Kayser Block, 1899
Year
1899
Built in 1899, the Kayser Block was used as a hotel through World War I, often with black management. Used by the Colored Welfare League, it was the first home for the Dunbar Center (1923-26), which later evolved into the Ann Arbor Community Center on Main St. John Ragland, a 1938 UM law grad active in the NAACP, was a lawyer for the Colored Welfare League. He had his office on the second floor. For a time he was the only African American attorney in town. Washtenaw County's first black attorney was UM grad John Fox, who began practicing in Ypsilanti in 1878--the year the new Courthouse opened.
Frame location: On North wall of Courthouse
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Photo
Subjects
Hotels & Motels
Historic Buildings
Kayser Block
Black Americans
Colored Welfare League
Dunbar Community Center
Ann Arbor Community Center
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
Community Centers
Social & Civic Facilities
LOH Community Centers
LOH Community Centers - Dunbar
John Ragland
John Fox
Downtown Ann Arbor Historical Street Exhibit Program
Site 7: Town life and the Courthouse square
A Meeting Place for Ann Arbor's Black Community