Photo by Dakota Barnes-Rush
Ben E. Johnson and Beechie O. Brooks statue
Former Common Council President Ben E. Johnson stands next to the newly unveiled life-size bronze statue of developer Beechie O. Brooks at Gaines Triangle.
A historic Milwaukee neighborhood celebrated its 50th birthday on Saturday with a new bronze statue, big crowds, and a look at the past.
Neighbors gathered at North 6th and North Halyard streets to celebrate Halyard Park. The event marked 50 years since builders first broke ground on the neighborhood. It also honored Beechie O. Brooks, the man who built the suburban-style houses that changed the community.
A life-size bronze statue of Brooks was unveiled near the fountain at Gaines Triangle. The statue looks south toward the very first home built in the neighborhood. That is where the Brooks family lived.
State Representative Kalan Haywood was at the event. He spent the day walking through the neighborhood, listening to residents, and learning about local history. “If it was not for the residents of Halyard Park, and the work that they did, the intention they show, folks like me wouldn't be here in the space we are in,” Haywood said. He noted that the neighborhood's founders were a big part of creating what Black Milwaukee is today.
Saving the Land
The event brought back many powerful emotions for local elders who remember how hard it was to build the neighborhood.
Ben E. Johnson, the first Black president of the Milwaukee Common Council, attended the celebration. He shared a story about how the neighborhood almost did not happen. Johnson said the city had originally given up hope on private development for the area. The city sold the land to the Milwaukee Housing Authority to expand a public housing project across the street.
But everything changed when the bulldozers arrived. “When Beachy saw the excavation for the basement for that house, he and this guy, Belmer Chadi, came to my office and said, 'What's going on with the project?'” Johnson said.
Brooks asked Johnson to let his Black-owned real estate company, United Realty, see what they could do. Johnson and the city authority worked together to buy the lots back from the Housing Authority. That choice stopped the public housing expansion and allowed the private Halyard Park development to move forward.
“To stop the housing project, and let this private development go forward, yes, is probably the most [important],” Johnson said. He added that his inspiration for the neighborhood came from the Pill Hill neighborhood in Chicago.
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A Changing City
Curtiss Harris, a longtime local business leader and political advisor, also spoke about his deep roots in the community. Harris has lived in the area since 1939. He remembers when the city was very different. “In 1940, there were fewer than 10,000 Black folks in this whole city,” Harris said. He watched the population grow and explode over the decades.
Harris described Brooks as a very aggressive and productive person. He said Brooks always wanted to move up and do things the community needed. “When he had this vision for Halyard Park, most of us didn't understand it because it was an ambition that most of us didn't have,” Harris said. “And Beechie refused to let impediments stop him.”
Harris also shared his own history in public service. His very first job out of high school was at the downtown library. Later, he transferred to a tiny three-person library outpost inside City Hall. His job was to deliver mail to the common council and the mayor's office.
That mailroom job taught him how City Hall worked. Later in his career, Harris served as the chief of staff to acting Mayor Marvin Pratt.s
Looking to the Future
The 50th-anniversary celebration concluded with an afternoon gathering at ThriveOn King on North Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.
For Rep. Haywood, attending the event was about more than just politics. He said it was an important chance to learn the true, intimate history of the community. “You go to school, schools give you history, but they never give you the true intimate history of the community that you're ever from,” Haywood said. He spent his time picking up historical nuggets from the elders.
Haywood said a lot of people feel that what happens during legislative sessions in Madison does not impact them. But he explained that state representatives act as the connective tissue between federal and local governments to bring resources back home.
He hopes the younger generation looks at the history of Halyard Park as proof of what they can accomplish. “Back in 1976, when it started, the time the cards were stacked against Black people,” Haywood said. “But we showed that same resolve and that same will to make stuff happen.”
Haywood left the neighborhood's youth with a simple motivational message: “No matter what's happening, no matter what's up, trust me, be, don't quit.”
