thelma caldwell, woman of courage
by laurey masterton

Following stints at YWCAs in Delaware and then Ohio, where she made inroads to de-segregation, Thelma Caldwell came to Asheville to become the director of the Phyllis Wheatley branch of the YWCA. She arrived in 1960 and brought her determination with her.

In the early 1960s, Asheville had two YWCA facilities. And though Eleanor Roosevelt came to Asheville in 1946 to speak to The United Nations Club and spoke at the YWCA because it was the only place that would support an integrated audience, the truth was that the local organization was segregated. The Central YWCA on Grove Street was just for white members, and the Phyllis Wheatley branch of the YWCA was just for African-American members. That’s just the way it was. [Note: Phyllis Wheatley was an African girl who was sold as a slave at the age of 7 to a prominent Boston family who took her in and nurtured her as a family member. She received a solid education and ultimately became a famous and highly respected poet. African-American YWCA branches were often named for her.]

In the 40s Thelma spent time in Portland, Maine—first volunteering and then working at the YWCA there. “It was wonderful,” she recalled, “Everyone was doing everything together. Eating together, dancing together, and living together. I vowed to myself that if that was possible there it was possible everywhere.”
“I’d seen it work in Portland,” she said, referring to the racially blended YWCA “and I was determined to make it work here too.”

But nothing about changing the racial mix was left to chance. “We planned every bit of it,” she said. She hand-picked groups of women, choosing concerned members from both branches of the YWCA, and organized “Black White Dialogues” a series of opportunities for them to discuss issues of race. By that time the mission of the YWCA had grown to include “…and the elimination of racism wherever it exists, and by whatever means necessary.”

“A lot of people didn’t like that ‘by whatever means necessary’ part,” Caldwell said, “but to me that meant we consciously worked at it. It wasn’t easy, but we were persistent and knew we would do whatever it took.”

This, to me, is courage.

These forums led to the realization that the two branches would have to merge.
“The writing was on the wall,” recounted Jinx Bailey, a board member at the time. “People were waking up and tackling things. It was a feeling of, whoops - here comes the world!”

There were financial considerations too: the pool at the Grove Street branch was crumbling and there was not enough money to fix it up. The Phyllis Wheatley branch had just moved into a new building (located at the YWCA’s current address). It was clear to Caldwell and to other progressive members of the Asheville community that it was time to make a change.

A group of women, willing to take the risk and guided by Caldwell’s idealism, took the first step. To be sure, there were other brave women in and around Asheville who were doing important work, but in this particular issue, Caldwell led the way. Women from the boards of both branches worked together to make a merger happen. It was not easy, especially when the consensus was to merge both branches into the African-American branch. Many members of the community at large, and the two YWCAs in particular, were not in favor of this merger. The newspapers of that time are filled with stories about the controversy.

Just as a point of contrast, this was all going on in the late 1960s. The Democratic Presidential convention was held in 1968 touching off volatile rioting in Chicago. The Kent State shootings had happened. Peace and love were the main topics of conversation in San Francisco. And Thelma Caldwell was leading the determined fight to merge the two branches of the YWCA in Asheville. Though she can’t recall the exact number of years, it seems clear that she persisted for at least 7 years before seeing any conclusive results.

“Wow! That was a hard time,” recounted Jinx Bailey, who ultimately became the first Board President of the merged YWCAs. “People left. Membership dropped. Board members were leery. Some white people didn’t want their children mixing with black children, and some of the black members felt like they were losing this place that was so special to them. They were afraid that a merger would just be a token and they would lose their home. Some board members left. But there was also unexpected support and we found out who our true friends were.”

Thelma, never wavering, prevailed. Starting with swimming lessons for the babies, the programs and activities gradually shifted to the newly named South French Broad branch. And finally, in 1970, the Grove Street branch closed entirely.

“Were you ever worn out? Did you ever want to just give up?” I asked.

“Nope!” Ms. Caldwell replied with a chuckle. “I’d seen it work in Maine. I knew it could work here.”

Caldwell ultimately became the Executive Director of the newly merged YWCA. She was the very first African-American director of a YWCA in the south, and only the second in the entire United States (and the whole world!)

After hearing about her success, the YWCA in Papua/New Guinea recruited her and brought her there where she spent an entire year helping to integrate their facilities. “The Papuans were fair-skinned,” she explained, “and the New Guineans were very dark. It was very racist, and they wanted me to help.”

To look at the YWCA today, it is hard to remember that, not too long ago, things were very different. The corridors these days are filled with a lovely blend of the Asheville community. It is a work in progress to be sure, but the new facility is now home to a growing number of people from all parts of our community who come, mix, and work together, still dedicated to the empowerment of women and their families, and the elimination of racism.

Ms. Caldwell, tucked into a chair during the celebrations at last fall’s opening of the newly renovated building, sighed, smiled, and bobbed her 90 year old head with pleasure, seeing that her vision had finally come to fruition.

Laurey Masterton owns Laurey’s Catering and Gourmet to Go in Asheville. She is the youngest daughter of Elsie and John Masterton who founded Blueberry Hill Inn in Vermont and who wrote The Blueberry Hill Cookbooks. Laurey is the immediate past president of the board of the YWCA.