Few cities of Asheville\’s size boast such a wealth of cultural resources. The city itself is recognized internationally as an arts destination, with residents of Asheville and Buncombe County supporting a municipal symphony, a quality art museum, professional theatre and dance companies, scores of galleries showcasing art and handicrafts, and such specialized institutions as the Colburn Gem & Mineral Museum, the Health Adventure, and even an opera company.

 

 ymi
PHOTO BY CATHRYN SHAFFER


The YMI Cultural Center is not only one of those valued resources, but
also one of the most unique. Since 1980 it has been the repository for
the culture history of Western North Carolina\’s African American
community. It houses archives and artifacts that trace the history of
the black presence here back into the middle of the 19th Century, and
its galleries display African artworks and artifacts that have been
collected over decades. The YMICC also energizes the contemporary
African American cultural experience. The Ray auditorium presents dance
and theatre performances by leading contemporary companies as well as
concerts of jazz, blues, soul and African music. The galleries showcase
the work of modern artists, and the YMI celebrates Kwanzaa every
December and sponsors the Goombay festival on The Block each August.
What is remarkable about the YMICC is that, unlike many comparable
organizations, it is not a recent outgrowth of the Civil Rights
movement. Around the country many institutions focusing on African
American history and culture were founded in the 1970s and 1980s, most
of them started from scratch. But the YMI has been in place for more
than a century. The Young Men\’s Institute opened in 1893, making it one
of Asheville\’s oldest downtown buildings, and it is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places. Commissioned by George Vanderbilt
as a counterpart to the segregated YMCA, it was built by many of the
same African American artisans who constructed the Biltmore House. A
dozen years after it opened, a group of 48 prominent African American
men bought the building (for $10,010) from Vanderbilt, making it one of
the earliest institutions — as well as one of the most elegant — in the
South that was owned and operated by black citizens.



In addition to a swimming pool, public bath, and other health
facilities that paralleled the YMCA\’s, the YMI provided a locus for the
amenities that the white community took for granted: a kindergarten,
library, medical office, drug store, funeral parlor, and lecture hall.
Congregations without a church home met there, and as late as the 1960s
the YMI provided lodging for African American travelers who were turned
away from segregated hotels and motels. By the 1970s, however, the YMI
had fallen into disrepair, emptied of most of the businesses and
services it had housed for so long. The Buncombe County Library system
was desegregated, African Americans were welcome to shop at Eckerd\’s
and Woolworth\’s, and previously separate facilities had, at least in
name, opened their doors to all races. By the end of the decade the
building was slated for demolition as part of the city\’s plan for urban
renewal.



In 1980, however, leading citizens spoke out in favor of salvaging the
building. They recognized its beauty and intrinsic value, but their
primary goal was to honor its historic importance and preserve the
YMI\’s role as an intrinsic part of the community. A coalition of the
city\’s churches, chaired by Dr. John White, undertook a reorganization
of the YMI\’s legal structure, incorporating it as the nonprofit YMI
Cultural Center. They raised funds for an $8 million-dollar renovation
and successfully petitioned to have the building declared a city
landmark. Since then the YMI Cultural Center has served as a home and
an icon for the renaissance of African American cultural history,
restored to its rightful place at the heart of The Block and the larger
community.



The quarter-century since the YMI\’s rebirth has seen a remarkable
flourishing of cultural diversity in Asheville. Fueled by the Mick\’s
leadership role, the arts, culture, and history of African Americans in
Western North Carolina have been revisited and re-energized.
Arts-in-education coordinator Margaret Fuller oversees programs that
serve school systems throughout the 18-county region. Through those
programs and many special exhibitions, the public has learned, or
relearned, about the central contributions African Americans have made
to Asheville through the two centuries since the city\’s 1797 founding.



• The Center for Diversity Education has mounted regular exhibits of An
Unmarked Trail, based on the state\’s social studies curriculum.



• The Urban Trail guided tour of downtown includes long-ignored
information on African American bricklayers and masons who built many
of the city\’s municipal gems.



• The South Asheville Colored Cemetery, a historic segregated cemetery
in Kenilworth, has been identified and is being cleaned up and
reclaimed after decades of neglect.



• Nationally recognized artists visit the YMICC and other venues to perform and teach both school groups and adults.



• The YMICC is a partner organization in Pack Place, the city and
county\’s centralized home for several of its most valued cultural
institutions, among them the Art Museum, Diana Wortham Theatre, and
Asheville Lyric Opera.



‚Ä¢ An expansive view of the Mick\’s mission has supported such
multicultural celebrations as Fiesta Latina and presentations of
Cherokee art and dance.



• The W.C. Reid Center is undergoing a renovation by the Asheville
Parks & Recreation Department, with the aim of encouraging interest
in the performing arts among inner city children.



Less than thirty years ago, Asheville\’s African American cultural
history was kept alive primarily within the community and in private.
Area churches maintained an institutional memory, and family elders
passed knowledge to any descendants who showed interest. Privately held
documents and artifacts told part of the story, but the community\’s
shared history was in danger of being lost.



Now a full generation has come of age during this third incarnation of
the historic YMI as it has revived the broad and deep streams of
African American culture in Western North Carolina. Students who gained
only word-of-mouth knowledge of their forebears\’ lives now are exposed
to documented history. Artists serve as mentors and role models, and
those for whom “American history” was white history now have an
opportunity to learn about the contributions of a diverse population
previously unknown to them.



Through the dedication and vision of its three sets of founders, its
staff and board and countless volunteers, and the thousands who support
its mission as members and audiences, the YMI Cultural Center provides
the public with a central repository where they can learn about the
contributions of black artists and artisans both in the African
homeland and here in Western North Carolina.