Without reference to race or color: the fight to establish playhouse settlement in Cleveland, Ohio, 1914-1922

In the winter of 1914, the Men's Club of the Second Presbyterian Church decided to establish a settlement house for African Americans in Cleveland, Ohio. Despite the city's small black population and their desire for such a facility, the black community balked when they understood the settlement would serve only African Americans. The resulting conversation within the community changed to address issues of race, accommodation, and integration and what it meant to be black in this Midwestern city.