The Milwaukee Christian Center (MCC) was founded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1921 by an American Baptist missionary named Marnie Passolt MacKenney. She was appointed by the American Baptist Convention's Home Mission Society to develop a Christian settlement house on Milwaukee's increasingly blighted south side. The MCC was one of several institutions established by the Home Mission Society across the United States during the first half of the twentieth century. The MCC initially focused its efforts on the nutritional needs of orphaned children and impoverished immigrant families from Europe and Latin America.
The MCC was a transient organization until 1923 when it moved into a refurbished church at 611 West Washington Street. The building was constructed in the 1890s in what was then one of Milwaukee's most affluent neighborhoods. It was home to the American Baptist South Church until the early 1920s, when the congregation decided to relocate further out from the city's urban center. Dr. D. W. Hulburt, then the Wisconsin Baptist State Convention secretary, was instrumental in accommodating the MCC's move into the South Church building. Hulburt and several other former South Church congregants remained in the neighborhood and formed Hulburt Baptist Church, which rented a small chapel constructed on the east side of the newly remodeled MCC facility. Hulburt Church would retain its association with the MCC until 1967.
Through the 1920s and early 1930s, the MCC was staffed with appointees from the Wisconsin Baptist State Convention and the national Women's Home Mission Society. In 1934, Reverend C. Dwight Klinck became the MCC's first executive director. That same year the MCC building was expanded to make room for a gymnasium. In 1942, it was incorporated by the State of Wisconsin and formed its first board of directors. The board was chosen by the executive committee of the Wisconsin Baptist State Convention and it required at least two-thirds of the board be members of Baptist churches. The MCC board and executive director were responsible for all administrative duties including hiring staff and making committee appointments.
In 1942, the budgets of the MCC and Hulburt Church were permanently separated and the objectives of the MCC were formalized. Annual reports after incorporation illustrate the purpose of the MCC at this time: to develop among children, youth, and adults a sound and practical attitude and a belief in the Christian way of life; to help members understand democracy and practice democratic living through group processes; to provide opportunities for creative interests and skills through clubs, hobbies, and programming; and to develop the leadership abilities of members to use in the community.
In 1943, the MCC was admitted to the United War Chest network of National War Fund charities, which increased the scope of its programs and gave it access to greater funding. In 1946, the War Chest was discontinued and the MCC board of directors appointed a new executive director, Reverend John A. Craig. That same year it was admitted into the Milwaukee Community Chest as a recognized agency. In 1947, the MCC was accepted as one of the “Red Feather” services of the Community Council of Milwaukee County.
Membership at the MCC continued to grow in the next two decades. During the early 1950s the inadequacies of the MCC facility were identified and relocation plans came under discussion. Concurrently, the MCC was moving toward a non-denominational, neighborhood-building agenda, with a stronger focus on urban social issues. It was also expanding its ties to local, regional, and national networks of charity and community development organizations.
In 1958, the MCC approved a capital funds campaign proposal and the Milwaukee Community Welfare Council initiated the relocation process. In 1960, plans were announced for an expressway to be built over the location of the MCC, and a new site at 2215 West Scott Street was selected. In 1961, the relocation fundraising campaign “Project 61” was inaugurated under the recently appointed Reverend Kenneth L. Smith. During the first half of the 1960s the MCC experienced a focused and often frustrated effort to raise money and gain community support for the relocation project. Relocation was not complete until 1967. The MCC continues to operate at this location as of 2007.
