1 10 6 https://archive.englewoodmakeshistory.org/files/original/de583eb4915fd5f7dc468c44fdef4cbd.jpg a46ec588e1ce75b56377745c62b072ff Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Organizations and Institutions Organizations and Institutions A group of individuals cooperating under similar beliefs to reach an agreed-upon goal. Metadata for organizations and institutions provides information for the basis of an investigation into the creation, purpose, beliefs, and actors involved in an organization and institution. Type of Institution Social Welfare Source of File Attached “<a href="https://bergennaacp.org/">NAACP of Bergen County NJ.</a>” Bergen County NAACP, 26 July 2023. <div></div> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Bergen County Branch Subject The topic of the resource Activism, Civil Rights Activism, African American Description An account of the resource Many notable residents of Englewood have been members of The Bergen County Branch of the NAACP. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived “<a href="https://bergennaacp.org/">NAACP of Bergen County NJ.</a>” Bergen County NAACP, 26 July 2023. <div></div> Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Ludder, Rachelle African American Civil Rights Race https://archive.englewoodmakeshistory.org/files/original/dfa2456d75fde3291c08e36d08c062af.jpg e0f0d8786db4d21cdc0e92f9830e7657 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Organizations and Institutions Places A fixed location. Metadata for a place provides descriptive information that is the basis of discovery of the creation, purpose, and agents associated with a place. Date Started 1916 Source of File Attached "1,200 Families Share In Work of Federation." The Record, 14 Sep. 1934, p.21. Type of Place Community Centers Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Memorial House The Social Service Federation's Memorial House Subject The topic of the resource Social Services Social Welfare System Description An account of the resource Memorial House stood for decades as the physical and symbolic center of organized social work in Englewood. More than simply a clubhouse, it functioned as a gathering place, training ground, educational center, and stabilizing force in the city’s working-class neighborhoods. Yet to understand Memorial House fully, it must be seen not only as a Progressive reform institution but also as a racialized space operating within the segregated geography of early twentieth-century Englewood. Established in the 1910s under the direction of the Social Service Federation, Memorial House emerged from earlier boys’ and neighborhood club efforts that sought to provide structure, recreation, and moral guidance to Englewood’s youth. By the early 1920s, it had become the home base for dozens of boys’ and girls’ clubs operating under Federation supervision. At one point, more than six hundred young people were affiliated with twenty to thirty clubs using the building’s facilities. Each club maintained its own officers and identity, but all functioned within a coordinated framework designed to promote responsibility and civic engagement. But the membership of those clubs reflected the racial realities of the city. Memorial House was repeatedly described in the press as located in Englewood’s “Negro section,” and certain troops and organizations were explicitly identified as “colored.” Girl Scout Troop 5 of Memorial House, for example, was publicly described as a Negro troop. Boy Scout Troop 21 was similarly identified as the Memorial House “colored” troop. These labels were not incidental; they reflected the accepted racial order of the time. Memorial House provided structured opportunity to Black youth in a city where housing patterns and schooling reinforced separation. The programming at Memorial House reflected Progressive Era ideals. Boys were trained in athletics, scouting, and gymnastic work, while girls and women participated in classes in domestic economy, cooking, and sewing. The building was not conceived as a charity in the passive sense; members paid modest dues, fostering a sense of ownership and accountability. Organizers believed that giving young people a stake in their own clubhouse helped prevent idleness and delinquency. Contemporary accounts credited Memorial House with contributing to Englewood’s comparatively low levels of juvenile mischief by keeping youth productively engaged. For Black youth especially, these programs carried additional weight. Memorial House offered access to leadership training, public performance, and organized civic identity in an era when many mainstream institutions were either informally closed to them or socially segregated. When Memorial House’s Girl Scout troop won first place in an inter-troop song festival—performing a Negro spiritual before a large audience—the achievement was celebrated publicly. Yet the reporting made clear that the troop was racially designated. Success occurred, but within clearly defined racial boundaries. Recreation itself could expose those boundaries. One article described the Memorial House Negro Band practicing in MacKay Park until a nearby white resident complained about the noise, prompting police intervention and the band’s relocation within the park. The episode illustrates both the vibrancy of Black youth culture centered at Memorial House and the constraints placed upon it in shared public spaces. Holiday programs reveal another side of Memorial House’s mission. Christmas celebrations for the Newsboys’ Club and other youth groups filled the house with music, recitations, and shared meals. The Social Service Federation’s family welfare committee organized the distribution of Christmas boxes to families who might otherwise have gone without holiday cheer. Clothing, bedding, toys, and books were collected and distributed quietly through the Neighborhood House and Memorial House networks, emphasizing dignity alongside assistance. These welfare efforts were particularly significant in Englewood’s Black neighborhoods, where economic opportunity was limited by discrimination and where housing conditions were frequently scrutinized in public health debates. During annual Negro Health Week observances, Memorial House served as a central site for baby clinics, hygiene lectures, and educational programming. Physicians examined hundreds of Black preschool children there; nurses administered vaccinations; ministers preached health sermons in local Black churches in coordination with the programs. The building became a bridge between Black residents and municipal institutions such as the Board of Health and Englewood Hospital. Vocational classes for “colored women,” conducted in cooperation with the Board of Education, further illustrate this dynamic. While framed as educational uplift, such programs also reflected the limited employment avenues available to Black women at the time. Memorial House thus functioned simultaneously as a site of empowerment and as an institution shaped by the paternalistic racial assumptions of Progressive reform. Financial stability was an ongoing concern. Periodic appeals asked Englewood residents to support the Federation’s expanding work, particularly as it sought to consolidate activities under one roof. At times, local athletic and civic associations stepped forward to help sustain Memorial House when benefactors withdrew or funds ran short. Campaigns emphasized that housing all services—boys’ clubs, girls’ clubs, nursery programs, family welfare work—within Memorial House would increase efficiency and strengthen the city’s social infrastructure. For Black residents, centralization also meant the preservation of one of the few dedicated institutional spaces serving their community. By the mid-1920s, plans were announced to enlarge and remodel the building. The expansion aimed to centralize Federation operations that had previously been scattered in rented quarters, including the earlier Neighborhood House on Humphrey Street. The remodeling included interior reconfiguration and new additions, reflecting both growth and confidence in the Federation’s long-term mission. Notably, the contract for improvements was awarded locally—an unusual decision at the time—which reinforced the building’s identity as a community-supported institution rooted in Englewood itself. Memorial House also served as a forum for public engagement beyond youth programming. Social workers were honored there; civic leaders met to discuss policy; interracial reform efforts intersected with Black uplift movements; and organizations such as the Urban League collaborated in health and welfare initiatives. Though under the supervision of the Social Service Federation, Memorial House operated as a vibrant, semi-independent social center—a place where Englewood’s young people gathered nightly for study, debate, recreation, and cultural development. In essence, Memorial House embodied the Federation’s philosophy: prevention rather than punishment, organization rather than neglect, and community responsibility rather than isolated charity. But it also embodied the racial contradictions of its time. It was a place where Black children could develop leadership and pride, where health inequities were addressed, where music, scouting, and dramatics flourished. Yet it existed within a segregated civic structure that labeled, categorized, and geographically confined. Memorial House was not merely a building. It was the practical expression of Englewood’s early twentieth-century belief that strong neighborhoods were built through structured opportunity and sustained civic care. At the same time, it was a lens through which to see how race shaped access to that opportunity — and how, within those constraints, a Black community built resilience, culture, and institutional life of its own. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived "Hope Running High At Memorial House." The Record, 2 Dec. 1971, p.10. "1,200 Families Share In Work of Federation." The Record, 14 Sep. 1934, p.21. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Ludder, Rachelle African American Community Centers https://archive.englewoodmakeshistory.org/files/original/4e4452537c2c5e95bd15860941c862e2.jpg feb9ee65c951475fcf3cd54bcc479c61 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Organizations and Institutions Places A fixed location. Metadata for a place provides descriptive information that is the basis of discovery of the creation, purpose, and agents associated with a place. Date Started 1893 Type of Institution Religious Source of File Attached <div>Kim, Lindsey. "First Baptist Church." </div> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource First Baptist Church of Englewood Subject The topic of the resource Religion, Christianity Description An account of the resource The First Baptist Church of Englewood was created in 1893. As more partitioners attended, the church moved to 61 William Street. The current church building was completed and opened on September 18, 1966. According to the Church, Dr. J. Isaiah Goodman was one of the first pastors who had the church join the Progressive National Baptist Convention (PNCB) and supported the efforts of the Civil Rights Movement. Goodman's Successor, John H. Spencer established a relationship with a church in Nyantanga, Rwanda. The church became the first African-American congregation in the American Baptist Churches of New Jersey (ABCNJ). SonRise House, a transitional home for homeless women and children, was next to the church. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived “<a href="http://www.firstbaptistchurchenglewood.org/church-history">About 1.</a>” FBC of Englewood. <div></div> Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Ludder, Rachelle Colman, David Religion https://archive.englewoodmakeshistory.org/files/original/10c5ab78d63d588c7f2f61cbac061277.jpg de65432a45536f8c43c3558a260e249b Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Organizations and Institutions Organizations and Institutions A group of individuals cooperating under similar beliefs to reach an agreed-upon goal. Metadata for organizations and institutions provides information for the basis of an investigation into the creation, purpose, beliefs, and actors involved in an organization and institution. Date Started 1933 Type of Institution Community Source of File Attached "The Community Chest." Facebook. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Community Chest Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Tekelly, Michael. “<a href="https://thecommunitychestebc.org/history">History</a>.” The Community Chest. <div></div> "Mrs. Morrow To Direct Community Chest Drive." The Record, 18 Nov. 1932, p. 6. Subject The topic of the resource Activism, Social Welfare Great Depression Description An account of the resource The Community Chest is a charitable organization. The mayor Cornelius P. Kitchel organized a committee to create a community chest in June 1932. This was due to the flood of social services needs caused by the Great Depression. Elisabeth "Betty" Reeve Cutter Morrow was selected as the organization's first leader. The Community Chest ran its first fundraiser in the autumn of 1933. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Colman, David Ludder, Rachelle Charity Finances Social Welfare Social Work https://archive.englewoodmakeshistory.org/files/original/4f0f95cedae8bce927a1596c78603b65.jpg 1d9686c060244ba8c530ac95223fcd94 https://archive.englewoodmakeshistory.org/files/original/cef16ac2df1ba99d1da8a54eee88119c.jpg f623ea3c352b6fe682410c51e1ad0c52 https://archive.englewoodmakeshistory.org/files/original/e486087cadb6de74fea291c55ba96908.jpg 433875e238ae60f3f2111df49de17c5e https://archive.englewoodmakeshistory.org/files/original/3bc8204346a1619c0040c18c882dc053.jpg 7beb06abef286d6716e478ccb2e67c37 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Places Places A fixed location. Metadata for a place provides descriptive information that is the basis of discovery of the creation, purpose, and agents associated with a place. Date Started 1907? Type of Place Parks Source of File Attached "Mackay Park." Google Maps. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Mackay Park Subject The topic of the resource Parks and Recreation Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived “<a href="http://www.cityofenglewood.org/1414/Mackay-Park-Englewood-Ave">Mackay Park (Englewood Ave.)</a>.” Mackay Park (Englewood Ave.) | Englewood, NJ. <div></div> "Englewood's Foremost Citizen Passes Away." The Jersey Journal, 1 Mar. 1912, p. 13. "City Gets Deed For Mackay Park." The Record, 20 Dec. 1906, p. 1. Description An account of the resource Mackay Park is 28.60 Acres which includes the John T. Wright ice skating rink, swimming pool, tennis courts, basketball courts, soccer field, baseball field, softball field, and playground. Mayor Donald Mackay donated the land on which the park was built. The Park was the first public park to be owned by the city and at one point was part of the William Walter Phelps estate. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Colman, David Ludder, Rachelle Community Centers Environment https://archive.englewoodmakeshistory.org/files/original/f4f9aaf102e7c98545e8653fe243c4f2.jpg 69f50642b0762245b83f67b6b081b850 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Organizations and Institutions Places A fixed location. Metadata for a place provides descriptive information that is the basis of discovery of the creation, purpose, and agents associated with a place. Type of Public Space School Type of Place Schools Date Started 1933-01 Source of File Attached <div></div> Type of Institution Educational Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Dwight Morrow High School Description An account of the resource Dwight Morrow High School is a public high school in Englewood. The school opened in 1932 and graduated its first class in 1934. Named after banker, ambassador, and senator, Dwight Morrow, the high school brought students together from all of the city’s four wards and became one of Englewood’s few integrated schools. It has graduated numerous notable alumni. It currently shares its campus with Academics at Englewood. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwight_Morrow_High_School">Dwight Morrow High School</a>.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 22 Apr. 2024. “<a href="http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/new-jersey/districts/englewood-public-school-district/dwight-morrow-high-school-academiesatenglewood-12539">Dr. Leroy McCloud Elementary School in New Jersey</a>." U.S. News.<a href="http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/new-jersey/districts/englewood-public-school-district/dwight-morrow-high-school-academiesatenglewood-12539"></a> Subject The topic of the resource Schools, Public Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Colman, David Ludder, Rachelle Education