Results tagged “Crispus Attucks” from York Town Square

The Rosie the Riveter image could suggest to some that women worked outside the home for the first time in World War II. Actually, the Great Depression brought women into the work force in droves, paving the way for their wartime role as a key cog in the Arsenal of Democracy. Women aiding their families made up one-third of York's workers at the height of the Depression in 1933. Here, a woman runs a machine in this undated photo, courtesy of the York County Heritage Trust. Background posts: The real big York County house that little false teeth built, York County expert Dan Meckley: 'I refuse to be politically correct' and Valencia Ballroom became cool place during Depression.

Let's be clear.

Depressions, like recessions, are not desirable.

But history shows that good can come out of bad.

That was true of Joseph in the Bible when Potipher's wife set him up.

It is true in the Great Depression in York County, when many community institutions that delight today cropped up from damaged economic soil.

Can a fraction of this happen again during the current downturn?

The following adaptation from my book "Never to be Forgotten," show the devastation and renewal spawned by the Depression.

It's interesting the work you do on a snowy day can pay off when it's hot months later.

In December, the York Daily Record/Sunday News' Ted Sickler and I went through tubs of material at Crispus Attucks Community Center telling about that organization's 75th anniversary.

We organized the photos and stories into a series of 30 profiles about the organization that has long so successfully served the recreational and social needs of minorities in York.

The profiles have been running in the York Sunday News Viewpoints section since March. They will end in the fall at about the time that CA is planning a major event.

We have the complete set online at http://ydr.inyork.com/ydr/blackhistory. ...