Golden State YMCA history

Carter G. Woodson, Ph.D., a historian and the second African American to receive a doctorate in history from Harvard University, stayed at the Wabash Area YMCA in Chicago when he visited the city during the 1910s. It was there that Doctor Woodson and three friends met in 1915 to found the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History.

Y leaders were urged to become more businesslike in both their appearance and their operations, a topic raised by Y boards since the 1920s.

Later expansion led to its becoming Northeastern University in 1922.

According to Valparaiso University's Art Department, Sallman made a charcoal sketch of Head of Christ at his studio at 5412 North Spaulding, Chicago, in 1924 as cover art for a magazine called The Covenant.

In 1932 there were more than 1 million swimmers a year at YMCAs.

When direct relief was taken over by the federal government in 1933, it released YMCAs and other nonprofits from their welfare tasks.

In 1938 a national plan was developed for certifying aquatic directors and instructors.

Some lists of YMCA firsts state that Warner Sallman painted Head of Christ in the reading room of the Central YMCA in Chicago in 1940.

In 1943, Doctor Thomas K. Cureton, chairman of the YMCA National Aquatic Committee, published Warfare Aquatics, which was widely used by the armed forces (and YMCAs!) during the conflict and after.

In Chicago, Roosevelt University was founded in 1945 as a result of a split within the existing Central YMCA College.

Racquetball was invented in 1950 at the Greenwich (Conn.) YMCA by Joe Sobek, a member who couldn't find other squash players of his caliber and who did not care for handball.

In 1958, the United States and Canadian YMCAs launched Buildings for Brotherhood in which the two nations raised $55 million which was matched by $6 million overseas.

Child care for working parents, an extension of what YMCAs had done informally for years, came with a rush in 1983 and quickly joined health and fitness, camping, and residences as a major source of YMCA income.

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 for promoting peace in the Middle East.