About Our Interview:
In the spring of 2017, the YWCA of Asheville partnered with Dr. Sarah Judson’s African American History (1865 – present) class at the University of North Carolina at Asheville to record the oral histories of several YWCA employees. The employees were all women of color who had impacted or been impacted by the YWCA. This page represents the work between Neil Savage and Catherine Euchner, UNC Asheville students who interviewed Pearl Kyle of the YWCA.
Sharing with strangers is not the easiest, but Pearl’s participation will always be appreciated. This site preserves a small piece of her story, but any memory from a person affected by the YWCA of Asheville is fundamental to the legacy of this community institution. As student interviewers and members of the community, we thank you for helping us understand the YWCA of Asheville a little more Pearl.
Historical Context:
Pearl Anne Kyle’s relationship with the YWCA of Asheville North Carolina spans from the 1960s to the present day. As a young girl, Pearl’s introduction to the organization began when her mother enrolled her in YW swimming lessons and the local girl scout troop. Since then, Pearl has witnessed the YWCA under many different leaders during many different periods of change. Through it all, Pearl believes that the YW has always created a haven for the local neighborhoods where everyone can work to eliminate racism and empower women (1. Pearl Kyle).
In the early 1960s, the Phyllis Wheatley YWCA moves to 185 S. French Broad and is renamed the YWCA of Asheville. Though this branch was historically for African Americans only and the white branch on College Street was still operating. In 1963 the Central YWCA Board of directors passes a motion to “accept all women and girls regardless of race or creed in all facilities, programs, and services of the YWCA (2. YWCA).” The YWCA pressured local businesses to integrate and held community meetings on integration along with monthly Family Nights. “In 1965, Thelma Caldwell is hired as Executive Director of the Central YWCA making her the first black YWCA Executive Director in the South.” By 1967 the two branches are combined to create the first integrated YWCA in the South though the buildings do not combine on S. French Broad until 1970 (2. YWCA).
In the 1970s they YWCA opens several academic and after-school programs. Continuing Education was a program for young women who had been expelled from school for pregnancy. In 1971, Phyllis Sherrill and Frank Parker begin Project Aware to improve racial understanding. Other child-care programs boasted a summer reading class for six to twelve year olds and the drop-in nursery. The YWCA is influential in the 1974 formation of the Rape Crisis Center, the first Asheville organization that supports rape victims. In 1977, the YWCA officially dissolves its Board of Trustees and recognizes that the leading women of the organization are capable of financial oversight (2. YWCA). During these years, Pearl was attending the YWCA along with her children. She depended heavily on these child-care programs and her children loved the YWCA events (1. Pearl Kyle).
In the 1980s, the YWCA made strides to empower women in the community. The programs they held supported working mothers, newly-weds, mixed couples, teen mothers, victims of domestic abuse, and even post-mastectomy rehabilitation. They began offering teacher-workday and snow-day care for children. In 1987 the YWCA Women’s Center is established in collaboration with the Buncombe County Women’s Commission. Services included a resource library, workshops, and referral services (2. YWCA).
The 1990s and early 2000s saw more growth in the child-care programs that supported Pearl and her children. In 1995 the YWCA participated in Support Our Students, an after-school program spearheaded by Governor Jim Hunt. In 2006 the Latino Learning Center is opened through partnership with Children First. Also in that year, the YWCA Child Care Center and School-Age Programs both achieve four-star ratings from the state (2. YWCA). In more recent years, Pearl has been hired by the YWCA as head custodian but her position as an involved member of the YWCA is unchanging. When we spoke to Pearl she commended many programs put on by the YWCA but spoke most highly of all the child-care programs available (1. Pearl Kyle). For her, these are the programs that shaped her history with the YWCA.
References:
1.Pearl Kyle, interview by Neil Savage and Catherine Euchner, February 16, 2017, transcript, https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CkqyiN6KEeDmyBNZQXXdnb3m5u4Z0XVzTAVymkYoXs/edit?usp=sharing.
2.YWCA. “YWCA Historical Timeline by Decade.” YWCA of Asheville, http://www.ywca.org/atf/cf/%7B7A9B0FD3-E00F-43C2-8D46B9D872F43190%7D/timeline%20only%2007.pdf
References for Pearl’s Timeline