Yvonne Haskins, a force of nature and beloved activist who was dedicated to community advocacy in Mt. Airy, Germantown, and throughout Philadelphia, died Sept. 29 of metastatic breast cancer. She was 88.
“She taught us to be fearless, to challenge our elected representatives, push them to do the work of their constituents, and recognize that we, as voters, are empowered because we are the ones who put them in elected office,” said Garlen Capita, president of the executive committee of the Germantown United Community Development Corporation (CDC). “We have lost a giant, and her shoes are too big to fill. She left a void, but she also left a powerful legacy and something to aspire to.”
Haskins became a Philadelphia police officer in 1964 and served under Frank Rizzo, who allowed her to become the first woman police officer to have a fixed shift and attend college full-time as well. She graduated from Temple University in 1968.
Haskins also worked at the Philadelphia Human Relations Commission, where she proposed a new police/community relations unit. Her next role was as a criminal justice administrator, with positions as the regional director of the Governor’s Justice Commission and head of the Philadelphia office of the Pennsylvania Parole Board.
She grew up in Georgia and enrolled at Spelman College at age 16 in 1954, but two years later, left the college and moved to Philadelphia with her parents.
In 1986, Haskins graduated from Temple’s law school and was hired by the Schnader, Harrison, Segal and Lewis law firm. She eventually transferred to Ballard Spahr, later becoming Camden’s city attorney.
Haskins married her first husband Walter Booker at 19, and had two sons before divorcing. She later married Harold Haskins, an activist and an administrator at the University of Pennsylvania, and the couple welcomed daughter Kristin.
When Haskins moved to Mt. Airy in 1971, she was hired as the second executive director of West Mt. Airy Neighbors. This would not be the only community organization in which she was involved, as Haskins would go on to help found the Germantown United CDC in 2011 and become a board member of the Mt. Airy Business Improvement District (BID).
At the Mt. Airy BID, Haskins, an avid gardener, helped launch the organization’s pocket park project, beautifying Germantown Avenue by converting neglected lots into green spaces. According to Janis Risch, executive director of the Mt. Airy BID, Haskins added sedum plants from her own mother’s garden that had been cultivated for decades. Haskins would water the gardens herself, even on hot summer days.
She also convinced Ken Weinstein, a real estate developer and fellow member of the Mt. Airy BID’s executive committee, to support the project and get a formal arrangement with SEPTA to expand the planting beds and install benches at the bus depot at Westview Avenue.
“I’m glad that my wife, Judy, and I were able to spend time with Yvonne” on Sept. 25, Weinstein said. “She was as sharp and passionate as always, remembering details of a Germantown zoning matter that I had forgotten years ago. …I often referred to her as ‘good trouble’ because she spoke truth to power and took action to make our neighborhood and world a better place to live, work, and enjoy. Yvonne was the perfect combination of passionate and effective.”
Emaleigh Doley, former executive director of Germantown United CDC, said she “quickly hit it off” with Haskins when they first connected in 2011 through community improvement efforts.
“She challenged me to always do better,” Doley said. “Though she was serious, she made organizing fun, and there was always laughter. I will also never forget her smile and the twinkle she’d get in her eye while strategizing or celebrating a win.”
Haskins was involved in countless advocacy efforts in Northwest Philadelphia, including saving the Germantown YWCA and redeveloping the Germantown Town Hall, investing in the Germantown and Chelten Avenue corridors, demanding the city and the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority take responsibility for the neglected Germantown Settlement properties, and supporting various candidates in local, state, and federal elections. In the spring, she hosted a fundraiser for state Rep. Chris Rabb’s congressional campaign at her home in Germantown.
“She always wanted to provide a space and a center for those to gather to strategize and come to her for advice,” said her daughter, Kristin Haskins Simms. “[My father, Harold, and mother] were like the nucleus of movements, no matter what it was. …Even without my father, she continued that legacy.”
Seth Anderson-Oberman, executive director of Reclaim Philadelphia, said he met Haskins the year before he ran for City Council in 2023.
“We built a real friendship that also made room for plenty of spirited disagreement, too,” Anderson-Oberman said. “She loved a good argument. I am grateful for every minute I got to spend with Yvonne. She was a tenacious fighter for a better, more just world. And she loved this community and its people with her full heart.”
Ann Doley, an activist and friend who has worked extensively on efforts to save the YWCA, said Haskins was a “superwoman” who had “the fastest pen in Germantown,” constantly sending letters to elected officials and others in power. Doley said the work Haskins did to prevent the YWCA from being demolished is “her gift to us.”
“Yvonne was my partner in ‘good trouble,’” Doley told the Local. “I’m lost without her.”
Renee Cunningham, executive director of Center in the Park in Germantown, met Haskins through her YWCA advocacy efforts, but had heard of her in the news beforehand.
“Yvonne’s body of work was impressive and imposing and she had the physicality to match — she was tall and poised, stylish and graceful,” Cunningham wrote in a tribute. “She was eloquent and erudite but she did not mince words — her wit and tongue were both razor sharp. I was giddy anytime I saw the words ‘Yvonne Haskins commented…’ What a treat to watch her cook! Back and forth — pointed without getting personal, factual yet impassioned. Sometimes I would screenshot her comments so I could read them again later.”
Even as Haskins’ health declined, she remained a committed activist.
“I was in constant awe of her determination, strength, and resilience: testifying in court between aggressive chemo treatments, checking in on group strategy between rehab stints after surgeries,” Cunningham wrote. “Less than three weeks ago I had her on speakerphone on my cell, holding it up to the mic on my laptop, so she could participate in a community meeting from her hospital bed. She was indefatigable to the end.”
Kristin Haskins Simms said she will remember her mother’s humor, even in her last moments. Known as “Peachy” or “Peaches” in her family because of her Georgia upbringing, Haskins was funny “to her last day on earth.”
“We’ve all been just regaling and laughing and crying, or repeating these stories,” she said. “She was a force to be reckoned with, and she was somebody that when she spoke, you listened. You paid attention. She commanded a room.”
According to Simms, the best way to honor Haskins is to “not be complacent.”
“She was always an advocate for voting, even when it’s not a presidential or major election,” she said. “She was from the generation of those who fought for civil rights. …She lived through Jim Crow, and she saw what we were fighting for.”
Last year, filmmaker Michael Schweisheimer, recorded hours of personal interviews with Haskins for a future feature called “Exceptionally Ordinary.” The documentary does not have a release date yet, but Simms said some footage will be played during Haskins’ memorial service.
The Mt. Airy BID recently announced that Trolley Car Park on the 6700 block of Germantown Avenue will be renamed “Yvonne Haskins Park” and a “Good Trouble” plaque will be placed on one of the park’s benches.
Haskins is predeceased by her husband, Harold, and her two sons, Russell and Randall. She is survived by her daughter, Kristin (married to Harold Simms), grandson Quincy, and great-grandson Damien.
A memorial service for Yvonne Haskins will be held at First United Methodist Church of Germantown (FUMCOG) on Nov. 7 at 11 a.m.
Maggie Dougherty can be reached at Margaret@chestnuthilllocal.com.
