The turn of the century marked continued growth and expansion of the Y’s programs and facilities. The 20th Century Arrives & Wabash YMCA Opens Cyrus Bentley, an active Baptist layman who was one of the two delegates sent to the YMCA national conference in 1854, became the first president of YMCA Chicago. In the late 1800s, the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago continued to expand courtesy of funds raised through lectures, private donations, and local business owners. In 1874, the third incarnation of Farwell Hall was erected, again without gym facilities. Two years later, the Y was lost again to the great fire of 1871. It was soon rebuilt, but because raising funds proved far more difficult than with the previous building, it housed only meeting rooms and a large library. Although officials at the national YMCA convention several years earlier had encouraged the opening of gym facilities at regional Ys, board members decided to lease the gymnasium to the Metropolitan Gymnastic Club.Īs bad luck would have it, Farwell Hall burned down only a year after its opening. The building, erected on Madison Street between LaSalle and Clark Street, housed a library, parlor, and gymnasium. Chicago’s first Y building opened in 1867 and was named Farwell Hall after its benefactor, John V. The 1860s and '70s proved a time of expansion for the Y as it departed from its initial mission to help young men and began more evangelical work. The YMCA soon established itself as an important part of Chicago’s growing metropolitan area. After a series of meetings, a constitution was written and the first YMCA of Chicago was officially formed! On March 22, 1858, Chicagoans again gathered in an attempt to form a YMCA. Laymen and YMCA members in cities such as New York met to discuss ways of lessening the poverty that so many faced during the country’s recession. In response, the city experienced a religious and spiritual revival. A great recession swept the country, crippling the railroad and other previously booming industries. Still in recovery from the cholera epidemic, Chicago soon faced a new crisis -this time, a financial one. Then, in 1853, after learning of Young Men's Christian Associations (YMCA) in cities such as Boston, New York, and Buffalo, Reverend Luther Stone published a series of articles calling for the creation of a YMCA in Chicago! Unfortunately, Chicago faced a cholera epidemic in the summer of 1854 that left more than 1,400 people dead, and this turned church officials’ attention away from the possible creation of a YMCA and, rightfully so, toward the tragedy at hand. They served as refuges for their constituents, but little more. Despite their good intentions, none of these organizations were able to provide answers to the problems young men faced. Most notable of these groups was the Young Men’s Association, which was created as a place for leisure and amusement away from the vices of gambling halls and saloons. Several societies were founded: Chicago Lyceum, the Mechanical Institute, and the Young Men’s Association, among others.
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