40th Anniversary

More 40th Anniversary Activities Being Planned

WMAN is taking its 40th anniversary celebration into the 21st century. A committee has been meeting to plan additional festivities for both adults and families that will last until June 2000.

40th Anniversary Brunch recognizing "40 Good Neighbors," those unsung heroes who each day strengthen the fabric of our community by working with youth, picking up litter, calling city departments to insist on our fair share of services, or any other volunteer service. The "40 Good Neighbors" will be chosen from nominations submitted by the community. Start thinking about whom you wish to nominate and help ensure that our local heroes receive the recognition they deserve. November 1999

Dance Party. This is a time for you and all your friends and neighbors to party to 40 years of dance music. March 2000

Family Circus.All the fun that's possible under The Big Top comes to Mt. Airy for the first time. This will be a family event, centered on young children. Tickets will most likely be sold in advance. This can become a major fund raiser for WMAN. June 2000

Subcommittees are being formed to work on these events and additional participation is more than welcome. To become involved, call 215-438-6022 or e-mail wman@wman.net.

Grand Opening of New Office on April 10

The grand opening of the WMAN and EMAN offices on April 10 had something for everyone to enjoy, including children. Adding to the festive atmosphere of the celebration was Mt. Airy's versatile entertainer Linda Pollack-Johnson, Since 1981, she and her husband, Bruce Johnson, have performed as the juggling, mime and music troupe, Two's Company. At the opening, she entertained solo, although part of the act is to encourage participation from the audience. At right, she received the willing -- and able -- assistance of Marcus Howard with this balancing plates act.

The cheerful offices provide a storefront presence and more space to have meetings. Plenty of people were happy to join WMAN President Laurie Tarver (right) and EMAN President Rev. Carla Harris (left) for the ceremonial cutting of a cake in the two organizations' honor.

The opening festivities wouldn't have been possible without the work of Mira Rabin (left in photo at right) of WMAN and Pat Lewis (right) of EMAN. Kudos to them for all their excellent work.

Linda kept children -- and adults -- entertained with a
myriad of props, magic tricks, jumping rope on a
unicycle, all performed with musical accompaniment.
Above, she invites Tony Stevens to paint parts of a face on a balloon, followed by a happy Jean Francois (right), who paints the eyebrows. Below, several children spread out a paper along the sidewalk in front of the offices to draw pictures on a mural.

Photos by Michael Kleiner

Standing Room Crowd Attends Forum
on History of Racial Integration in Mt. Airy

A festive atmosphere prevailed as more than 350 people packed into the Marcus Auditorium of the Germantown Jewish Centre on March 25 for the forum, Healing History: The Story of Racial Integration in Mt. Airy. The event kicked off a year-long celebration of WMAN's 40 years of service to the community.

Many former and current WMAN leaders attended the forum, including founding members Vida Carlson and Bill Cousins, and former WMAN presidents Henry Wells, Louis Levy, Jerry Balka, Oliver Lancaster, Ralph Pinkus, Walter Jennings, Steve Bartlett, Jerry Sellers and Nancy Goldenberg. Immediate past president Tom Sugrue served as moderator for the panel. The Rev. Rudy Gelsey, a founder of East Mt. Airy Neighbors, was present along with many board members of EMAN and other community organizations.

The focus of the forum was West Mt. Airy's special heritage as a racially integrated community. Mt. Airy's national reputation as an integration leader is secure, underscored most recently by the November, 1998 publication of a Housing and Urban Development study on racially integrated and ethnically diverse urban communities. The study recognizes West Mt. Airy as one of the most successfully integrated neighborhoods in the nation.

Philip Nyden, Professor of Sociology at Loyola University of Chicago, Barbara Ferman, Professor of Political Science at Temple University, and Theresa Singleton, a graduate student at Temple, reported on the study. They took pains to point out that while West Mt. Airy has many physical attributes which make it attractive to both black and white residents -- proximity to Fairmount Park, diverse housing stock, lovely tree-lined streets -- it was the quality of the volunteer leadership which made integration possible here. This point was underscored by Juliet Saltman, Professor Emerita of Sociology at Kent State University, and a national expert on integrated neighborhoods, who lauded West Mt. Airy's success at integration and pointed out how truly rare racial balance is. Elijah Anderson, noted author and Professor of Social Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania, read a vivid description of Germantown Avenue from Chestnut Hill through Mt. Airy to Germantown.

During the brief question and answer period, residents expressed strong concerns about schools, the reality of crime, and even NATO's involvement in Kosovo. The Mt. Airy traditions of powerful civic engagement and passionately held opinions were much in evidence at the forum. These qualities, which have contributed so much to Mt. Airy's success, should help ensure WMAN's, and West Mt. Airy's future.

Note: As a result of the forum, WMAN was asked to participate in a forum sponsored by the Fair Housing Council of Montgomery County and Neighbors for Diversity, a group concerned with segregation and race relations in Montgomery County. Sylvia Carter, a long-time Mt. Airy resident and community activist, spoke movingly at the Montgomery County event about her experiences as an African-American woman moving to Mt. Airy in 1958, and participating in many of the pro-integration activities of the '60s. Sylvia's thoughtfulness, eloquence and warmth electrified the crowd. Since then, she has been invited to appear on Y-100.3 radio (to air June 27, 5:30 a.m.) and WB-17 TV (July 12, 14, 16 at 5:30 a.m.) to speak about her experiences. To hear Sylvia's story, as presented at the WMAN annual meeting, click here: Sylvia Carter's story.

The forum generated a significant amount of publicity, including feature articles in the Inquirer, Daily News, Mt. Airy Times Express, Chestnut Hill Local, New Observer, The Leader, Weaver's Way Shuttle, and The Intentional Integrationist, spots on KYW Newsradio and WHYY Radio and Channel 17. Anyone traveling to Center City the night of the forum saw WMAN's name and 40th Anniversary shining on PECO's Crown Lights.