The Harlem YMCA and YWCA

Both the YWCA and the YMCA were strategically located near theNew York Public Library, which later became the Schomburg Center for Black Culture, so that they could work more closely in the educational endeavors of the black youth.

YMCA entrance, 135th St. Branch

YMCA

"the center of intellectual and social life of New York Negroes in the first decade of the twentieth century" -Osofsky

The Harlem Branch (officially named in 1936) of the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) was constructed on 135th Street in 1932, as a successor to the "Colored Men's Branch" of the YMCA which was located on West 53rd Street between 1901 and 1919, and the West 135th Street Branch YMCA, built in 1919 at No. 181, across the street from the later building. African American YMCAs were the result of the YMCA's official policy of racial segregation, from the organization's beginnings in the United States in 1851 until 1946. Though excluded from the white YMCAs, African Americans were encouraged to form separate branches, which became autonomous community centers. The Harlem "Y" came to be one of Harlem's most important recreational and cultural centers. Its importance actually posed one of the problems with the Y. "Harlem looks to the 'Y' as one of its most prominent cultural centers... This $1,050,000 building which cost $156,000 per year to maintain, has a staff of sixty members. But an additional voluntary group of over 250, had much to do with the cultural advancement of the harlemite...This is the only high-class club house for men in the community.."(Pollard)

Colored Men's Branch YMCA (1901-1919)

The Harlem YMCA has historically acted as an educational, cultural, and religious center, it has provided a meeting place for numerous groups, including several with literary and political importance over the years. Even after official desegregation of the American YMCA after 1946, the Harlem Branch YMCA continued to serve the largest African American membership in the United States. Programs were opened to girls and women in 1955. The YMCA was noted for its "Salute to the Stars" fundraisers, its educational counseling, veterans', and job programs, and "Black Achievers in the Industry" awards dinners.

YWCA

1932

As Harlem emerged as the heart of the African American community in Manhattan in the early twentieth century, most of the major African American institutions relocated to Harlem. One, the Colored Branch of the Young Women's Christian Association (founded in 1905), moved from a location on 53rd Street to West 132nd Street in 1913. The Harlem YWCA, with members like Cecelia Cabaniss Saunders, Emma Ransom, and Virginia Scott, principle guiding figures for the institution, sought to create a membership organization that would provide a Christian family atmosphere for young African American women in contrast to the secular temptations of the city. They thought that attention to both the spiritual needs of young women, through bible study, and to their material needs, through vocational education, was essential to the social and moral uplift of the entire black community.

Night Class

The YWCA was created with the understanding that women faced challenges and dangers different from those confronting men. To attract women, the YWCA organized entertaining events, discussion groups, lectures, light calisthenics, and cooking classes. Also, from the earliest years the Branch provided courses for its members, primarily in the area of domestic education. These first courses in domestic work were, in part, geared towards job training, because most African American women in the city were employed as domestics. The YWCA continued its Washingtonian practices in the reorganization of their Trade School, in 1923. The trade school was founded in response to the need of vocational training outside of domestic training. It offered diverse course offerings within its three major divisions: Secretarial and Business School, Beauty School, and Domestic Arts. The curriculum was designed so that any person from the community could come and receive proper training for job placement. The trade school was immensely successful in that by 1935, its enrollment reached over three thousand students.