Wabash Avenue YMCA

Infobox_nrhp2 | name =Wabash Avenue YMCA
nrhp_type =
designated_other1_name= Chicago Landmark
designated_other1_date= September 9 1998
designated_other1_abbr= CL
designated_other1_link= Chicago Landmark
designated_other1_color= #aaccff
locmapin = Illinois


caption =
location= 3763 S. Wabash Ave.
Chicago, Illinois
lat_degrees = 41 | lat_minutes = 49 | lat_seconds = 33 | lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 87 | long_minutes = 37 | long_seconds = 29 | long_direction = W
locmapin=Illinois
area =
built =1911
architect= Berlin,Robert C.
added = April 30, 1986
governing_body = Private
mpsub=Black Metropolis TR
refnum=86001095 cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2007-01-23|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]

The 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 at the YMCA. [cite web|url=http://www.ci.chi.il.us/Landmarks/W/WabashYMCA.html|title=Chicago Landmarks: Wabash Avenue YMCA|date=2003|accessdate=2007-05-12]

The Black Metropolis area in Chicago, centered around 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. The 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. The 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. [cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/multiples/64000173.pdf|title=National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Submission: Black Metropolis Thematic Nomination|date=November 7, 1985|accessdate=2007-05-12]

It was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

Notes