Establishment of the Hallie Q. Brown Community Center
As the African American population in Rondo grew steadily from the early 1900s, leaders from the Community Chest and the St. Paul Urban League identified a need for program targeting the physical, mental, and emotional needs of the neighborhood.
Through the efforts of these two organizations as well as other community leaders, the Hallie Q. Brown Community Center was opened in 1929 with the following as its stated purpose:
"The general purpose of the corporation shall be to encourage, promote, assist, and engage in any and all activities for improving the recreational, cultural, and social conditions among Negroes...and to work for the improvement of the present cordial relationship between the white and colored citizens of St. Paul."
I. Myrtle Carden, a settlement house social worker from the was brought in as the first director of the Hallie Q. By all accounts, she was a hard-working and capable leader who set the Hallie Q. on a path to becoming the "heartbeat" of the Rondo community.
Through the efforts of these two organizations as well as other community leaders, the Hallie Q. Brown Community Center was opened in 1929 with the following as its stated purpose:
"The general purpose of the corporation shall be to encourage, promote, assist, and engage in any and all activities for improving the recreational, cultural, and social conditions among Negroes...and to work for the improvement of the present cordial relationship between the white and colored citizens of St. Paul."
I. Myrtle Carden, a settlement house social worker from the was brought in as the first director of the Hallie Q. By all accounts, she was a hard-working and capable leader who set the Hallie Q. on a path to becoming the "heartbeat" of the Rondo community.