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Cook's Point economic survey report, 1963
1963-10 Racial Justice in Iowa Page 5
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LABOR Volume 26, No. 12 October, 1963 Racial Injustice in Iowa At the Davenport City Council meeting Alderman Fell did not say where these people should go. But he was quite clear about their going. He said " If you're going to give them playground and recreation facilities, you're only encouraging them to stay. Uchtorff (Fell explained that "Albert Urchtorff Sr., owner of property, is anxious to have the families move into another area as he has plans for construction of a warehouse for the Uchtorff Company on the site" - The Daily Times, May 5, 1949) doesn't want them. The quicker they get out the "better". Fell went on to state that even if Uchtorff did not plan to utilize the Cook's Point property for business purposes, " I am in favor of the city moving in and removing the people from the area". Perhaps somewhat inconsistently, Mr. Uchtorff also pointed out that " Uchtorff already has taken steps to improve conditions by appointing Henry Reimers, Scott County humane officer and a special policeman, as law enforcement officer at the point." (The Daily Times, May 5, 1949). Fell said that when one goes "into the early history of Cook's Point, you will find that a number of years ago the Mexican families moved to that location because they wanted to colonize. I personally know that there are a number of families living there who own homes elsewhere but they would rather collect the rent from those houses and live on the Point where they have to pay only $2 a month land rent". Fell goes on to expand: " And don't think that those people down there aren't making enough money to live decently. Why I know of one family having three wage earners. One makes $90.00 a week; another $68.00 and a third $54.00. People with that kind of income shouldn't have to live in a place without proper sanitary conditions" (Democrat, May 4, 1949) The St. Ambrose Sociology lads tried to argue that most Mexicans had no educational advantages. And again Fell countered this time " with an answer that brought a blush to the face of Police Chief Les Jurgens". Said Fell: " Don't kid yourself that Mexicans are dumb. It was only a couple of years ago that some of the younger ones outsmarted all 68 of our policemen at that time by filling up a quarry with stolen safes. I'd say that some of them are pretty smart" (Democrat). The St. Ambrose student effort was proved futile when Mr. Fell said : " I'm opposed to doing anything but evicting the families". And thus ended for the time being an effort primarily aimed at the procurement of some kind of decent housing program for our Davenport Mexican brothers. It was actually two years later that Mr. Uchtorff went ahead with his industrialization project for the Point. Meantime the Mexican families and other white families dwelling on that two acre swamp land of necessity resigned themselves to their pitiful plight. Jerome Cahill could write ( The Catholic Messenger, Feb. 28, 1952) that "The City of Davenport, which in the past has brushed off proposals to clean up Cook's Point slum area is face to face with a social problem centering around the Point it can ignore no longer". Cahill could honestly write that the Point " has no sewage or sanitation facilities, no running water, no electricity". And now the immediate problem stemmed from Mr. Uchtorff's finally taking effective action to industrialize the area. This would entail the forcible ejection of the 148 remaining "citizens" of the Point. Uchtorff's rent collector, Henry Reimers, was instructed in January 1952 to notify the settlers that the deadline for their departure was May 31, 1952. Once again Davenport's "League For Social Justice", led at the time by Jerome Cahill and Mrs. Ann Toney, conducted a door-to-door study of this community. Writes Cahill: " For more than four hours we waded through ankle-deep mud, visiting every shack on the Point, talking to Mexican and White men, women and children wherever we found them. Almost everywhere the answer was the same 'We don't know what we are going to do. We have no place to go'" Rev. William T. O'Connor
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LABOR Volume 26, No. 12 October, 1963 Racial Injustice in Iowa At the Davenport City Council meeting Alderman Fell did not say where these people should go. But he was quite clear about their going. He said " If you're going to give them playground and recreation facilities, you're only encouraging them to stay. Uchtorff (Fell explained that "Albert Urchtorff Sr., owner of property, is anxious to have the families move into another area as he has plans for construction of a warehouse for the Uchtorff Company on the site" - The Daily Times, May 5, 1949) doesn't want them. The quicker they get out the "better". Fell went on to state that even if Uchtorff did not plan to utilize the Cook's Point property for business purposes, " I am in favor of the city moving in and removing the people from the area". Perhaps somewhat inconsistently, Mr. Uchtorff also pointed out that " Uchtorff already has taken steps to improve conditions by appointing Henry Reimers, Scott County humane officer and a special policeman, as law enforcement officer at the point." (The Daily Times, May 5, 1949). Fell said that when one goes "into the early history of Cook's Point, you will find that a number of years ago the Mexican families moved to that location because they wanted to colonize. I personally know that there are a number of families living there who own homes elsewhere but they would rather collect the rent from those houses and live on the Point where they have to pay only $2 a month land rent". Fell goes on to expand: " And don't think that those people down there aren't making enough money to live decently. Why I know of one family having three wage earners. One makes $90.00 a week; another $68.00 and a third $54.00. People with that kind of income shouldn't have to live in a place without proper sanitary conditions" (Democrat, May 4, 1949) The St. Ambrose Sociology lads tried to argue that most Mexicans had no educational advantages. And again Fell countered this time " with an answer that brought a blush to the face of Police Chief Les Jurgens". Said Fell: " Don't kid yourself that Mexicans are dumb. It was only a couple of years ago that some of the younger ones outsmarted all 68 of our policemen at that time by filling up a quarry with stolen safes. I'd say that some of them are pretty smart" (Democrat). The St. Ambrose student effort was proved futile when Mr. Fell said : " I'm opposed to doing anything but evicting the families". And thus ended for the time being an effort primarily aimed at the procurement of some kind of decent housing program for our Davenport Mexican brothers. It was actually two years later that Mr. Uchtorff went ahead with his industrialization project for the Point. Meantime the Mexican families and other white families dwelling on that two acre swamp land of necessity resigned themselves to their pitiful plight. Jerome Cahill could write ( The Catholic Messenger, Feb. 28, 1952) that "The City of Davenport, which in the past has brushed off proposals to clean up Cook's Point slum area is face to face with a social problem centering around the Point it can ignore no longer". Cahill could honestly write that the Point " has no sewage or sanitation facilities, no running water, no electricity". And now the immediate problem stemmed from Mr. Uchtorff's finally taking effective action to industrialize the area. This would entail the forcible ejection of the 148 remaining "citizens" of the Point. Uchtorff's rent collector, Henry Reimers, was instructed in January 1952 to notify the settlers that the deadline for their departure was May 31, 1952. Once again Davenport's "League For Social Justice", led at the time by Jerome Cahill and Mrs. Ann Toney, conducted a door-to-door study of this community. Writes Cahill: " For more than four hours we waded through ankle-deep mud, visiting every shack on the Point, talking to Mexican and White men, women and children wherever we found them. Almost everywhere the answer was the same 'We don't know what we are going to do. We have no place to go'" Rev. William T. O'Connor
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