Young Woman's Christian Association of Beaumont
Beaumont, Jefferson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Established in 1911 with ten members, the Beaumont Young Women's Christian Association was officially chartered three years alter. Meetings were held in the town Temperance Hall until a separate building was constructed for the members at this location in 1918. That same year Frances Morris, a local teacher, formed a club for the black girls of the city. Through her efforts, it was chartered as a branch of the YWCA shortly after her death in 1933. A merger of both branches was completed in 1969. Supplemental Plate: The following individuals signed the charter of the Young Women's Christian Association of Beaumont, Texas, in 1914: Mrs. J. Frank Keith, Mrs. T. S. Reed, Jr., Mrs. W. P. H. McFadden, Mrs. Charles Cahison, Mrs. J. E. Carroll, Jrs. J. A. Glen, Mrs. D. Edward Greer, Mrs. J. W. Mackey, Mrs. F. M. Law, and Mrs. W. A. Shrigley. F. W. Steinman was architect for the building constructed in 1918.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Founded in 1911 with ten members and chartered in 1914, the Beaumont Young Women's Christian Association gave the oil-boom city's working women a place of their own, meeting in the Temperance Hall until they built their own building in 1918. That same year the teacher Frances Morris organized a club for the city's Black girls, which was chartered as a YWCA branch shortly after her death in 1933. The two long-separate branches finally merged in 1969.
Why it matters
The Beaumont YWCA traces the arc of American women's organizing and the slow, hard road from segregation to integration in a Southern city.
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Related people
- · Frances Morris
Themes & tags
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