YWCA Metro St. Louis history

1905 YWCA St Louis was incorporated, eventually becoming YWCA Metro St Louis

1906 The YWCA was the first organization to introduce the positive health concept and sex education in all health programming

1907 YWCA of the USA incorporated in New York City

1908 The YWCA was the first industrial federation of clubs to train girls in self-government

1911 YWCA opens the Chapman Branch, later renamed the Phyllis Wheatley Branch, in St Louis to serve African American women and girls, only the fifth such branch in the nation

1915 The YWCA held the first interracial conference in Louisville, Ky.

1918 The YWCA was the first organization to send professional workers overseas to provide administrative leadership and support to United States Armed Forces

1934 The YWCA encouraged members to speak out against lynching and mob violence, and for interracial cooperation and efforts to protect African Americans’ basic civil rights

1938 The YWCA in Columbus, Ohio, establishes a desegregated dining facility and is cited by The Columbus Urban League “for a courageous step forward in human relations.”

1944 The National Board appears at the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate hearings in support of permanent Fair Employment Practices Committee legislation

1946 Interracial Charter adopted by the 17th National Convention; in St Louis, the Phyllis Wheatley Branch merges with YWCA St Louis to become one and serving both white and African American women and girls

1949 The National Convention pledges that the YWCA will work for integration and full participation of minority groups in all phases of American life

1955 National Convention commits local Associations and the National Board to review progress towards inclusiveness and decides on “concrete steps” to be taken

1960 The Atlanta, Ga., YWCA cafeteria opened to African Americans, becoming the city’s first integrated public dining facility

1965 The National Board of the YWCA created the Office of Racial Justice to lead the civil rights efforts

1970 The YWCA National Convention, held in Houston, adopted the One Imperative: “To trust our collective power towards the elimination of racism, wherever it exists, by any means necessary”

1972 The YWCA started the ENCORE program for women who had undergone breast cancer surgery

1982 YWCA establishes Fund For The Future

1983 The YWCA National Board urges Congress to support legislation that opposes the South African policy of apartheid

1992 The YWCA National Day of Commitment to Eliminate Racism began in response to the beating of Rodney King, an African American man, the acquittal of four white Los Angeles police officers accused of the crime, and the subsequent riots and unrest across the country

1995 The YWCA Week Without Violence was created as a nationwide effort to unite people against violence in communities.

2001 Steps to Absolute Change was adopted.

2004 Igniting the Collective Power of the YWCA to Eliminate Racism, the YWCA USA’s Summit on Eliminating Racism, was held in Birmingham, Ala.

2008 The YWCA celebrates its Sesquicentennial Anniversary, 150 years of service, with the launch of the “Own It” campaign.