A group of religious leaders and community members in Deerfield recently gathered together, calling attention to the need for more diversity in the village 60 years after a divisive debate unfolded over integrated housing.
Recognizing how he might be preaching to the choir, Rev. Norval Brown, of Christ United Methodist Church in Deerfield, addressed the residents who attended the recent gathering at St. Gregory Episcopal Church in the village and stressed how they can influence change locally.
“If all we do is talk, we’re like a choir that rehearses and never sings,” Brown said. “It’s wonderful that we’re gathering. Go out and sing.”
Brown was one of six clergy members representing churches and synagogues who talked about issues related to diversity in Deerfield during the April 11 event, which also featured Mayor Harriet Rosenthal and historian Dylan Zavagno.
More than 70 people attended the vigil, which reflected on the 60th anniversary of a voter referendum that passed in 1959 and stopped an integrated housing development from moving forward in Deerfield.
The vigil also recognized the 51st anniversary of the 1968 Fair Housing Act, according to Mary Gramins, who helped organize the event.
But the purpose of the evening was to remember the past when Deerfield residents were divided over the issue of integrated housing 60 years ago, Gramins said.
Back in 1959, a developer wanted to build single-family homes on sites, which now are Mitchell and Jaycee parks, as part of two subdivisions called Floral Park and Pear Tree.
The proposal included a specific portion of homes that would be set aside for African Americans, and the community became bitterly divided over the idea, according to Deerfield Park District historical records.
The reaction of some in the community to the proposed subdivisions in 1959 resulted in Deerfield being labeled racist by the national media, according to a written history compiled by the park district. A book, “But Not Next Door,” was published in 1962 about the events.
Park district officials ultimately developed a referendum, which passed overwhelmingly, that condemned the land where Mitchell and Jaycee parks, as well as Shepard Middle School, South Park Elementary School and Deersprings Pool, now stand.
During the vigil, Zavagno, adult services coordinator at the Deerfield Public Library who coordinated a year-long retrospective of the housing debate, shared some of the history.
Rosenthal also noted how the village has changed since the contentious debate in 1959, even though the demographics of Deerfield include a population that is less than 2 percent African American.
Rosenthal recalled local objections to subsidized senior housing in the 1970s that ultimately filled up quickly. She said an affordable housing project on Deerfield Road also was approved since the 1959 debate.
“They were all Deerfield residents who needed help,” Rosenthal said of the senior housing at One Deerfield Place. “Affordable housing does not necessarily mean diversity. We hope when people look back, they will remember a different Deerfield in the next 60 years.”
Rev. David Kyllo, of Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in Deerfield, recounted how members decided to retain land near Zion Woods on Deerfield Road and find partners to build affordable housing. This past August, village board members approved a plan for 25 apartments.
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Brown stressed how the need for more diversity still exists within Deerfield. Village officials can help achieve that goal by attracting more minority owned businesses to town.
“We have to market what is good about Deerfield,” Brown said. “I see good things in the village everywhere I go. If we do that, people will move here.”
Steve Sadin is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.