Robert McBurney New York YMCA-related papers

Robert Ross McBurney was born in northern Ireland in 1837, immigrating to the United States in 1854. On arriving in New York City he rented a room at the YMCA and became an active member while working in a hat shop. He was appointed as librarian in 1862, overseeing the library and recruiting new members, seemingly focusing on those with the resources to help support and advance the organization. He briefly left in 1864 to try his hand at business in Philadelphia, but realized that his calling was not in commerce and sought to return to New York. He had corresponded with the president of the New York YMCA, William E. Dodge, Jr., after leaving the city, and had reported his dissatisfaction with the Philadelphia position. The job in New York was still available, and he was gladly recalled to be director and corresponding secretary of what was then called the YMCA of the City of New York.

McBurney oversaw the rapid growth of the organization in the years following the Civil War. He was aslo reponsible for incorporating an emphasis on the body in addition to the mind and spirit, giving the YMCA a focus that it retains today. He began an ambitious building program after the Civil War, first presiding over not just the construction but the funding of an impressive building, the first purpose-built YMCA in the United States. The building incorporated features still found in YMCA buildings around the world: a gymnasium, a swimming pool, game rooms, social parlors, classroom, a bowling alley and an auditorium. Debt on the building was financed by leasing offices and studio spaces on the ground floor.

Not content with focusing on New York alone, he persuaded the national YMCA to locate its headquarters in the city. He also became a full member of the International Committee in the 1860s. He is known for developing the metropolitan concept of the YMCA that is in use in large cities throughout the United States -- one organization with branches, rather than separate YMCA operations scattered throughout an urban area.

When McBurney died in 1898, he left a strong and growing organization with 15 branches, a physical plant worth $2 million, 149 full-time employees and an annual program attendance of two million young men. As a result of McBurney's efforts, the New York YMCA had become the most influential Y in America.