Sir George Williams

Sir George Williams

International Young Men's Christian Association; Young Men's Christian Association of North America

Young Men's Christian Association History; Williams, George, Sir, 1821-1905; YMCA; YMCA Hall of Fame; founder; Jubilee Conference

Signed photograph of Sir George Williams from the book "Report of the Thirteenth International Conference and Jubilee Celebration of Young Men's Christian Associations". George Williams was the Founder of the YMCA. In 1844, after becoming a devout Christian, he gathered a group of young men together for prayer and reflection. This simple act developed into the worldwide YMCA movement. By 1845 the YMCA was holding public lectures in rented halls and Sunday afternoon teas at Hotel Radley in London. By 1851 the YMCA had spread to 16 other cities in England, Scotland and Ireland. The YMCA movement reached the American shores in 1851, with the first YMCA established in Montreal on November 25 and the second in Boston December 29. By the time George Williams was knighted by Queen Victoria in 1894, the 50th anniversary of the YMCA, there were 5,000 YMCAs in 24 countries with 500,000 members. He died in 1905.

Yours very truly George Williams

Jubilee Council

Image from inset of the book, "Report of the Thirteenth International Conference and Jubilee Celebration of Young Men's Christian Assocation."

The Botolph Printing Works

1895

2009-01-13

Text and images are owned, held, or licensed by Springfield College and are available for personal, non-commercial, and educational use, provided that ownership is properly cited. A credit line is required and should read: Courtesy of Springfield College, Babson Library, Archives and Special Collections. Any commercial use without written permission from Springfield College is strictly prohibited. Other individuals or entities other than, and in addition to, Springfield College may also own copyrights and other propriety rights. The publishing, exhibiting, or broadcasting party assumes all responsibility for clearing reproduction rights and for any infringement of United States copyright law.

Rare Book Collection

http://cdm16122.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15370coll2/id/786

YMCA-HOF; GW1; GW2; RBC

Image/jpg

Image/tiff

en-US

Image

jubilee_of_the_ymca_1894_pl1