The Unforgettable Butch Young
Today is the 81st birthday of my late grandfather, William Henry "Butch" Young Jr. My grandfather died 10 years before I was born but he still had a massive impact on me in my journey as an artist, historian, and community member. Butch as a child in South Philly, ca. early 1950s My grandfather was born in the twilight of World War II and he was initially raised in South Philly at 502 Cantrell Street, the house my great grandfather and his grandmother Louise Moore-Jackson, resided at since migrating to Philadelphia from Allendale, South Carolina in the mid-1920s. He was the second youngest of four children and the only boy, his two older sisters being Edith ("Snoota", 1941-1979) and Phyllis ("Chubby", 1942-2022) and his younger sister Sherry (1952-1984). As a youth he was known for his love of animals, and was described as taking in stray cats ans dogs frequently. Butch and his family moved over to North Philly in the 1950s to the ...