Resolution

St. Antoine YMCA

Testimonial resolution, "St. Antoine YMCA," printed in black and red and mounted on gold cardboard backing inside a blue folder. Issued by the Detroit City Council on May 19, 1982 and signed by City Council members Erma Henderson, Nicholas Hood, Clyde Cleveland, Barbara Rose Collins, David Eberhard, Jack Kelley, Maryann Mahaffey, Rev. John W. Peoples, and Mel Ravitz. The gold seal of the City of Detroit is affixed to the bottom left. The text of the resolution is as follows:

"WHEREAS The Detroit Historical Department is planning to unveil and dedicate a State of Michigan historical marker to commemorate the St. Antoine Street YMCA on Thursday, May 20, 1982, and

WHEREAS The St. Antoine Street YMCA, organized in 1920, and its forerunner, the Douglass Institute, were the first concrete effort to meet the cultural and recreational needs of the black community, and had a profound influence upon many of Detroit's current black leaders, and

WHEREAS Ground was broken for a new building on April 6, 1924 on a site secured at St. Antoine and Elizabeth Streets and donated by Phillip A. Gray, philanthropist and YMCA president. From its inception the St. Antoine branch served as the center of cultural activities for the black community, and

WHEREAS In the early 1950s the Gratiot Redevelopment Project displaced over 200,000 area residents and the construction of the I-75 and I-375 expressways further depleted the population and dispersed the clientele of St. Antoine YMCA causing the branch to close its doors in June of 1960. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT

RESOLVED That the City Council passes this Resolution in commemoration of the historical importance of the St. Antoine Street branch of the YMCA and in support of a State Historical marker to be placed on its former site."