The Hamblin Avenue U.S.O.

The United States’ involvement in two World Wars and the Korean War profoundly influenced the history of Battle Creek’s African-American community. During the First and Second World Wars, the expansion of industrial production generated employment opportunities in southeast Michigan and prompted a migration of workers into the Battle Creek area. During World War II, in particular, many of those who migrated to Battle Creek in search of industrial work were African Americans from the South. Many of these workers settled in the Bottoms.

The presence of soldiers often inspired considerable anxiety among the parents of young women. Recalling the mid-1940s, one Bottoms resident, Lena Barlow, noted [] that, when “the soldiers would come to town, they would get off the bus from Fort Custer at Washington and Upton, and they would have to walk down the hill and come through were we lived. And that’s the reason my dad would say, ‘don’t you leave that front yard.’” The public presence of soldiers also inspired anxiety among certain municipal officials, including Arch Flanner, Battle Creek’s Director of Civic Recreation. In 1941, during a meeting with City Commissioners, Flannery spoke about the need for programs and recreational facilities to serve African American soldiers who would otherwise “roam the streets looking for entertainment.”

The need for recreational facilities open to African-American soldiers also inspired action on the part of civic-minded members of Battle Creek’s African American community. These included Dr. Claude Evans, James and Evelyn Golden, and other prominent African Americans who established the Sojourner Truth Association in early 1941. In Feb of 1941, members of the Association met with City Commissioners to propose plans for a new community center that would serve the needs of Battle Creek’s growing African-American population. According to the Association’s proposal, the City of Battle Creek would fund a new center, located at 14 East State Street, as part of its civic recreation and athletic program. Discussions between the Association and City Commissioners stalled when 95 white businessmen and residents of State Street petitioned City Commissioners in protest of the proposed recreation center.

Handwritten minutes from the first Sojourner Truth Association meetings

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On January 24, 1943, USO directors and city officials opened the club with musical performances by the 184th Field Artillery Regiment. For the next two and a half years, the Hamblin Avenue USO Club provided a forum for respectable socializing between soldiers and civilian volunteers who participated in its dances, musical performances, roller-skating outings, and athletic events. Throughout the war, the Hamblin Avenue USO Club also welcomed various African-American entertainers and celebrities, most notably, Joe Louis, who appeared at the Club in 1943.

In 1945, with the end of World War II, the community center on Hamblin Avenue ceased to operate as a USO Club. Between 1945 and 1947, the center operated on a membership basis, shared by civilians and soldiers. With thousands of soldiers still stationed at Fort Custer, many Bottoms residents continued to harbor concerns about casual encounters between soldiers and civilian women. Activities at the Center, according to many, continued to provide a safe and structured environment for social interactions between soldiers and civilian women. “There was that thing about the soldiers and young ladies,” remarked Reverend Rhan [], reflecting upon the years immediately following the War. “At that time it was pretty bad, you know, and so, but [the Center] had a whole lot of activities.”

After 1948, when Battle Creek’s Department of Recreation incorporated the Center’s activities into the civic recreation program, the Hamblin Community Center continued to provide services and perform social functions formerly associated with the USO. After the US entered the Korean War in 1950, Julia Milner organized volunteers, usually girls and young women, to sew bandages for the Red Cross. She also coordinated trips to Percy Jones Hospital, where members of the Hamblin Community Center distributed food and mail, read to wounded soldiers, and dictated letters from frostbitten soldiers. Occasionally, volunteers transported wheel-chair bound patients to the Hamblin Community Center to watch talent shows and musical performances.

During the late 1940s and early 1950s, Julia Milner also organized social activities to provide entertainment for soldiers stationed at Fort Custer. Dances at Fort Custer and the Hamblin Community Center were strictly chaperoned. Only women 16 years of age or older were allowed to attend, and at no point during a dance were women allowed to wander outside. If a dance was held at Fort Custer, all women traveled as a group, accompanied by Julia Milner. “You’d better be on the bus when it came back,” Helen Henry recalled, [] since Julia Milner always took careful attendance. Through her strict supervision of social activities, Julia Milner created opportunities for young women’s social and civic engagement. Recalling the late 1940s and early 1950s, Helen Henry stated that, if dances at Fort Custer had not been sponsored by the Hamblin Community Center, “there was no way I would have been able to go. My dad would have had a fit.”