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YMCA History |
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For 150 years and counting, the YMCA movement has had an interesting and productive history. In addition to the invention of two of the world’s most popular sports, Y history includes distinguished service to America through service to U.S. soldiers in times of war. YMCAs have served in every one of the nation’s struggles since the American Civil War, offering a home away from home to our troops and military noncombatants.
Today, local YMCA support of war-time forces often takes the form of support of the families left behind. Such is the case with the YMCA of Greater Louisville, which offers free child care to families of soldiers serving in Iraq and other countries in the War on Terror.
One good reason to look at what YMCAs did in the past is to inspire today’s YMCA staff and volunteers to serve their communities with the same courage, dedication and concern as their predecessors.
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History Topics
Please scroll the page or click a link below to jump to your area of interest. Text content for this page is excerpted from articles compiled by the YMCA of the USA. Our thanks to them for the fine work they continue to do in archiving the YMCA’s rich history in America.
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Wherever the Soldier Goes
YMCAs have always sought out young men to assist, and the fact that men went into the military simply meant that the YMCA followed them there. To meet the needs of those in the armed forces, YMCAs have always responded with care, imagination and skill. George Stuart, founder of the Philadelphia YMCA and head of YMCA efforts in the Civil War, said that there is "a good deal of religion in a warm shirt and a good beefsteak."
Following is a brief photo essay of YMCA service in World War I.
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The USO
The United Service Organizations, better known as the USO, was created in October 1940 as a joint effort of the YMCA, YWCA, National Catholic Community Service, National Jewish Welfare Board, Traveler’s Aid Association and the Salvation Army. Like the YMCA, these other organizations had long histories of helping servicemen and noncombatants in the nation’s wars. However, the scale of mobilization needed as America prepared for World War II was far beyond the scope of any one organization.
The only way to deal effectively with the needs of the hundreds of thousands of young men being drafted was to combine and coordinate efforts. In January 1941, USO leaders met with President Roosevelt and various military leaders. In settling a dispute between which areas of the USO’s activities would be controlled by the military and which by the civilians, Roosevelt ordered that the private organizations would handle the recreational services and the government would provide buildings with the USO name on them.
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The Nobel Peace Prize
In 1946, John R. Mott, a leader of the YMCA movement in America, and Emily Greene Balch were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for pioneering work in peacemaking. Mott received the award in recognition for the role the YMCA had played in increasing global understanding and for its humanitarian efforts. A product of the student YMCA movement, Mott was a major influence in the Y’s missionary movement.
In 1993, the Jerusalem International YMCA, the only Y owned by the YMCA of the USA, was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for its work in promoting peace in the Middle East.
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YMCA Sports History |
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Millions of people have been introduced to sports at YMCAs, and many of the sports people play were invented at YMCAs. Included in the list of sports invented at Ys are two of the world’s most popular—volleyball and basketball.
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A 1918 volleyball game
Volleyball was invented at the Holyoke (MA) YMCA in 1895 by William Morgan, an instructor at the Y who felt that basketball was too strenuous for businessmen. Morgan blended elements of basketball, tennis, and handball into the game and called it "mintonette." The name "volleyball" was first used in 1896 during an exhibition at the International YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts, to better describe how the ball went back and forth over the net. In 1922, YMCAs held their first national volleyball championship. In 1924, when non-YMCA teams were permitted to compete, this became the U.S. Open.
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Basketball—At the International YMCA Training School in December, 1891, James Naismith invented the game of basketball, doing so at the demand of Luther Gulick, the director of the school. Gulick needed a game to occupy a "class of incorrigibles"—18 future YMCA directors who, more interested in rugby and football, didn’t care for leapfrog, tumbling and other activities they were forced to do during the winter. Obviously out of patience with the group, Gulick gave Naismith two weeks to come up with a game to occupy them.
Naismith decided that the new game had to be physically active and simple to understand. It could not be rough, so no contact could be allowed. The ball could be passed but not carried. Goals at each end of the court would lend a degree of difficulty and give skill and science a role. Elevating the goal would eliminate rushes that could injure players, a problem in football and rugby.
Introducing the game of "basket ball" at the next gym class (Naismith did meet Gulick’s deadline), Naismith posted 13 rules on the wall and taught the game to the incorrigibles. The men loved it and proceeded to introduce "basket ball" to their home towns over Christmas break. Naismith’s invention spread like wildfire.
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Not only was basketball invented by a YMCA institution, but the game’s first professional team came from a Y. The Trenton (NJ) YMCA had fielded a basketball team since 1892, and in 1896 its team claimed to be the national champions after beating various other YMCA and college teams. The team then severed its ties with the Y. It played the 1896-97 season out of a local Masonic temple, charging for admission and keeping the proceeds
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An early aquatics program |
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Swimming and aquatics have long been associated with the YMCA, and tens of millions of people across the country have learned how to swim at the YMCA. It was not always this way, however, and for many years swimming was seen as a distraction from legitimate physical development.
The first reported YMCA "swimming bath" was built at the Brooklyn (NY) Central YMCA in 1885. By the end of the year, it was reported that seventeen Ys had pools. Pools then bore scant resemblance to the pools of today: the Brooklyn Central pool was 14' x 45' and only 5' deep. Early pools, in addition to being small, had no filters or recirculation systems. The water in the pool just got dirtier and dirtier until the pool was drained and cleaned, which some Ys did on a weekly basis. No wonder the medical community saw them as a threat to health.
Two developments helped change YMCA staff attitudes towards pools: the use of filtration systems for keeping the water clean and the development of mass swim lessons in 1907 by George Corsan at the Detroit YMCA. Corsan taught swimming strokes on land, starting with the crawl stroke first, as a confidence builder. Prior to Corsan’s methods, strokes were taught only in the pool and the crawl was not taught until later. Corsan also came up with the ideas of the learn-to-swim campaign and using bronze buttons as rewards for swimming proficiency.
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