Editing YMCA (section)

=== 19th century ===
{{Further|George Williams (philanthropist)|Muscular Christianity}}

[[File:Sir George Williams by John Collier.jpg|thumb|[[George Williams (philanthropist)|George Williams]], who founded YMCA in 1844]]
[[File:Geneve archives YMCA 2011-08-23 11 24 53 PICT4048.JPG|thumb|The World Alliance of YMCAs logo displayed in [[Geneva]]]]
[[File:Montreal - YMCA, Rue des Récollets et Rue Sainte-Hélène - Note - 20050324.jpg|thumb|A historical marker at the YMCA in [[Montreal]], noting its 1851 establishment]]
[[File:Gymnasium-wood-engraving-Young-Mens-Christian-Association-June-16-1888.jpg|thumb|A YMCA gym in [[London]] in 1888]]
[[File:Georgia_Directory_Company's_directory_of_the_city_of_Macon._April_24,_1896._Volume_I_-_DPLA_-_6a4bf0d4b323becf10f72d159e04d6d0.pdf|page=3|thumb|An advertisement for the YMCA in [[Macon, Georgia]], {{Circa|1896}}|link=File:Georgia_Directory_Company's_directory_of_the_city_of_Macon._April_24,_1896._Volume_I_-_DPLA_-_6a4bf0d4b323becf10f72d159e04d6d0.pdf%3Fpage=3]]

The Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) was founded on 6 June 1844, by [[George Williams (philanthropist)|George Williams]] and eleven friends.<ref>{{cite web |title=YMCA Founder's Day: Celebrating 170 Years — Greater Joliet Area YMCA |url=https://www.jolietymca.org/blog/founders-day/ |access-date=2019-06-06 |website=www.jolietymca.org}}</ref> Williams was a London [[draper]] who was typical of the young men drawn to the cities by the [[Industrial Revolution]]. They were concerned about the lack of healthy activities for young men in major cities; the options available were usually [[tavern]]s and [[brothel]]s. Williams' idea grew out of meetings he held for prayer and Bible-reading among his fellow workers in a business in the [[city of London]],<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Young Men's Christian Association |volume=28 |pages=940–941}}</ref> and on 6 June 1844, he held the first meeting that led to the founding of YMCA with the purpose of "the improving of the spiritual condition of young men engaged in the drapery, [[embroidery]], and other trades."<ref name="report">[[#IC95|Report of the Thirteenth International Conference]]: xix</ref> The first YMCA premises opened on Great Russell Street, London, in 1844.<ref name=first>{{Cite news|newspaper=[[Camden New Journal]]|title=Shock as world's first YMCA closes down|last=Maskell|first=Caitlin|page=3|date=5 December 2024}}<!--no URL yet, might be on paper's web site soon. pol098,5De24--></ref> [[Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury]] served as YMCA's first president from 1851 until his death in 1885.<ref name=":3">{{cite book |last=Cannon |first=John |title=A Dictionary of British History |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2015 |isbn=9780191044809}}</ref>

By 1845, YMCA started a popular series of lectures that from 1848 were held at [[Exeter Hall]], London, and started being published the following year, with the series running until 1865.<ref>{{cite book |last=Finnegan |first=Diarmid A. |title=Journal of Victorian Culture |year=2011 |pages=46–64}}</ref>

YMCA was associated with [[industrialisation]] and the movement of young people to cities to work. YMCA "combined preaching in the streets and the distribution of religious tracts with a social ministry. Philanthropists saw them as places for wholesome recreation that would preserve youth from the temptations of alcohol, gambling, and prostitution and that would promote good citizenship."<ref name="frost">J. William Frost, "Part V: Christianity and Culture in America", ''Christianity: A Social and Cultural History'', 2nd Edition, (Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 1998), 476.</ref>

The YMCA spread outside the United Kingdom in part thanks to the [[Great Exhibition]] of 1851, the first in a series of World's Fairs which was held in [[Hyde Park, London]].<ref name=":3" /> Later that year there were YMCAs in [[Australia]], [[Belgium]], [[Canada]], [[France]], [[Germany]], [[Hong Kong]], the [[Netherlands]], [[Switzerland]], and the [[United States]].

The idea of creating a truly global movement with an international headquarters was led by [[Henry Dunant]], Secretary of YMCA Geneva, who would later go on to found the [[International Committee of the Red Cross]] and win the first [[Nobel Peace Prize]]. Dunant successfully convinced YMCA Paris to organise the first YMCA World Conference. The Conference took place in August 1855, bringing together 99 young delegates from nine countries, held before the [[Exposition Universelle (1855)]]. They discussed joining in a federation to enhance cooperation amongst individual YMCA societies. This marked the beginning of the World Alliance of YMCAs. The conference adopted the [[Paris Basis]], a common mission for all present and future national YMCAs.<ref>{{cite web |title=Paris Basis |url=http://www.ymca.int/index.php?id=115 |access-date=2012-07-01 |publisher=Ymca.int}}</ref> Its motto was taken from the Bible, "[[That they all may be one]]" ([[John 17]]:21).

Other ecumenical bodies, such as the World [[YWCA]], the [[World Council of Churches]], and the [[World Student Christian Federation]] have reflected elements of the Paris Basis in their founding mission statements. In 1865, the fourth World Conference of YMCAs, held in Germany, affirmed the importance of developing the whole individual in spirit, mind, and body. The concept of physical work through sports, a new concept for the time, was also recognized as part of this "[[muscular Christianity]]".

[[The Boy Scouts of America]] grew out of YMCA work, with YMCA organizers taking over and merging their organization into the Boy Scouts of America soon after it was incorporated by [[William D. Boyce]] when it existed only on paper. [[Edgar M. Robinson]], a Chicago-area YMCA organizer became the BSA's first director. YMCA has cooperated with camping organizations, including [[Boy Scouts of America]], [[Girl Scouts of the USA]] and [[Camp Fire (organization)|Camp Fire]].

Two themes resonated during the first World Conference: the need to respect the local autonomy of YMCA societies, and the purpose of YMCA: to unite all young, male Christians for the extension and expansion of the Kingdom of God. The former idea is expressed in the preamble:

{{Blockquote|The delegates of various Young Men's Christian Associations of Europe and America, assembled in Conference at Paris, the 22 August 1855 feeling that they are one in principle and in operation, recommend to their respective Societies to recognize with them the unity existing among their Associations, and while preserving a complete independence as to their particular organization and modes of action, to form a Confederation of secession on the following fundamental principle, such principle to be regarded as the basis of admission of other Societies in future.}}

YMCA was influential during the 1870s and the 1930s, during which times it most successfully promoted "evangelical Christianity in weekday and Sunday services, while promoting good sportsmanship in athletic contests in gyms (where [[basketball]] and [[volleyball]] were invented) and swimming pools."<ref name="frost" /> Later in this period, and continuing on through the 20th century, YMCA had "become interdenominational and more concerned with promoting morality and good citizenship than a distinctive interpretation of Christianity."<ref name="frost" /> Prior to the beginning of the [[American Civil War]],<ref name="YMCAhistory">{{cite web |title=US YMCA's history page |url=http://www.ymca.net/about_the_ymca/history_of_the_ymca.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100310220044/http://www.ymca.net/about_the_ymca/history_of_the_ymca.html |archive-date=10 March 2010 |access-date=2012-07-01 |publisher=Ymca.net}}</ref> YMCA provided nursing, shelter, and other support during wartime in the United States.

In 1878, the World YMCA offices were established in [[Geneva]], Switzerland by Dunant. Later, in 1900, North American YMCAs, in collaboration with the World YMCA, set up centres to work with emigrants in European ports, as millions of people were leaving for the US. In 1880, in Norway, YMCA became the first national organization to adopt a strict policy of equal gender representation in committees and national boards.

In 1885, Camp Baldhead (later known as [[Camp Dudley]]), the first residential camp in the United States and North America, was established by George A. Sanford and Sumner F. Dudley, both of whom worked for YMCA. The camp, originally located near Orange Lake in [[New Jersey]], moved to [[Wawayanda State Park|Lake Wawayanda]] in [[Sussex County, New Jersey]], the following year, and then to the shore of [[Lake Champlain]] near [[Westport, New York]], in 1891.<ref name="100YrsCamping">{{cite web |last=Turner | first=Eugene A. Jr. |year=1985 |title=100 Years of YMCA Camping |url=https://primo.lib.umn.edu/permalink/f/1q7ssba/UMN_ALMA21490363380001701 |access-date=2020-08-04 |publisher=YMCA of the USA |via=umn.edu}}</ref><ref name="YMCAbuildingNY">{{cite web |date=4 July 2009 |title=YMCA Building Photo |url=http://www.vintpix.com/photo.php?id=137 |access-date=2012-07-01 |publisher=Vintpix.com}}</ref>