15TH STREET FREEDOM HOUSE
- Program
- Subject
- Location
- Lat/Long
- Grant Recipient
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Wisconsin Historical Society
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Arts & Culture, Building, Event, Site
- 1531 W Vliet St, Milwaukee, WI, USA
- 43.0481219, -87.9319956
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Wisconsin Historical Foundation
15TH STREET FREEDOM HOUSE
Inscription
15TH STREET FREEDOM HOUSEIn August 1966, the NAACP Youth Council established a headquarters at 2026 N. 5th Street. The Freedom House deepened the Youth Council’s ties to the surrounding community and was a place for members to relax, eat, sleep, and socialize—a second home, for some. It was also where the group planned protests of the Eagles Club’s whites-only policy and later organized open housing marches.
Hostile responses to both the Youth Council’s activities and the work of other civil rights groups in the city, which included a firebombing at a Freedom House, prompted ten Youth Council members to form the Commandos to protect the protesters. As the Commandos grew, they became integral to strategy and organization during the open housing marches of 1967–68. Later, the group moved to 1316 N. 15th Street and established a second Freedom House.
March On, Milwaukee
Funded by the William G. Pomeroy Foundation
