Emma Ransom House for Women

The third 1923 post for our annual celebration of Black History Month.

One hundred years ago today … The Emma Ransom House, at 200 W. 137th Street, at what is now Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Boulevard, offered affordable living quarters to working-class Black women. Founded by the YMCA in 1920, in 1922, it had "supplied lodging to 1,781 transient people and 884 who stayed three weeks or longer" ("Y.M.C.A. Residence House Is Valuable Aid to Work." New York Age, 10 Feb 1923, p. 1).

*New York Age*, 10 Feb 1923, p. 1. *Chronicling America.*

In September of 1922, Marie Peeke Johnson (sometimes spelled "Peake"), a professional, classically-trained singer, had taken over as superintendent of the house. Among the changes Johnson made was recruiting Black women for the board of directors to ensure "equal representation" of Black and white ("Y.M.C.A. Residence House Is Valuable Aid to Work." New York Age, 10 Feb 1923, p. 1).

Note: NY1920s highlighted housing for Black women in Harlem in our March, 19, 1921 post about the Sojourner Truth House and the Katy Ferguson House (here).

In 1926 the house moved to 175 W. 137th, where it was photographed in 1940 by Carl Van Vechten. That building still stands.

A 1938 pamphlet for the residence shows prices for "transients" and "permanents."

YWCA of the City of New York. Emma Ransom House Y. W. C. A. price list, ca. 1938. W. E. B. Du Bois Papers (MS 312). Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries

– Jonathan Goldman, February 10, 2023

TAGS: Black women, African American history, housing, charity, race, equity