Roseville Housing Trust and Alpha Tau Omega
This blog celebrating Black history in San Antonio was written by ScoutSA’s intern Edgar Velazquez Reynald, a graduate student in the St. Mary’s University Public History Program. The post was updated in 2023 to reflect the correct information regarding the current ownership and operations management of the Roseville Apartments. Thanks to the Roseville Housing Trust for their contributions to this article!
Driver Samuel C. Lewis helps Zelma Boudin, Cynthia Navarro, and Olga Clauss onto bus provided by SOS. Photo by Jose Barrera. (“Sorority Answers SOS from Elderly.” San Antonio Express/News, Tuesday, 23 November 1976, p. 4-B.)
Alpha Tau Omega, San Antonio’s chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha, spearheaded the initiative to provide affordable housing and care to the elderly of San Antonio’s Eastside neighborhood, culminating in the construction of the Roseville Apartments affordable housing project.
Initiates established the local chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha, which is the oldest sorority established by Black women in the United States, on November 15, 1930, seeking to provide the Black community with vocational and career guidance, a national health program, scholarship and educational grants, and celebration of Black heritage. Between 1966 and 1967, the chapter established the Senior Opportunities Services Center (SOS), providing services such as transportation to doctor and dentist appointments. The success of SOS provided the foundation for the housing project, which AKA President Zudora McCoy initiated in 1965. After an initial refusal, the Department of Housing and Urban Development approved funds, and construction began in January 1971 at the site on East Houston Street near Interstate 10.
Roseville Apartments, photographed in 2019.
“Low-cost housing for the aged has been one of the most severe problems in San Antonio,” C. William Black, Jr., SOS executive director, told the San Antonio Express-News in May 1972. “We began working in this area because it had been neglected so long.” Black participated in the 1971 White House Conference on Aging, which determined housing as a priority for senior citizens alongside income and health. Since its inception, Roseville Apartments provided technical training and services needed by senior citizens, as well as programs such as sewing, typing, and shop classes.
Architect Norcell Dan Haywood, San Antonio’s first licensed Black architect, referred to his design of the Roseville Apartments as a “closed community” concept, with several units surrounding an open space. “This space allows the tenants to develop their own environment collectively,” he said. “Yet, at the same time, they have privacy in their own dwelling units. In a way, it lets them watch over each other.” The complex also provided recreation areas, community facilities such as an adult day care center, and a full-service clinic.
Roseville Housing Trust of San Antonio is a 501(c)(4) organization formed by Alpha Tau Omega to provide affordable housing to senior citizens. Roseville Trust owns the Roseville Apartments, has its own governing board comprised of nine trustees, and employs a management company to handle the day-to-day operations of the apartment complex.