The Early Years

[p. 10] When W. W. Wallace, acting corresponding member of the YMCA International Committee, reported on the YMCA at the Illinois Industrial University in 1874, he stated modestly “Champaign Industrial University, as with all the educational associations, is working for the salvation of the students and does effective work.”

In 1882 the constitution of the YMCA was revised so women could be admitted, and according to an issue of The Student, “A number of lady students had become members.” The article reported further that “The work of the Association this year has been very successful, and we commend the officers and members for their earnest effort. The Committee appointed to procure subscriptions for the education of our Indian boy, Montezuma, has been unusually successful and quite an ample fund for the year is already secured.”

But membership in the Y did not increase appreciably for more than a decade. In 1879 the report of the National Executive Committee of the YMCA listed fifty-four active and ten associate members at the Illinois Industrial University. But for the academic year 1880-81 the yearbook of the YMCA listed only twenty active and no associate members. If the figures are correct, this was the low point for the Y in terms of membership. In 1881 twenty-five members were listed. The numbers crept slowly upward for the next six or seven years. In 1889 there was a significant jump and membership was listed as ninety. By this time Samuel W. Parr, an 1883 graduate and Corresponding Secretary of the Y in 1882, had joined the staff of the University and commenced playing a vigorous role for the Y.

Though conversions through revival meetings and other means was an important objective of early university YMCAs and the report form to the National Association carried a column for enumerating success in this direction, the Y at Illinois generally made no entries in the column. Many other university YMCAs did and in the year 1883, for example, Olivet College in Michigan listed sixty conversions. Apparently this was never a major objective of the Y at Illinois though there must have been no lack of material on which its efforts could have been expended.

[p. 11] Though there is doubt about the accuracy of the figures, in 1879 the report to the National Executive Committee of the YMCA listed 350 students at the Illinois Industrial University, 100 of whom were professing Christians. For the next year 363 students were listed, 175 of whom were professing Christians. Unless these figures are wrong, there was either a drastic change in the nature of those enrolling in 1880 or a large number of students already enrolled had seen the light.

From “YMCA Notes,” a regular feature of The Student, it appears that Bible classes and the missionary endeavor were lagging in the Fall of 1888. In October the Notes contained a complaint: “No Bible training classes have been organized yet. Why is this? We need the training to be secured from it.” And in November: “What is the matter with our missionary committee? Not a single meeting has been held.”

Though the Y grew out of the early prayer meetings held by Steele and his associates, the average attendance at such meetings for 1889 as reported to the National Executive Committee was six. In the opinion of some, this low attendance may have been due to the fact that daily chapel meetings and frequent Sunday services were still a part of the program of the University.

If it wasn’t strong on conversions, the Y was strong in other directions. Witness this report on activities in 1876—as told like it might have been told in 1876 in the Y’s Indian for June, 1948: “The Young Men’s Christian Association is organized for this year’s work. An outstanding activity program has been set up to aid the Y in gaining leadership in student spiritual welfare. New to the Y this year is the Freshman Welcome program which is already familiar to the new students entering the University this Fall. Under the inspiration and direct leadership of Association President Ira O. Baker, Y delegations met all incoming trains during and just previous to registration week. Freshmen were escorted to Y headquarters in room 2 University Hall and were given the opportunity to take advantage of a housing list which Y members had compiled previously. Members of the Y were also ready to conduct the new students in search of lodgings since the old dormitory has long since failed to accommodate the enlarged student body and few rooming houses are closer than half a mile from campus. The aid rendered to the Freshmen was invaluable. It is too early to estimate the degree of added support the Freshman Welcome program will bring the Y, but it is hoped that acquainting the new students with the Y and its activities will greatly increase the membership and interest on the part of the new students.”

News of the Y’s activities spread to distant places. The New York Daily Mail on April 26, 1876, printed an item stating that “The new Association at Urbana, Illinois has started a daily prayer meeting.”

An article in The Student encouraged contributions: “If you have any interests in the Association work, join the ranks and lend a hand. This band of young men is refreshingly free from politics or party feeling.” The solicitude of The Student toward the Y is further evidenced in its February, 1883, issue by the phraseology selected in taking a practical joker to task: “Last evening some living [p. 12] embodiment of human depravity conceived in his giant intellect the brilliant trick of dropping a YMCA carpet over the railing on the fourth floor. It was found after the Society meeting was over at the front entrance trying to get out. If it were possible to discover any joke in such an act we would recommend that you laugh at it, but we are so obtuse as to be unable to see the slightest indication of a point to the joke.”

From the beginning the University Y had a strong interest in missionary and international work, thus perpetuating one of the prime motivations of many of the early student religious associations. This interest was expressed in part by the adoption in 1878 of Carlos Montezuma, an eleven-year-old Apache from Arizona and the tutoring and help given to Bedros Tartarian, a young Armenian who was graduated in 1885. The education for both was partly financed by the Y. In remarking about Bedros’ graduation, the Y reported “While attending the University his most distinctive characteristic was his Scotch-like economy. It was said that he always bought square crackers because there was too much waste space in a box of round ones.”

The story of Carlos Montezuma carried the flavor of the old West. When he was four years old, “Monte,” an Apache, was captured by the Pimas in a night raid. The Pimas decided to sell him into peonage across the Mexican border but before they reached the border, a New York photographer in Arizona taking art photos met the party and for forty dollars secured Monte’s release and took him to New York. After his benefactor lost his fortune in the Panic of 1873, Monte was first placed in the care of a Boston missionary, then sent to Urbana to live with Reverend W. H. Stedman, a Baptist minister. From there the Y took over and helped finance his education. In due course he was graduated from medical college. Dr. Montezuma practiced much of the time in Chicago. He was called frequently by government officials for consultation regarding Indian health problems. The Board of Trustees of the University was no doubt proud for having remitted his tuition and other college fees.

Early activities of the Y included Bible study, neighborhood work with boys, visitation to the area churches, the holding of a Summer Conference, missionary meetings and encouragement of the missionary effort.

In October, 1884, The Student carried an announcement: “Our regular missionary meeting will be held in the Association room November 22 at 3 p.m. The field selected is India and a number of papers on that subject will be read by members of the YW and YM. Some good music is promised for the meeting also. We hope and think that the meeting will be a profitable one. Reader, won’t you come?” In May, 1886, the YM and YW held a union missionary meeting on home missions. Two topics were chosen for discussion—“Among the Freed Men of the South” and “Indian Missions.” A number of papers were read “Condition of the Negro Before the Rebellion,” “Conditions Since the Rebellion,” “Native Religion of the Indians,” “Civilization of the Indians,” and “Present and Future of the Negro and Indian.” China was discussed frequently at missionary meetings and letters were read from those in China on missionary assignments.

[p. 13] Though evangelism and an attempt to gain conversions were not wholly neglected, it doesn’t appear that the Illinois Y conducted programs which could have led a secretary to report as the State Secretary for Massachusetts did in 1899 that “Some of the toughest men in college crowded the Association room for seven nights right through the excitement of football. Students gave up the tobacco habit, profanity, intemperance, and other practices.” As a matter of fact, letters from T. J. Burrill in later years, when he was Chairman of the Y Board and had to answer inquiring ministers regarding the number of conversions the Y had achieved were written in an apologetic vein.

The Illinois delegates to the Thirteenth Annual Convention of YMCAs at Knox College in 1885 were greatly impressed. Illinois representatives were B. S. Bannister and A. Folger. The Student reported “Knox College YMCA numbers 56 members, the YWCA numbers 79 members—largest in the state. Our delegates will not soon forget the royal manner in which they were treated by the students of Knox. We hope to repay their kindness some time.” In 1887 and again in 1888 the YMCA sent delegates to Dwight L. Moody’s summer school for Christian workers at Northfield, Massachusetts.

By 1889 when the 17th annual Convention of YMCAs in Illinois was held in Peoria, the University of Illinois (its name was changed from Illinois Industrial University in 1885) sent ten delegates including Thomas Arkle Clark. The following year, in 1890, the University Y sent its first delegation to the Geneva conference. This was the beginning of a long association which has had great meaning for the Y.

Another activity at the Y was arranging an “Annual Society Sociable.” At the 1894 event, for example, everyone was registered, tagged, and given a folder for securing autographs. Eighty young University ladies (they were not yet called coeds) were among the 300 who thronged into Harker Hall. Songs, recitations, and impromptu speeches constituted the main activities of the evening.

That student life in ’94 reflected both the serious and not-so-serious is indicated by some of the organizations which existed at the time—such as the Married Men’s Club, with eleven members, the Bashful Men’s Club, with eleven members, the Prohibition Club, with thirty-six members, Lassitude and Languor Lodge whose motto was “ ‘Blessed be the man who first invented sleep’—so Sancho Panza said, and so say I.” The class yell of the sophomores that year was “Rah Hurrah, we’re up to tricks; we’re the hot tamales of ’96.”

Certainly life at the University was not entirely drab and one wonders with what reactions students in the ’90s would have read the following quite serious article on “Sleeveless Shirts” appearing in the January 7, 1892, issue of Young Man’s Era, a national YMCA publication: “There is no advantage to a sleeveless shirt except perhaps to a tumbler or one who performs difficult feats in which the greatest freedom is desired. As this kind of work should not be encouraged in our gymnasiums, a rule forbidding any member to wear one would to my mind not be too radical. I had occasion to visit one of our largest [p. 14] association’s gymnasiums a few years ago in company with some ladies, and the sight of a half-dozen members on the floor dressed in these sleeveless shirts made a spectacle of which I, as an Association man, was very much ashamed.” This is one problem with which the University Y did not have to contend. But in 1890 students were urged to take advantage of the offer of the Champaign YMCA under which they could become members for the balance of the year for $1.70. This included gymnasium and bath privileges.

During the ’90s feelings about the religious life of the University were quite serious. One of the projects of the Y was to conduct a religious census. The Y’s report for 1897-98 states: “There have been 875 men registered in the University and preparatory school (at Urbana) during the year 97-98. About one-half of this number are Christians and about one-tenth of them are doing active Christian work.” In 1898-99 a faculty religious census was conducted by the President’s office. This revealed that among the 125 staff members there were no Catholics. There were eight members professing no religious affiliation. As though hastening to assure the public that the faculty harbored no atheists the report said: “It is stated also on absolute authority that in every case those who are not members of any church are yet believers in the Christian faith.”

The Y’s report for ’88-89 included a statement that “The old feeling of hostility between the Association and certain other organizations has largely subsided. Men who are prominently identified with every other college interest are also leaders in the Association.”

Two statements worthy of note appear in the 1889-90 report of the Y: “This being a state institution the principle has been established that nothing can be done officially to foster the religious life of the student body. This work has therefore been left to the voluntary effort of Christian students. The YM and YWCAs have occupied the field as the organizations best adapted to carry on the work.” The other statement was a quote from President Francis L. Patton of Princeton: “I do not regard Christianity as one of the accidents of a college. I do not regard religion as one of the things you have to tolerate because men bring it along with them here. I look upon it as a prime necessity of university life.”

In 1892 a students’ volunteer band for city missions was organized by the YM and YW. Apparently, however, it undertook no local work. Twelve members met each Friday for a course of study which lasted two years. The objective was training for YM and YWCA work in American cities. But in 1894 four groups of YMCA young men were organized to engage in personal work among boys in Champaign and Urbana. Part of their mission was to stir up enthusiasm for a new building.

Some idea about the scope of activities in the nineties can be gained from the committees of the Y for 1894—Bible Study, Membership, Music, White Cross, Publication, Social, Finance, Missionary, Intercollegiate, Devotional, Lake Geneva, and Local Conference.

Though many students, faculty members, and townspeople played important [p. 15] roles in the Y before the turn of the century, Samuel Parr, Ira O. Baker, and T. J. Burrill are the names which stand out. Baker and Parr were both Y presidents in the early years, Baker in ’76-77, Parr in ’83-84, and both became distinguished members of the faculty of the University. Baker emphasized the service aspects of the Y as an adjunct of its religious mission. All three of these men were Chairmen of the Board of Directors of the Y after the turn of the century. They all exerted a profound influence long before that time, Burrill from the time the Y was formed because he was then a young faculty member, Baker from his student days in the mid-’70s and Parr from his student days in the early ’80s.

The Y had no fulltime staff until A. V. Millar was hired as General Secretary for the year 1897-98, though there is some indication that Charles P. Graham, class of ’73 and a charter member of the Y was hired as Secretary during a preceding year, apparently on a part-time basis. Finding able young men to be General Secretaries of college YMCAs was not easy. In the December 29, 1892, issue of Young Men’s Era an article appeared entitled “Is the General Secretaryship of a College YMCA Worthy the Consideration of College Men?” A better question would have been “What College Men Are Worthy of the General Secretaryship of a College YMCA?” If the University of Illinois YMCA is a fair example, one can only conclude that the very best talent has been attracted by staff positions in college and university YMCAs and to serve on YMCA boards, committees, and programs of every kind and description. Mic Coldwell aptly said, “The UI YMCA has given through the years top priority to the principle that it is a laymen’s movement, faculty and student; just to the extent that they have been involved in a purposeful program has it been successful and worthy of its heritage. It is axiomatic in the Y for the Secretary to never never do the work of ten men but to recruit ten men to do the work.”

Incorporation—The First Constitution and Bylaws

On September 26, 1892, the Y was incorporated as “The Young Men’s Christian Association, University of Illinois.” Incorporators were R. E. McCloy, B. F. Templeton, L. P. Atwood, E. W. Morris, and W. K. Yeakel. The stated object of the corporation was “To promote growth in grace in Christian fellowship among its members and aggressive Christian work especially by and for students to train them for Christian service and to lead them to devote their lives to Jesus Christ, not only in distinctively religious callings but also in secular pursuits.”

A constitution was adopted on February 3, 1873, when the YMCA was organized. It was revised several times prior to 1904 but the first text available is apparently one for that year. At that time membership was confined to members in good standing of an evangelical church. However “Any man of good moral character, either student or member of the faculty may become an associate member by a two-thirds vote of the members present at any meeting.” Membership [p. 16] was confined to men.

The Cabinet was designated as the body responsible for carrying on the affairs of the Association. It consisted of the officers and chairmen of all standing committees. Title to the property and endowment funds of the Association was vested in a Board of Trustees whose members also constituted the Advisory Board for the Association. The Advisory Board was composed of four members of the faculty, the student president and student treasurer of the Association, a citizen of Champaign and a citizen of Urbana not to be connected with the University, and one alumnus of the YMCA. . . .

Several changes have appeared in the Constitution and Bylaws since 1904. A significant one provides for the current arrangement under which the general supervision of the work of the Association and the custody of its property and its funds are vested in a Board of Directors, and the management and solicitation of endowment funds are vested in a Board of Trustees. The former is composed of the student officers and from fifteen to thirty-three other persons, one third of whom must be students. Student officers and all positions on the Board are filled by election. Members of the Board of Trustees are elected by the Board of Directors. They are ex-officio members of the Board of Directors.

The statement of purpose has also been revised. It is “To provide an atmosphere congenial to an unlimited search for religious meaning and to make clear the meaning and relevance of the Christian heritage to student and faculty members as they face their daily responsibilities in the University and society.” This reflects the more liberal attitude which the YMCA has adopted over the years regarding the religious beliefs of its members.

Evangelism at Illinois

Around the turn of the century there appeared to be an upsurge in religious activity not only within the YMCA but in the campus community. It was the period when the Student Volunteer Movement—the crusade to convert the world to Christianity in one generation—was gaining strength. An article in the local paper pointed out that at Illinois the doctrine that universities do not foster religious life was being disproved. It stated that “Even as late as ten years ago there was a tendency in certain quarters to look upon the University as a non-religious if not anti-religious institution and to denounce University professors and University students as atheists and infidels and to apply other similar opprobrious epithets to men connected with the state university.” The article then stated “All this has changed.” It said that the great religious denominations of the state were lining up in a friendly way on behalf of the University, that denominational synods and conferences were beginning to regard the University as a center for beneficial religious influence and that “. . . scientific insight and devotion to scientific truth are entirely consistent with the devout attitude of mind.”

The inability of the University to propagate religious doctrine was [p. 17] recognized but local churches organized a series of lectures on religion and the Bible drawing heavily on the staff of the University to participate. Local churches also conducted special classes aimed at University students. The YMCA and YWCA conducted Bible study courses.

Evangelists visited the campus under the auspices of the churches and of the YWCA and YMCA. When “Dad” Elliott conducted an annual series of evangelistic meetings for men in February, 1907, his visit was highly publicized. Elliott, a dynamic leader in the YMCA movement, played football for Northwestern and was regarded as one of the great ends of his day. The folder announcing his first address, “The Pace That Wins,” contained a number of testimonials including one from G. Huff, who remembered him distinctly because one of his brilliant runs won an Illinois-Northwestern game for Northwestern. The local announcement stated that “Because of the Military Ball held in the armory Friday evening next, the Chapel, which is the next largest hall about the University, will be used.” Chairs were placed on the stage so the chapel could accomodate 940 men. Tickets were issued by sections and even the ticket holders were advised to be there early if they wished to have a seat. Fifty-five men were converted during the three days Elliott was on the campus.

Other speakers, including Dwight L. Moody and John R. Mott, visited the campus during these and later years and conducted religious meetings. In February and March, 1911, eight days of “Special meetings for men and boys” were planned and a dozen noted speakers brought in. The announcement brochure stated: “ ‘The days of the clarion call to action are here in all the great realm that bears the name of Christian. Deaf must be the ears, dull must be the conscience, that cannot hear or respond.”

A brochure commenting on these meetings stated: “It is not possible to tabulate the results of this campaign. A hundred men indicated that this marked an epoch in their lives. Hundreds of others were made to seriously consider the claims of Christ upon their lives. Many indirect results are apparent. A new vision of the real significance of life has come to scores of Illinois men.”

Again in December, 1911, John R. Mott and a corps of religious leaders came to engage in what General Secretary W. A. McKnight hoped would be “an epoch in the religious life of the men and women of this University.” This was a five-day stand.

The Geneva Conferences

The folder announcing the Lake Geneva conference for 1901 opens with the statement “Lake Geneva has a charmed significance throughout the colleges of the middlewest. During more than a decade it has lent the beauty and quiet of its shores to the annual student summer conference for this section. The recognition of value accorded this gathering is best attested by the presence last year of professors and students from 150 institutions. Those colleges are now few and isolated in which organized effort is not made to secure through representation [p. 18] the advantages it affords, while a marked and growing tendency is apparent among undergraduates to regard attendance upon at least one summer conference essential to a completely rounded college course.”

The program that year included a platform address at 11:00 daily, four bible classes which ran simultaneously, a mission study class, life work talks, personal interviews, delegation meetings, planned recreation, and one hour daily devoted to a consideration of student association methods and problems. Illinois was first represented at the Geneva conference in 1890. Delegations were led by student officers, staff members, and prominent members of the University faculty. These conferences proved to be not only events of tremendous inspirational value but much more than that. YMCAs throughout the region were fertilized with ideas from others, and thousands of individuals sharpened their goals as a result of messages and contacts emanating from the conferences. In 1900, for example, the University of Illinois YMCA put into practice policies adopted at the Geneva Conference. These policies called for at least 50% of all meetings to be conducted by students, systematic efforts to raise attendance, good business methods in finances and committee organization, carefully planned Bible courses and training classes, monthly missionary meetings, emphasis on social work, a deepening of the prayer life of the membership, and carefully planned and aggressively executed work for new students.

The Geneva Conferences were a strong influence until they were finally discontinued in the mid-1960s. In the earlier years the University of Illinois sent as many as fifty-five delegates.

YWCA Relations

Luther Wishard believed in mixed associations—“students” instead of “men” or “women.” Accordingly, during the ’70s and ’80s he helped organize sixty to seventy-five such mixed associations. In some YMCAs women played a leading role, even holding major offices—a fact which the national organization was accused of disguising in its yearbook listings. Only those close to the Association would know that “A. Wilson” and “C. Althouse,” President and Corresponding Secretary at Lawrence University in 1882-83, were Miss Ann Wilson, a prize mathematician and Miss Carrie Althouse, “the best soprano singer on the campus.” The inclusion of women ran counter to a policy developed by the National Association. In 1882 Wishard was called on the carpet and as a result had to desist from organizing any more mixed associations and also had to do what he could about unscrambling those which had been organized on a mixed basis. As a result of this somewhat embarrassing situation many controversial and not completely logical statements were coined and expressed at National and State conferences and meetings. Speaking for separate associations at an Ohio YMCA conference Fanny Beale brought down the house when she remarked, “Only a girl can reach the heart of a girl.”

After World War I student YMCAs and YWCAs came back together to [p. 19] form either single or closely cooperating associations at a large number of institutions. By 1944 it was estimated that there were more than 100 such mixed associations. At the University of Illinois, following the demise of the YWCA which had been organized in 1873, a YWCA which was to last was organized in 1884. Though the YWCA and YMCA maintained separate organizational identities, they did cooperate in many endeavors including publication of the “I Book,” social events, conferences and other program endeavors. For many years, also, they were housed in the same building, maintained a joint bulletin board, and cooperated in many endeavors. Miss Mary Rolfe, daughter of Professor Charles Rolfe, one of the early members of the Y gave receptions in her home for Freshmen members of the Christian Associations. The Rolfe home was the scene of other gatherings also—in January, 1899, over 250 persons attended a reception for officers and committee members of the Y. The Rolfe home, only one block from the campus, was built by the father of Lorado Taft. Currently it is the University Speech Clinic.

According to Mrs. Roger Little, whose husband was an early member of the YMCA Board, the YMCA enjoyed the pocketbook, the big givers, while the YWCA settled for the pocket change. The YWCA has not had the resources of the YMCA nor has it attracted very many large donations. Even women with resources to make charitable gifts are likely to favor the YMCA in memory of a husband or some male member of the family.

There is a feeling that the University of Illinois YMCA has not been enthusiastic about promoting the cause of the YWCA. Henry Wilson was a firm believer in separate organizations. Currently they are sharing some programs and the YWCA maintains offices in the YMCA, but its identity is still distinct.