights Commission it was suggested that we include some pages of the story of Davenport's contribution to man's inhumanity ti man, especially the Spanish American and the Negro. First let us consider Davenport's Mexicans. Early in the present Century they arrived here encouraged by the rail companies and Bettendorf companies. Middle-aged and older Davenporters can recall their homes in the box-cars of Bettendorf. True some were also located in Silvis, East Moline and down along the rail tracks in West Davenport, but best remembered were the box-car dwellers of Bettendorf's "Holy City". Usually handicapped by lack of knowledge of English, these Spanish-speaking Catholics were of necessity quite aloof from other citizens. Their abject poverty was obvious enough though passed off as somehow unimportant. Besides they sported flashy colored silk shirts on Sundays which suggested that, like the Negro, they were unaffected by suffering. These Davenport Mexicans suffered discrimination. One such was their ejection from Bettendorf after World War I. When the demand for their labor lessened in the rail yards and the shops, the spectacle of their lowly lives became too embarrassing to tolerate. So under cover of night they were removed to Cook's Point, then a miserable place in Southwest Davenport bordering on the Mississippi River and the City Dump - on a site formerly occupied by lumber mills. These words are to be taken literally. For example, before their later removal from this "home" we have pictures (see Davenport Democrat and Leader, April 24, 1949) revealing one dilapidated home on stilts extending over the river. Nearby, also on stilts and extending over the water, stands the out-door toilet accessible by walking a sort of gang plank. On the same page of the Democrat are other scenes worth mentioning here. Below the above described scene is a picture of a group of young lads playing ball in a " 'playground'. There are no slides, swings, jungles, gyms or other apparatus for the children to play on. A ball game was being played with a large ball of string serving as a base ball". Another scene shows little Mexican boys and girls pursuing a snake already escaped into their little pond left by the lumber mills. Still another shot shows several young lads filling a five-gallon container with water from the only pump in the area. Our St. Ambrose College Sociology Department survey revealed that another pump had been abandoned several years prior to the survey and that when the lone remaining pump was damaged, a free enterpriser brought in water for a "small fee". The comment under this pump picture reads: "Cook's Point rests within view of the bustling business district of Davenport yet lacks almost completely any modern conveniences". One final picture depicts a pitiful abode unworthy even of the type boy gangs are wont to fashion as shacks in connection with their hunting or fishing sports. The Democrat comments: "This structure... is typical of most dwellings on Cook's point where the Industrial and Human Relations Club of St. Ambrose College has completed a survey. Om;y two of the 56 homes visited by the club were found to have electricity. Not one has running water and consequently no bath or toilet facilities inside". The undersigned can point up the dismal poverty of these people by citing the testimony of his sisters, then teachers in one of the public schools to which the poor and usually hungry Mexican children attended of necessity despite their hunger and pitiful clothing. The truant officers saw to their attendance, but no agency seemed concerned about their chronic hunger and lack of clothing. Our treasured athletic sweaters disappeared into the hands of these little Mexican children, useless though they were in the face of the cold winter blasts. But there was no thought of protest. Rev. William T. O'Conner
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