Finding aid for the Young Men's Christian Association of Cleveland Records, Series II


Repository: Western Reserve Historical Society
Creator: Young Men's Christian Association of Cleveland
Title: Young Men's Christian Association of Cleveland Records, Series II
Dates: 1868-1977
Extent: 3.51 linear feet (6 containers and 1 oversize folder)
Abstract: The Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) was established in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1854 with a program of lectures, prayer meetings, a Sunday school and a lending library. It initially focused on missionary and religious work. By 1880 the emphasis shifted toward character development and broadened to include boys as well as men, offering educational and physical training programs. During the 20th century the Y worked with the city's social settlements and welfare agencies, conducted fundraising campaigns during World War I, and increased its efforts to work with young boys. By the 1980s there were over 20 branches in the Cleveland area. The collection consists of minutes of the Cedar Avenue Boys' Branch, 1922-1977; also, general files of the Central YMCA, 1880-1975; publications and reports, including some issues of the Cleveland Red Triangle, the Association Boy, the Junior, News and Notes, and the West Side Boy; East End Branch scrapbook, 1929-1930; Cleveland surveys and studies, 1931-1962; Fenn College publications and reports, 1896-1938; War Work Week scrapbook, 1917; and miscellany. The collection pertains to the activities of the YMCA, including efforts at religious and missionary work, development of character in urban youth, war work, and alleviation of depression-era unemployment. The Cedar Avenue Branch records in particular document the Y's effort to serve Cleveland's black community, beginning in 1922.
MS Number MS 4458
Location: closed stacks
Language: The records are in English

History of the Young Men's Christian Association of Cleveland

The Young Men's Christian Association of Cleveland, Ohio, was an outgrowth of the international YMCA movement begun in England in 1844. The Cleveland YMCA was established on February 28, 1854, three years after the first American branch was founded.

The Cleveland YMCA initially operated out of a suite of rented rooms at what is now Superior and West 3rd Streets. Efforts of all the early branches were directed toward the moral and mental rehabilitation of young men. To this end, the Cleveland branch offered prayer meetings, a mission Sunday school, a lending library, and lectures, some of which were delivered by such men as Henry Ward Beecher and Cassius M. Clay.

The Cleveland YMCA disbanded in January 1863 when the American Civil War drew off most of the active membership. Following the Civil War, the Cleveland YMCA was re-established in 1867. Charles E. Bolton led the move for re-establishment and was assisted in his efforts by such prominent Clevelanders as Sereno P. Fenn, Henry A. Sherwin, and Charles J. Dockstader.

The Association grew quickly during the following two decades. By 1872, the Cleveland YMCA had established the first "Railroad" YMCA in the country. this operation was directed toward transient railroad workers and eventually became the Collinwood Branch of the YMCA. Religious and missionary work was intensified during the 1870s. In 1875 the Association began to take an interest in the welfare of the younger members of the community and opened a home for newsboys and bootblacks.

The year 1879 marked the beginning of a new era in the history of the Cleveland YMCA as Joseph B. Meriam assumed the presidency of the organization. Meriam redirected the Association's efforts toward the development of individual character in large numbers of young men instead of placing emphasis on the reformation of derelicts.

This redirection resulted in the establishment of education classes and a physical education program in 1881. The YMCA established its Junior Department in 1887, thus extending its work from young men to boys.

Along with the continued development of Meriam's new programs, the last years of the nineteenth early years of the twentieth century saw a tremendous expansion of the Association's physical plant. Aided by large gifts from men such as John D. Rockefeller, the Cleveland YMCA built several new main buildings and branches. the Broadway branch was established in 1883, the West Side Branch in 1901, and the East End (University Circle) Branch in 1911. The YMCA built and equipped new central buildings in 1891 and 1912.

The early decades of this century saw the Cleveland YMCA working closely with the city's social settlements and welfare agencies to alleviate the plight of the poor and the immigrant. World War I found the Cleveland YMCA totally committed to the War Work campaign and actively involved in promoting the Allied cause.

Following the war, the Cleveland YMCA continued to enlarge and improve both its buildings and programs. A branch was established in the suburb of Lakewood in 1921 and several new branches, including the Cedar branch, were established in the city. Increased attention was given to physical training and work with young boys. Scouting activities, with which the Cleveland YMCA was first associated in 1910, were greatly expanded during the 1920s.

In 1921, the educational activities of the YMCA were formally organized into the Cleveland School of Technology of the Young Men's Christian Association. In 1930 this organization was renamed Fenn College. Fenn College continued to be associated and partially directed by the Cleveland YMCA until 1951. In 1967, Fenn College became part of Cleveland State University.

The Great Depression forced the Cleveland YMCA into deep financial difficulties. Nevertheless, it provided services such as employment counseling during this period.

The Cleveland YMCA recovered quickly from the Depression and began some of its most ambitious expansion programs in the following years. Fund drives in 1954 and 1962 resulted in a tremendous expansion of the Cleveland YMCA.

click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for the Young Men's Christian Association


Scope and Content

The Young Men's Christian Association of Cleveland Records, Series II, 1880-1977, consist primarily of minutes of the Cedar Avenue Boys' Branch, general files of the Central Y, and miscellaneous publications and reports including a small series of the Cleveland Red Triangle, The Association Boy, The Junior, and News and Notes.

The collection pertains largely to the movements and activities in which the YMCA was involved in Cleveland, Ohio, during the Progressive Era and the twentieth century. During the nineteenth-century these included various reform activities such as religious and missionary work and the development of character in urban youth. Twentieth-century concerns included attempts to alleviate Great Depression-era unemployment and aid in the home front efforts of World War II. Of special note are the records of the Cedar Avenue Boys' Branch, dating from 1922-1977. These detail the organization's involvement in Cleveland's African American community from the branch's 1922 establishment as the first area YMCA to serve that community.


Statement of Arrangement

The collection is arranged in five series. Series I: Central YMCA Files; Series II: Branch YMCA Materials; Series III: Publications and Reports; Series IV: Scrapbooks; and Series V: Miscellany are each arranged by document type and then chronologically.

Restrictions on Access

None.

Related Material

Researchers should also consult MS 3547 Young Men's Christian Association of Cleveland Records; MS 560 Young Men's Christian Association of Toledo, Ohio Records; MS 5481 the George and Louise Atchison Papers; and PG 87 Young Men's Christian Association of Cleveland Photographs.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

Subjects:

African Americans -- Ohio -- Cleveland.
Boys -- Ohio -- Cleveland -- Societies and clubs.
Charities -- Ohio -- Cleveland.
Cleveland (Ohio) -- Social conditions.
Fenn College.
Men -- Ohio -- Cleveland -- Societies and clubs.
Recreation -- Ohio -- Cleveland.
Social work with youth -- Ohio -- Cleveland.
World War, 1914-1918 -- War work -- Ohio -- Cleveland.
Young Men's Christian Association of Cleveland -- Archives.

Preferred Citation

[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 4458 Young Men's Christian Association of Cleveland Records, Series II, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio

Acquisition Information

Young Men's Christian Association of Cleveland, 1979 and 1983.

Processing Information

Processed by Bari Oyler Stith in 1989.

Detailed Description of The Collection

Series I: Central YMCA Files 1880-1975 undated

Box Folder
1 1-2 Annual reports 1960-1975
1 3-6 General files, including early constitution and bylaws 1880-1975 undated
1 7 Manual for course for dormitory secretaries 1926-1927
1 8 Manual for course for office managers 1922-1926

Series II: Branch YMCA Materials 1922-1977

Box Folder
1 9-21 Cedar Avenue Boys' Branch meeting minutes 1922-1977

Series III: Publications and Reports 1872-1975 undated

Box Folder
1 22 Cleveland Red Triangle 1934-1938
1 23 The Association Boy 1901-1905
1 23 The Junior 1899
1 23 News and Notes 1930-1932
1 24 The West Side Boy 1901-1913
Box Folder
2 25-49 Miscellaneous YMCA publications and reports 1872-1975 undated
Box Folder
3 50 Miscellaneous YMCA publications and reports undated
3 51-55 Fenn College publications and reports 1896-1938 1964 undated

Series IV: Scrapbooks 1929-1930

Box Folder
4 56 East End Branch scrapbook 1929-1930

Series V: Miscellany 1868-1975 undated

Box Folder
5 57-63 Cleveland surveys and studies, concerning particular projects, committees, conferences, and issues, usually generated by the YMCA and focusing on the Cleveland, Ohio area 1931-1962
Box Folder
6 64-66 Miscellaneous 1904 1922-1940 1950-1965 undated
6 67-71 Newspaper clippings 1868-1933 1938-1952 1954-1975 undated
Folder
72 Oversize Folder 1: War Work Week Scrapbook 1917
Folder
72 Oversize Folder 1: YMCA, The Second Century 1954
Folder
72 Oversize Folder 1: Activities posters 1914 1933 undated
Folder
72 Oversize Folder 1: Members Bulletin poster undated