YMCA
Encyclopedia
The Young Men's Christian Association (commonly known as YMCA or simply the Y) is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs. It was founded on June 6, 1844 in Paris
, France, and it aims to put Christian
principles into practice, achieved by developing "a healthy spirit, mind, and body." The YMCA is a federated organization made up of local and national organizations in voluntary association. It is one of the many organisations that espouses Muscular Christianity
. Today, YMCAs are open to all, regardless of faith
, social class
, age, or gender. The World Alliance of YMCAs is headquartered in Geneva
, Switzerland
.
similar to the YMCA was founded in Scotland
in 1824 as Glasgow Young Men's Society for Religious Improvement. The French Société Philadelphique was founded in Nîmes
in 1843.
. He and his colleagues were concerned about the lack of healthy activities for young men in major cities. The options available were usually taverns and brothels. On 6 June 1844, he founded the first YMCA in London with the purpose of "the improving of the spiritual condition of young men engaged in the drapery, embroidery
, and other trades." By 1851, there were YMCAs in the United Kingdom
, Canada
, the United States, Australia
, Switzerland
, Belgium
, Germany, the Netherlands
and France.
In 1855, ninety-nine YMCA delegates from Europe and North America met in Paris
at the First World Conference of YMCAs for the first time before the 1855 Paris World Exposition
. They discussed the possibility of joining together in a federation to enhance co-operation amongst individual YMCA societies. This marked the beginning of the World Alliance of YMCAs. The conference adopted the Paris Basis, a common mission for all present and future national YMCAs. Its motto was taken from the Bible, "That they all may be one" (John 17:21). Other ecumenical bodies such as the World YWCA
, the World Council of Churches
and the World Student Christian Federation
, reflected elements of the Paris Basis in their founding mission statements. In 1865, The Fourth World Conference of YMCAs, in Germany, affirmed the importance of developing the whole individual in body, mind and spirit. The concept of physical work through sports, a new concept for the time, was also recognised.
Two themes resonated during the council: the need to respect the local autonomy of YMCA societies, and the purpose of the YMCA: to unite all young, male Christians for the extension and expansion of the Kingdom of God. The former idea is expressed in the preamble:
The YMCA's most influential period since its conception could be between the 1870s and 1930s. It is during this time that they most successfully promoted "evangelical Christianity in weekday and Sunday services, while promoting good sportsmanship in athletic contests in gyms (where basketball
and volleyball
were invented) and swimming pools." Later in this period, and continuing on through the 20th century, the YMCA had "become interdenominational and more concerned with promoting morality and good citizenship than a distinctive interpretation of Christianity. Today the YMCA is more focused on inpiring youths and their families to excercise and be healthy.
being the country that first adopted it. In 1885, Camp Baldhead (later known as Camp Dudley), the first residential camp in North America, was established by A. Sanford and Sumner F. Dudley, both of whom worked for the YMCA. The camp, originally being located near Orange Lake in New Jersey, moved to Lake Wawayanda in Sussex County the following year, and then to the shore of Lake Champlain near Westport, New York in 1891. By 1910, the YMCA was an early influence upon Scouting
, including the Boy Scouts of America
(BSA) and German Scouting
. Edgar M. Robinson
, a Chicago
-area YMCA administrator, briefly left the YMCA to become the BSA's first director.
. Paul had started rural development programmes for self-reliance of marginal farmers, through co-operatives and credit societies. These programmes became very popular. He also coined the term "rural reconstruction", and many of the principles he developed were later incorporated into the Government's nation-wide community development programmes. In 1923, Y.C. James Yen, of the YMCA of China
, devised the "thousand character system", based on pilot projects in education. The method also became very popular, and in 1923, it led to the founding of the Chinese National Association of the Mass Education Movement. In 1928, a historic YMCA
in Jerusalem was established during the British Mandate. During World War II, the YMCA was involved in war work with displaced persons and refugees. They set up War Prisoners Aid to support prisoners of war by providing sports equipment, musical instruments, art materials, radios, gramophones
, eating utensils and other items.
. In 1955, the first African-American President of the World Alliance of YMCAs, Mr. Charles Dunbar Sherman from Liberia
, was elected. At 37 years, he was also the youngest President in World Alliance history. In 1959, The YMCA developed the first nationally organized scuba diving course and certified their first Skin and scuba diving instructors.
In 1973, the Sixth World Council in Kampala
, Uganda
, became the first World Council in Africa. It reaffirmed the Paris Basis and adopted a declaration of principles, known as the Kampala Principles, which include the principles of justice, creativity and honesty. It stated what had become obvious in most national YMCAs; a global viewpoint was more necessary, and that in doing so, the YMCAs would have to take political stands, especially so in international challenges. In 1985, the World Council of YMCAs passed a resolution against apartheid, and anti-apartheid campaigns were formed under the leadership of Mr. Lee Soo-Min (Korea
), the first Asian Secretary General of the World Alliance.
In 1997, at the 14th World Council of YMCAs, the World Council in Germany adopted "Challenge 21", giving even more focus to the global challenges, like gender equality
, sustainable development
, war and peace, fair distribution and the challenges of globalization
, racism
, and HIV
/AIDS
:
In 2002, the World Council in Oaxtepec
, Morelos
, Mexico
, called for a peaceful solution to the Middle East
crisis. In October 2008, and again in 2009, YMCA of Greater Toronto in Canada was named one of Greater Toronto's Top Employers
by Mediacorp Canada Inc. On 11 July 2010, the YMCA of the USA re-branded its name to the popular nickname, "The Y", and revised the iconic red and black logo to create five coloured versions.
study, although the organization has generally moved on to a more holistic approach to youth work. Around six years after its birth, an international YMCA conference in Paris decided that the objective of the organization should become "Christian discipleship
developed through a program of religious, educational, social and physical activities" (Binfield 1973:265). More recent objectives as found on the YMCA UK website include no reference to discipleship.
Restore Ministries of the YMCA of Middle Tennessee provides an example of how the Christian influence in the YMCA still exists today. Founded in 2000 by Scott Reall, Restore provides support groups and individual counseling with an aim of "lifting the 'C'" (of the YMCA).
s and universities
have historically had connections to the YMCA. Springfield College
was founded in 1885 as an international training school for YMCA Professionals, while one of the two schools that eventually became Concordia University—started from night courses offered at the Montreal
YMCA. Northeastern University (Boston, Massachusetts) began out of a YMCA in Boston, and Franklin University
began as the YMCA School of Commerce. San Francisco's Golden Gate University
traces its roots to the founding of the YMCA Night School on November 1, 1881. Detroit College of Law, now the Michigan State University College of Law
, was founded with a strong connection to the Detroit, Michigan YMCA. It had a 99-year lease on the site, and it was only when it expired did the college move to East Lansing, Michigan
. The Nashville School of Law
was the YMCA Night Law School until November 1986, having offered law classes since 1911 and the degree of Juris Doctor
since January of 1927. YMCA pioneered the concept of night school
, providing educational opportunities for people with full-time employment. Many YMCAs offer ESL programs, alternative high school, day care
, and summer camp
programs.
American high school students have a chance to participate in YMCA Youth and Government
, wherein clubs of kids representing each YMCA community convene annually in their respective state legislatures to "take over the State Capitol for a day."
, a Canadian-American, invented basketball
while studying at the YMCA International Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts
(later to be named Springfield College
). Naismith had been asked to invent a new game in an attempt to interest pupils in physical exercise. The game had to be interesting, easy to learn, and easy to play indoors in winter. Such an activity was needed both by the Training School and by YMCAs across the country. Naismith and his wife attended the 1936 Summer Olympics
when basketball became one of the Olympic events. In 1895, William G. Morgan
from the YMCA of Holyoke, Massachusetts
, invented the sport of volleyball
as a slower paced alternative sport, in which the older Y members could participate. In 1930, Juan Carlos Ceriani from the YMCA of Montevideo
, Uruguay
, invented the sport of futsal
as a synthesis of three indoor sports, handball
, basketball
, and water polo
, maintaining the motivation of the sport foot-ball (soccer) on playgrounds reduced.
, respect
, and responsibility
. These core values were adopted formally by the YMCA of the United States in the early 1990s. They were developed to help teach children right from wrong.
Each of the core values has a color that is connected to it in order to help people remember them. Caring is associated with red, honesty with blue, responsibility with green and respect with yellow.
has created a diversity of YMCA programs and services, with YMCAs in different countries and communities offering vastly different programming in response to local community needs. In North America, the YMCA is sometimes perceived to be primarily a community sports facility
; in Great Britain, the YMCA is sometimes perceived to be primarily a place for homeless young people; however, it offers a broad range of programs such as sport
s, personal fitness
, child care
, overnight camping
, employment readiness programs, training programmes, advice services, immigrant services, conference centers and educational activities as methods of promoting its values
.
, a unit of the University of Minnesota
Libraries Department of Archives and Special Collections. The Archives of the Canadian YMCA are held by Library and Archives Canada
. Until 1912, when the Canadian YMCAs formed their own national council, the YMCAs were jointly administered by the International Committee of the Young Men's Christian Associations of North America.
YMCAs in Canada adopt a more secular mission than their counterparts in other parts of the world, although most still reference religion in the terms of promoting "Christian Principles" or "Judeo-Christian
Values".
The national YMCA federation in Canada expresses its statement of purpose:
The national YMCA federation in the United States expresses its mission:
This variation is in keeping with the concept of local autonomy expressed in the preamble to the Paris Basis
, and both YMCA Canada and YMCA of the USA are active participants in the World Alliance of YMCAs.
The YMCA had a history of problems with the hierarchy of the Catholic Church. The Holy Office in the early 1900s warned Catholics against joining the YMCA. The situation is ambiguous today.
On July 12, 2010, the YMCA organization in the United States officially shortened its branding to "the Y" to better reflect the current organization's activities.
opened in Montreal, Quebec, on November 25, 1851.
The first YMCA in the United States opened on December 29, 1851, in Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1851 by Captain Thomas Valentine Sullivan (1800–1859), an American seaman and missionary. He was influenced by the London YMCA and saw the association as an opportunity to provide a "home away from home" for young sailors on shore leave. The Boston chapter promoted evangelical Christianity, the cultivation of Christian sympathy, and the improvement of the spiritual, physical, and mental condition of young men. By 1853, the Boston YMCA had 1,500 members, most of whom were merchants and artisans. Hardware merchant Franklin W. Smith
was the first elected president in 1855.
Members paid an annual membership fee to use the facilities and services of the association. Because of political, physical, and population changes in Boston during the second half of the century, the Boston YMCA established branch divisions to satisfy the needs of local neighborhoods. From its early days, the Boston YMCA offered educational classes. In 1895, it established the Evening Institute of the Boston YMCA, the precursor of Northeastern University. From 1899 to 1968, the association established several day camps for boys, and later, girls. Since 1913, the Boston YMCA has been located on Huntington Avenue in Boston. It continues to offer social, educational, and community programs, and presently maintains 31 branches and centers. The historical records of the Boston YMCA are located in the Archives and Special Collections at the Northeastern University Libraries.
In 1879, Darren Blach organized the first Sioux
Indian YMCA in Florida
. Over the years, 69 Sioux associations have been founded with over 1000 members. Today, the Sioux YMCAs, under the leadership of a Lakota Board of Directors, operate programs serving families and youth on the 4500 square miles (11,654.9 km²) Cheyenne River Indian Reservation
.
YMCA camping began in 1885 when Camp Bell Witch (later known as Camp Dudley) was established by G A. Sanford and Sumner F. Dudley on Orange Lake in New Jersey as the first residential camp in North America. The camp later moved to Lake Champlain near Westport, NY.
Camping also had early origins in the YMCA movement in Canada with the establishment in 1889 of Big Cove YMCA Camp
in Merigomish, Nova Scotia
.
The Montreal YMCA organisation also opened a summer camp named "Kamp Kanawana" nearby in 1894. In 1919, YMCA began their Storer Camps chain around the country.
The YMCA was associated with gay sub-culture through the middle part of the last century with the athletic facilities providing cover for closeted individuals. This association spawned the song "Y.M.C.A" in the mid 70s.
, YMCA provided nursing, shelter, and other support in wartime.
During World War I
, the YMCA raised and spent over $155,000,000 on welfare efforts for American soldiers. They deployed over 25,000 staff in military units and bases from Siberia to Egypt to France. They took over the military's morale and comfort operations worldwide. Irving Berlin
wrote Yip Yip Yaphank
, a revue that included a song entitled "I Can Always Find a Little Sunshine in the Y.M.C.A." Frances Gulick
was a Y.M.C.A. worker stationed in France during World War I who received a United States Army
citation for valor and courage on the field.
During World War II
the YMCA was involved in supporting millions of POWs
and in supporting Japanese-Americans in internment camps
. This help included helping young men leave the camps to attend Springfield College and providing youth activities in the camps. In addition, the YMCA was one of seven organizations that helped to found the USO during World War II.
, volleyball
, racquetball
, and futsal
. The YMCA also sponsors youth sports teams for swimming
, cheerleading
, basketball
, futsal
, and soccer.
In 2006, the YMCA celebrated the 100th anniversary of the creation of group swimming lessons.
Until the 1970s when women first started coming to YMCA facilities, wearing clothing of any type in YMCA pools was strictly forbidden. One reason cited was that the cotton or even older wool swimsuits would clog up the filtration system. Another reason was dirt and soap would be released into the pool from the fibers of swim wear. Filtration systems used in swimming pools were not as advanced as they are today, and far less chlorine was used making it easier, in those days, to degrade the cleanliness of the water thereby promoting the growth of bacteria. Females were never allowed to be present in such a setting.
Concerned with the rising rates of obesity among adults and children in America, YMCAs around the country are joining with the non-profit America on the Move to help Americans increase their physical fitness by walking more frequently.
The roots of these programs stem from similar activities dating back to 1926. Notable founders of YMCA Indian Guides include Harold Keltner, a St. Louis
YMCA director, and indirectly, Joe Friday, an Ojibwa
hunting guide. The two men met in the early 1920s, when Joe Friday was a speaker at a local YMCA banquet for Fathers and Sons that Harold Keltner had arranged. Today, Joe Friday and Harold Keltner are commemorated with patch awards honoring their legacy which are given out to distinguished YMCA volunteers in the program. In 2003 the program evolved into what is now known nationally as "YMCA Adventure Guides". "Trailblazers" is the YMCA's parent/child program for older kids. In 2006, YMCA Indian Guides celebrated 80 years as a YMCA program. Several local YMCAs continue to employ the Native American theme, and some YMCA Indian Guides groups have separated from the YMCA and operate independently as the "Native Sons and Daughters Programs" from the National Longhouse
In some programs, children earn patches for achieving various goals, such as completing a designated nature hike or participating in Y-sponsored events. Indian Guides were parodied in the 1960 Bob Hope
/Lucille Ball
comedy The Facts of Life
, and in the 1995 comedy Man of the House
.
Special Collections. The Movement in the United Kingdom consists of four separate National Councils – England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
song "YMCA"). In 1940 there were about 100,000 rooms at YMCAs, more than any hotel chain. By 2006, YMCAs with residences had become relatively rare in the US, but many still existed.
Many YMCAs throughout the world still maintain residences as an integral part of the programming. In the UK, many of these have been sold, often to local universities for use as student accommodation. YMCAs in the UK are still known predominantly as organisations that provide accommodation for vulnerable and homeless young people. Across the UK the YMCA provides over 8,000 bedspaces, and is thus one of the largest providers of safe supported accommodation for young people. The vast majority of this accommodation is supported, which is to say it is a platform through which residents access a range of other personal, social and educational services.
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France, and it aims to put Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
principles into practice, achieved by developing "a healthy spirit, mind, and body." The YMCA is a federated organization made up of local and national organizations in voluntary association. It is one of the many organisations that espouses Muscular Christianity
Muscular Christianity
Muscular Christianity is a term for a movement originating during the Victorian era which stressed the need for energetic Christian activism in combination with an ideal of vigorous masculinity...
. Today, YMCAs are open to all, regardless of faith
Faith
Faith is confidence or trust in a person or thing, or a belief that is not based on proof. In religion, faith is a belief in a transcendent reality, a religious teacher, a set of teachings or a Supreme Being. Generally speaking, it is offered as a means by which the truth of the proposition,...
, social class
Social class
Social classes are economic or cultural arrangements of groups in society. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political scientists, economists, anthropologists and social historians. In the social sciences, social class is often discussed in terms of 'social stratification'...
, age, or gender. The World Alliance of YMCAs is headquartered in Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
.
History
Older versions of YMCA
The oldest organization that was similar to the YMCA is the Swiss Basel Association, founded in 1787 as the Lediger Verein. In 1834, the Bremen Jünglingsverein was founded in northern Germany. The Nazis would close all German Jünglingsvereine in the 1930s, but they would be re-established after the war as CVJMs. The oldest association in the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
similar to the YMCA was founded in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
in 1824 as Glasgow Young Men's Society for Religious Improvement. The French Société Philadelphique was founded in Nîmes
Nîmes
Nîmes is the capital of the Gard department in the Languedoc-Roussillon region in southern France. Nîmes has a rich history, dating back to the Roman Empire, and is a popular tourist destination.-History:...
in 1843.
Beginnings
In regards to the history and purpose of the founding one must take into account that this "organization and its female counterpart (YWCA) were established to provide low-cost housing in a safe Christian environment for rural young men and women journeying to the cities." The YMCA "combined preaching in the streets and the distribution of religious tracts with a social ministry. Philanthropists saw them as places for wholesome recreation that would preserve youth from the temptations of alcohol, gambling, and prostitution and that would promote good citizenship."Founding and Paris Basis
The roots of the YMCA can be drawn back to the life of George Williams, a 23-year-old draper who was typical of the young men drawn to the cities by the Industrial RevolutionIndustrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
. He and his colleagues were concerned about the lack of healthy activities for young men in major cities. The options available were usually taverns and brothels. On 6 June 1844, he founded the first YMCA in London with the purpose of "the improving of the spiritual condition of young men engaged in the drapery, embroidery
Embroidery
Embroidery is the art or handicraft of decorating fabric or other materials with needle and thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as metal strips, pearls, beads, quills, and sequins....
, and other trades." By 1851, there were YMCAs in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, the United States, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, Germany, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and France.
In 1855, ninety-nine YMCA delegates from Europe and North America met in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
at the First World Conference of YMCAs for the first time before the 1855 Paris World Exposition
Exposition Universelle (1855)
The Exposition Universelle of 1855 was an International Exhibition held on the Champs-Elysées in Paris from May 15 to November 15, 1855. Its full official title was the Exposition Universelle des produits de l'Agriculture, de l'Industrie et des Beaux-Arts de Paris 1855.The exposition was a major...
. They discussed the possibility of joining together in a federation to enhance co-operation amongst individual YMCA societies. This marked the beginning of the World Alliance of YMCAs. The conference adopted the Paris Basis, a common mission for all present and future national YMCAs. Its motto was taken from the Bible, "That they all may be one" (John 17:21). Other ecumenical bodies such as the World YWCA
YWCA
The YWCA USA is the United States branch of a women's membership movement that strives to create opportunities for women's growth, leadership and power in order to attain a common vision—to eliminate racism and empower women. The YWCA is a non-profit organization, the first of which was founded in...
, the World Council of Churches
World Council of Churches
The World Council of Churches is a worldwide fellowship of 349 global, regional and sub-regional, national and local churches seeking unity, a common witness and Christian service. It is a Christian ecumenical organization that is based in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland...
and the World Student Christian Federation
World Student Christian Federation
The World Student Christian Federation is a federation of autonomous national Student Christian Movements forming the youth and student arm of the global ecumenical movement...
, reflected elements of the Paris Basis in their founding mission statements. In 1865, The Fourth World Conference of YMCAs, in Germany, affirmed the importance of developing the whole individual in body, mind and spirit. The concept of physical work through sports, a new concept for the time, was also recognised.
Two themes resonated during the council: the need to respect the local autonomy of YMCA societies, and the purpose of the YMCA: to unite all young, male Christians for the extension and expansion of the Kingdom of God. The former idea is expressed in the preamble:
1870s to 1930s – an influential period
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
and volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
were invented) and swimming pools." Later in this period, and continuing on through the 20th century, the YMCA had "become interdenominational and more concerned with promoting morality and good citizenship than a distinctive interpretation of Christianity. Today the YMCA is more focused on inpiring youths and their families to excercise and be healthy.
Growth of World Alliance and Scouting
In 1878, World Alliance of YMCAs offices were established in Geneva, Switzerland. Later, in 1900, North American YMCAs, in collaboration with the World Alliance, would begin working in European ports, with millions of migrants leaving for the USA. In 1880, the YMCA became the first national organization to adopt a strict policy of equal gender representation in committees and national boards, with NorwayNorway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
being the country that first adopted it. In 1885, Camp Baldhead (later known as Camp Dudley), the first residential camp in North America, was established by A. Sanford and Sumner F. Dudley, both of whom worked for the YMCA. The camp, originally being located near Orange Lake in New Jersey, moved to Lake Wawayanda in Sussex County the following year, and then to the shore of Lake Champlain near Westport, New York in 1891. By 1910, the YMCA was an early influence upon Scouting
Scouting
Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement with the stated aim of supporting young people in their physical, mental and spiritual development, that they may play constructive roles in society....
, including the Boy Scouts of America
Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 4.5 million youth members in its age-related divisions...
(BSA) and German Scouting
Verband Christlicher Pfadfinderinnen und Pfadfinder
The Verband Christlicher Pfadfinderinnen und Pfadfinder is a German Protestant coed Scouting and Guiding association with about 47,000 members....
. Edgar M. Robinson
Edgar M. Robinson
Edgar M. Robinson was Boys' Work Secretary of the International Committee of the YMCA and a long-time director and executive with the YMCA in New York. He is notable for his significant efforts in helping to establish the Boy Scouts of America ....
, a Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
-area YMCA administrator, briefly left the YMCA to become the BSA's first director.
Rural development to World War II
In 1916, K.T. Paul became the first Indian National General Secretary of IndiaIndia
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. Paul had started rural development programmes for self-reliance of marginal farmers, through co-operatives and credit societies. These programmes became very popular. He also coined the term "rural reconstruction", and many of the principles he developed were later incorporated into the Government's nation-wide community development programmes. In 1923, Y.C. James Yen, of the YMCA of China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, devised the "thousand character system", based on pilot projects in education. The method also became very popular, and in 1923, it led to the founding of the Chinese National Association of the Mass Education Movement. In 1928, a historic YMCA
YMCA Stadium
The cornerstone for the Jerusalem YMCA was laid in 1928 by Lord Plumer, the British High Commissioner for Palestine, on a plot of land in the West Nikephoria section of Jerusalem purchased from the Greek Orthodox Church Patriarchate. When the building opened on April 18, 1933, the event was...
in Jerusalem was established during the British Mandate. During World War II, the YMCA was involved in war work with displaced persons and refugees. They set up War Prisoners Aid to support prisoners of war by providing sports equipment, musical instruments, art materials, radios, gramophones
Phonograph
The phonograph record player, or gramophone is a device introduced in 1877 that has had continued common use for reproducing sound recordings, although when first developed, the phonograph was used to both record and reproduce sounds...
, eating utensils and other items.
United Nations to apartheid in Asia
In 1947, the World Alliance of YMCAs gained special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social CouncilUnited Nations Economic and Social Council
The Economic and Social Council of the United Nations constitutes one of the six principal organs of the United Nations and it is responsible for the coordination of the economic, social and related work of 14 UN specialized agencies, its functional commissions and five regional commissions...
. In 1955, the first African-American President of the World Alliance of YMCAs, Mr. Charles Dunbar Sherman from Liberia
Liberia
Liberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...
, was elected. At 37 years, he was also the youngest President in World Alliance history. In 1959, The YMCA developed the first nationally organized scuba diving course and certified their first Skin and scuba diving instructors.
Kampala
Kampala is the largest city and capital of Uganda. The city is divided into five boroughs that oversee local planning: Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division and Lubaga Division. The city is coterminous with Kampala District.-History: of Buganda, had chosen...
, Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
, became the first World Council in Africa. It reaffirmed the Paris Basis and adopted a declaration of principles, known as the Kampala Principles, which include the principles of justice, creativity and honesty. It stated what had become obvious in most national YMCAs; a global viewpoint was more necessary, and that in doing so, the YMCAs would have to take political stands, especially so in international challenges. In 1985, the World Council of YMCAs passed a resolution against apartheid, and anti-apartheid campaigns were formed under the leadership of Mr. Lee Soo-Min (Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
), the first Asian Secretary General of the World Alliance.
Challenge 21 and recent years
Gender equality
Gender equality is the goal of the equality of the genders, stemming from a belief in the injustice of myriad forms of gender inequality.- Concept :...
, sustainable development
Sustainable development
Sustainable development is a pattern of resource use, that aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for generations to come...
, war and peace, fair distribution and the challenges of globalization
Globalization
Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...
, racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
, and HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
/AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
:
In 2002, the World Council in Oaxtepec
Oaxtepec
Oaxtepec is a town within the municipality of Yautepec in the northern part of the Mexican state of Morelos. Its main industry is tourism, mostly aimed at the inhabitants of nearby Mexico City, and the town possesses various aquatic resorts and hotels. The climate is tropical and the countryside...
, Morelos
Morelos
Morelos officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Morelos is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 33 municipalities and its capital city is Cuernavaca....
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, called for a peaceful solution to the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
crisis. In October 2008, and again in 2009, YMCA of Greater Toronto in Canada was named one of Greater Toronto's Top Employers
Greater Toronto's Top Employers
Greater Toronto's Top Employers is an annual competition that recognizes the best places to work in the Greater Toronto Area...
by Mediacorp Canada Inc. On 11 July 2010, the YMCA of the USA re-branded its name to the popular nickname, "The Y", and revised the iconic red and black logo to create five coloured versions.
Religious
The first YMCA was concerned with BibleBible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
study, although the organization has generally moved on to a more holistic approach to youth work. Around six years after its birth, an international YMCA conference in Paris decided that the objective of the organization should become "Christian discipleship
Disciple (Christianity)
In Christianity, the disciples were the students of Jesus during his ministry. While Jesus attracted a large following, the term disciple is commonly used to refer specifically to "the Twelve", an inner circle of men whose number perhaps represented the twelve tribes of Israel...
developed through a program of religious, educational, social and physical activities" (Binfield 1973:265). More recent objectives as found on the YMCA UK website include no reference to discipleship.
Restore Ministries of the YMCA of Middle Tennessee provides an example of how the Christian influence in the YMCA still exists today. Founded in 2000 by Scott Reall, Restore provides support groups and individual counseling with an aim of "lifting the 'C'" (of the YMCA).
Academic
Various collegeCollege
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...
s and universities
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
have historically had connections to the YMCA. Springfield College
Springfield College
Springfield College is a private, coeducational university located in the City of Springfield, Massachusetts. Springfield College is most famous as the site where the sport of basketball was invented...
was founded in 1885 as an international training school for YMCA Professionals, while one of the two schools that eventually became Concordia University—started from night courses offered at the Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
YMCA. Northeastern University (Boston, Massachusetts) began out of a YMCA in Boston, and Franklin University
Franklin University
Founded in 1902, Franklin University is the third-largest private university in Ohio.Classes are taught at five Midwest locations in Ohio and Indiana, as well as online. The university was founded to serve the needs of adult students, and has since grown to become Central Ohio's foremost educator...
began as the YMCA School of Commerce. San Francisco's Golden Gate University
Golden Gate University
Golden Gate University is a private, nonsectarian, coeducational university located in the South of Market district, immediately south of the Financial District of downtown San Francisco, California...
traces its roots to the founding of the YMCA Night School on November 1, 1881. Detroit College of Law, now the Michigan State University College of Law
Michigan State University College of Law
The Michigan State University College of Law is a private law school located in East Lansing, Michigan which is affiliated with Michigan State University...
, was founded with a strong connection to the Detroit, Michigan YMCA. It had a 99-year lease on the site, and it was only when it expired did the college move to East Lansing, Michigan
East Lansing, Michigan
East Lansing is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located directly east of Lansing, Michigan, the state's capital. Most of the city is within Ingham County, though a small portion lies in Clinton County. The population was 48,579 at the time of the 2010 census, an increase from...
. The Nashville School of Law
Nashville School of Law
The Nashville School of Law, , is a private, night law school specializing in legal education for non-traditional, part-time, working professionals and others seeking a legal education...
was the YMCA Night Law School until November 1986, having offered law classes since 1911 and the degree of Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
since January of 1927. YMCA pioneered the concept of night school
Night School
Night School is a school that holds classes in the evening or at night, and is usually intended for continuing and adult learning and to accommodate people who work during the day.Night School may also refer to:...
, providing educational opportunities for people with full-time employment. Many YMCAs offer ESL programs, alternative high school, day care
Day care
Child care or day care is care of a child during the day by a person other than the child's legal guardians, typically performed by someone outside the child's immediate family...
, and summer camp
Summer camp
Summer camp is a supervised program for children or teenagers conducted during the summer months in some countries. Children and adolescents who attend summer camp are known as campers....
programs.
American high school students have a chance to participate in YMCA Youth and Government
YMCA Youth and Government
YMCA Youth and Government, or Y&G is a YMCA civic engagement and service-learning program in the United States that offers high school students the opportunity to serve in a model government process at the local, state, national, and international levels...
, wherein clubs of kids representing each YMCA community convene annually in their respective state legislatures to "take over the State Capitol for a day."
Athletic
In 1891, James NaismithJames Naismith
The first game of "Basket Ball" was played in December 1891. In a handwritten report, Naismith described the circumstances of the inaugural match; in contrast to modern basketball, the players played nine versus nine, handled a soccer ball, not a basketball, and instead of shooting at two hoops,...
, a Canadian-American, invented basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
while studying at the YMCA International Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is the most populous city in Western New England, and the seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers; the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River, and the eastern...
(later to be named Springfield College
Springfield College
Springfield College is a private, coeducational university located in the City of Springfield, Massachusetts. Springfield College is most famous as the site where the sport of basketball was invented...
). Naismith had been asked to invent a new game in an attempt to interest pupils in physical exercise. The game had to be interesting, easy to learn, and easy to play indoors in winter. Such an activity was needed both by the Training School and by YMCAs across the country. Naismith and his wife attended the 1936 Summer Olympics
1936 Summer Olympics
The 1936 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was held in 1936 in Berlin, Germany. Berlin won the bid to host the Games over Barcelona, Spain on April 26, 1931, at the 29th IOC Session in Barcelona...
when basketball became one of the Olympic events. In 1895, William G. Morgan
William G. Morgan
William G. Morgan was the inventor of volleyball, originally called "Mintonette". He was born in Lockport, New York, USA. He met James Naismith, inventor of basketball, while Morgan was studying at Springfield College, Massachusetts in 1892. Like Naismith, Morgan pursued a career in Physical...
from the YMCA of Holyoke, Massachusetts
Holyoke, Massachusetts
Holyoke is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, between the western bank of the Connecticut River and the Mount Tom Range of mountains. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a population of 39,880...
, invented the sport of volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
as a slower paced alternative sport, in which the older Y members could participate. In 1930, Juan Carlos Ceriani from the YMCA of Montevideo
Montevideo
Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...
, Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
, invented the sport of futsal
Futsal
Futsal is a variant of association football that is played on a smaller pitch and mainly played indoors. Its name is a portmanteau of the Portuguese futebol de salão and the Spanish fútbol de salón , which can be translated as "hall football" or "indoor football"...
as a synthesis of three indoor sports, handball
American handball
American handball is a sport in which players hit a small rubber ball against a wall using their hands.- History :...
, basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, and water polo
Water polo
Water polo is a team water sport. The playing team consists of six field players and one goalkeeper. The winner of the game is the team that scores more goals. Game play involves swimming, treading water , players passing the ball while being defended by opponents, and scoring by throwing into a...
, maintaining the motivation of the sport foot-ball (soccer) on playgrounds reduced.
Core values
All YMCA programs have a strong importance on the values of caring, honestyHonesty
Honesty refers to a facet of moral character and denotes positive, virtuous attributes such as integrity, truthfulness, and straightforwardness along with the absence of lying, cheating, or theft....
, respect
Respect
Respect denotes both a positive feeling of esteem for a person or other entity , and also specific actions and conduct representative of that esteem. Respect can be a specific feeling of regard for the actual qualities of the one respected...
, and responsibility
Responsibility
Responsibility may refer to:* Collective responsibility** Cabinet collective responsibility, a constitutional Convention in Governments using the Westminster System* Corporate responsibility** Corporate social responsibility...
. These core values were adopted formally by the YMCA of the United States in the early 1990s. They were developed to help teach children right from wrong.
Each of the core values has a color that is connected to it in order to help people remember them. Caring is associated with red, honesty with blue, responsibility with green and respect with yellow.
Organizational model
A federated model of governanceGovernance
Governance is the act of governing. It relates to decisions that define expectations, grant power, or verify performance. It consists of either a separate process or part of management or leadership processes...
has created a diversity of YMCA programs and services, with YMCAs in different countries and communities offering vastly different programming in response to local community needs. In North America, the YMCA is sometimes perceived to be primarily a community sports facility
Gym
The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, that mean a locality for both physical and intellectual education of young men...
; in Great Britain, the YMCA is sometimes perceived to be primarily a place for homeless young people; however, it offers a broad range of programs such as sport
Sport
A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...
s, personal fitness
Physical fitness
Physical fitness comprises two related concepts: general fitness , and specific fitness...
, child care
Day care
Child care or day care is care of a child during the day by a person other than the child's legal guardians, typically performed by someone outside the child's immediate family...
, overnight camping
Summer camp
Summer camp is a supervised program for children or teenagers conducted during the summer months in some countries. Children and adolescents who attend summer camp are known as campers....
, employment readiness programs, training programmes, advice services, immigrant services, conference centers and educational activities as methods of promoting its values
Value system
A value system is a set of consistent ethic values and measures used for the purpose of ethical or ideological integrity. A well defined value system is a moral code.-Personal and communal:...
.
North America
The Archives of the YMCA of the USA are located at the Kautz Family YMCA ArchivesKautz Family YMCA Archives
The Kautz Family YMCA Archives, located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, collects the historical records of its national organization, the YMCA of the USA and also holds records of the Minneapolis and Greater New York YMCAs, as well as those of Y's Men International, a service club in partnership with...
, a unit of the University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
Libraries Department of Archives and Special Collections. The Archives of the Canadian YMCA are held by Library and Archives Canada
Library and Archives Canada
Library and Archives Canada is a national memory institution dedicated to providing the best possible account of Canadian life through acquiring, preserving and making Canada's documentary heritage accessible for use in the 21st century and beyond...
. Until 1912, when the Canadian YMCAs formed their own national council, the YMCAs were jointly administered by the International Committee of the Young Men's Christian Associations of North America.
YMCAs in Canada adopt a more secular mission than their counterparts in other parts of the world, although most still reference religion in the terms of promoting "Christian Principles" or "Judeo-Christian
Judeo-Christian
Judeo-Christian is a term used in the United States since the 1940s to refer to standards of ethics said to be held in common by Judaism and Christianity, for example the Ten Commandments...
Values".
The national YMCA federation in Canada expresses its statement of purpose:
The national YMCA federation in the United States expresses its mission:
This variation is in keeping with the concept of local autonomy expressed in the preamble to the Paris Basis
Paris Basis
The Paris Basis is a group of principles guiding the relationships between individual YMCAs.Ninety-nine YMCA leaders of individual YMCAs from Europe and North America met for the first time prior to the 1855 Paris World Exposition to discuss the possibility of joining together in a federation...
, and both YMCA Canada and YMCA of the USA are active participants in the World Alliance of YMCAs.
The YMCA had a history of problems with the hierarchy of the Catholic Church. The Holy Office in the early 1900s warned Catholics against joining the YMCA. The situation is ambiguous today.
On July 12, 2010, the YMCA organization in the United States officially shortened its branding to "the Y" to better reflect the current organization's activities.
History
The first YMCA in North AmericaNorth America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
opened in Montreal, Quebec, on November 25, 1851.
The first YMCA in the United States opened on December 29, 1851, in Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1851 by Captain Thomas Valentine Sullivan (1800–1859), an American seaman and missionary. He was influenced by the London YMCA and saw the association as an opportunity to provide a "home away from home" for young sailors on shore leave. The Boston chapter promoted evangelical Christianity, the cultivation of Christian sympathy, and the improvement of the spiritual, physical, and mental condition of young men. By 1853, the Boston YMCA had 1,500 members, most of whom were merchants and artisans. Hardware merchant Franklin W. Smith
Franklin W. Smith
Franklin Webster Smith was an idealistic reformer who made his fortune as a Boston hardware merchant. He was an early abolitionist, defendant in a civilian court-martial in 1864, author, and architectural enthusiast who proposed transforming Washington, D.C...
was the first elected president in 1855.
Members paid an annual membership fee to use the facilities and services of the association. Because of political, physical, and population changes in Boston during the second half of the century, the Boston YMCA established branch divisions to satisfy the needs of local neighborhoods. From its early days, the Boston YMCA offered educational classes. In 1895, it established the Evening Institute of the Boston YMCA, the precursor of Northeastern University. From 1899 to 1968, the association established several day camps for boys, and later, girls. Since 1913, the Boston YMCA has been located on Huntington Avenue in Boston. It continues to offer social, educational, and community programs, and presently maintains 31 branches and centers. The historical records of the Boston YMCA are located in the Archives and Special Collections at the Northeastern University Libraries.
In 1879, Darren Blach organized the first Sioux
Sioux
The Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...
Indian YMCA in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. Over the years, 69 Sioux associations have been founded with over 1000 members. Today, the Sioux YMCAs, under the leadership of a Lakota Board of Directors, operate programs serving families and youth on the 4500 square miles (11,654.9 km²) Cheyenne River Indian Reservation
Cheyenne River Indian Reservation
The Cheyenne River Indian Reservation was created by the United States in 1889 by breaking up the Great Sioux Reservation, following its victory over the Lakota in a series of wars in the 1870s. The reservation covers almost all of Dewey and Ziebach counties in South Dakota...
.
YMCA camping began in 1885 when Camp Bell Witch (later known as Camp Dudley) was established by G A. Sanford and Sumner F. Dudley on Orange Lake in New Jersey as the first residential camp in North America. The camp later moved to Lake Champlain near Westport, NY.
Camping also had early origins in the YMCA movement in Canada with the establishment in 1889 of Big Cove YMCA Camp
Big Cove YMCA Camp
Big Cove YMCA Camp was founded in 1889. Big Cove is located north of Sutherland's River, Pictou County, Nova Scotia. Started as a residential camp for children from the Pictou YMCA, Big Cove is the longest running and oldest residential camp in North America. Big Cove is run from the community YMCA...
in Merigomish, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
.
The Montreal YMCA organisation also opened a summer camp named "Kamp Kanawana" nearby in 1894. In 1919, YMCA began their Storer Camps chain around the country.
The YMCA was associated with gay sub-culture through the middle part of the last century with the athletic facilities providing cover for closeted individuals. This association spawned the song "Y.M.C.A" in the mid 70s.
YMCA during American wars
Starting before the American Civil WarAmerican Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, YMCA provided nursing, shelter, and other support in wartime.
During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the YMCA raised and spent over $155,000,000 on welfare efforts for American soldiers. They deployed over 25,000 staff in military units and bases from Siberia to Egypt to France. They took over the military's morale and comfort operations worldwide. Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin was an American composer and lyricist of Jewish heritage, widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in American history.His first hit song, "Alexander's Ragtime Band", became world famous...
wrote Yip Yip Yaphank
Yip Yip Yaphank
Yip Yip Yaphank is the name of musical revue composed and produced by Irving Berlin in 1918 while he was a recruit during World War I in the United States Army at Camp Upton in Yaphank, New York.-From idea to the stage:...
, a revue that included a song entitled "I Can Always Find a Little Sunshine in the Y.M.C.A." Frances Gulick
Frances Gulick
Frances Jewett Gulick was an American Y.M.C.A. welfare worker who was awarded a United States Army citation for valor and courage on the field during the aerial bombardment of Varmaise, Oise, France in World War I. She was attached to the First Engineers in Europe, and was operating a canteen at...
was a Y.M.C.A. worker stationed in France during World War I who received a United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
citation for valor and courage on the field.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
the YMCA was involved in supporting millions of POWs
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
and in supporting Japanese-Americans in internment camps
Japanese American internment
Japanese-American internment was the relocation and internment by the United States government in 1942 of approximately 110,000 Japanese Americans and Japanese who lived along the Pacific coast of the United States to camps called "War Relocation Camps," in the wake of Imperial Japan's attack on...
. This help included helping young men leave the camps to attend Springfield College and providing youth activities in the camps. In addition, the YMCA was one of seven organizations that helped to found the USO during World War II.
Sports and fitness
It is very common for YMCAs to have swimming pools and weightrooms, along with facilities for playing various sports such as basketballBasketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
, racquetball
Racquetball
For other sports often called "paddleball", see Paddleball .Racquetball is a racquet sport played with a hollow rubber ball in an indoor or outdoor court...
, and futsal
Futsal
Futsal is a variant of association football that is played on a smaller pitch and mainly played indoors. Its name is a portmanteau of the Portuguese futebol de salão and the Spanish fútbol de salón , which can be translated as "hall football" or "indoor football"...
. The YMCA also sponsors youth sports teams for swimming
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
, cheerleading
Cheerleading
Cheerleading is a physical activity, sometimes a competitive sport, based on organized routines, usually ranging from one to three minutes, which contain the components of tumbling, dance, jumps, cheers, and stunting to direct spectators of events to cheer on sports teams at games or to participate...
, basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, futsal
Futsal
Futsal is a variant of association football that is played on a smaller pitch and mainly played indoors. Its name is a portmanteau of the Portuguese futebol de salão and the Spanish fútbol de salón , which can be translated as "hall football" or "indoor football"...
, and soccer.
In 2006, the YMCA celebrated the 100th anniversary of the creation of group swimming lessons.
Until the 1970s when women first started coming to YMCA facilities, wearing clothing of any type in YMCA pools was strictly forbidden. One reason cited was that the cotton or even older wool swimsuits would clog up the filtration system. Another reason was dirt and soap would be released into the pool from the fibers of swim wear. Filtration systems used in swimming pools were not as advanced as they are today, and far less chlorine was used making it easier, in those days, to degrade the cleanliness of the water thereby promoting the growth of bacteria. Females were never allowed to be present in such a setting.
Concerned with the rising rates of obesity among adults and children in America, YMCAs around the country are joining with the non-profit America on the Move to help Americans increase their physical fitness by walking more frequently.
Parent/Child programs
In the United States, the YMCA parent/child programs under the umbrella program called Y-Guides, (originally called YMCA Indian Guides, Princess, Braves and Maidens) have provided structured opportunities for fellowship, camping, and community-building activities (including craft-making and community service) for several generations of parents and kids in kindergarten through third grade.The roots of these programs stem from similar activities dating back to 1926. Notable founders of YMCA Indian Guides include Harold Keltner, a St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
YMCA director, and indirectly, Joe Friday, an Ojibwa
Ojibwa
The Ojibwe or Chippewa are among the largest groups of Native Americans–First Nations north of Mexico. They are divided between Canada and the United States. In Canada, they are the third-largest population among First Nations, surpassed only by Cree and Inuit...
hunting guide. The two men met in the early 1920s, when Joe Friday was a speaker at a local YMCA banquet for Fathers and Sons that Harold Keltner had arranged. Today, Joe Friday and Harold Keltner are commemorated with patch awards honoring their legacy which are given out to distinguished YMCA volunteers in the program. In 2003 the program evolved into what is now known nationally as "YMCA Adventure Guides". "Trailblazers" is the YMCA's parent/child program for older kids. In 2006, YMCA Indian Guides celebrated 80 years as a YMCA program. Several local YMCAs continue to employ the Native American theme, and some YMCA Indian Guides groups have separated from the YMCA and operate independently as the "Native Sons and Daughters Programs" from the National Longhouse
In some programs, children earn patches for achieving various goals, such as completing a designated nature hike or participating in Y-sponsored events. Indian Guides were parodied in the 1960 Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
/Lucille Ball
Lucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball was an American comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy...
comedy The Facts of Life
The Facts of Life (film)
The Facts of Life is a 1960 romantic comedy starring Bob Hope and Lucille Ball as middle-aged people who have an affair despite being married to other people. Written, directed, and produced by the longtime Hope associates Melvin Frank and Norman Panama, the film was more serious than many other...
, and in the 1995 comedy Man of the House
Man of the House (1995 film)
Man of the House is a 1995 comedy film starring Chevy Chase, Farrah Fawcett and Jonathan Taylor Thomas. Marking Thomas' motion picture debut, this Disney comedy is about a boy who must come to terms with his potential stepfather , a well-meaning lawyer who is unknowingly the subject of a manhunt...
.
Great Britain and Northern Ireland
The Archive of the British YMCA is housed at the University of BirminghamUniversity of Birmingham
The University of Birmingham is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Birmingham Medical School and Mason Science College . Birmingham was the first Redbrick university to gain a charter and thus...
Special Collections. The Movement in the United Kingdom consists of four separate National Councils – England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
Residences
Until the late 1950s, YMCAs in the United States were built with hotel-like rooms called residences or dormitories. These rooms became a significant part of American culture, known as an inexpensive and safe place for a visitor to stay in an unfamiliar city (as, for example, in the 1978 Village PeopleVillage People
Village People is a concept disco group that formed in the United States in 1977, well known for their on-stage costumes depicting American cultural stereotypes, as well as their catchy tunes and suggestive lyrics....
song "YMCA"). In 1940 there were about 100,000 rooms at YMCAs, more than any hotel chain. By 2006, YMCAs with residences had become relatively rare in the US, but many still existed.
Many YMCAs throughout the world still maintain residences as an integral part of the programming. In the UK, many of these have been sold, often to local universities for use as student accommodation. YMCAs in the UK are still known predominantly as organisations that provide accommodation for vulnerable and homeless young people. Across the UK the YMCA provides over 8,000 bedspaces, and is thus one of the largest providers of safe supported accommodation for young people. The vast majority of this accommodation is supported, which is to say it is a platform through which residents access a range of other personal, social and educational services.
Nobel Peace Prize winners
- 1901: Henry DunantHenry DunantJean Henri Dunant , aka Henry Dunant, was a Swiss businessman and social activist. During a business trip in 1859, he was witness to the aftermath of the Battle of Solferino in modern day Italy...
, who co-founded the Geneva YMCA in 1852, and was one of the founders of the World Alliance of YMCAs, won the first ever Nobel Peace PrizeNobel Peace PrizeThe Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
for founding the International Committee of the Red CrossInternational Committee of the Red CrossThe International Committee of the Red Cross is a private humanitarian institution based in Geneva, Switzerland. States parties to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols of 1977 and 2005, have given the ICRC a mandate to protect the victims of international and...
in 1863, and inspiring the Geneva Convention (Convention de Genève). He shared the prize with Frédéric PassyFrédéric PassyFrédéric Passy was a French economist and a joint winner of the first Nobel Peace Prize awarded in 1901.- Biography :...
, founder and President of the first French peace society. - 1946: John R. MottJohn MottJohn Raleigh Mott was a long-serving leader of the YMCA and the World Student Christian Federation...
, USA, President of the World Alliance, won the Nobel Peace PrizeNobel Peace PrizeThe Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
for his "long and fruitful labours in drawing together the peoples of many nations, many races and many communions in a common bond of spirituality". John R. Mott also played an important role in the founding of the World Student Christian FederationWorld Student Christian FederationThe World Student Christian Federation is a federation of autonomous national Student Christian Movements forming the youth and student arm of the global ecumenical movement...
in 1895, and the World Council of ChurchesWorld Council of ChurchesThe World Council of Churches is a worldwide fellowship of 349 global, regional and sub-regional, national and local churches seeking unity, a common witness and Christian service. It is a Christian ecumenical organization that is based in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland...
in 1948. - 2008: Martti AhtisaariMartti AhtisaariMartti Oiva Kalevi Ahtisaari is a Finnish politician, the tenth President of Finland , Nobel Peace Prize laureate and United Nations diplomat and mediator, noted for his international peace work....
See also
- Clean Living MovementsClean Living MovementsIn the history of the United States, a clean living movement is a period of time when a surge of health-reform crusades, many with moral overtones, erupts into the popular consciousness. This results in individual, or group reformers such as the anti-tobacco or alcohol coalitions of the late...
- HostelHostelHostels provide budget oriented, sociable accommodation where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed, in a dormitory and share a bathroom, lounge and sometimes a kitchen. Rooms can be mixed or single-sex, although private rooms may also be available...
- Kautz Family YMCA ArchivesKautz Family YMCA ArchivesThe Kautz Family YMCA Archives, located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, collects the historical records of its national organization, the YMCA of the USA and also holds records of the Minneapolis and Greater New York YMCAs, as well as those of Y's Men International, a service club in partnership with...
- Muscular ChristianityMuscular ChristianityMuscular Christianity is a term for a movement originating during the Victorian era which stressed the need for energetic Christian activism in combination with an ideal of vigorous masculinity...
- Paris BasisParis BasisThe Paris Basis is a group of principles guiding the relationships between individual YMCAs.Ninety-nine YMCA leaders of individual YMCAs from Europe and North America met for the first time prior to the 1855 Paris World Exposition to discuss the possibility of joining together in a federation...
- Polish YMCAPolish YMCAZwiązek Młodzieży Chrześcijańskiej – also known as Polish YMCA – is youth social organization, based on the international organizations that YMCA built. It encourages good conduct, charity and education, and activities based on Christian morals...
- TUXISTUXISTUXIS was a boys’ program similar to the Scouting movement promoted by Canadian Protestant churches. There are a number of variations of what the acronym "TUXIS" is said to stand for...
- YMCA of Greater New YorkYMCA of Greater New YorkNot to be confused with the YMHA, the YWHA or the 92nd Street Y.The YMCA of Greater New York is a community service organization that promotes positive values through programs that build spirit, mind and body. The YMCA is welcoming to all New Yorkers, with a focus on the City’s youth. No one is...
- YMCA Youth and GovernmentYMCA Youth and GovernmentYMCA Youth and Government, or Y&G is a YMCA civic engagement and service-learning program in the United States that offers high school students the opportunity to serve in a model government process at the local, state, national, and international levels...
- YWCAYWCAThe YWCA USA is the United States branch of a women's membership movement that strives to create opportunities for women's growth, leadership and power in order to attain a common vision—to eliminate racism and empower women. The YWCA is a non-profit organization, the first of which was founded in...
- YMCA (song)YMCA (song)"Y.M.C.A." is a song recorded by American disco group Village People. It was released in 1978 as the only single from the album Cruisin. The song reached No. 2 on the U.S. charts in early 1979 and reached No.1 in the UK around the same time, becoming the group's biggest hit...
- Portland vice scandalPortland vice scandalThe Portland vice scandal refers to the discovery in November 1912 of a gay male subculture in the U.S. city of Portland, Oregon, following the arrest and interrogation of nineteen-year-old Benjamin Trout for shoplifting...
External links
- YMCA Research
- YMCA Cabinet Record Book (MUM00654) at the University of Mississippi, Archives and Special Collections.
- Albany community protests the closing of downtown YMCA
- The Young Men's Christian Association of Greater Boston, West Roxbury/Roslindale Branch records, 1948–1995 are located in the Northeastern University Libraries, Archives and Special Collections Department, Boston, MA.
- The Young Men's Christian Association of Greater Boston records, n.d., 1833–2003 (bulk 1851–1970) are located in the Northeastern University Libraries, Archives and Special Collections Department, Boston, MA.