In 1901, George Foster Peabody and his brothers offered to build a YMCA for the colored men and boys of Columbus if they raised $1,000, purchased a building lot, and secured 300 members. On Sunday, April 28, 1901, a mass meeting at St. James A.M.E. Church founded the Ninth Street Branch YMCA with 178 men. About 1902, the lot at 903 Sixth Avenue was purchased. In 1907, Mr. Peabody and his brothers donated $20,000 to the colored people of Columbus to build the YMCA. At that time, it was the second modern Negro YMCA building in the country and the first in the South. The Ninth Street Branch YMCA was dedicated on Tuesday, October 8, 1907, with Dr. M. L. Taylor as toastmaster and Dr. Booker T. Washington as featured speaker. Gertrude Pridgett “Ma” Rainey, accompanied by pianist Leila Price, performed “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” a song that would later become the Negro National Anthem. During its existence, the Ninth Street Branch YMCA entertained over 100,000 men, boys, soldiers and visitors. From 1907 until its demolition in December of 1963, more than 4,000 men held active memberships in the Association.