James F. Bunting papers

Collection

Identifier: Y.USA.97

Staff Only

SCOPE AND CONTENTS OF THE COLLECTION

Correspondence, speeches, minutes, and other papers of James F. Bunting, primarily from the period during which he served as Executive Director of the National Council and National Board of the YMCA from 1964 until his retirement from the Y in 1971. Much of the material documents the process underway at the time to restructure the national headquarters and the efforts to address racial discrimination and other inequities within the movement. The collection also includes manuscript drafts of a book on YMCA development during that period that Bunting was co-writing with Clifford Carey.

Dates

1958-1975
Majority of material found in 1964-1971

Creator

Bunting, James F. (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Open for use in the Elmer L. Andersen Library reading room.

Conditions Governing Use

This collection may be 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 necessary permissions prior to the reproduction, publication, or other use of any portion of these materials. Researchers may quote from the collection under the fair use provision of the copyright law.

BIOGRAPHY OF JAMES F. BUNTING

James F. Bunting was appointed executive director of the National Council and the National Board of the YMCA in 1964 and served in that role until his retirement in 1971. Born in Little Falls, N.Y. in 1906, Bunting was involved with Ilion N.Y. Hi-Y Club as a youth and began his YMCA career as associate directory of the Association's school at Rochester, N.Y. in 1927 after earning his B.A. at Syracuse University.He then went to New Haven YMCA while earning a Masters in Education at Yale University. Subsequently he served at the Schnectady, N.Y. and Newark N.J., and Washington D.C. YMCAs.

As General Secretary, oversaw a major reorganization of the national headquarters, during which the International Committee of the U.S. and Canada were split into two separate national groups with the American group under the YMCA National Board. Field staff were incorporated into the national staff and specialists assigned to various regions and states. Bunting also took some steps to address inequities and to involve the YMCA more directly in social problems facing the country. During his tenure the organization added a proviso to its constitution requiring all YMCA units to open their programs, boards, committees, and facilities to all without regard for race, color, or national origin. It also established the Urban Action and Development division and a Black and Non-White Concerns division, as well as an office for the Urban Group of the YMCAs. Bunting is credited with advancing efforts to inovle greater numbers of women, People of Color, and youth in leadership of the organization. It was also under his leadership, in 1966, that the movement reached an understanding with the Roman Catholic Church.

Bunting married Emma Lee Morgan and had two daughters. He died in 1989 in Gaithersburg, Maryland, of a stroke.