About The Opportunity Center

The Opportunity Center occupies the former Fifth Street YMCA, a building that has been deeply intertwined with the history of Dayton’s African American community. Opened in 1928, the building features the names of four prominent Black leaders inscribed on its exterior: Booker T. Washington, educator, author, and national leader; Frederick Douglass, formerly enslaved abolitionist and statesman; William A. Hunton, the first African American secretary of the national YMCA organization; and Paul Laurence Dunbar, a Dayton native and pioneering African American poet and writer. The building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in May 2026.

The Fifth Street YMCA was one of twenty-four African American YMCAs constructed across the United States between 1912 and 1933 with financial support from philanthropist Julius Rosenwald. Of those facilities, only about twelve remain standing today, including Dayton’s Fifth Street YMCA. The building also holds particular significance as a site listed in the Negro Motorist Green Book in 1946, 1949, and 1950. It is one of only two known Green Book sites in Dayton and the only one that still exists.

From its opening through the 1950s, the Fifth Street YMCA served as a central hub of social, civic, and cultural life on Dayton’s west side. Contemporary newspapers document a wide range of activities held there, including semi-formal dances, lecture series, drama clubs, and meetings for numerous community organizations. As one of the largest available gathering spaces open to African Americans, the building was well suited for large events such as dances, lectures, and civic functions, making it the primary venue for many activities within Dayton’s Black community.

During World War II, the Fifth Street YMCA hosted dance events for soldiers and functioned as a registration site for residents applying for ration books. The YMCA also played a significant role in athletics, sponsoring teams in basketball, baseball, volleyball, badminton, and tennis. In addition, boxers trained at the facility for Golden Gloves competitions, and in 1943, six of the eight winning boxers across various weight classes came through programs based at the Fifth Street YMCA.

In Ohio, four YMCA buildings were constructed with Rosenwald funding—in Dayton, Youngstown, Columbus, and Toledo. A fifth facility was built in Cincinnati but has since been demolished. Programming in these Rosenwald-funded YMCAs extended beyond recreation and physical fitness to include educational opportunities such as night schools, reading rooms stocked with books and newspapers, and spaces for clubs, meetings, and vocational training. These activities reflect the broader mission of the YMCA as an institution dedicated to personal development, education, and community advancement.

The Fifth Street YMCA shortly after it opened in the late 1920s.

Attendees of a Camp Kern Reunion Picnic gather for a group photo – date unknown.