YMCA
Among Early African American Assets

Provident Hospital, ca. 1950's

A diversity of businesses and institutions in West Baltimore gave birth to such venerable institutions as Provident Hospital and the Colored Branch of the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA). The first Colored YMCA meeting occurred in 1885 at Union Baptist Church. Frederick Douglass headlined the three-day event. Then in 1910 Julius Rosenwald, President of Sears, Roebuck and Co. and devoted philanthropist, offered $25,000 in matching funds to all black YMCAs in the U.S., spurring a nationwide fund-raising campaign that resulted in the construction of twenty-four buildings for African Americans. The plan in Baltimore was to raise $25,000; instead the City raised $31,000. With these funds, the Colored YMCA grew from organizational meetings in private homes to the current facility on Druid Hill.

YWCA roots deep in Baltimore’s African American story

As Baltimore’s reputation grew as a thriving safe port for African Americans, many young women in search of work and a new life made their way to the city. Commonly described as “women adrift,” by the 1880s these independent wage earning women arrived in the city seeking work and a better life. Some factories provided lodging, however, the number of arrivals soon became overwhelming and the need for services grew. Many believed that these young women would be consumed by the city’s vices.

YMCA on Druid Hill Avenue

In 1895 eight spirited African American women, all members of the Women’s Auxiliary of the Druid Hill Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), became interested in forming a “colored” YWCA. Work began when Mrs. Sarah Charity discussed the idea with fellow auxiliary member Mary E. Bright. They were joined by Martha Howard Murphy, the wife of the publisher of The Afro-American Newspapers, and Mrs. Sarah A. Murphy, Frances Murphy, Mary E Cooper, Novella Rayne and Maggie Ridley.

The group founded their branch of the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) in a rented house at 324 West Biddle Street. In 1896, the YWCA moved to the corner of Dolphin Street and Druid Hill Avenue and began to provide employment services, relief to unwed mothers, and classes in stenography and typing. In 1897 an employment bureau was created. In 1902 a twelve room house at 1200 Druid Hill Avenue was purchased. Forty years later they bought a building on Madison Avenue from the Baltimore Hebrew Congregation for $20,000 and invested $100,000 in renovations, with a 1945 building dedication as Baltimore’s YWCA.

1609 Druid Hill Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21217