The story of the Pekin YWCA – 315 Buena Vista Ave.

By Jared L. Olar

Local History Program Coordinator

Long a pillar of Pekin’s community life, the Pekin YWCA at 315 Buena Vista Ave. was established about a century ago, starting out in 1927 as an affiliate of the Peoria Young Women’s Christian Association. The Pekin YWCA obtained its own articles of incorporation from the State of Illinois on 29 Oct. 1928 — the date that the Pekin Y regards as its “birthday.” The following year, on 29 April 1929 the Pekin YWCA obtained its own charter as an independent member of the national Young Women’s Christian Association, and it has operated under that charter ever since. Manda Brown, executive director of the YWCA of Pekin, says the association is already looking ahead to its 100th birthday which it will celebrate on 29 Oct. 2028.

A close-up of the YWCA of Pekin’s facility at 315 Buena Vista Ave., from an Aug, 2022 Google Street View image.

A Google Street View image of the YWCA of Pekin’s facility at 315 Buena Vista Ave., from Aug. 2022.

Plan of the Pekin YWCA facility at 315 Buena Vista Ave. from the Tazewell County Assessor’s website.

Describing the Pekin YWCA’s mission and community role, a Pekin Daily Times article dated 24 Feb. 1929 says, “The Y. W. occupies a unique position as a community meeting place for hundreds of women and girls, and no less than ten organizations who are in no way connected to them hold their regular meetings there. It is a community organization endeavoring in every way possible to co-operate with other organizations.”

The history of the YWCA on a national level began in 1873, when a student association was established on the campus of Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois. Since then, the Young Women’s Christian Association has grown to 194 local associations. Though the YWCA started out as a Christian mission and included chapel services, it is no longer officially or strictly a religious organization. “It’s an organization with Christian roots, but we no longer teach any particular religion or have any religious offerings,” explained Melinda Figge, past executive director of the Pekin YWCA on the occasion of the Pekin Y’s 75th anniversary in 2004. “But I think that our willingness and desire to help people, to empower people, comes out of our Christian beliefs that all people are created equal.”

The YWCA of Pekin’s community programs include an early learning center, physical fitness, swimming lessons, and adult literacy and learning. The association has also long been active in promoting social justice and working against racism, with its Coalition for Equality as one of its prominent committees. In their mission statement adopted in 2009, the Pekin YWCA says it is “dedicated to eliminating racism, empowering women and promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all.” The association has a 14-woman board of directors under the presidency of Hope McAllister, and, as mentioned above, is headed by Manda Brown, executive director, Meredith Kerley, Early Learning Center director, Anna Green, Adult Literacy director, and Maureen Naughtin, Community Outreach director.

Martha (Herget) Steinmetz (1868-1947), founding president of the Young Women’s Christian Association of Pekin.

From its small start in 1927, it did not take long until, by early 1929, Pekin YWCA membership has grown to include 600 adults and 300 members of the YWCA Girl Reserves, with a 70-member Business Girls Fellowship Club and a Blue Tri Club of 30 members. The Pekin YWCA’s founding president was Martha (Herget) Steinmetz (1868-1947), daughter of John Herget (1830-1899) and widow of George A. Steinmetz (1864-1915). The Pekin YWCA in 1929 also hired Mrs. Mary Watt as its first full-time secretary.

Though the Pekin YWCA has been based on Buena Vista Ave. for more than six decades, their first building was the former Stoltz House that used to be located at 612 Broadway. In more recent newspaper reports on the YWCA’s history, however, the address of their first building is sometimes given as 616 or 610 Broadway. Nevertheless, old city directories and Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps make clear that the Stoltz House was at 612 Broadway. Demolished decades ago during the construction of St. Joseph Catholic School (the site is now part of the school’s playground/parking lot), for many years it was the home of John W. Stoltz (1825-1899), a prominent Pekin businessman who served a Pekin mayor in 1872. After his death, his widow Emma Stoltz (1845-1923) continued to live there until her death, after which Frank Brown lived there for a few years.

A drawing of the old Stoltz Home that formerly stood at 612 Broadway. Formerly the home of Pekin Mayor John W. Stoltz (1825-1899), this house served as the first YWCA of Pekin building from 1927 to 1931, and housed the Pekin YWCA Tea Room.

This detail from the Sept. 1925 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of Pekin shows the Stoltz Home at 612 Broadway. In 1927 the Stoltz Home became the first location of the Pekin YWCA, which operated from that building until 1931.

The Pekin YWCA first appeared in Pekin city directories in 1928, when it was listed at 612 Broadway as the Young Women’s Christian Association Tea Room, managed by Mrs. Emma Lutz.

The above-quoted 24 Feb. 1929 Pekin Daily Times article says that when the Pekin YWCA sought a building to serve their needs, “The Stoltz homestead was purchased and remodeled. It is situated on Broadway, convenient to the business section of the town.” One of the original services provided by the Pekin YWCA at 612 Broadway was a tea room that provided lunch to guests for a modest fee. Of the tea room, the article says:

“The tea room with its checked gingham curtains and its ever present orange candles attract many who are living temporarily in the city and those who are looking for wholesome food under pleasant surroundings. While it has always paid its own way, yet it is not a money-making proposition. It is there to give service and invites its patrons to ‘bide a wee’ if they so desire.”

Pekin’s YWCA only occupied the old Stoltz Home for four years. Seeking a more spacious building, in 1931 the YWCA purchased of the Otto Koch Home at 310 S. Fourth St., former home of Otto Koch (1849-1920), who was co-founder and later president of the W. A. Boley Ice Company. After Otto’s death, his widow Ida Koch (1850-1929) remained at the home until her death. The YWCA of Pekin was the next owner and occupant of the Otto Koch Home, where the YWCA remained from 1931 to 1959.

An early 1930s photograph of the YWCA of Pekin’s second building, the former Otto Koch Home that formerly stood at 310 S. Fourth St.

This photograph taken in 1941 shows the YWCA of Pekin’s facility at 310 S. Fourth St. The current YWCA facility is located on Buena Vista Ave., behind the site of their former building on Fourth Street.

The Otto Koch Home at 310 S. Fourth St., and the Alice L. Russell Home at 315 Buena Vista Ave. are shown in this detail from the Sept. 1925 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of Pekin. In 1931, the Otto Koch Home became the home of the Pekin YWCA. The Russell Home was later the home of the Erven G. Abel family, who lived there in the 1950s just before the YWCA purchased the property to build a new, larger facility.

A year after moving to 310 S. Fourth St., the Pekin Young Women’s Christian Association was listed in the 1932 Pekin city directory with Mrs. Hulda M. Harmel as general secretary.

This photograph from the 3 July 1942 Pekin Daily Times shows the YWCA of Pekin’s then-new Reading and Recreation Room that had just been opened at the Y’s 310 S. Fourth St. facility. The new room was the brainchild of the Y’s Education Committee headed by Mrs. Louise Reuter. Shown at the left are Mary Jean Dimler and Mary Holiman playing a game at the table with Pauline Fox standing behind then. Reading magazines on the couch are Ruth Dennis, Betty Alfs, Billie Jean Allen, Shirley Petrie, and Betty Thacker.

By the mid-1950s, it had long been evident that the Pekin Y needed a new and larger facility. The YWCA then acquired the property at 315 Buena Vista Ave. and moved one block east to a lot behind their former 310 S. Fourth St. building, which has since been demolished. The house at 315 Buena Vista, formerly the home of Erven G. Abel (1918-2010) and his family, was torn down in 1958 and the present facility – which included a swimming pool — was built in its place. Notably, the Y’s next-door neighbor to the south is the mid-19th century historic Gaither-Dirksen Home, home of U.S. Senator Everett M. Dirksen and his wife Louella, and before that the residence of Mary E. Gaither who played a chief role in the plans to build the 1902 Pekin Carnegie Library. Since the construction of the 315 Buena Vista facility, the YWCA’s building has undergone two large expansions, with the second one being completed in 2001. Their swimming pool has also been refurbished.

The same year the Pekin Y’s current facility opened at 315 Buena Vista Av., the 1959 Pekin city directory listed the association, with Mrs. Idalee L. Woodson as executive director.

This swim team group photograph dates from the earlier years of the Pekin YWCA’s swimming pool.

Besides giving program and office space for the Pekin YWCA and its own activities, the facility at 315 Buena Vista continues to provide space for other community groups, with rooms and its pool available for rental. That is only fitting, because the Pekin YWCA building is in fact Pekin’s civic center. The Pekin Y became the city’s civic center in the 1980s, at a time when the association was facing numerous financial challenges, with a decline in donations, a leaky roof, a boiler in need of repair, and a payroll that couldn’t be met.

The Pekin YWCA then worked with the city to obtain a grant from the Department of Commerce and Community affairs. That provided enough money to repair the structure and even build a daycare addition. As part of the arrangement, title to the building and to a large portion of the Y’s land is held by the City of Pekin, which legally designated the YWCA as the official civic center of Pekin. That is why Tazewell County records list the official owner of the 315 Buena Vista property as “Pekin Civic Center Authority c/o YWCA.” Eventually full title will revert to the YWCA.

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Pekin Public Library Juneteenth program links

Shown here is an old printed copy of the first four of Major Gen. Gordon Granger’s five “General Orders” implementing martial law in Texas following Texas’ surrender after the end of the Civil War. General Order No. 3, issued 19 June 1865, in Galveston, Texas, proclaimed “all slaves are free” and that they had “absolute equality” with their former owners. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

For those who were unable to attend Pekin’s first-ever Juneteenth celebration at the Pekin Public Library that was co-sponsored earlier this month by the Pekin YWCA Coalition for Equality along with the library, below is a link to the program presented by Jared Olar, the library’s local history specialist, telling the stories of four Pekin men — Pvt. William Henry Costley, Cpl. William Henry Ashby, Sgt. Marshall Ashby, and Cpl. Nathan Ashby — who served in the U.S. Colored Troops during the Civil War and were eyewitnesses of the first Juneteenth in 1865. (Besides Pekin’s four Juneteenth eyewitnesses, a fifth Tazewell County volunteer for the Colored Troops, Thomas Marcellus Tumbleson of Elm Grove Township, was also present at the first Juneteenth.)

Before the Juneteenth program, Jared Olar was interviewed by WCBU Peoria Public Radio News Director Tim Shelley about the same subject. Quotes from that interview are included in the following WCBU news report at their website. Twenty-minutes of the interview aired on WCBU during the local news half-hour on Friday at 6 p.m. (the eve of Juneteenth) in the middle of the “All Things Considered” broadcast. Audio of the entire 45-minute interview is linked on the WCBU website immediately below this article:

https://www.wcbu.org/local-news/2021-06-19/four-pekin-men-were-at-the-first-juneteenth-one-was-the-first-freed-from-slavery-by-lincoln

#19th-illinois-colored-troops, #29th-u-s-colored-infantry, #civil-war, #colored-troops, #jared-olar, #juneteenth, #marshall-ashby, #nance-legins-costley, #nathan-ashby, #pekin-history, #pekin-ywca, #thomas-marcellus-tumbleson, #thomas-tumbleson, #tim-shelley, #wcbu, #william-henry-ashby, #william-henry-costley, #ywca-coalition-for-equality

Pekin’s hopes for progress . . . in 1944

This is a reprint of a “From the Local History Room” column that first appeared in August 2013, before the launch of this weblog.

Pekin’s hopes for progress . . . in 1944

By Jared L. Olar
Library Assistant

Through the decades, many of Pekin’s leaders and residents have had an eye for developing and improving their community. In this week’s column, we’ll go back about seven-and-a-half decades and take a look at some of Pekin’s aspirations and desires during the 1940s.

The nation was then on a total war footing, locked in a titanic struggle against the Axis powers in Europe and Africa and the Empire of Japan in the Pacific. Even so, many Pekin residents had their minds on what their city could become when peace returned. To provide a forum for sharing ideas and gathering a list of area where Pekin could be improved, the YWCA of Pekin hosted a gathering on Tuesday night, Oct. 10, 1944, in its main room.

The forum, reported on the following day on the front page of the Pekin Daily Times, was dubbed, “What is Wrong With Pekin?” It was the first in a series of meetings organized by Mrs. R. V. Grimmer of the YWCA and chaired by Ross E. Anderson, secretary of what is today called the Pekin Area Chamber of Commerce. It was attended by city councilmen, clergymen, school teachers and administrators, doctors “and citizens of all classifications,” the Daily Times reported. Originally planned for just an hour, the meeting actually lasted two hours and had to end with 50 more people still waiting to have their say.

This map of Pekin from the 1945 Stacy’s Farm Plat Book of Tazewell County shows that Pekin in those days only extended as far north as Willow Street, as far east as 18th Street, and as far south as Koch Street.

Fourteen separate ideas (and complaints) were submitted as areas for improvement, which the Daily Times listed in the order in which they were brought up. The newspaper article didn’t name any of the people who submitted the ideas, apparently because anonymity at the program had been extended in order to encourage people to speak their minds freely.

First on the list was adequate housing. “No place here for people to live who want to come to Pekin; no place for rent, and if a house does show up, rent is too high,” the Daily Times article said. “No houses for sale, and if one is offered, the price is $1000 too high. Fine families are going elsewhere to live because of no available living quarters in Pekin. If private home capital won’t furnish homes here, how about a federal project? What happened to the one that was started? Must our river front continue forever as it is? Why not a low cost housing project for them?”

Next on the list was a proposal to start a YMCA in Pekin. “Pekin’s boys and young men need a YMCA. Why is it that other cities of 20,000 have ‘Y’s’ but Pekin has none?”

After that, a complaint was raised about city residents paying a tax for garbage collection, yet the city did not pick up the garbage. “Answer of the commissioners is that Pekin’s property (houses and factories, but especially the industries) are assessed so low that even the limit of taxes (two mills) will raise only $16,000. This $16,000 means only 24 cents a month per home, and nobody will collect the garbage for that.”

Several other people at the meeting, especially some doctors and school administrators, suggested that something be done about “Pekin’s crazy quilt of street names (Mary in one end of town, St. Mary in another, one street having three names on its way across town), and the crazy numbers of these streets (numbers being lower to the east than west), and the lack of both street signs and numbers. Patients die while doctors hunt street names and numbers.”

Someone else suggested a viaduct over the railroad tracks on North Eighth Street – in those days, of course, Pekin had many more railroad tracks than it does today. The suggestions of other people had to do with a perennial concern of Pekin residents and visitors – inadequate parking downtown. Some suggested making changes to the county courthouse square that would enable diagonal parking instead of parallel parking, or installing parking meters downtown.

Then came a suggestion that Pekin public schools should offer Kindergarten classes. “School board has authority to start one IF it had money. Again a case of assessments being so low there is insufficient taxes,” the Daily Times said. Others said Pekin needs night school for teenage servicemen returning from the war, while another suggested that Pekin ought to have its own junior college, because “Pekin is below the national average in high school grads who go on for higher learning.” But again came the answer from elected officials: “Too little taxes.”

Among the other suggestions that night were the construction of a new hotel, the setting aside of open areas by the Pekin Park District to prepare for future recreational needs, and making better and more frequent use of high school and grade school facilities for recreational activities for young people.

At the end, the forum was summed up “with a speech by one of Pekin’s top citizens who owns considerable property here and who has watched the city’s history perhaps more closely than any other man. He stated that nearly all our problems, from garbage collection to schools, stems from the fact that property is assessed so low that the entire total is only $8,000,000, include all our furniture, autos, homes, railroads, stores, real estate, fields and factories – and that the legal limit of taxes for garbage, schools, fire protection, parks and what not can’t add to much of a figure if the whole wealth of Pekin is assessed at only eight million dollars. Not eighty, but eight.”

#pekin-history, #pekin-problems, #pekin-progress, #pekin-ywca, #preblog-columns