April 23, 2026, 4:46 a.m. ET
Dr. George W. Bowles set the vision for Crispus Attucks York from the beginning in saying, “Crispus Attucks is a character-building organization.”
That mission since has remained in full view as the organization looks forward to opening its History and Culture Center on May 2.
Crispus Attucks York formed 95 years ago to provide social, recreational and educational support for a Black community growing from the Great Migration, the movement of Black people from the South in search of better jobs and quality of life north of the Mason-Dixon Line.
Those newcomers joined a Black community with a long history in York County.
And that story included enslavement: In 1783, 520 people were in bondage.
In 1790, that number stood at 499 enslaved Black people, the highest of any county in the state. Freedmen living here totaled 837 that year, second in the state to Philadelphia, an indication that many were enslaved before gaining their freedom.
That connection with the stain of slavery and its accompanying discriminatory mindset has a long tail in York County: opposition to Abraham Lincoln’s policies 165 years ago; the building of two segregated York elementary schools in the same year Crispus Attucks York formed; support of a racist mayor who helped catalyze deadly race riots more than 50 years ago; and more.
To adapt a saying attributed to abolitionist Theodore Parker, Martin Luther King Jr. and others, the arc of this long history in York County is bending, however unevenly, toward justice.
The Crispus Attucks History and Culture Center is telling about that arc — from slavery to honoring agency and achievement in the Black community — with a focus from that key 1931 formational moment to this day. And with a well-deserved nod toward a key era in that nearly 100-year history: CEO Bobby Simpson’s leadership from 1979 to today.
In their own words
The center’s opening offers a time to reflect on Crispus Attucks York’s rich history through the comments and ideas of those who built and observed the work of this respected community organization. So we’ve chosen a form of storytelling using a series of quotes from those with a deep stake in the organization over the years.
Here is a sampling of comments about the life and times of Crispus Attucks York:
“The Women’s Clubs ban her. The Girls’ Club ignores her. The Salvation Army refuses beds to her brothers in black because a white down-and-out man refuses to be near him. A man without manners has the privilege of ordering colored girls moved from beside him in a theater. Her boys have no boys club except a poolroom. The Social Service club does not invite her. The Community Circle changes the game when the next turn is hers.”
— Faith Presbyterian Church’s Community House officials write to York’s Chamber of Commerce in 1922. The Community House and The Emergency Girls Club were two organizations that served the Black community before the founding of Crispus Attucks York.
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“The program we are solving here in York, as has been done in a hundred or more communities, is to organize the leaders representative of various social, recreational and welfare efforts into a real representative central agency for the benefit of all … The name selected as designating this agency is ‘The Crispus Attucks Association of York, Pa.’”
— E.T. Attwell, of the National Recreation Association, who guided the organization of Crispus Attucks York in 1930, with adoption of a constitution. The first CA board: W.W. Thackston, president; Henry W. Hopewell, secretary; Susie Murray, financial secretary; and at-large members George W. Bowles, John Williams and Clarence Jackson. The adoption of the CA constitution in 1930 led to the center’s opening in 1931. The organization offered services in the old nurses’ quarters at the former York Hospital building on West College Avenue.
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“Helen didn’t just teach children, she taught them to be proud.”
— Sylvia Newcombe, retired York Recreation Commission head, about Helen Reeves Thackston, who directed Crispus Attucks’ Early Learning Center from 1932 to 1964.
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“Today in Germany, because of the arrogant bigotry of the so-called superior race, no such dedicatory ceremony would be possible … The loss of a firm national character and the degradation of a nation’s honor is the inevitable prelude to that nation’s destruction and decay.”
— Dr. George W. Bowles, who was there at the beginning of Crispus Attucks York, at the wartime opening of the organization’s new center in a former Lutheran church on East Maple Street in 1944.
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“In the future Negro people will have many new doors of opportunity open to them. To you boys and girls who hope to spend your time marching, what will you be able to do with your new opportunities? It will not fit you to accept a job in the diplomatic service or in an engineering firm. You must have a firm background. No matter how hard the dog barks, the mountains do not fall down. That requires hard work. In all your doings, then, think clearly before acting.”
— Crispus Attucks York Executive Director Edward R. Simmons, on protest marches, in 1949.
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“Teen-Town socials and dances: Girls wear nylons, no socks or blue jeans; boys wear jackets and no overalls. Act like ladies and gentlemen.”
— CA Herald, March-April 1951.
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“When we sang, he made it our calling. I can still remember many of the songs we used to sing. We sang in Italian and in other languages. We sang songs from operas. He gave us song that carried us through. He demanded that we get the best and be the best that we could be.”
— Longtime York educator Julia Hines-Harris remembers Crispus Attucks York’s Wade Hampton Bowers III, a professional musician who for years headed CA’s music and educational programs.
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“C.A. was a focal point for keeping the family together. It kept the kids off the streets and allowed parents to send their children to a place they felt was positive and safe.”
— The late historian and former York City Council member Wm. Lee Smallwood, who said in his later years that he still considers Crispus Attucks York his home away from home.
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“For 40 years I struggled against separate schools, for more learning opportunities for Negroes of all ages. There were disappointments and victories.”
— The Rev. Thomas E. Montouth, community leader and pastor of Faith Presbyterian Church, in 1968.
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“York is no different than a lot of other communities when it comes to having racial difficulties. … We are faced with the culmination of something that has been nurtured for generations. There is no overnight solution, but there is a starting point. In York it is the Crispus Attucks Center.”
— Excerpts from a Crispus Attucks York fundraising brochure in 1971, a campaign that led to the groundbreaking of a new South Duke Street, York, center soon thereafter.
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“The mission of Crispus Attucks is to improve the quality of life for the citizens of York, especially those who are Black and oppressed. Major emphasis is to improve health and employment opportunities, education and recreation for the Center’s participants. In addition, it is the Center’s aim to teach the less fortunate to become their own advocates and mediators. … We can change the way things are. And, of all the institutions in York, Crispus Attucks is the logical choice to improve the quality of life among the disaffected.”
— York City Schools Superintendent Frederick D. Holliday at CA’s annual meeting in 1975.
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“We needed a strong personality to clean up things, to restore a sense of pride. The answer was right there sitting on the board, Bobby Simpson. He didn’t have fancy credentials behind his name, but other things can be more important; a sense of life’s experience, leadership ability, the courage to take a risk and a big heart. Bobby had it all.”
— Longtime Crispus Attucks Board member Dan Elby, recalling the hiring of Bobby Simpson as Crispus Attucks’ executive director in 1979 after the organization had turned over a half-dozen people in that position in that decade.
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“Someone asked me what was the greatest speech I’ve ever heard, and I’ve heard many great speeches by famous people … (T)he speech which most impressed me was by a very poor, humble and uneducated lady, and the speech was short and simple, yet it had a lasting impact on me, and it came from my mother. She simply stated no one owed you a living in life, get it for yourself. This is what I live by, and what we try to instill and encourage our people at Crispus Attucks to do.”
— Bobby Simpson, in a speech to a class at York’s Jackson Elementary.
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“Here’s a center that has pulled itself together and is doing something about drug abuse, affordable housing and day care. They’re taking the whole community and trying to solve an enormous amount of problems and that’s very exciting. I think this will be a pilot program the rest of the country will want to copy.”
— First Lady Barbara Bush, who visited Crispus Attucks York twice, in 1988 and 1992.
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“Crispus Attucks is like the U.N. Every nationality that is in York can come through these doors and feel comfortable.”
— Bobby Simpson, 1992.
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“The new wing will focus on the preparation of our youth for leadership roles in the community. Here at Crispus Attucks, we are constantly exposing our youth to the positive aspects of our culture … We all know the importance of education; it is something no one can ever take from you.”
— Longtime Crispus Attucks York board member Ray Crenshaw, 1994.
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“You can see … that they really want to help you.”
— India Thompson-Beatty, 18, assessing Crispus Attucks Charter School’s staff.
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“Pioneers such as Dr. George Bowles, the Rev. Thomas Montouth, Chester Hayes, Edward Simmons, Helen Thackston, Dr. (Omar) Kimbrough and others too numerous to mention would be very proud of the dedication and commitment many of you have shown in carrying on and building upon the noble intentions, goals and ideals they expressed upon the founding of this great and historic organization.”
— Historian Jeff Kirkland in his 2016 book on the 85th anniversary of Crispus Attucks’ founding, in dedicating it to leadership and staff of Crispus Attucks York and supportive community members.
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“I don’t think money can buy what Crispus Attucks gives.”
— Bob Hollis, Crispus Attucks York’s associate director, 1988.
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“We wanted them to know that if you believe in what you do, work hard and continue to move forward, even in the face of adversity, all things are possible.”
— Bobby Simpson, speaking of the desire to share with future generations the struggles Crispus Attucks York has gone through. His comments came at the groundbreaking of the Crispus Attucks History and Culture Center in 2023.
Sources: Crispus Attucks 75th anniversary special section, York Daily Record; Crispus Attucks York archives; Jeff Kirkland’s “Crispus Attucks Association, 85 Years of Community Building”; WitnessingYork.com.
Grand opening
The public is invited to attend the grand opening of the Crispus Attucks History and Culture Center at 11 a.m. May 2. The center, designed to preserve history, celebrate culture and inspire future generations, stands on Crispus Attucks’ campus at 45 E. Boundary Ave., York.
Jim McClure is a retired editor of the York Daily Record and has authored or co-authored nine books on York County history. Reach him at jimmcclure21@outlook.com.
