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A Proud History of Uniting
People
From
the beginning, The Dayton Urban League has worked to
unite people, even amidst the struggles for equality and
equal access to opportunity. In the mid 1940’s, a group
called The Dayton Council of Social Agencies invited Mr.
Julius Thomas of the National Urban League to discuss
Dayton’s growing racial tensions and disparity.
Mr.
Thomas understood-- based on a survey conducted by a
representative of the National Urban League along with a
staff of diverse civic and government officials-- that
the problems facing blacks in Dayton stemmed from a lack
of access to economic opportunity and all the benefits
that follow such opportunity (e.g. housing, health care,
etc.). If the Council would provide a Board of Directors
from the community, a budget of $7,500 for a small staff
and office space, The National Urban League would
provide leadership, information and services needed to
ease racial tensions in Dayton and assist blacks in
seizing expanded opportunities. The committee agreed,
and assembled a board comprised of the most respected
community leaders (black and white) of the times. Such
notables as Lloyd E. Lewis, Sr.; A. B. Seaks; P. Barton
Myers and C.J. McLin, Sr. would unite to form the first
board of The Dayton Urban League.
Working
as a united community, these early leaders opened doors
of opportunity for African Americans within months of
establishing The Dayton Urban League. The League helped
place the first African American employees in the Fire
Department, the phone company, and the local hospital.
It also forged partnerships with the Dayton Public
School system, General Motors, Dayton Power and Light,
NCR and The Dayton Journal Herald (Dayton Daily News),
which allowed blacks, for the first time, to pursue and
obtain white-collar positions in these companies.
Eventually, the League established the area’s first
databank of minority worker resumes. It developed
training programs for adults and youth as well as
leadership programs that allowed African Americans to
have a voice in the boardrooms of some of Dayton’s
largest companies and government agencies.
The
Dayton Urban League still works to make Dayton a viable
community, wherein all people can share in the benefits
of a thriving community while sharing the
responsibilities for helping to make it so.
Fifth Street YMCA
 The
Fifth Street YMCA was opened on New Year’s Day in 1928.
This facility played a vital role for a number of years
in then thriving Fifth Street Business District. Built
to service black, the YMCA was home to a number of now
prominent African Americans. In fact, it is this
facility that The Dayton Urban League was born.
As The
Dayton Urban League works to move its clients into the
21st Century, it is fitting that it should work to do it
in what is truly its home. |
