...along the banks of the Ohio River, with the objective of affording “means of grace and moral improvement to boatmen and those residing in the river vicinity.” In peak years, approximately 8,000 boats and 50,000 crewmen would pass through Cincinnati and, prior to CUB’s establishment, there were few decent lodgings or religious and social activities available to these riverboat workers.

With the idea that affordable accommodations would enrich the lives of the sailors who set foot ashore in Cincinnati, a group of gentlemen, along with volunteer clergymen and choirs, began to administer religious services and to distribute literature to those men who worked the river. This organization, itself operating at first from a riverboat, later occupied a former dime museum and saloon among the taverns and gambling houses on Front Street and became known as the Cincinnati Union Bethel. (A façade of this original location is on display at the Cincinnati Museum Center in the exhibit recreating Cincinnati’s Public Landing in the 1850’s. The original brass bell that was used to call the men to services is also on display at the museum.)

In January, 1839 the first Sunday School was organized and hence the commitment to the education of children was born. The Sunday School grew steadily until, in 1870, it numbered 3,500 pupils and 80 teachers! At one time, it was the largest Sunday School in the world under one roof. The Bethel Ladies Aid Society was formed in 1860 to provide assistance to the hundreds of poverty-stricken children who attended Sunday School at CUB and consolidated with CUB soon after its formation.

In 1866, it was acknowledged that a new location was necessary to continue CUB’s mission to provide shelter for men, women and children, including shelter and food for the homeless newsboys and bootblacks that were residents of a boys’ home that Cincinnati Union Bethel purchased in 1867. However, foremost in the minds of the CUB directors was the construction of a building wholly suitable for the purposes and activities of the organization. By May 1871, a building had been erected on Front Street between Sycamore and Broadway, and was then able to host all the activities of CUB (except Sunday School), including a men’s dormitory, sleeping quarters for women, a temporary shelter, dining room, and religious services.

The success of Cincinnati Union Bethel continued steadily upwards through the turn of the 20th century, with Sunday School attendance exceeding 70,000 people per year, and with over 2,200 free lodgings and 8,200 free meals given annually in the late 1890s.

In 1901, the work of CUB was reinvigorated with the arrival of a new director, Henry M. Wright from Boston, who shifted the focus of the organization to primarily social work. It was during Mr. Wright’s directorship that Cincinnati Union Bethel established the first free kindergarten, and when his successor took over in 1902, CUB began to offer dental and health services to school children free of charge. Not long after this addition, a day nursery was also opened to care for children of employed mothers. CUB had no trouble finding men, women, and children to utilize its services.

Due to the new growth in the area surrounding Third Street and an influx of working young women employed in the neighborhood factories, the Board of CUB determined in 1906 to erect a modern five-story building to accommodate 120 of the young women in single rooms. Through the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. Charles P. Taft, the site on the corner of Third and Lytle Streets was secured for the organization, where the offices have remained to this day.

The Anna Louise Inn, as the new location came to be called, was opened and dedicated on Memorial Day, 1909. Operating strictly on a nonprofit basis, the Inn was filled to occupancy on its first day. It offered working young women, who had come to Cincinnati seeking employment from various rural areas, both security and affordable housing. In turn, the residents of the Inn proved self-sustaining to the general work of CUB, providing ample work to the health service workers and promoting the image of the organization through their activities in the surrounding neighborhood. As proof of the success of the Inn, an extension was built onto the structure following the close of World War I.

Over the next twenty years, CUB continued to flourish and evolve. During World War II, it was necessary to add after-school care for children of parents who were employed in defense work, and in the early 1950s, CUB began to be supported by Community Chest and Council of Social Agencies funds. By this point in time, Sunday School classes had been discontinued for many years, and an agreement was made with Christ Church that they would carry on with the religious services in the Bethel’s stead. Many of the changes made in the 1950s were spurred on primarily by the construction of new roads and expressways around the Lytle and Third Street neighborhood.

The 1960s presented Cincinnati Union Bethel with significant changes. The Anna Louise Inn had celebrated its 50th anniversary, and the social service component of the organization was now considered separate from the operation of the Inn. CUB was now operating as an organization under the supervision of an executive director, but the mission of the organization continued to be “to help people help themselves.” In that vein, CUB’s social services expanded into the Millvale and North Fairmount neighborhoods with the establishment of community and youth councils in 1962.

By 1963 the foundations for Cincinnati Union Bethel’s neighborhood services had been firmly laid. Camp Washington, Fay Apartments, Winton Place, Winton Hills, and South Cumminsville joined the list of communities served by CUB by 1966, and a new emphasis on lowering school drop-outs, unemployment, juvenile delinquency, and parent-child and marital relationships emerged. Furthermore, CUB began to receive substantial Federal funding to support its programs, and the Anna Louise Inn continued its important services for women downtown.

The emphasis on neighborhood services continued forcefully throughout the 1970s. CUB opened a medical center in Winton Hills, started running day camps for youth, and established a relationship with the Terrace Guild. In March 1978, Cincinnati Union Bethel was fully accredited by the National Federation of Settlements and Neighborhood Centers. By 1979, CUB’s Child Development Center in English Woods was successful enough to merit a recommendation for Head Start funding and began Cincinnati Union Bethel’s foray into this component of its current-day programming.

From the 1980s through the year 2000, Cincinnati Union Bethel’s focus was on the firm establishment of its Head Start programming. In addition to the original center in English Woods, CUB opened several other early childhood education centers on the west side of Greater Cincinnati in the communities of Camp Washington, Millvale, South Cumminsville and Winton Hills.

With the advent of the 21st century, Cincinnati Union Bethel expanded its service focus to reflect contemporary developments. Specifically, the opening of the Technology Learning Center in October 2002 in Over-the-Rhine marked an effort to provide much-needed computer training and employment services to underserved populations. In addition, the Early Learning Academy in College Hill opened in 2004, signaling renewed growth as Cincinnati Union Bethel entered its 175th year of operation.  In 2006, "Off The Streets" was created, offering peer-driven assistance and support for women recovering from prostitution.

Since 1830, Cincinnati Union Bethel has been proud to provide social service to the men, women, children, families, and communities of Cincinnati. Its rich history demonstrates a commitment to both the advancement and the betterment of life quality to Cincinnatians who might otherwise have nowhere to turn. We at Cincinnati Union Bethel are honored to act as proponents of CUB’s past, present, and future as we seek to help our clients reach their greatest potential.