African Americans did, however, establish their
own branches, which became vital and thriving
cultural and community spaces.
The HARLEMbranches of the YMCA and its
sister organization, the YOUNGWOMEN’SCHRIS-
TIANASSOCIATION(YWCA), were located in the
heart of Harlem and in close proximity to the pop-
ular 135th Street branch (HARLEMBRANCH) of
the NEWYORK PUBLIC LIBRARY, a community
gathering place and center for cultural and intel-
lectual events. Harlem had had YMCA branches
as early as 1900, but in 1932 construction on the
neighborhood’s official center was completed.
Four years later, in 1936, the site was officially
named the Harlem Branch of the YMCA.
The Harlem YMCA also provided rooms to
African-American men who had been denied ac-
commodations in segregated city hotels. During
the era of the Harlem Renaissance, a number of as-
piring literary figures lived at the 135th Street
branch. Langston Hughes boarded at the YMCA
when COLUMBIAUNIVERSITYfailed to provide him
with dormitory housing when he enrolled. RALPH
ELLISONtook rooms in the Harlem YMCA when
he relocated from Alabama to New York City. It
was in the lobby of the building that he first met
both ALAINLOCKEand LANGSTONHUGHES, both
of whom proved instrumental in his acclimation to
the city. Artist AARONDOUGLASwas commis-
sioned to create murals for several major buildings
in the city, and, in addition to providing art for the
New York Public Library, he generated art work to
adorn the walls of the Harlem YMCA.
Bibliography
Hopkins, Charles. History of the YMCA in North Amer-
ica.New York: Association Press, 1951.
Mjagki, Nina, and Margaret Spratt, eds. Men and Women
Adrift: The YMCA and the YWCA in the City.New
York: New York University Press, 1997.
Young Women’s Christian Association
The organization founded in England in 1887 by
Emma Robarts and Lady Kinnaird that became
the oldest international women’s organization in
the world. The Young Women’s Christian Associ-
ation (YWCA) was formed in 1858 by Mrs. Mar-
shall Roberts in NEWYORKCITYunder the name
“Ladies’ Christian Association.” One year later,
the city of Boston, in which the first American
Young Men’s Christian Association had been es-
tablished in 1851, became the first to refer to the
organization as the YWCA. In 1889 in Dayton,
Ohio, the first African-American YWCA opened.
One year later, in 1890, the first YWCA branch
for Native American women opened in Chilocco,
Oklahoma.
The YWCA was dedicated to providing safe
accommodations for working women. Like its
brother organization, the YMCA, the YWCA did
at first adhere to a racial segregation policy. In
1915 the organization reflected its willingness to
engage across racial lines and staged the first inter-
racial conference of any kind in the South. In 1936
SHAWUNIVERSITY, a historically black institution,
hosted the first interracial coed student conference
in the South. The YWCA worked to improve the
home life of and professional options for women. It
opened nurseries for children, offered classes in
typing, provided the first English as a Second Lan-
guage courses offered, and organized training
schools for practical nursing.
A number of Harlem Renaissance figures were
active members of and leaders in the YWCA.
MARION CUTHBERT, dean of Talladega College,
was a board member who authored the biography
of Juliette Derricote, the national student secretary
of the YWCA, a member whose untimely death
was hastened by racist segregation practices and
the refusal of treatment to African Americans by
Atlanta hospitals. ADDIEHUNTONand Kathryn
Johnson were two especially enterprising members.
They are perhaps best remembered for their pio-
neering work during World War I with the Ameri-
can Expeditionary Forces, experiences that they
documented in their collaborative memoir. NELLA
LARSENwas inspired by Irene McCoy, a prominent
YWCA officer, and a character in her celebrated
novel PASSINGis based on Larsen’s longtime friend
and active YWCA member. The writers DOROTHY
WEST and HELENE JOHNSON were among the
many who, upon their arrival in New York City,
sought accommodations at the HARLEMYWCA.
The YWCA also worked with influential
African-American organizations such as the NA-
TIONALCOUNCIL OFNEGROWOMEN(NCNW).
In 1935, for instance, the NCNW held its organi-574 Young Women’s Christian Association