If you love books that enlighten you on Houston’s forgotten past, then you are in for a treat, with an extraordinary historical trilogy by author Priscilla Graham. In these books, Houston’s YMCA for Negros trilogy Boxed Set: Colored YMCA, Bagby Street YMCA, and 555 Grace: The Black YMC Genii – Graham pulls back the curtain on the early days of the Young Men’s Christian Association and shares the true history of its inception in Houston, Texas. Each book focuses on only one specific location during that time in history and contains a stunning array of archival and contemporary photos that peels away the many layers of Houston’s Af- rican-American YMCAs. The trilogy is an evolution of time and history when people of African descent were called Negro, Colored, Black people, and then African Americans. Creating the name of each location open to African Americans.

“For more than 160 years, African-Americans have shared in the historic mission of the YMCA, providing leadership and making the YMCA Movement stronger, richer and better,” said Priscilla Graham. “One of my goals for these books is to demonstrate a vivid and active portrayal of African American leaders in Houston struggling to build black-controlled institutions in their search for cultural self-determination,” said Graham. “We owe so much to the struggles of those who have fought for equity and equality, but there’s still a lot more work to be done and issues to be addressed.”

From the time of its emergence in the United States in 1851, the Young Men’s Christian Association excluded blacks from membership. However, they did encourage African Americans to form their own associations and to join the Christian brotherhood on “separate but equal” terms. So in 1853, Anthony Bowen, a former slave, minister, and the first person of color to work in the United States Patent Office, founded the nation’s first YMCA dedicated to serving African Americans. Eight years before the American Civil War and ten years before the institution of slavery was officially ended in the United States.

In Houston, men like L.H. Spivey, T.M. Fairchild, E.O. Smith, and several other African American leaders met with William A. Hunton the National Colored Secretary to dis- cuss establishing a Houston YMCA for Negros in 1905. These Houston leaders continued to meet on Sundays for many years; however, their initial quest to establish a Y failed until the National War Work Council established the Colored Soldiers and Sailors Branch of Houston Young Men’s Christian Associations of the United States in 1918.

Along with these photos from the past come historical details of stories about the men and women who established the Colored YMCA and help build Houston. Get all three photo books that trace the YMCA’s changing racial policies and practices and examines the evolution of African American associations and their leadership from slavery to desegregation. Priscilla Grahams is currently working on the next YMCA book project that focuses on the South Central YMCA for African Americans in Houston that currently remains historically significant.