Joanne Denworth

Joanne Denworth and her husband Ray bought the derelict house at 310 S. Second Street in 1967, at the urging of their friend Charles (Chuck) Burnette, whom they then hired to be the architect for the rehabilitation of the house. They chose to modernize much of the interior, while restoring the façade in compliance with Redevelopment Authority regulations. That same year, they moved into a two-bedroom apartment in Society Hill Towers, and their twins, Lydia and Michael, were born. The family lived there until 1972, while renovating the house. Their grandiose design ideas turned out to be beyond their budget, but they were gradually able to make the house livable in a style that suited them.

Joanne relished living in the neighborhood, finding it “exciting, … exhilarating.” There was a camaraderie in being “an urban pioneer” with other, like-minded neighbors. She was active in opposing the Crosstown Expressway, in depressing I-95 and other issues. In her law practice, she “did a lot of law that was related to redevelopment issues, housing, environment.” When, in 1972, she became President of the Society Hill Civic Association, she led the organization in one of the most bitter and contentious disputes the neighborhood has ever faced—whether to provide housing for low-income, primarily African-American residents who had lived their entire lives in the neighborhood and were now threatened with eviction from their homes with no plan for where they might live. She notes, “The redevelopment plan [for Society Hill] never had any provision whatsoever for moderate- or low-income housing, despite the fact that there were a lot of such people here as tenants.”

Despite the initial outcome of the low-income housing controversy, Joanne loved living in Society Hill, made many friends, pursued a productive legal career, and even invested in the start-up of a popular Greek restaurant, Konstantino’s.

Keywords: African Americans, architect Charles Burnette, Benezet Court, interiors, low-income housing, Newmarket, renovation, Society Hill Civic Association, Society Hill Towers, urban pioneers.

Transcript

DS:       This is an interview with Joanne Denworth. The address is 310 S. Second Street. The date is May 23, 2008, and the interviewer is Dorothy Stevens.

JD:       When Ray [Denworth] and I were first married, we moved into a little house on Panama Street, after looking at an apartment and deciding that we didn’t want an apartment. We wanted to start with a house. So we were in that block right around the corner from Frankie’s Bar. You know, it’s a little street – it’s the 1200 block, between Camac and 13th Street. It was a great little house, and across the street a month after we moved in Chuck and Margo Burnette drove up. Chuck is the architect of my house here and also my house in Maryland. They were really quite glamorous. They arrived in the TC MG, and she had this great straw hat on, the top down. “Wow! Look at (1:00) them!” They moved in right across the street from us, in a really skinny little house, right at the corner of Iseminger and Camac. And of course, he was an architect. He’s the one who really got us so interested in Society Hill. They wanted to buy a shell and bought the house they have on Third Street [243 S Third St.]. Way back, I mean early. And he got us interested in the whole neighborhood, and then we met people down here too, a lot of architects. I don’t know. Somehow, I have a talent for making friends with architects.

DS:       Are you talking about the early ‘60s?

JD:       Yes, we moved to Society Hill Towers, the year our twins were born, 1967. Before that, we often came here to visit people. We knew the Robertses, because Lynne had gone to Vassar, as I did, and Jack McAllister, who was an architect with Lou (2:00) Kahn, Duncan and Sally [Buell] I think I met them in early times, too; Marshall and Anne Meyers. These are the architects I can think of. I’m sure there were other people I met before moving down here.

                But anyhow, Ray and I decided finally that it would be a great thing to do. We were looking for a house, [Laughs] thinking to get one sooner than we did. We first wanted a house on Fourth Street, and it turned out we couldn’t get that one. Teddy Newbold was then at OPDC, and he was helping us, and we got this house, which is one of the many houses Ted thought he wanted. We got it, but there was an argument about it because others claimed that they should have it. I forget the whole (3:00) story.

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© 2008 Project Philadelphia 19106™. All rights reserved.

About the Interview

Interviewer
Dorothy Stevens
Transcriber
Cynthia J. Eiseman
Interview Location
310 S 2nd Street
Interview Date
May 23, 2008
Interviewee
Denworth, Joanne
Narrator Type
Redeveloper - Restoration
Oral History Sources