A future powered by community.
North Minneapolis has long been a landing place for marginalized communities - first for Swedish immigrants, then for the city's vibrant Jewish population. When Black families arrived during the Great Migration, the neighborhood began to shift again. In the face of systemic exclusion from housing, education, and public life, Phyllis Wheatley House emerged as a vital node of connection and care. It was, and remains, a bridge for newcomers and a refuge for generations, in a city where racism was, for decades, both institutionalized and evolving.
Founded in 1924, the Phyllis Wheatley House gave Minneapolis' small but growing African American community something they couldn't find anywhere else at the time: a place to gather, organize, celebrate, and belong. It became a space where Black culture was honored, where ideas and aspirations took root, and where community was built from the ground up. Phyllis Wheatley became the connective tissue of North Minneapolis -- an anchor that still holds strong a century later.
Phyllis Wheatley’s North Minneapolis has never been just an ordinary place. It’s a living, breathing community—built on kinship, courage, and collective memory. History has been hard on our people, and far too little has been done to repair that harm. But here, neighbors are family. Parenting is a shared responsibility. One person’s joy—or grief—is felt across the block.
That kind of community doesn’t happen by accident. It takes intention. It takes people, united by a common goal. And it takes places like Phyllis Wheatley.
Often remembered as the heartbeat of Black Minneapolis, the Center was a space where music groups were born, sports leagues thrived, and families came together to build not just lives—but a movement.
Where Prince Played, and Justice Was Made
Prince's parents are rumored to have met at Phyllis Wheatley. He played there as a rising star, and even after fame, returned to give free shows to the community he called home. The halls of Phyllis Wheatley echoed with the sound of original Minneapolis funk before the rest of the world ever heard it.
Long before that, during the height of the Harlem Renaissance, Phyllis Wheatley helped bring the celebration of Black art to Minneapolis. The Center provided lodging to iconic figures like W.E.B. Du Bois, Langston Hughes, Ethel Ray Nance, and Paul Robeson--artists and intellectuals who were barred from local hotels due to segregation. The boxing league became legendary. The basketball courts were always full. And in the margins of all that celebration and cultural expression, essential community work was underway: childcare for working mothers, nature exploration and outdoor education for young adults, leadership development for teens, and space for civil rights organizing.
When community residents and leaders needed a place to grow, gather, strategize, or simply be - Phyllis Wheatley was there. And 100 years later, it still is.
Throughout its history, the Center has stood at the intersection of creativity, advocacy, and social change. In the 1960s, Executive Director T. Williams helped form the Minneapolis Urban Coalition, aligning business leaders and grassroots activists to respond to racial unrest. W. Gertrude Brown, the organization's first head resident, was a formidable advocate for racial and gender equity. W. Harry Davis made lasting contributions to desegregation and public education while also coaching the Center's youth boxing team--drawing on his experience as an Olympic boxing manager. Through every shift in the political and cultural landscape, Phyllis Wheatley Community Center has always done it best work when laser-focused on one mission, of creating pathways for individuals to discover their strengths and take control of their futures.
The Work the Moment Demands. The Future Our People Deserve.
Now, as PWCC steps into its second century, we do so with urgency, clarity, and vision. We’re deeply tuned in to our community—listening closely to our clients and our staff, many of whom are Northside residents themselves. Together, we’re identifying the systemic challenges that most impact quality of life and create barriers to opportunity. These challenges—rooted in poverty, isolation, and historical marginalization—continue to fuel cycles of violence and economic instability. And we remain ready to pivot, realign resources, and meet those needs head-on.
One example: in Minneapolis, African American families are four times more likely than white families to have their children removed from their homes through Child Protective Services. In many cases, these removals are driven not by abuse or neglect, but by poverty-related conditions. In response, we launched our Quality Parenting program in 2020—designed to equip parents with the tools and support needed to reunify families and keep them together. More recently, the program has expanded to focus on prevention, helping families access the support, resources, and advocacy they need before separation occurs.
Our HOPE programs remain a mainstay, addressing the needs of people involved in domestic violence, both as perpetrators and victims, with programs for men, women, and youth. These programs avert reincarceration, provide prevention, and create pathways to healing through support and accountability. COVID Community Connections provides essential tests, vaccinations, and resources to people who would otherwise go without care.
Mary T. Wellcome Child Development Center has served the youngest members of our community since 1929, providing high-quality, trauma-informed pre-K education to all children, regardless of family income levels. Students in the center receive individualized support based on their specific needs, ensuring that each child is prepared to excel in school and in life.
Restoring What Was Ours. Rebuilding What’s Possible.
As we move into our second century of service, PWCC is restoring Camp Katharine Parsons. Gifted to the organization in 1956, this 100-acre lakeside oasis in Carver County was a sanctuary for Black youth for over 50 years. The Camp Katharine Parsons Restoration Project will bring it back to life as a hub for environmental equity, outdoor healing, and green job training. It's not just about rebuilding cabins - it's about expanding access to nature, reimagining freedom, and cultivating space for possibility.
In 2019, Phyllis Wheatley entered into a conservation easement with the Minnesota Land Trust, ensuring the preservation of the camp's natural habitat for many years to come. While the property lay dormant for 20 years, it became a haven for wildlife as nature took back what was hers, providing respite to migrating birds and a home to many animals and a place where undisturbed, native plants and mature trees have grown and flourished.
In 2023, the Minnesota Legislature allocated $550,000 to the restoration project. With those funds, we've completed the pre-design phase of the project and plan to break ground this year. Last year, PWCC was a recipient of the prestigious African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation to conduct a structural assessment on one of the camp's greatest assets.
Built by volunteers from the North Minneapolis Young Republicans in the 1960s, the Nature House is perched on the edge of Oak Lake windows looking out over the water, the space was once perfectly suited for creativity, contemplation, and dreaming. Above the boat house nestled into the side of a small hill that slopes down to the shoreline is a light-filled education room where youth will learn about ecology, environmental justice, and the deep connection between land, identity, and healing. The Nature House has long been a place of wonder and reflection—a space where Black youth could explore the outdoors in safety, surrounded by mentors who saw their full potential.
This is just one piece of the broader Camp Katharine Parsons Restoration Project. As we continue to invest in this 100-acre sanctuary, we’re not only restoring cabins and trails—we’re reclaiming a legacy rooted in justice, imagination, and freedom in nature for Black youth and families. The camp’s return is more than symbolic. It’s transformational.
Art as Medicine
More recently, PWCC’s inclusion in the 2025 Legislative Legacy Funding Bill—thanks to the leadership and support of Senate President and Northsider Bobby Joe Champion—marks a powerful return to cultural enrichment. With this investment, PWCC will infuse art and cultural celebration into every layer of our programming, from early childhood education to senior services, ensuring that creative expression is accessible across generations.
Through expanded partnerships with local organizations and artists, we’ll continue our collaboration with Walker West Music Academy to bring music education to early learners while adding a new music composition track to the game development curriculum in our esports club. Ballet and movement programs will grow through our work with Lundstrum Performing Arts. Local theater groups will introduce storytelling and performance workshops, and visual arts mentorships will be launched with practicing local artists.
We’re also embedding arts-based trauma healing across programs—using journaling, painting, dance, and spoken word to process pain and restore agency. Digital storytelling and podcasting will expand in partnership with KMOJ and community media mentors, creating new pathways for youth to control their own narratives. And through a collaboration with the Minneapolis Institute of Art, seniors will have ongoing access to arts education and creative expression as part of their wellness and engagement.
In the Strength of Black Mothers, We Entrust the Future.
At the same time, PWCC is deepening its commitment to building generational wealth for Black families—especially mothers. Our Women’s Wealth and Equity Building Initiative is a financial empowerment program designed to help single mothers break the cycle of economic instability. Participants receive support to relieve debt, repair credit, and gain essential financial literacy. The goal: empower women to save at least $1,000—and when they do, PWCC matches it 2:1.
That nest egg becomes a launchpad: toward homeownership, higher education, small business creation, or reliable transportation that unlocks access to higher-paying, sustainable careers. The result is powerful: families are stabilized, mothers reclaim dreams they’ve long had to defer, and the seeds of generational wealth are planted—intentionally, and with care.
In a city with the widest homeownership gap in the nation for African Americans, the path to equity must include ownership. And ownership starts with access to real opportunity.
Past. Present. Power in Community.
To honor this legacy and launch the next era, PWCC will host its Centennial Gala on October 17, 2024. More than a celebration, the event is a call to action. Featuring musical performances, local leaders, Northside legends, and a shared vision for the future, the gala will serve as both reflection and rallying cry.
It’s a night to honor the people and place that shaped a century of impact—and to invest in the next hundred years of community power. Together, we’ll lift up the voices of youth, honor the elders who paved the way, and galvanize support for the work ahead: restoring Camp Katharine Parsons, expanding arts and equity programs, providing essential family services, and building generational wealth for Black families.
Be part of the next chapter. Buy tickets or sponsor a table at the gala, make a gift, volunteer, or simply show up—and stand with us in this moment. Because this story doesn’t belong to any one of us. It belongs to all of us. And together, we write what comes next.
Be part of the next chapter for Phyllis Wheatley. Join us at our Centennial Gala, Honoring Our Past, Building Our Future on April 11. Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available here. Support to the camp restoration by making a gift to our Camp Parsons Community Giving Fund at The Minneapolis Foundation. Support our arts, equity, and youth development initiatives by giving to our general fund. Volunteer to help us pull of a spectacular event, donate your time to helping in one of our programs, or join a committee and help steer the community - and Phyllis Wheatley - toward the fulfillment of our mission. Or, simply share this story. Because it doesn't belong to any one of us. It belongs to all of us.
Phyllis Wheatley Community Center was never just a place. It has been a force. A second home. A staging ground. A launchpad. For 100 years, it has turned isolation into connection, struggle into movement, and talent into legacy.
The next century is here. And we're building it--together.
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