Category Archives: Urbanization

Building Appetites, Building Campus

Campus Development, Civil Rights, Class, Community, Urbanization, , ,

By Lauren Griffin, Public History MA student at Temple University

Throughout Temple’s history, its students, faculty, and staff have used food to forge community. To raise money for sports teams or other extracurricular activities, students would host bake sales, chicken dinners, or ice cream socials not too different from fundraising practices on campus today. Through food, university students created a network of support not just for their university, but for their peers and the larger Temple community. 

One unique food related event was the annual “flour fight” on campus. Sponsored by the Booster Club, 50 sophomore students concealed packets of flour on 20 members of their team. Freshman students were given 10 minutes to search for the packets and dumped them on the poor sophomores when discovered. Less about food and more about the clouds of flour that it stirred up, this was a yearly competitive experience for new students that welcomed them into the Temple community and their traditions. 

Sophomore student Frank Gibson climbed up the telephone pole in true Philadelphia fashion to escape the hoards of freshman. The sophomores ended up winning this year as freshman chased the trickster Gibson and missed the other flour bags hidden among the grounded. (Courtesy of Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, PA.)

Temple students bonded together, and the university’s appetite grew, but not for food. This time, they wanted land. In 1955, the Philadelphia City Planning Commission designated the area between 12th, 13th, Norris, and Diamond Street as the Northwest Temple Redevelopment Area, contributing urban renewal grant funds to redevelop the 38-acres under Institutional Development District zoning. The area around Temple was designated as blighted, which misrepresented reality. These were homes, gardens, and life that Temple began razing for their reimagined urban university. 

During the 1950s, cities across the United States felt the effects of deindustrialization as factories closed and businesses moved to the suburbs or abroad. Philadelphia’s deindustrialization disproportionately affected its Black residents, and it also heightened the competition within the working-class population as real wages declined and housing costs rose. In the 1960s and 1970s, residents of Yorktown dealt with structural inequality and a predatory housing market that had been preparing for university expansion. The housing crisis, combined with poor economic conditions in the neighborhood, led to the escalation of tensions that resulted in the Columbia Avenue Riots in 1964. 

Police taking shelter from the rain during the Columbia Avenue Riots, 1964. (Courtesy of Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, PA.)

In 1965, Temple became a state-affiliated institution and received an influx of funding to expand their physical footprint. Temple began insulating itself from the rest of the community as they shifted into the next stage of development. Rather than close off Temple from the outside world, certain student groups like the Steering Committee for Black Students fought to integrate with the local community, demanding that residents be granted open access to Temple facilities and fighting for the protection of preexisting houses and community structures from Temple’s rapid expansion. One thing in particular they fought for was public access to the Mitten Hall Cafeteria. Temple dodged these requests, and student activists staged sit-ins to block customers from dining. Temple’s administration finally relented, and public access to Mitten Hall was finally granted. This victory was short-lived, however, as the Mitten Hall cafeteria would soon become obsolete as the new Student Activities Center was built in 1971.

Outdoor dining plaza at the Student Activities Center, 1985. (Courtesy of Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, PA.)

Community access to Temple dining facilities was a nice option for residents, but the situation inside the cafeteria wasn’t exactly stable at the time, either. Students had recently protested the high prices of meals inside Mitten Hall and carried the Brown Bag Boycott. In 1968, a Black waitress at Mitten Hall, Mattie Cross, was fired from her position after a white customer accused her of spilling water on her. The Steering Committee for Black Students protested this and called for Cross to be rehired. They also demanded  in addition that all Black employees at Temple be paid the minimum wage and that Temple release an official statement in apology to their Black employees.

Serving station at Temple University (Courtesy of Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, PA.)

As Temple was in turmoil, the community of North Philadelphia was taking steps to establish their own community spaces. Established in 1968 by Reverend Dr. Leon Sullivan, a prominent civil rights activist, the Progress Plaza at 1501 N Broad Street was the first African American owned shopping center in the United States. The goal of this shopping center was to support Black enterprise and help foster business within the community outside of Temple.

Rev. Dr. Leon Sullivan in front of Progress Plaza, 1969. (Courtesy of Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, PA.)

Sullivan made a deal with A&P food store chain for a 20 year contract to have a grocery store in the plaza under Black management. This was a major investment for the neighborhood, but satisfaction with the quality of the grocery store fell over the decades. After the Super Fresh market shut down, the area was left without a local source of affordable groceries, turning it into a food desert.

In 2009, decades after the opening of Sullivan Progress Plaza, the center underwent significant renovations and expansions so that Fresh Grocer, a new grocery store chain, could move into the space. While this was welcome news, the neighborhood still suffers from food insecurity. The area has also been classified as a food swamp, which is an area characterized by mostly low-quality food sources, like fast food chains and convenience stores. Many of those fast food restaurants are there because of Temple University catering to the needs of its students. 

When walking around campus, take a look at what food options you see. Are there a lot of big chains or local offerings? What cuisines and ethnicities are represented? Are dietary restrictions and healthy offerings well represented on campus? In looking at the variety of food service in campus, it is also important to recognize who is eating in what spaces, and who is serving.

A vendor serves up hot dogs to an eager crowd on Good Neighbor Day. (Courtesy of Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, PA.)

Temple, Taverns, and Temperance

Business, Campus Development, Community, Urbanization,

By Lauren Griffin, Public History MA student at Temple University

Header photo courtesy of the Free Library of Philadelphia, Print and Picture Collection

Let’s travel back to 1884 North Philadelphia, specifically, the Punch Bowl, a tavern and inn on Lamb Tavern Road near 2100 N Broad Street. The Punch Bowl was built in 1840, but it would be demolished in 1884. Local folks used to gather to watch the horses race up and down Broad Street, and its location wasn’t too far from the many mansions that made their home on North Broad Street. Many patrons of the Punch Bowl could have also traveled over to the tavern after getting off work from one of the many nearby factories, such as the Stetson Hat Company. After the Civil War ended, Philadelphia’s population grew rapidly. Drawn in by new jobs due to rapid industrialization, emancipated Black citizens and immigrants filtered into Northern cities. Streetcars were introduced to Philadelphia in 1858, connecting the suburbs and industrial zones throughout the city.


1862 Philadelphia Atlas showing Lamb Tavern Road, Monument Cemetery, and the area that Temple would begin developing in a few decades. (Philageohistory.org)

Down the road from the Punch Bowl, a man named Russell Conwell was gathering with seven working class men for tutoring lessons. These meetings were the beginning of what would eventually become Temple University. The group would meet at 1913 Mervine Street after getting off work in an attempt to better their life circumstances. Word eventually spread of the educational opportunity Conwell was offering for Philadelphia’s working class men, and the small meetings soon grew too large for the small rowhome.

Wiatt Society house, 1913 N. Marvine (Mervine) Street. (Courtesy of Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, PA.)

With an early emphasis on night classes (7:45 – 9:45pm) to accommodate a work schedule, it was likely that Temple’s first students brought food from their homes or found food at local taverns for meals. The first classes of students would sometime meet in the basement of the Grace Baptist church for communal meals. These meals, called “Talent Penny Suppers,” were organized to help fundraise for programming and services during Temple’s early years.

Philadelphia has a long history of taverns, and in the colonial era these taverns were important centers of political debate, community formation, and social life for working men. The early taverns typically offered lodging options, but taverns in the 19th century had reduced their offerings to alcohol and simple meat-based meals. Following the Civil War, the Temperance Movement began to focus on taverns and saloons as centers of masculine working class life, and concerned industrialists supported the move to reduce worker intoxication. Taverns were just one source of food for Temple’s first cohorts.

Page from the 1901 Temple Dental School Yearbook which shares the requirements for admission into the Yankee Club. (Courtesy of Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, PA.)

Food options in the area would change over the decades as Temple grew, and the introduction of the Prohibition turned taverns into speakeasies. Temple’s crafty students continued to find ways to procure alcohol even with the Prohibition in place. They brewed gin in their bathrooms and smuggled drinks into school dances. Not everyone was against the 18th Amendment, however, and having a dry campus was preferable to some students and Temple administration.

Article from the Temple News in 1926 that shares the results of a student poll. More Temple undergraduate students were against the Prohibition than for it. (Courtesy of Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, PA.)

The Prohibition was eventually repealed, and bars once again started popping up around the young campus. One of the more popular local hotspots was the bar Pete’s Tavern on the corner of 13th and Montgomery. With its location so close to campus and student dormitories, Pete’s was a popular spot to grab a drink and socialize. The Temple News even used the bar as their “night office” in the early 1950s.

Students outside of Pete’s Tavern, on the corner of 13th and Montgomery. (Courtesy of Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, PA.)

Unfortunately, Pete’s Tavern was demolished in 1956 to build a parking lot. That parking lot would also be demolished eventually and replaced with the Tuttleman Learning Center.

Article from The Temple News in 1951 about the upcoming plans to purchase Pete’s Tavern. (Courtesy of Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, PA.)

Pete’s loss was lamented, but there was always another business to take its place. As Temple ramped up their expansion plans in the 1950s and 1960s, some community members protested having bars in their community. With more and more students living on and around campus, community members were concerned about inebriated students causing trouble. There were also instances of drunk driving accidents as commuters tried to make their way home. Rather than creating a fully dry campus, Temple administration responded by implementing new guidelines in an attempt to educate students on how to drink responsibly.

A 1979 article from The Temple News that shares a new drinking policy for Temple dormitories after a series of drunk driving accidents in the region. (Courtesy of Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, PA.)

Temple still deploys this tactic when it comes to student drinking. Despite the idea that Temple is a “dry campus,” the lawful sale and consumption of alcohol is allowed on university property, with some exceptions. Students are not allowed to have or consume alcohol within Temple dormitories, but they can walk down to Maxi’s along the Park Mall and grab a drink there. There are other popular student late night hangouts near campus, some of which did not survive the effects of the pandemic and loss of student business.

Page from the 2012 Templar yearbook. (Courtesy of Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, PA.)

The presence of alcohol might seem like a common thread through Temple’s history, but behind the alcohol is the importance of social spaces for Temple’s student body. North Philadelphia community members have valid concerns when it comes to alcohol creating issues or being linked to instances of crime in the neighborhood. What kind of social spaces are being created around campus, and who are they for? As demographics shift in “Temple Town,” whose influence holds the most weight in these discussions: Temple administration, Temple students, or North Philadelphia residents?

The 12th Street Food Court

Business, Community, Urbanization,

By Clare McCabe, PhD student at Temple University

In 1994, the food trucks who typically assembled at 13th and Montgomery were given notice that they’d need to leave: Temple University was constructing a new academic building. The trucks, who had been at that location for twelve years, were considered an integral part of campus culture. The 1994 Templar, the Temple University yearbook, lamented that “it will hardly seem like campus without the trucks in the middle of everything.” The trucks were not given a new location to relocate to, and vendors waited for news of their fates with little communication from the university. Feim Amzovski, owner of Fame’s Famous Pizza and the spokesman for the group of trucks, was concerned that the university was taking advantage of truck owners: “Many of the truck owners are non-English speaking people who could easily be misled by the university.” 

“Vendor’s Mall,” a photograph of the previous space vendors inhabited. April 18, 1985. (Courtesy of Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, PA)

The University’s answer was not a relocation of the trucks, but instead a new offer altogether. Vendors would be offered a spot in a new university owned and operated food court on 12th street, next to Anderson Hall. Vendors from the original “pad” would be offered right of first refusal, and seven vendors accepted (four of which are still there today- Fame’s, Eddie’s Richie’s, and Orient Express). The costs for the new construction, nearly $715,000, would be recouped by rent paid by tenants. According to the 1996 Templar, owners paid “nearly five times more in rent, as much as $1500, at the new court.”

Construction of the wall in August 1995. (Courtesy of Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, PA.)

So why Temple? Why stay? For Jim Amzovski, of Fame’s Famous Pizza, he likes the students, and he likes having off on the weekends. Students are easy customers, he told me, not picky, and understanding when you’ve run out of something: “We have a harder time with the employees.” For the University, the new food court spot was chosen because it drew congestion away from the overcrowded original vendor hub at 13th and Montgomery. But for food truck owners, who suddenly found themselves on the edge of campus instead of its heart, it was disorienting. “At that time, there was nothing on this side [of campus],” Amzovski told me. “They pushed us out of main campus…but eventually [students] learned where we were at and started coming.” 

The 12th street food court represents the University’s first attempt to bring food trucks into the Temple bureaucratic umbrella. Food trucks had long been a part of campus culture and have been used in marketing materials for potential students, but with the food court, they became tenants as well. As food trucks, they are definitionally potentially mobile, inconstant. Though many of the trucks on campus are currently immobile and constant, potentially, they could leave. They are not a part of Temple’s official food service offerings, and so as a result cannot be controlled and regulated in the same way. As stationary tenants in a food court, however, Temple can exert greater control over food service offerings and establishments.  

The food court’s grand opening in February 1996. (Courtesy of Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, PA.)

Though the vendors on the Wall are not technically food trucks anymore, many of them once were, and their stories are relevant in any examination of Temple’s food culture. Temple University continues to exert regulatory influence over food trucks, like in the form of the creation of the Special Vending District surrounding Temple’s campus. The Special Vending District, which was created in 2015, capped the number of vendors who could park trucks and carts on campus. In addition, any vendor who wishes to take time off now must first notify the University and the city. It also changed regulation regarding the inheritance of permits, an issue that remains a difficult subject for many food truck owners.  

But for the physical vendors on the wall, Temple University is not just a specter of potential regulation, it is also a landlord. As Temple administrations come and go, Amzovski told me that things could change very quickly, and a responsive and helpful landlord could transform into someone very difficult to work with. While the current administration, he says, is responding to needs quickly and is helping to enact badly needed renovations, during the time the university was closed because of COVID, the previous administration continued to charge vendors on the wall rent. “At times, you’re working for nothing just to try to pay the rent,” Amzovski said. If Temple wants regulatory control over the food trucks and food service on campus, they should accept the responsibilities which come with that regulation and treat vendors and owners like the integral part of campus that they are.  

To connect with Clare about her work, please visit our Connect page.