MG-204. STATE YMCA OF PENNSYLVANIA RECORDS, 1869-1969.
Minutes, reports local studies, proceedings of annual conventions, legal papers, photographs, manuals, and related materials of the Pennsylvania Young Men’s Christian Association. Founded in 1869, these records reflect the wide range of YMCA activities with African Americans and among immigrants in the anthracite and bituminous coal fields. During the early 1900s separate African American branches of the YMCA emerged in Pennsylvania’s metropolitan areas. Between 1910 and 1920, African American branches were established in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Sewickley and by 1925 branches were also opened in Germantown and Harrisburg, and by the late 1930s, in Wilkes-Barre. These provided both recreational opportunities and welfare-related programs to their respective African American communities.
YMCA (National) Yearbooks and Official Rosters, 1902-1960. Provide information on size of membership, property, activities, and financing for the "Colored Men’s Associations." The names of the top officers of each association are frequently given and the information is arranged by state, county, and educational institution. Before World War II the African American branches were designated as "Colored."
Pennsylvania State YMCA, Special Committees Meetings: 1926-1930, Minutes. Includes the minutes of the State Committee of Colored Work, 1927 and 1928 and the report of the Pennsylvania Employed Officers Conference, 1928. Also present is a subcommittee report on "Colored Work" at Harrisburg dated October 8, 1927. The subcommittee convened at the Broad Street Branch of the YMCA with Chairman C. Sylvester Jackson presiding and the following members present: James H. Irvin, Boyd L. Proctor, John C. Robinson, Rev. C. F. Jenkins, W. F. Burden, State Secretary P. C. Dix, and J. H. Dalrymple who was "responsible for the promotion of work among the Colored race." One of the main items of discussion was the Phalanx Movement of the Conference of Colored Boys and the concern was that there were only twenty-one such associations in Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania State Centennial Committee of the State YMCA Scrapbook, Being a Collection of Materials Produced by YMCAs of Pennsylvania During the Centennial, 1944, Harrisburg, PA (1944). Includes a program of the Christian Street YMCA of Philadelphia which contains many photographs and lists of African American supporters.
Pennsylvania Hi-Y News, 1937-1947. Some issues in the post-World War II years make occasional references to notable African Americans connected with the YMCA.