Uptown Branch YMCA records

Collection

Identifier: Y.GNY.21

Staff Only

SCOPE AND CONTENTS OF THE COLLECTION

The New York YMCA Uptown branch collection includes Board of Managers' minutes, scrapbooks, correspondence, brochures, day camp reports, dinner and other event programs, commendations, youth program materials, ledgers and other financial records, material about the relationship of the branch with the Cathedral of St. John the Divine and other community institutions, primarily from the 1970s and 1980s.

Dates

Creation: 1946-1986
Creation: Majority of material found within 1970 - 1985

Creator

YMCA of Greater New York. Uptown Branch (Organization)

Language of Materials

English

Use of Materials:

This collection is protected by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S. Code). It is the user's responsibility to verify copyright, ownership, and to obtain all the necessary permissions prior to the reproduction, publication, or other use of any portion of these materials.

HISTORY OF THE UPTOWN BRANCH YMCA

The Uptown branch of the YMCA of Greater New York was formed in 1933 as a replacement for the old Harlem Branch on 125th Street, which had closed in 1929. The initial mission of the branch was to provide a positive alternative to the so-called "cellar gangs" in the area. For many years it was located on various blocks around West 104th Street, although it also occupied other rented facilities on the west side of upper Manhattan, including an extension center at the Riverside Church at 490 Riverside Drive (between 120th and 122nd streets). Other locations included the building that also housed the Olympia Theater at Broadway and 104th Street (1970s-1980s); 82 Claremont Avenue, at 120th Street between Broadway and Riverside Drive (1950s); and 125 W. 104th Street in Grace Methodist Church, between Amsterdam and Columbus avenues (1940s). Wherever the branch was located, it emphasized programs for youth and children and in later years was especially strong in developing after-school and day camp programs. The branch ceased operations in 1986.

(Information taken from An Event on Mercer Street: A Brief History of the YMCA of the City of New York, by Terry Donoghue (1951) and from the collection)