| 1844 |
George Williams and 11 other young men organized
the first Young Men's Christian Association, London, England,
June 6. |
| 1845 |
Development of YMCAs in Switzerland, USA, France,
Canada, Germany, Netherlands. |
| 1851 |
Thomas V. Sullivan, a retired Canadian
sea-whaling captain, started the YMCA in the USA in Boston,
MA. |
| 1852 |
First association for colored men founded by Anthony
Bowen, a freed slave, District of Columbia. |
| 1853 |
Former slave Anthony Bowen organized the first
African-American YMCA in Washington, D.C. At the conclusion
of the Civil War, African-American communities established YMCAs
in New York City; Philadelphia; Charleston, S.C.; and Harrisburg,
PA. |
| 1861 |
YMCAs formed United States Christian Commission
for troops' temporal and spiritual comfort in Civil War. 5,000
volunteers worked at battlefields, hospitals, camps, prisoner-of-war
compounds. First Armed Services YMCA work. |
| 1868 |
First State YMCA established, Connecticut. |
| 1874 |
Women included in the Y's membership. |
| 1881 |
Robert Roberts hired by Boston YMCA. He coined
the word bodybuilding and developed exercise classes that anticipated
today's fitness workouts. |
|
1885
|
Sumner Dudley established first residential summer
camp for boys, Orange Lake, near Newburgh, New York.
YMCA's first indoor pool, called a swimming bath, Brooklyn,
New York.
School for Christian Workers opened at Springfield, Massachusetts.
It included a YMCA department which quickly became its major
emphasis. In 1890 it became the International YMCA training
School, and later Springfield College.
|
| 1889 |
Luther Gulick, Springfield College physical Director,
proposed triangle logo for YMCAs as symbol of unity of Christian
personality: spirit, mind and body. |
| 1891 |
Dr. James Naismith, working for Luther Gulick
at Springfield College, invented basketball, a game that started
with 18 men in a YMCA gymnasium in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Naismith had 14 days to create an indoor game that would provide
an "athletic distraction" for a rowdy class through
the brutal New England winter. Naismith recalled a childhood
game that required players to use finesse and accuracy to become
successful. After brainstorming this new idea, Naismith developed
basketball's original 13 rules and consequently, the game of
basketball. Basketball has grown into a game that more than
300 million people play worldwide. |
| 1894 |
Queen Victoria knighted George Williams on the
occasion of the 50th anniversary of the YMCA's founding. |
| 1895 |
William G. Morgan (1870-1942), an instructor at
the YMCA in Holyoke, Massachusetts, decided to blend elements
of tennis, baseball, basketball, and handball to create a game
for his classes of businessmen which would demand less physical
contact than basketball. He created the game of "mintonette."
Morgan used the bladder of a basketball to provide a lighter
ball with a more lively bounce. He borrowed the net from tennis,
and raised it 6 feet 6 inches above the floor, just above the
height of an average man's head. On July 7, 1986 at Springfield
College, the first game of "volleyball" was played. |
| 1900 |
Building boom began, 290 YMCAs were built in 16
years, with pools, gyms, residences, meeting rooms, game rooms,
libraries. |
| 1906 |
Water safety and learn-to-swim campaigns launched.
George Corsan, of Toronto, hired by Detroit YMCA, revolutionized
teaching with mass swimming lessons, dry land drills, the crawl.
|
| 1917 |
The day the United States entered World War I,
John R. Mott pledged YMCA support for soldiers to President
Woodrow Wilson. Eventually 26,000 men and women served in YMCA
canteens at home and abroad. |
| 1920 |
Y's Men's Club organized, Toledo, Ohio. |
| 1926 |
Harold J. Keltner, St. Louis YMCA, and Joe Friday,
an Ojibway, began Y-Indian Guides parent-child programs based
on the Indian family model. |
| 1936 |
First Youth and Government program of citizenship
and leadership training, held at the State YMCA of New York
in Albany. |
| 1941 |
YMCA and five other national organizations serving
the military formed United Service Organizations (USO) to manage
work with armed forces in World War II. |
| 1955 |
World Centennial Conference in Paris to celebrate
the 100th anniversary of the World Alliance of YMCAs and 1st
World Council. This was one of the most significant gatherings
of the YMCA and approximately 8,000 persons attended. The major
resolutions of the 1955 conference are set out in the Centennial
declaration. Adoption of a new constitution and reaffirmation
of the Paris Basis, which expressed the continuing basis of
work and witness of the Young Men's Christian Association. |
| 1958 |
The U.S. and Canadian YMCAs launched Buildings
for Brotherhood in which the two nations raised $55 million
which was matched by $6 million overseas. The result was 98
Y buildings renovated, improved or built new in 32 countries. |
| 1962-1966 |
The Roman Catholic Church held its Second Vatican
Council in Rome. It 1966 showed a commitment to reverse the
rigid ways of the past and brought in ecumenism, and around
the world changed the language of the Mass from Latin to the
language that parishioners spoke everyday. These changes led
the rest of Christendom in new directions and opened doors for
relationships with the YMCA. Previous to this event, Roman Catholics
were not permitted a YMCA membership. |
| 1970 |
The fraternal secretaries serving YMCAs overseas
were being called home. Some buildings in U.S. cities were shuttered
and residences dosed for lack of clientele and insufficient
funds for proper maintenance. Y leaders were urged to become
more businesslike in both their appearance and their operations,
a topic raised by Y boards since the 1920s. |
| 1975 |
The old physical programming featured by YMCAs
for a century began to perk up as interest in healthy lifestyles
increased nationwide. |
| 1980 |
Pressure for up-to-date buildings and equipment
brought on a boom in construction that lasted through the decade.
|
| 1983 |
Introduction of child care for working parents,
followed quickly by health and fitness, camping, and residences
as a major source of YMCA income. (picture #52 - CD1) |
|
'80s-'90s
|
The ideas of "values clarification" were slowly
replaced by ideas of "character." The moral upbringing
of children had been considered the sole domain of the family,
and enabling the child to discover his or her own ethical
system was the goal. The ideas of character development and
civic virtues became central with Bennet's The book of Virtues.
|
| '90s |
A tremendous change occurred in the field of youth
development. Previously, focused on a "deficit model,"
youth were measured on what went wrong, who got into trouble
and how could they be corrected. Currently, an "asset model'
is being followed. The Y-USA collaborated with The Search Institute
and research showed 40 developmental assets that positively
correlate with pro- social and healthy behaviors in youth confirms
that the more assets a youth has, the more likely he or she
is to behave well, the less likely to engage in risky behaviors.
This not only provided a "road map" for Ys to follow
in creating healthy kids, families and communities, but also
was an inherent proof of the effectiveness of youth programs.
|
