Brevard's Mary C. Jenkins Heart-of-the- Community Center
A history of community spirit in a brand-new building
We celebrated Juneteenth this year at the Silversteen Memorial Playground in Brevard. I didn’t know most of the people sitting under the shady tent listening to the speeches, but it felt like a family gathering. Early in the planned program, a speaker introduced Tyree Griffin. He’s the new Director of the nearly finished Mary C. Jenkins Community Center, located a short distance from the Playground.
In a recent published interview, Tyree talked about growing up near the original Community Center, which opened in 1952 and was demolished in 2018 with the intent to rebuild.
Not far from downtown Brevard, you will find historical markers about many now-vanished places of business and residence in the Rosenwald community. One of them says,
Opening in 1952 against the backdrop of segregation, the Mary C. Jenkins Community Center has been a vital part of historic Rosenwald for 60+ years. It became the hub of entertainment, activity and fellowship for the black community.
It all began when a young woman named Mary B. Kilgore came home from Shaw University in 1942 with the idea to create three different programs to serve children and youth at Bethel Baptist Church.
Her success led to the gift of a half acre of land on Carver Street by Mary Jenkins, whose husband Frank owned Brevard Lumber. Mary Kilgore placed an ad in the local paper and, as the historical marker says, Mary Jenkins “rallied the white community for additional support”. Soon $3000 was raised for the building that opened in 1952.
In Transylvania Beginnings Mary Jane McCrary mentions unusual contributions to the building fund:
On November 13, 1952, there was a football game between Hendersonville High School and Canton High School, NC, for the benefit of the Center. … A Song Festival at Bethel Baptist Church raised $1625.00; in this campaign, a Television set was awarded to Charles Sherman, aged 9, for his part in this fundraising.
The Mary C. Jenkins Community Center’s website says about Mary B. Kilgore,
By 1953 after a few delays, the Happyland Nursery and Kindergarten was started to help working mothers. The multipurpose Center contained a library and Mary Kilgore became the first librarian. She later taught at the Rosenwald School and served as a teacher and librarian in the Transylvania County Schools for over 30 years.
If you would like to see history in the making, drive or walk over to 221 Mills Avenue in Brevard. The future of this community is growing by the day. The great vitality of the near future here is easy to imagine.
The Official Grand Opening of the new Mary C. Jenkins Center is scheduled for September. How would it feel to step into history? Go and see!
Thank you for keeping us informed of Brevard's important history, Deda.
So happy for the Community.
Now they have bushes and trees planted on the property now.
The playground across and down the street is great too!