Clement "Pete" Duran papers

Clement “Pete” Duran, creator of the YMCA Youth in Government program, started his YMCA career as a desk clerk at the Amsterdam, New York YMCA. The YMCA was so impressed with his abilities that they asked him to become the assistant athletic director. Duran accepted, and, in 1919 at the age of 17, he officially entered association work. Amsterdam was followed by Poughkeepsie, where Duran worked to form the Ki-Y, a youth mentoring partnership with the local Kiwanis Club. From there, he went to Yonkers, and finally to Albany, where Duran began to articulate his thoughts for a program designed to train youth in good citizenship. He later became associate director of Association Press. His last position before joining the YMCA of Greater New York was on the State Executive Committee of the YMCAs of New York State in 1948.

He is most remembered for his role as creator of the Youth in Government program (called Youth and Government in some locations), which is now active in more than 40 states and the District of Columbia. His vision that “democracy must be learned by each generation” is still the motto of the Youth in Government program. He was the author of "The Program Encyclopedia" and "The New Encyclopedia of Successful Program Ideas," both of which were widely used in YMCAs throughout the United States.

He joined the YMCA of Greater New York in 1960 as Director of Research and Special Planning, becoming Executive Director for Special Services in 1963. When he retired in 1968, he was Assistant Executive Vice President. Duran died in 1983.

Taken from YMCA Hall of Fame website at http://www3.springfieldcollege.edu/homepage/designer.nsf/YMCA-Hall-Of-Fame, and from the collection.