A Voice From The Ville: Julia Allen

Photo of Julia Allen and Family. Photo Courtesy of: Julia Allen

Mrs. Julia is a 70-year-old resident of The Ville. The Ville was the cornerstone of the Black community and boasts an assortment of historical buildings and who’s who in the Black community. Growing up, Mrs. Julia attended Marshall Elementary, Turner Middle, and Sumner High School, respectively. She was raised with 4 siblings, a brother and sister, and she herself was a twin.  Ms. Julia gave birth to two children, a son and a daughter who passed on. 

Growing up in The Ville, the older residents pushed the youth to strive for excellence. Ms. Julia remembers one of her first jobs was working downtown for a company called Graymont selling dry goods. She also worked at Homer G. Phillips as a mail clerk and as a clerk in the radiology dept as a film librarian before they closed. She shared a story about the closing of Homer G. Phillips and how the community was outraged over the decision. 

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Annie Turnbo Malone pictured in a souvenir booklet about her cosmetology school, Poro College. Public Domain

On a lighter note, growing up in The Ville was a close-knit community where everyone knew each other and looked out for one another. When the streetlights came on, all the kids had to be in the house and if a neighbor caught you doing wrong that neighbor had the right to discipline you. Ms. Julia stated that bad things happened in The Ville from time to time, but people still had moral character. Some of the events that were most memorable in The Ville was the annual Annie Malone Day Parade. Annie Malone was one of the first Black Female Millionaires and philanthropists who trained Madame C.J. Walker who also became world- renowned. She owned the Poro Building which housed the Poro College which was a school and manufacturing building to train young ladies in the cosmetology business.  The building also housed black owned businesses, a branch of The Lincoln University Law School, an ice cream parlor, sewing rooms, auditorium, movie theatre, and neighborhood post office.

Ms. Julia stated she noticed the community started to decline after desegregation in the mid 70’s. She noticed one by one all the Black professionals started to move out to the suburbs. Looking back, Ms. Julia stated that she cannot remember one Alderperson who tried to stop the crumbling of The Ville; it was as if everyone was looking for an excuse to leave not knowing everything they needed was right under their nose. A Pastor by the name of James E. Cook was a very prominent leader and very active in the community. He kept the light of hope burning in the heart of The Ville and there is even a statue of him in the Bayer YMCA. Ms. Julia stated that some of the many misconceptions about The Ville is that it is crime ridden and, full of poor people with no education who do not care about their community.

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Photo of Julia Allen inside the Northside Community Housing Office Building, leading a tour of The Ville Neighborhood

Ms. Julia hopes that she can bring more recognition to The Ville, so that it can become a beacon of light and return to its former glory to bring awareness and money to the community. She wants politicians to stop making decisions for our communities without our input and start listening to us. 

​There is a new hospital being built on Jefferson that will be named the Homer G. Phillips Hospital which Ms. Julia says does not sit right with The Ville residents since the original building still sits in the historic The Ville. When asked what should the new hospital be named? The suggestion was Captain Wendell-Pruitt Hospital after the famous Tuskegee Airman whose name was included on the original buildings that used to sit in the very spot. The famous Pruitt-Igoe.

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