Black History Philly continued….

Welcome back! And thanks for tuning into week 2 of celebrating Black History Month with November Project Philadelphia! For the month of February we would like to invite you to participate in a scavenger hunt to find and connect with historical places commemorating and acknowledging the impact of African Americans in our cities history. Each week we will feature individuals and/or locations for you to visit, and spotlight their significance to the Philadelphia community. Additionally, we will provide you with a list of other individuals and/or locations for you to reference, research and visit on your own. Last week we highlighted Harriet Tubman and Octavius Catto, whose statues currently reside at the North and South end of City Hall, respectively. This week we will be talking about the Christian Street YMCA, the second black YMCA location in America.

The YMCA Movement in America

https://aaregistry.org/story/the-black-ymca-a-community-and-a-home/

When the YMCA movement began in America in 1851, Black men were excluded from membership based on local practices of segregation. In 1854, when they joined with those from Canada to form the Confederation of North American YMCAs, U.S. racial policies grew to a serious issue. Slavery and the Civil War dissolved the Confederation and in America the YMCA stood by its assertion that local association’s were autonomous bodies and could govern themselves. African American men saw possibilities within the YMCA despite its failure to take a stand on discrimination. After emancipation, black associations were founded in a variety of cities around the US. This occurrence, the interest of newly freed slaves, and the growth of YMCAs among black college students convinced the national YMCA to encourage the formation of black branches.

Christian Street YMCA
(1724 Christian St)

Opened in 1914, though the Christian Street YMCA was the second black YMCA in America, it was actually the first black YMCA to have its own building. It became an anchor for the community providing evening classes, job placements, social gathering spots, and safe meeting spaces for organizers of the Civil Rights Movement. Emerging as a focal point of Black Philadelphia’s social and economic life, the Y became an essential meeting space and hub for Black athletics to flourish. Following the YMCA’s philosophy of physical education and sport as a foundation for moral rectitude, the Y offered basketball, football, table tennis, tennis, and swimming – utilizing the only indoor pool in Philly that blacks were welcome to use before the mid 1950s.  The YMCA served as a home base to some of its own athletic teams, among others, and over time attracted the city’s best athletes, some of whom went from there to play at the national and professional levels. In 1953, 16-year-old Wilt Chamberlain led the Christian Street Y team to win the National YMCA Basketball Championship. Chamberlain was 1 of 4 Hall of Fame players who played basketball at the Christian Street YMCA as kids. The other 3 players were Charles “Tarzan” Cooper, Earl “the Pearl” Monroe, and John Chaney.

Information from this post and more can be found at the following sources:

The African American Registry and The Great Migration PHL

We would love to see where you go on your journey, so when you visit a location commemorating black history, either tag us @NovemberProjectPhilly in your post with the #BlackHistoryPhilly so we can reshare, OR post your picture(s) to our Social Page along with something else you may have learned. Below are some other locations for you to check out! Happy Scavenging, Philly!

Institute for Colored Youth	915 Bainbridge Street
The Dixie Hummingbirds	2435 College Ave
Billie Holiday Historical Market	1409 Lombard Street
Crystal Bird Fauset Historical Market	5403 VIne Street
The Liberation of Jane Johnson	Penns Landing at the Seaport Muesem
Marian Anderson- Historical Marker	1910 Fitzwater Street
The Move Bombing	Osage Ave & Cobbs Creek
Ora Washington	6128 Germantown Ave
Philadelphia Pyramid Club historical marker	1517 Girard Ave
Phildephia Tribune	520-26 South 16th Street
St Peter Claver Catholic Church	12th and Lombard Street
Union Local 274	912 S. Broad St.

 

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