LS Today is August the 27th 2003. This is Luciana Spracher, project historian for the Benjamin
Van Clark Neighborhood Documentation Project of the City of Savannah's Department of
Cultural Affairs. I am speaking with Gladys Turner, resident of the neighborhood at the WW
Law recreational center in Savannah Georgia.
I'm just going to give you a little background on what I'm going to do. Our project is focusing
on how the neighborhood has developed or changed as a result of transportation,
desegregation, and the current revitalization effort.
I'm going to start with the few background questions and then address these themes.
Uh, please state your full name including middle name and maiden name.
GT My name is Gladys (inaudible) Turner.
L S OK, can you please state your birthday and place of birth?
GT I was born in Burke County and my date of birth is July 2nd 1933.
L S OK, can you please state your race so that we can help us understand the demographics of
our neighborhood?
GT Black.
LS What is your current address or if you're not comfortable what block do you live on?
GT Collins Street.
LS College Street?
GT Collins St. C. 0. L. L. I. N. S. Collins St.
L S When did you move to the Benjamin Van Clark Neighborhood?
GT In August of 1968.
LS Why did you choose this neighborhood to move to?
GT It was very nice and I didn't like the East side but they were so nice and quiet and (inaudible)
we were buying.
LS OK, so when you moved to the neighborhood then you were a property owner?
GT Yes.
LS Are you in the same house?
GT Same house.
LS OK, at any point did you leave the neighborhood and then come back?
GT No.
LS Um, and if any of these questions if you can't answer them, or don't want to answer them we'll
pass them along, just let me know.
GT OK.
LS Did you live here when there were still streetcars?
GT No.
LS OK, I'm going to skip all of those, um, when you moved into the neighborhood was it
predominantly white, African-American or mixed.
GT Mixed.
LS Um, have you noticed a shift in the neighborhood to where it's predominantly more white or
black?
GT Predominantly more black.
LS Black. What do you think was the cause of that shift in the population?
GT That would be Garden Homes, there was very low-income housing, and they were having
trouble, domestic problems, shooting, fighting almost every night and they were fighting when
they left.
LS When did you notice those changes happening?
GT A few years after I moved east.
LS So like early 1970s?
GT Yes.
LS You were here kind of late for the Civil Rights period, do you know of any protest activity that
occurred within the neighborhood?
GT I wasn't here at that time.
LS Oh. Do you think that the Civil Rights movement and the integration of schools, and
restaurants, and beaches, etc. caused any changes in the population of the Benjamin Van
Clark Neighborhood?
GT I guess so, I'm not sure. Because I was not here at the time of that.
LS OK, that's fine. You've already mentioned Garden Homes; I was gcing to ask you how you felt
about it when it was still here? Is there anything you want to add in addition?
GT Well, it was real bad influenoe for the children, raising children in school (inaudible) and uh, I
think the low income housing is really bad because they, they didn't have enough screening of
the people that moved in.
LS OK. How do you feel about the Hope VI project and the proposed mixed-use housing that will
replaoe this?
GT Well, what I can understand, it should be better. I'm not sure if we've ever had that here in
Savannah before, so irs a mixed emotion really.
LS Do you think you will help your property values, or your neighborhood?
GT With the value of the housing, I think it would.
LS Urn, are you planning on taking advantage of any of the city programs that are being offered in
conjunction with the Hope VI?
GT Yes.
LS And what programs would those be?
GT Well, they both have the, urn, computers and a lot of things that we can do, activities for the
elderly, and the youth we could (inaudible).
LS Okay, here in the recreational oenter?
GT Yes. We've also got the entrepreneurial programs that you can do your own at home.
LS OK. Urn, how long have you been involved with the neighborhood association?
GT Oh boy, sinoe we started. We'll actually, since we moved here, we were, it would not be the
polioe club, we just had a community club at that time. And we were, whenever they got
started with the Benjamin Van Clark (inaudible) coming in, we got involved in.
LS What did you call the community group then? Did it have a name?
GT Well we still had the community, I think it was Benjamin Van Clark, just uh, we would not
documented at that time. We were not incorporated at that time. We raised money for
projects, and we had a neighborhood watch before the city started it.
LS When you moved to the neighborhood, what did you call the neighborhood, because it wasn't
called Benjamin Van Clark yet?
GT I don't know, I can't remember.
LS OK.
GT We raised money and we had, urn, the uh, neighborhood club, community club, because we
had anybody in the neighborhood dies, we would buy them a flower and some families had
children that were not able to buy Cub Scout or Boy Scout uniforms. We would purchase that
for them, and wherever the need was we had a treasury.
LS OK. Urn (pause), what I was, urn, trying to get was when you moved here, urn, when you
moved to your block did you to consider it Eastside, Collinsville?
GT Eastsde, Eastside.
LS OK, so you called it Eastside?
GT Yes.
LS Do you remember what the general attitude of the neighborhood was when they renamed Live
Oak Park to Benjamin Van Clark Park?
GT The attitude?
LS Or do you remember when that happened, when they renamed the Park?
GT Oh, I remember that but I don't remember what year. (Inaudible) I was really confined to him
more.
LS Uh, just tell me in general, what changes you've noticed in the neighborhood during the time
that you've lived here. Population, architecture, businesses?
GT A lot of people moved away because of the buildings, they were run down. We had other,
groups would come from the East, West Side and tear up our parks. And they were stealing
and breaking in, but they would not be children in our neighborhood, they would come from
those neighborhoods.
LS So they didn't really have a respect for your neighborhood as if it were their own?
GT No.
LS Can you name any significant businesses, restaurants factories, etc., that are or used to be in
this neighborhood?
GT Know I don't, same thing.
LS And finally, I would like to ask you if there is anything that you wanted to add, about anything
that has to do with the neighborhood and its history?
GT Do you mean improving it?
LS It could be about improving it, it could be about the past, it could be any special memories that
you have of people or events that have happened in the neighborhood.
GT We were closer with each other, watching out for everybody, and we agreed to have more
police protection. We have quite a bit of that now. But that is about the best we've ever had.
A lot of people moved away, some died, and now ifs just not the same anymore because so
many new people have moved in. We always tried to screen who moved in, because we were
all homeowners when I moved east. A lot more (inaudible) now.
LS Okay, do you have any special memories, um, little anecdotes about the area?
GT It was just real nice, and everybody kept up their yards real well. The trees and everything
have grown out of proportion and the neighborhood, uh, the shrubberies ought to be cut back.
And some of the city property (inaudible) earlier, who was responsible, cause the city's
probably not keeping it up like they should.
LS OK, I want to thank you for your time Mrs. Turner and you've been very