A Standing-Room-Only Crowd Gathered at Rochambeau Library to Share Memories of Providence’s Lost Neighborhood.
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Olney Street Baptist Church, at Olney and Pratt Streets, was torn down to build University Heights.
As eleven former Black residents recalled their halcyon days on Lippitt Hill, an integrated audience of 76 listened intently to the stories of childhood, church, education, entrepreneurism and interraciality. Bounded by North Main Street to Hope and Olney to Doyle, Lippitt Hill was laced with little streets lined with homes and businesses.
Here a predominantly African American and Cape Verdean population lived harmoniously with Jewish, Polish and Italian residents in a neighborhood that dates back to the freed slaves of the Brown family.
In this idyllic setting, families flourished, block parties brought people together, vigilant parents kept an eye on each others children, lively retail shops bustled, and life-long friendships were formed.
It all came tumbling down in the 1960s with a city-sanctioned eviction notice disguised as redevelopment.
Residents were ousted but told they could return as renters of new apartments that now front Olney Street. The promise never materialized.
Phase One of this exciting story, filmed by StrayCreatives, concluded with the sharing of photographs and a trophy that Celebrity Club performer Sugar Ray Robinson bestowed upon young Hope High scholar Meredith Spicer.