The Community Ymca history

The first YMCA for blacks was founded in 1853 by Anthony Bowen, a freed slave, in Washington, D.C. It was the first nonchurch black institution in America, predating Lincoln University in Oxford, Pa., by a year.

In 1859, the Boston YMCA made similar efforts.

In the winter of 1863-64, the YMCA of one Mississippi brigade organized a one-day-a-week fast among its members and sent the saved rations to the poor in Richmond.

Since 1864, the YMCA of Central Massachusetts has fostered forward-thinking leaders.

In 1866, the influential New York YMCA adopted a fourfold purpose: "The improvement of the spiritual, mental, social and physical condition of young men."

The first known Y dormitory was noted in 1867, when the Chicago YMCA had a 42-room dormitory in Farwell Hall.

Our roots can be traced back to 1874 when a modest, single facility was opened in Red Bank to serve young men.

These were insufficient, though, and at least since 1876 there had been calls for Ys in large metropolitan areas to set up training schools.

The Harrisburg (Pa.) YMCA opened a Y dormitory in 1877 in a renovated hotel.

The YMCA’s official first emblem — commonly referred to as the “John logo” — was adopted by the YMCA World Alliance in 1881.

Since 1882, the Tri-Community YMCA organization has built a strong reputation for striving to meet the health, fitness and social challenges of area residents while focusing attention on serving at-risk children and families.

The first reported YMCA swimming bath was built at the Brooklyn (NY) Central YMCA in 1885.

Ellen Brown, who was not only the first female employee of a YMCA, but also the first boy's work secretary in the movement, was hired in 1886.

Originally established in 1887, the Montachusett Community Branch YMCA strengthens the foundations of our community through well-being and fitness, camp, family time, swim, sports and play, and other activities for people of all ages, incomes and abilities.

The student Ys of that era included as members John Mott and Robert Wilder, who founded the Student Volunteer Movement in 1888.

The need for a formal school was also felt in the Midwest, with a YMCA Training School housed in the downtown Chicago YMCA opening in 1890 with five students.

Yes, it was at the International YMCA Training School that in December 1891, James Naismith invented the game of basketball, doing so at the demand of Luther Gulick, the director of the school.

The Freehold Area YMCA is organized in Freehold on May 18, 1894.

The first Y employee hired to do Indian work full time was Charles Eastman, MD, a Sioux hired in 1895.

The name "volleyball" was first used in 1896 during an exhibition at the International YMCA Training School in Springfield, Mass., to better describe how the ball went back and forth over the net.

After Dudley's death in 1897, the camp was renamed Camp Dudley.

Gideons International was formed on July 1, 1899, at the YMCA in Janesville, Wis., by three men (Nicholson, Hill and Knights) who had come up with the idea a few months earlier.

Toastmasters International was invented in 1903 as an older youth public speaking program by Ralph C. Smedley, education director of the Bloomington (Ill.) YMCA. Smedley realized that older boys visiting the Y needed training in communication skills.

The first was the development of mass swim lessons in 1906 by George Corsan at the Detroit YMCA. What Corsan did was to teach swimming strokes on land, starting with the crawl stroke first, as a confidence builder.

After Lord S.S. Baden-Powell and others started Scouting in 1907 in Britain, it spread to America, and many YMCAs here had Boy Scout programs around the turn of the century.

Father's Day in its present form was created at a meeting at the Spokane, Wash., YMCA in 1909 by Louise Smart Dodd.

The Y and the Spokane Minister's Alliance swiftly endorsed the idea and helped it spread, holding the first Father's Day celebration on June 10, 1910.

The first official steps to organizing the fund began in 1913.

By 1914 there were 31 military YMCAs and 180 traveling libraries.

The men felt that if whites learned more about blacks, race relations would improve. It was there that Doctor Woodson and three friends met in 1915 to found the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History.

Rahway’s 1917 building on Irving Street is modernized over the next two years refurbishing the gymnasium, locker rooms, swimming pool and opening a preschool childcare center and cardiovascular fitness training area.

Another, The Meaning of YMCA (You Must Come Across), written by Ed Rose and Abe Olman in 1918, had the lyric: They've done their bit and more.

The flagship Central Community Branch YMCA found its current home in the heart of Worcester’s “Main South” neighborhood in 1920.

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.

The Westerly-Pawcatuck branch was founded in 1928 on its current site next to Wilcox Park in Westerly, RI.

Elizabeth Branch main building opens January 1, 1929 just months before the Great Depression.

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.

In all there were 20 YMCA colleges in 1950, ranging from Fenn College in Cleveland to Springfield College.

The Council for National Cooperation in Aquatics, formed in 1951, was created as a result of the efforts of the YMCA. A group of 20 national agencies, the Council was organized to expand cooperation in the field of aquatics.

In 1955, the Y doors opened with gym classes, softball and basketball leagues, a Health Club for men, informal educational classes, and community meetings.

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.

Locally, the Kosciusko Community YMCA was founded in 1962 in response to community need based on a survey conducted by the local Jaycees.

The Throckmorton Street facility was sold in 1968.

Jazzercise, a famous aerobic exercise program for women, was started in 1969 in Evanston, Ill., by a dancer, Judi Missett.

Beginning in 1970 the fraternal secretaries serving YMCAs overseas were being called home.

In 1975, the Valley-Shore YMCA came to be when a community fundraising effort funded a brand new facility which included a building and pool on 26 acres on Spencer Plains Road in Westbrook with close access to Route I-95.

In 1984, the Kosciusko Community YMCA Board of Directors determined that if the Y was to continue serving our community, a major building and renovation expansion project must take place.

The new addition, at the Smith Street location, of a gymnasium, indoor running track, fitness center, offices, locker rooms and renovated pool was dedicated on May 9, 1987 enabling the Y to impact the community in even greater ways.

In 1996, child care became the movement's second largest source of revenue, after membership dues.

The Boroughs Family Branch YMCA was established in 2002.

With the turn of the new millennium, the Association opened the Arcadia branch to serve the Chariho region of Rhode Island and, in 2003, the Mystic branch grew out of a venture with the Mystic Community Center.

The Association Offices are moved from the Elizabeth Branch building to the new quarters in Sierra Gardens in August 2004.

Shortly after, in Fall 2006, the Valley-Shore YMCA acquired the School’s Out for Summer Day Camp program at the Country School on Opening Hill Road in Madison, CT.

The Elizabeth Branch begins the much-awaited renovations with a phased project to be complete in late 2012.

On June 11, 2013 the Elizabeth Branch celebrates a Grand Re-Opening ceremony upon completion of renovations.

The Rahway Branch celebrates a Grand Opening on June 8, 2015 upon the completion of the 16,938 square foot renovation project.

In May of 2018 the YMCA of Central Massachusetts and the Tri-Community YMCA merged to strengthen community.