Integration Generation (bonus episode from “Unlocking the Gates”)

March 7, 2025·23 min·1 clip

A real estate broker told Black families they belonged in the ghetto, sparking a fight for land.

Lee Hawkins, a journalist and author, returns to his childhood home in Maplewood, Minnesota, a suburb that was over 90% white when his family moved there in 1975. He investigates how Black families managed to settle in this area despite restrictions designed to keep them out. The story centers on James and Frances Hughes, a chemist and librarian who lived behind Hawkins' childhood home. In 1957, after being told by a real estate broker that Black people belonged in the ghetto, the Hughes family decided to leave St. Paul's Rondo neighborhood, which was being destroyed for highway construction. They searched for land in the predominantly white Gladstone area, where informal agreements prevented sales to Black families. The Hughes found Frank Torek, a white farmer willing to sell them 10 acres for $8,000. James Hughes then advertised plots in Black newspapers and gradually sold lots to other Black families, creating economic opportunities while never refusing to sell to whites. By the 1960s, the neighborhood had become a thriving Black suburban community with residents deeply involved in civic life. The area became known for beautiful homes and well-kept lawns, earning both admiration and the nickname 'Golden Ghetto.' Hawkins interviews childhood friends and neighbors who remember the tight-knit community, including weekly meetings and investment clubs. He speaks with Ann Marie Rogers, whose yard served as the neighborhood playground, and Jason Johnson, whose grandmother was one of the first Black chemists at 3M and had to quickly produce savings bonds when sellers tried to block her purchase. The episode reveals how Frank Torek's decision to honor his handshake deal, despite a competing offer $1,000 higher from a company trying to keep the area segregated, created generational wealth for dozens of Black families. Torek's great-granddaughter, Davida, expresses amazement at learning this buried family history. The story illustrates the precarious nature of Black progress in housing, showing how close this pioneering community came to never existing. Hawkins reflects on being part of the 'integration generation' - children who grew up during one of the biggest paradigm shifts in American economy and culture without fully understanding their historical significance at the time.

As heard by us

Maplewood's housing history becomes a story of exclusion, Black land ownership, and community building.

Lee Hawkins starts at the house where he grew up and follows Maplewood from a place that was more than 90% white into a Black suburban community shaped by James and Frances Hughes.

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Why you'd press play

You want a personal tour of Maplewood's Black suburban history and the restrictions around it.

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