Learning how to swim at the Emerson Street Branch YMCA is one of Lonnie Wilson’s unforgettable childhood memories. The 54-year-old Evanston native also took up karate and practiced good manners there before its closing in 1969.
“I learned how to act like I had some sense at the Y,” Wilson said.
The McGaw YMCA, 1000 Grove St., honored the 60-year history of the Emerson Street Branch YMCA on Saturday evening. The sold-out event took place in McGaw YMCA’s Sebring-Lewis Center where 400 guests mingled over cocktails and placed bids in a silent auction before dining and dancing.
The event, called “Unforgettable,” celebrated the contribution made by the organizers of the Emerson Street Branch YMCA, said Juliet Garrard, McGaw YMCA’s marketing director. There was also the debut of “Unforgettable Legacy,” a film capturing the oral history of the Emerson Street Branch YMCA, she said.
Though today the McGaw YMCA is one of the places in the community where residents of all races, ages and professions come together, that was not always the case, Garrard said. The Emerson Branch was established in 1909 to offer programs for black youth, which the other local YMCA wouldn’t permit.
When the Emerson Branch closed in an effort to desegregate Evanston, the African-American community suffered a great loss, Garrard said.
“Closing the Y rang the bell of the decline of a really strong black community,” said Wilson, who was a pre-teen at the time the Emerson Branch closed.
He said the generations before him created a vibrant community with the Emerson Branch at its center, but this changed after the Emerson Branch closed.
“They made a knitted fabric that held us together, and my generation let the ball drop,” he said. “Now we’ve got to try and put it back together.”
The amount of interest in Saturday’s event showcased the importance of the Emerson Branch to this former community, Garrard said.
Doris Grant, who came from Nashville, Tenn., to attend the event, said the people running the Emerson Branch during the 1960s made it a special place.
“They really cared about the kids and made it a safe place to be,” Grant said.
The event also served as a reunion for many residents.
Emory Williams and Ellen Reynolds worked together for more than 25 years at Evanston Township High School and met up at the event.
Reynolds said she came to the event because her son learned how to swim at the Emerson Branch during the city’s segregationist era.
“It’s nice to see so many people,” she said.
Williams said he was surprised Evanston was still segregated at the time even though it’s a northern city.
The event also paid tribute to organizers of the Emerson Branch, who included Rev. James Talley, Garrard said.
Dorothy Tate, Talley’s niece, said she recalled how the closing of the Emerson Branch was a “great shut-off” for many black residents who didn’t attend the newly integrated YMCA center.
Lucille Harris, Talley’s other niece in attendance, said the Emerson Branch was an important place for black youth in the community. Talley originally tried to get the YMCA to offer programs for black youth and helped organize the Emerson Branch when the existing YMCA refused.
“I’m very pleased they are honoring my uncle after all these years,” Harris said. “I thought maybe they’d forgotten.”
