MSS 868 Young Men's Christian Association Records

              MSS 868
Young M e n ' s C h r i s t i a n
A s s o c i a t i o n o f Columbus ( O h i o )
C o r p o r a t e R e c o r d s
4- 314 c u b i c f e e t
S t a n d a r d i n v e n t o r y
C o l l e c t i o n S y n o p s i s
P r o v e n a n c e : The O h i o H i s t o r i c a l S o c i e t y a c q u i r e d t h e Young i 4 e n ' s
C h r i s t i a n A s s o c i a t i o n o f Columbus, ( O h i o ) C o r p o r a t e R e c o r d s as a
g i f t o f t h e YMCA, t h r o u g h t h e a u s p i c e s o f t h e e x e c u t i v e d i r ~ c t o r ,
J e r r y G a r v e r , i n May 1984. R o b e r t W. V i o l p r o c e s s e d t h e c o l l e c t i o n
i n 3 c t o b e r 1 9 8 4 .
P r o p e r t y r i g h t s : The O h i o H i s t o r i c a l S o c i e t y owns t h e p r o p e r t y
r i g h t s t o t h i s c o l l e c t i o n .
C o p y r i g h t s : The YMCA has d e d i c a t e d s u c h c o p y r i g h t s as i t p o s s e s s e s
iii t h i s c o l l e c t i o n t o t h e p u b l i c . C o n s i d e r a t i o n o f a l l o t h e r c o p y -
r i g h t s i s t h e r e s p o n s i b i l i t y o f t h e a u t h o r and p u b l i s h e r .
A c c e s s : T h i s c o l l e c t i o n i s open u n d e r t h e r u l e s and r e g u l a t i o n s o f
t h e O h i o H i s t o r i c a l S o c i e t y .
C i t a t i o n : R e s e a r c h e r s a r e r e q u e s t e d t o c i t e c o l l e c t i o n name, c o l l e c -
t i o n number, and t h e O h i o i i i s t o r i c a l S o c i e t y i n a l l f o o t n o t e and
b i b l i o g r a p h i c r e f e r e n c e s .
T r a n s f e r : P h o t o g r a p h s were t r a n s f e r r e d t o SC 800 i n O c t o b e r 1984.
H i s t o r i c a l and o r g a n i z a t i o n a l s k e t c h ; The Young M e n ' s C h r i s t i a n
A s s o c i a t i o n o f Columbus, O h i o , ( YMCA) was f o u n d e d i n - J a n u a r y 1 8 5 5 ,
b y f o r t y lnen who g a t h e r e d i n t h e l e c t u r e rooms o f t h e o l d F i r s t
P r e s b y t e r i a n C h u r c h l o c a t e d a t t h e c o r n e r o f E a s t S t a t e and S o u t h
T h i r d S t r e e t s . H e n r y Beebee C a r i n g t o n was e l e c t e d p r e s i d e n t . The
a c t i v i t i e s o f t h i s o r g a n i z a t i o n l a r g e l y c o n s i s t e d o f s p o n s o r i n g
m e e t i n g s a t w h i c h n o t e d l e c t u r e r s s p o k e a b o u t t h e i s s u e s o f t h e d a y .
W i t h i n t h e f i r s t y e a r t h e YMCA's h e a d q u a r t e r s moved t o D e s h l e r H a l l .
On A p r i l 30, 1 8 6 6 , t h e YMCA was r e o r g a n i z e d and R . E. W h i t e was
e l e c t e d p r e s i d e n t ; i t s c o n s t i t u t i o n was a d o p t e d on September
2 4 , 1 8 6 6 . T h i s YMCA, l i k e t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n f o u n d e d i n 1855,
e v e n t u a l l y d i s b a n d e d due t o l a c k o f s u p p o r t .
I n 1875 t h e YMCA o f Columbus was a g a i n r e o r g a n i z e d w i t h C h a r l e s W .
H a l l as p r e s i d e n t . The work o f t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n a t t h i s t i m e
was o f an e v a n g e l i s t i c n a t u r e and d i d n o t r e c e i v e t h e s u p p o r t
o f t h e c o m m u n i t y ' s y o u n g men. From 1875 t o 1893 t h e YMCA moved
s e v e r a l t i m e s , o c c u p y i n g b u i l d i n g s on E a s t Gay S t e e t , H a y d e n ' s
B u i l d i n g a t 22 E a s t B r o a d S t r e e t ( 1 8 7 5 ) , t h e c o r n e r s f H i g n -
S t r e e t and L o n g S t r e e t ( 1 8 7 6 ) , 56 E a s t B r o a d S t r e e t ( 1 8 8 3 ) , 44
E a s t B r o a d S t r e e t ( 1 8 8 5 ) , a n d 3 4 S o u t h T h i r d S t r e e t ( 1 8 9 3 ) .
OWlO BlSTORlCAL SOCIETY
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