In March of 1950, the Daily Times ran a series of articles exposing living conditions on Pettigrew Street. Rampant crime on the block, reporter Vernon Morton claimed, was largely attributable to whiskey and women and constituted a health crisis. The police were doing their job, and respectable “colored residents” were anxious to help, but the larger community needed to be aware of the problem.

Wilson Daily Times, 30 March 1950.

The south end of Pettigrew Street runs from Nash to Barnes Streets. It was an all-white block until the 1930s. Wilson Daily Times, 30 March 1950.