Description

This photograph is of a group of children at the the Middletown Community Center. The Middletown Community Center traces its origins back to the Middletown Colored Community Association and its center, which opened on March 1, 1925. The Middletown Colored Community Association formed on February 11, 1925 with the purpose of “encouraging play, recreation, a better social life and better moral and industrial conditions among the colored people of Middletown.” The Association leased, what was known as the Doty home, from Armco; it was roughly located at what was then 901 Canal Street - in 1936 the address changed to 901 South Verity Parkway. The building had formerly been the home of the Armco Foreign Club. After initial success, which included the sponsoring of Boy and Girl Scout troops, the association struggled to maintain funding. On May 3, 1926, the association surrendered the lease to the building to the Armco Colored Employees Club. This group, also referred to as the Armco Colored Association of Middletown, and the Armco Colored Community Association, operated out of the building until 1942, when a new building was opened. Located at 800 Lafayette Avenue, what was named the Armco Colored Center held its dedication on October 17, 1942. In early 1968, Armco sold the building to the City of Middletown. Having bought the building, the city closed it, then reopened it on September 3, 1968 as the Middletown Community Center. In 2010, the center was rededicated as the Robert “Sonny” Hill Community Center, after Robert...

Record Contributed By

MidPointe Library System

Record Harvested From

Ohio Digital Network