A century ago, Black southerners were moving up north in droves to find better paying work and escape violent segregation. During those days of the Great Migration, one of the places that welcomed those newcomers was the Wabash Avenue YMCA in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood.
One of the many who passed through its doors was late historian Carter G. Woodson, the father of Black History Month. Woodson met there with like-minded Black leaders in 1915 to create the Association for the Study of African American Life and History.
Ryan Baker with NABJ Black News & Views partner CBS Chicago has more:
WATCH: Black History Month traces origins to landmark Wabash Avenue YMCA in Chicago’s Bronzeville
