About West Mt. Airy Neighbors
The Power of an Exceptional Community
WMAN Today...
West Mt. Airy Neighbors (WMAN) provides a community forum for:
- COMMUNITY PROBLEM SOLVING through our Quality of Life Committee and ad hoc community meetings;
- COMMUNICATIONS through our website, eNewsletters, quarterly WMAN News, and safety alerts;
- VOLUNTEERS TO ORGANIZE FOR COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENT such as through our Streetscapes Committee; and
- NEIGHBOR INPUT INTO PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT through our Zoning Committee.
West Mt. Airy Neighbors works closely with its sister organization, East Mt. Airy Neighbors, on a wide range of projects, including the Mt. Airy Neighborhood Alliance and the annual Mt. Airy Day each May.
To learn more about West Mt. Airy Neighbors and our ongoing activities, check out our Reports & Publications and WMAN Programs pages.
...and Yesterday
WMAN was founded in 1959 to create and sustain West Mt. Airy as a racially integrated community. It was founded by George Schermer, the first Director of Philadelphia’s Human Relations Commission, and other neighbors concerned with white flight and block busting.
From the beginning, West Mt. Airy Neighbors has sought to make its community a welcoming home for all people. To this day, West Mt. Airy remains one of the few stable, racially integrated communities in the United States.
As such, it has been the subject of academic research and numerous newspaper and magazine articles. Long-time West Mt. Airy Neighbors' board member Pat Henning compiled an extensive bibliography on Mt. Airy.
In 1999, West Mt. Airy Neighbors celebrated its 40th Anniversary by honoring 40 Good Neighbors whose contributions have strengthened our neighborhood and enhanced our shared community life. In 2009, we honored 50 Good Neighbors in celebration of WMAN's 50th Anniversary.
