Few large organizations like the Y.M.C.A took a definitive stance for racial equality. The Supreme Court had ruled that segregation was legal. Discriminatory Jim Crow laws were in force the southern United States. In 1900, the United States was only about thirty years past the American Civil War. It stands for young men regardless of nationality the world over." Reid responded that "he Young Men's Christian Association knows no color line. Reid's response that makes this event so significant. One woman said "…I do not care to go where I must meet colored men, I have Southern blood it is true, but I have the greatest respect for a colored person in his proper place." Some members reached out to the secretary of the Y.M.C.A. They fought the lawlessness that plagued Skagway in their on duty time and they fought racial discrimination in their off duty time.ĭisgruntled citizens turned to the newspaper to voice their objections to Company L's membership. In many ways the men of Company L were waging battles on two fronts. What must this have felt like to the men of Company L? To be discriminated against by the very people they were serving and protecting? This illustrates the complexities that these men had to balance. Members who objected to the desegregated club began withdrawing their memberships. Not everyone in Skagway welcomed the soldiers to the Y.M.C.A. Many of the soldiers played town baseball as part of a Company L team. Others frequented some of Skagway's plentiful saloons. Some men were active in the Baptist Church. On their time off, the soldiers looked for ways to enjoy life in Skagway. While not the first Army unit sent to Alaska, Company L was uniquely comprised of 112 African American enlisted men.ĭuring the height of the gold rush Sam Steele of the Northwest Mounted Police referred to Skagway as "little better than hell on Earth." In 1899, Company L was sent to Skagway to "aintain law and order on the Lynn Canal." By all accounts the soldiers carried out their duties with decorum and discipline. Like the Y.M.C.A., Company L was another first for Skagway. ![]() Some of the last membership spaces went to 30 soldiers of Company L. ![]() ![]() In its first month of operation the club gained 300 members reaching its maximum enrollment. It offered members a gym, baths, a handball court, a photo dark room, and a reading room. was a one-of-a-kind facility in the young town. It was the first recreation club of its kind in the District of Alaska and quickly became popular. The building in the back right is the gymnasium, today located at 5th and State St.Īlaska State Library Photo Collection Skagway-Churches-1Ĭonstructed in 1900, the Skagway Young Men's Christian Association (Y.M.C.A.) was the talk of the town when it first opened its doors.
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