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GU I D E to Y E L L OW S P R I NG S | 2O22 – 2O23 9 First, it was built by a Black developer. “To this day, there are very few Black developers across this country — I can’t say how many, but that’s access to capital most Black people don’t have. You have to have enough money to buy things and sit on them, at least for a little while,” McGruder said. Also unique is that the houses were built before the Fair Housing Act of 1968, a law making it illegal to discriminate against people attempting to rent or buy a home or seek mortgage assis - tance based on race. “Predominantly Black hom - eownership … they really dem- onstrated what Black people can do when the barriers are lowered to fair housing, which still has not been lowered in spite of the law,” McGruder said. McGruder also said that housing discrimination is dif - ficult to document, because “people can come up with any reason they want to for not doing something.” The third point McGruder made was about the culture of the neighborhood from a Black perspective. “I don’t think many white people appreciate how enrich- ing it was to grow up in an affirming Black neighborhood,” he said. “The flip side, too — and I’ve talked to people who grew up there — is that white kids were all on the block, in people’s houses. They don’t realize it, but this is real inte - gration and they’re seeing their friends are Black and it’s no big deal. There are some white children that move in later, so I think they benefit from that type of experience, too.” McGruder added that pre- dominantly Black communities in the United States continued to be held back by housing discrimination. “Black neighborhoods would be strong if housing discrimination wasn’t happen - ing,” he said. “You don’t need white people for that, you just need people being treated fairly. And if white people want to live there, good, but if they don’t, that’s good, too.” Both Graine and McGruder said that current resident James Felder told them that Robinson had been accused by some members of Village Council of not selling land to white people. In fact, Rob - inson had sold one of the first plots to a white teacher named Mr. Fry. “One of the white residents came to Omar and — again, this is from Mr. Felder — said, ‘Hey, I’m going to do you a favor. I will come out and purchase a lot there so we can integrate, but what you need to do is just lower your price.’” Graine said. “And basically Omar said, ‘No, the price is the price. The same for everyone.’” Graine said advertising for Omar Circle was mainly by word of mouth, and that many of those who bought homes there worked at the Air Force base. At the time that the land was purchased for develop- ment, the opposite end of town was “where all the activ - ity was.” According to Graine, it was before the high school was built at East Enon Road and while Gaunt Park’s land was still being used as a dump by the village. “Bryan High School was downtown, and the elemen - tary school,” Graine said. “Of course, there was the down - town area — there was no planning for a new high school out there. The hill we go sled - ding down in the wintertime was the town landfill. I’m just speculating that piece of property wasn’t as high-value as it is now.” By the time Graine reached high school in the 1970s, a new school was built near his home, and Gaunt Park was open. “When I was going to high school, I had just 100 yards to walk to school, I could go up to Gaunt Park and go swimming. Now, it’s a great location,” he said. BRINGING GREATER AWARENESS Other than a scant sen - tence or two going back to the 1950s, and a more recent article in 2016, there is very little information to be found about the history of Omar Circle in the YS News archives. Documentation is also hard to come by in other local sources, including archi - val records at Antioch College. Efforts to fill the infor - mational gap, however, are currently underway: Graine said he is working on an article about Omar Circle that he hopes will be published by the Lincoln University Press. One of the earliest historically Black colleges/universities, or HBCUs, Lincoln University has a Yellow Springs connection. According to Graine, one of Lincoln’s first presidents was named after Antioch College’s first president, Horace Mann. That president, Horace Mann Bond, was the father of civil rights activist Julian Bond. The Bonds were also related to one of the original neighbors of Omar Circle, the Childs family. McGruder is currently conducting research on the history of Black developers in the United States, and during his own research into the history of the neighborhood, McGruder has found data via visits to the county auditor’s offices. He speculated that while Black villagers recognize the historical importance of a unique neighborhood like Omar Circle, white people may not, perhaps accounting for the lack of information currently available. “Because it’s a subdivision — I didn’t realize how unique it was until I started looking for examples across the coun- try,” he said. “I’m not saying they don’t exist, but I haven’t been able to find many.” ♦ • Residential Buyer and Seller Services • Experience prompt service, 25+ years • Instant, consistent client communication: voice, text, email • Client ‘certified’ professional resources • Maximum internet presence • International relocation services, including civilian and military 257 Xenia Ave. www.chris K homes.com 937-767-9900 LOCAL. EXPERIENCED. REALTORS. REAL ESTATE, IT’S ALL WE DO. ® “Top notch realtor! Rick provided quick response to questions. 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