Safe Havens

Safe Havens. Midcity at the Crossroads. , The building across the street at 901 Rhode Island Avenue is the city's first Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) for African Americans. It honors Phyllis Wheatley (1753-1784), considered America's first published black author., The Wheatley YWCA was organized in 1905 by the Booklover's Club, a black women's literary club, to provide housing, recreation, and vocational and Christian guidance to women. It opened at the Miner Institution Building in Southwest Washington. With hundreds of young women migrating to Washington, the YWCA needed a larger facility, opening this one in 1920. Carter G. Woodson frequently lectured and took meals here. The Julia West Hamilton League, organized by Mary Church Terrell to promote philanthropy, education and character, met here. During World War II, Civil Rights leader Dorothy Height worked at the YWCA, which became a social center for black service men and women. Recently renovated, the building provides accommodations for women, day care, and meeting spaces., The original rowhouse at 901 R Street housed the Clef Club (later Lewis Thomas Cabaret). The façade of the current house recreates the look of the original. The popular nightspot presented Duke Ellington and Bricktop and, despite its residential location, proudly advertised that it was open from dusk to dawn. At 913 R Street, just beyond the site of the club, is the former Engine Company No. 4 fire house. In 1919 Company 4 became Washington's first all-black company after fire fighters seeking career advancement requested a separate facility. The company was captured at work in January 1943 by noted photographer Gordon Parks.