The YMCA and YWCA were established in the mid-19th century by middle-class Protestants in reaction to the movement of both native-born, white rural migrants and alien immigrants into American cities. The reformers who established the associations worried about the moral health of the young men and women migrating to the cities. They feared that the established churches were not equipped to cope with the problems that single young migrants presented. They therefore established YMCAs and YWCAs to help the migrants adapt to urban life. During the first three decades of the 20th century, the YMCA and YWCA expanded their programs in an effort to bring more young men and women through their doors. As its programs became less attractive to young men, the YMCA began to offer recreational programs for youths, which would eventually become its primary mission.
American cities provided numerous challenges for new migrants. They had to find a job, a place to live, and food. After they took care of all these necessities, then they would seek out leisure-time activities. All of these decisions could present problems for young men and women. The wrong job or place to live could pose dangers to the moral health of the migrants.
Of particular concern to the YMCAs was what the young men did in their leisure time. Because the young migrants had left their families and communities behind they often made these decisions without the guidance of family members. The YMCA sought to step in to help young male migrants adjust to urban life. At the same time, middle-class Protestants feared that if the migrants remained unsupervised, they posed a threat to the social order. If the young men were not taught proper middle-class values and behaviors, they might fall prey to radical political propaganda. The YMCAs created programs, therefore, to both protect the migrants and the social order.
The YWCA’s original mission was to protect women from the dangers of the city and to lessen class conflicts by teaching working women middle-class values. The YWCAs sought to provide a moral environment for young women in what the YWCA leaders saw as an immoral urban world. Eventually, the YWCA recognized the economic reality that was at the root of the dangers posed to young women in the industrial order and began to champion reform movements for the betterment of the social and economic conditions in which young working women lived. YWCAs altered their mission to meet the needs of these new migrants to the city. As YWCA workers interacted with young women, they realized that their low wages presented the real problem for single working women and that the threat to the young women’s morality lay in what they might do to make ends meet. YWCA workers feared that women might resort to prostitution as the only available means to earning enough money to live on. The YWCA’s programs therefore revolved around the dangers presented by the low wages available to women.
To fight this threat, the YWCAs established programs aimed at making it cheaper for these women to live in American cities and also joined reform movements that sought to change women’s place in the social, political, and economic order. By creating vocational education classes, for example, the YWCA tried to help women gain skills with which they could earn higher wages. Low-cost lunchrooms provided the women with a decent meal at an inexpensive price. Affordable apartments in a supervised, Christian environment protected women from the dangers of immoral landlords and neighborhoods. Social events attracted women who might otherwise have gone to commercial leisure establishments such as dance halls where they might fall prey to immorality. In addition to these local programs, YWCA workers fought for WOMAN SUFFRAGE, higher wages, women’s education, and an end to domestic violence.
Boys using the gymnasium at the YMCA (Library of Congress)
The YMCA’s first programs were simple prayer meetings. However, the YMCA realized that its prayer meetings were not attracting the men they wished to save. Therefore, in order to attract young men, the YMCA leaders expanded their program to include leisure activities and living space. The first offerings were libraries and reading rooms. When the associations realized that their new programs were successful, they rapidly expanded. Soon the YMCAs established employment bureaus, classrooms, gymnasiums, pools, bowling alleys, and cafeterias. The purpose behind all these programs was to attract young men so that they would spend their leisure time in a Christian institution instead of commercial leisure places. For the same reason, the YMCAs across the country built large dormitories. YMCA leaders feared that many young men put themselves in moral danger by living in low-priced lodgings. To protect the men, YMCAs offered low-priced lodging in a supervised setting.
The men that the YMCA originally sought to serve lost interest over the years, and the YMCAs had difficulty attracting members. In reaction, YMCAs across the country lowered the age range of their target population. By offering sports leagues and other recreational programs, the YMCAs attracted urban youth. By making this adjustment, the YMCAs maintained a significant presence in urban America.
Further reading: Nina Mjagkij and Margaret Spratt, eds., Men and Wo'men Adrift: The YMCA and the YWCA in the City (New York: New York University Press, 1997).
—Michael Hartman
World History
