"Won't be weighted down:" Richard R. Wright, Jr.'s contributions to social work and social welfare

Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, June, 2004 by Kevin F. Modesto

Wright's study turned up many available houses but all at inflated prices. In his autobiography, Wright writes that this was due to the fact that he had mentioned that Mr. Frazier was interested in purchasing the houses, offering a very valuable lesson for the young Wright. After much persistence, Wright was able to convince Mr. Frazier to help start a building and loan. Mr. Frazier remained doubtfulas to its prospects, but he promised to match each dollar Wright could raise to start the institution. After much work, the early meeting yielded only $50.00, to Wright's disappointment. Frazier, however, was so impressed that even fifty dollars was raised that he matched it and offered additional support. Four years later, the Eighth Ward Settlement Building and Loan appeared alive and well as it advertised in the 1910 Philadelphia Colored Directory (Wright, 1910, 1965). The Building and Loan allowed Wright to facilitate progressive uplift, while encouraging self-help.

Armstrong Association

Wright's work at the University of Pennsylvania and the settlement house provided some recognition and opened opportunities for networking. In 1907, Wright met with John T. Emlen, a prosperous White man and former teacher at Hampton Institute, to discuss ways of helping the recent migrants. The result was the formation of the Armstrong Association, named after General S. T. Armstrong, founder of Hampton Institute (Sabbath, 1994, p. 84). The purpose of the Armstrong Association was two fold: educational and economic (Armstrong Association, undated).

Wright was employed as the first field secretary, working directly with the recent migrants. As field secretary, Wright also wrote the constitution of the organization and secured work for many of Philadelphia's new citizens. In addition, Wright organized the Colored Mechanics Association to help the migrants obtain work that they were skilled and trained for. Wright also provided a key relational link to George Edmund Haynes, the founder of the National Urban League, whom he had known at the University of Chicago (Wright, 1965). This relationship would prove fruitful for both the Urban League and the Armstrong Association, as they became the first regional affiliate.

However, after only two years with the Armstrong Association, Wright's commitment to self-help over social service created a division with Dr. Grammer, President of the Armstrong Association. Wright writes, "As the time passed, Dr. Grammer, our president, and I did not agree on many fundamentals. He lived in the South and apparently thought he knew all about 'Negroes.' His idea of helping them was limited to giving them charity" (Wright, 1965). This caused a rift that could not be repaired. Nevertheless, Wright was elected as Editor of the Christian Recorder, the primary literary organ of the AME Church.

Unfortunatly Wright's name has almost disappeared from the work of the Armstrong Association. Both he and the Association lost the files of those early years (Wright, 1959; Carter, 1959). Other than an unpublished history of the Association, which credits Wright for starting the economic work of the organization, stating, "Dr. R.R. Wright, Jr., contributed the format for the expansion of economic opportunity" (Armstrong Association, undated) and Wright's own reflections, little is known or documented of the early years.