Wabash Avenue YMCA
About this property
Wabash Avenue YMCA is a Chicago Landmark located within the Chicago Landmark Black Metropolis-Bronzeville Historic District in the Douglas community area of Chicago, Illinois. This YMCA facility served as an important social center within the Black Metropolis area, and it also provided housing and job training for African Americans migrating into Chicago in the early 20th century. In 1915, the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, one of the first groups specializing in African-American studies, was founded during a meeting at the Wabash 'Y'. Louis Gregory, a traveling speaker for the Bahá'í Faith and often attending national conventions of the religion held in Chicago area, is known to have stayed there in the spring of 1918 and gave talks to clubs while in town. Black contralto Marian Anderson gave one of her early performances here in 1919. The Black Metropolis area in Chicago, centered on the area of 35th Street and State Street, was a city within a city developed by the black community as an alternative to the restrictions, exploitations, and indifference of the city at large. Wabash Avenue YMCA was opened in 1914, supported by Julius Rosenwald, president of Sears, Roebuck and Company at the time. Rosenwald had a philanthropic interest in black-oriented causes. YMCA provided job training programs such as auto repair and manual training. The Black Metropolis district thrived through the 1920s, but competition from white-owned businesses on 47th Street and the effects of the Great Depression led to the closure of many of the black-owned businesses. Declining membership and deterioration of the building led to its closing in 1981. In the late 1990s, however, a nine-million dollar renovation project was undertaken by The Renaissance Collaborative to return to the building to its rightful condition. It was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1986.
Location
Categories
Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Everything a full report reveals about Wabash Avenue YMCA
This page lists Wabash Avenue YMCA. A full Aubrey report for an address near it pulls together this listing alongside battlefield records, land patents, and every other historical record within a chosen radius:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Nearby Battles
Questions about this property
When was Wabash Avenue YMCA listed on the National Register?
Wabash Avenue YMCA was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 29, 1986.
What type of historic resource is Wabash Avenue YMCA?
Wabash Avenue YMCA is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Wabash Avenue YMCA?
The period of significance for Wabash Avenue YMCA is recorded as the industrial era.
Can I research the history near Wabash Avenue YMCA?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Wabash Avenue YMCA will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
More in Cook County
Historic places, battles, and census history across Cook County.
Explore CookCounty ›More historic places in Illinois
Browse all historic places in Illinois.
View Illinoishistoric sites ›Research the history near this site
An Aubrey US report for an address near Wabash Avenue YMCA will include this listing alongside battlefield records and other historical sources within your chosen radius.