DCist Profile: Midtown Youth Academy's Eugene R. Hughes
Midtown Youth Academy Founder, Eugene R. Hughes |
Walking under its peeling sign and into 14th Street's Midtown Youth Academy feels like walking into a museum. The well-traversed wood floors give the room a musty odor and decades worth of photographs and posters adorn the faded walls. Shelves of books line one wall while a row of personal computers line the other. But the institutional feeling goes away as soon as one sees the boxing gym in the back of the room, with young fighters hard at training. While Midtown has nearly 40 years of history behind it, there is nothing anachronistic about this space or the people in it.
At the center of all this, literally and figuratively, and usually sitting at his paper littered desk, is Eugene R. Hughes, the distinguished 75-year old gentleman whose spirit is embodied in Midtown. He uses boxing as a way to draw kids in so that he can affect true change in their lives.
"Number one, boxing is a vehicle," he declared. "It's a vehicle to get you somewhere you have never been."
As he sat down for an interview with DCist, Hughes was hard at work planning the 23rd annual Mayor's Cup Invitational Amateur Boxing Tournament. The competition takes place this Friday and Saturday at the Kennedy Recreation Center. Sixteen teams from the region will compete, and Hughes expects Mayor Fenty to make an appearance to open the tournament.
The sign above the entrance to the Midtown Youth Academy, located at 2206 14th Street, NW |
Hughes spends much of his time in a wheel chair and walks only with the help of a cane. His grandfatherly appearance belies a life rich with stories.
Hughes was born and brought up in the District. His mother worked for Eugene Meyer, who purchased The Washington Post in 1933. She helped raise his daughter, Katharine Graham, and Hughes spent part of his childhood in the company of current Post Company chairman, Don Graham. During his teen years, Hughes worked as a caddy at the exclusive Burning Tree Club, where he rubbed shoulders with the likes of Prescott Bush and Nathan Twining.
Hughes went on to enter the ranks of professional boxing from 1950 to 1965, becoming one of the nation's best featherweights. Near the end of his boxing career, Hughes moved to California and joined the Black Panthers. There, his involvement in L.A.'s Watts Riots led to a 17 month prison sentence.
As Hughes put it, "At that point I said, 'Hold on, now, it's time for a change.'"
Hughes returned to D.C. and became involved with the Department of Recreation as a mentor and drug counselor to troubled D.C. teens. The roots of Midtown trace back to 1971, when it started at 14th and T Streets as the 14th Street Academy. Hughes, along with co-founder Fawn Washburn, purchased a building and moved the operation to its present location in 1974. In 1977, Washburn and Hughes reincorporated the institution as the Midtown Youth Academy.
With the help of a small volunteer staff, Hughes takes a holistic approach to helping the kids in his charge, who he sometimes affectionately refers to as "knuckleheads." The Academy accepts children, both boys and girls, between the ages of 6 and 18. Before setting foot in the ring, Hughes visits the child's home, draws up a case history, and tries to set up a program that not only addresses the child, but also the child's home life. This involves anything from recruiting volunteers to help clean a house, finding someone to teach a parent how to cook, and of course, finding educational support for the children.
"I keep a record on them," he explained. "Your coming, your going. I find out how you're doing, what you're doing, where you're doing it at. If you need some help, then we sit down and deal with the issue and deal with the whole family."
Hughes also takes 13 kids to church with him every Sunday.
"I tell them that 'you're worth more than you think you are.' I make them understand that 'you're somebody.'"
Midtown has had many a success story, not only in terms of successful fighters, for example he trained a young Sugar Ray Leonard, but also in terms of helping kids choose a better path. His career as a fighter and trainer earned Hughes a place in D.C.'s Boxing Hall of Fame. His community service has earned him numerous awards from the city and community organizations. Hughes' institution has also worked with members of Congress, in addition to the administration of every D.C. mayor.
Having witnessed so much history, we had to get Hughes' thoughts on the gentrification of his neighborhood. Twenty years ago, many of its current residents would not have even driven through the 14th Street corridor, let alone live there.
"This place used to be called 'Chocolate City,' he said. "There used to be a whole lot of unity in this city. There was a lot of drugs, but there was also a lot of unity. People spoke to each other. That feeling is gone."
Despite this sentiment, Hughes sees both sides to the story. "Like anything else, change is coming. Nothing remains the same. But, I think, a whole lot of our people sold out. They've been trying to get this building for four or five years, but I'm not going to sell."
Not only does Hughes refuse to sell his building, but he has high hopes for the Midtown Youth Academy's future.
"This house is going to stay as long as I stay. I hope that whoever I relinquish it to will take it over and run it how it's supposed to run. We're all in it together. Blacks, whites, Puerto Ricans, Asians, we've got all of 'em and we all get along. It's all about group communication."