28th Street YMCA

The YMCA "Colored Branch"

The 28th Street Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) of Los Angeles, also known as the "Colored Branch or "Colored Y," opened its new building in November 1926 at the corner of East 28th Street and Paloma Avenue, just two blocks west of Central Avenue. The Colored Y, part of the international nonprofit YMCA membership community, provided wholesome recreational and educational facilities for African American men and boys. It was also a venue for political meetings and social gatherings for both sexes, and was for many years the leader in offering services for the city's African American youth.

The YMCA was founded in London in 1844 at the end of the Industrial Revolution to provide recreational activities and social services for rural young men newly arrived in cities. The association soon expanded to many other countries.

Anthony Bowen, a freed slave, formed the first YMCA for African Americans in 1853 in Washington, DC. Bowen created the separate branch because whites would not allow African Americans to use their facilities.

Building Fund and New Construction

In the early 20th century, the Colored Y provided public space and programming for African Americans, which helped propel the fight against racism and generally improve conditions for black Angelenos. Under Executive Secretary Thomas A. Greene, from 1906 to 1932, the number of members grew substantially. Greene led the branch and the local association in an ambitious 20-year campaign to raise $200,000 to cover the costs of building and furnishing the new site. Paul Revere Williams, a black Angeleno and a member of the YMCA branch since childhood, became the project architect at the beginning of his long career.

Contributions came in from black and white people alike. Julius Rosenwald, president of Seans, Roebuck and Company, kicked in a $25,000 challenge grant. According to H.F. Henderson, general secretary of the greater metropolitan association leadership, black Angelenos pledged more toward the building fand than did African Americans financing similar projects in other U.S. cities.

State-of-the-Art

The four-story structure, made of reinforced concrete, is topped with red clay roof tiles in an adaptation of the Spanish Colonial Revival style. It displays symmetrical organization with a three-part composition typically seen in Beaux Arts-style buildings. On the north facade, just below the decorative entablature, at the top are bas-relief panels featuring busts of African American leaders and social reformers: abolitionist, statesman, writer, and orator Frederick Douglas, and educator, orator, and author Booket T. Washington. The 28th Street branch building was considered one of the three most beautiful YMCA buildings in the world.

The first-class clubhouse featured an indoor pool that provided unfettered access to swimming at a time when black Angelenos were often excluded from local public pools (until 1931, when a Los Angeles County judge ordered the end of such segregation). The gymnasium balcony could be used as a stage. Other amenities included locker rooms, showers, private dining room, clubrooms for classes and small group meetings, handball courts, and 52 dormitory rooms. These inexpensive, clean, and safe accommodations were especially vital to male African American travelers during the Jim Crow era, the period of enforced racial segregation in the South that lasted until the mid-1960s. The 28th Street Y has been designated a Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. . This historical marker was erected in 2020 by City of Los Angeles. It is in South Los Angeles in Los Angeles County California