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89-M3

Boston Young Women’s Christian Association (Massachusetts). Records, 1858-1988: A Finding Aid

Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America

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Radcliffe College
January 1991

©1991 Radcliffe College

REQUEST AS:

Call No.: 89-M3
Repository: Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute
Creator: BOSTON YOUNG WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION
Title: Records, 1858-1988
Quantity: 110 cartons, 1 file box, 1 card file box, 5 folio boxes, 18 folio+ boxes, 43 oversized volumes, 24 audiocassettes, 17 motion pictures
Abstract: Reports, minutes, correspondence, etc., of the Boston Young Women's Christian Association.

Processing Information:

Preliminary inventory: January 1991
By: Jane S. Knowles

Acquisition Information:

Accession number: 89-M3
The records of the Boston Young Women's Christian Association were given to the Schlesinger Library by the Association in 1989.

Access Restrictions:

Access. Unrestricted.

BIOGRAPHY

The Boston Young Women's Christian Association (BYWCA) was founded in 1866; it was one of the first, and the prototype, for all subsequent YWCAs in the United States. It is also one of the oldest extant voluntary agencies in Boston.
In 1858, Mrs Lucretia Boyd, a city missionary, first voiced concern for the moral and physical welfare of young women and girls coming from the country to work in Boston. In 1866 a group of women led by the civic reformer Pauline Durant, wife of philanthropist Henry Durant, founded the BYWCA modeled on the English YWCA to "serve the temporal, moral, and religious welfare of young women who are dependent upon their own exertions for support." Young women faced with the choice of "starving or sinning" were to be housed in well-regulated boarding houses and given moral and religious training. Accommodations and a reading room were rented on Chauncy Street in 1866 and shortly thereafter two houses on Beach Street were purchased to offer lodgings to Protestant women under the age of 25. Classes - - including Astronomy, Botany, Penmanship, and Bookkeeping - - were offered and a restaurant opened to serve residents and non-residents.
Finding that many young women had no jobs, the BYWCA in 1868 opened an employment agency for domestic servants and an experimental industrial class to teach sewing, dressmaking, and the use of the sewing machine. Such was the success of the early years that new buildings were constructed on Warrenton Street (1875) and Berkeley Street (1884). The first executive secretary, Charlotte Drinkwater (1875-1908), introduced many pioneering programs and established the early goals, to which over the years the BYWCA has consistently adhered: affordable housing, enrichment courses, vocational training, physical education, and career counseling and placement. The BYWCA's initial concern for the religious health of its clients has shifted away from Protestant denominational loyalty to a broad Christian focus. The responsiveness of the BYWCA to social change has depended partly on the differing agendas of the Executive Secretaries and partly on the policies of the volunteer Board of Managers. The settlement and training of immigrants as domestic workers was an early goal under Mary E. Blodgett, who established Travelers' Aid to welcome immigrants at the docks. Assimilation classes were offered by the International Institute in the 1920s. Under Executive Secretary Harriet Broad (1914-21), who trained at the National Board of the YWCA in New York, there was an effort to reach "industrial girls" and the membership was expanded to include clients as well as upper-class managers. Although (unlike the National Board) not a pioneer in race relations, the BYWCA wholeheartedly embraced the multicultural goals of the YWCA movement in the 1970s and introduced innovative programs whose purpose was to strengthen diversity and eliminate racism. The BYWCA has also been outspoken on public policy issues such as apartheid in South Africa. From the 1970s, especially under the direction of Executive Director Juliet Brudney, the BYWCA concentrated on services to youth and teenagers and child care services for working mothers.
The shortfall in funding from private charity, United Way, and state and federal agencies was closed by periodic fundraising campaigns and by the sale of securities. In 1986, in the interests of long range financial stability, the Board decided to rebuild the BYWCA at 140 Clarendon Street in partnership with a commercial developer. At the time when this collection was processed these plans had been postponed.
The following are highlights of BYWCA history:

SCOPE AND CONTENT

The records of the BYWCA are divided into the following six series. An index to major authors, organizations, and subjects is found at the end of the inventory.

PRELIMINARY LIST OF ADDED ENTRIES

The following catalog entries represent persons, organizations, and topics documented in this collection. An entry for each appears in the Harvard On Line Library Information System (HOLLIS) and other automated bibliographic databases.
Boston Young Women's Christian Association
Brooks, Phillips, 1835-1893
Coit, Eleanor Gwinnell, 1894-1976
Coolidge, Calvin, 1872-1933
Cox, Channing Harris, 1879-
Durant, Pauline (Fowle)
Fuller, Alvan Tufts, 1878-1958
Lawrence, William, Bishop, 1850-1941
Putnam, Glendora McIlwain
Adult education-Massachusetts
Abused women-Massachusetts
Afro-American women-Massachusetts
Boston (Mass.)--Buildings, structures, etc.
Boston (Mass.)--Economic conditions
Boston (Mass.)--Social life and customs--20th century
Boston (Mass.)--Clubs
Camps-Maine
Camps-Massachusetts
Charities-Massachusetts--Boston
Child care-Massachusetts--Boston
Day care centers-Massachusetts Displaced homemakers-Massachusetts
Domestics-Massachusetts
Emigration and immigration-Massachusetts
Home economics-Massachusetts
Home economics students-Massachusetts
Occupational retraining-Massachusetts
Occupational training-Massachusetts
Physical education and training-Massachusetts
Race relations
Religious education of girls
Social service-Massachusetts
Sports-Massachusetts
Teenagers-Massachusetts
Travelers' aid societies
United Community Services of Metropolitan Boston
United Way (Boston, Mass.)
Volunteers
Women--Education
Women--Societies and clubs
Women volunteers in social service-Massachusetts
World War, 1914-1918--War work-Young Women's Christian Associations
World War, 1939-1945--War work--Young Women's Christian Associations
Young Women's Christian Association of Boston
Young Women's Christian Association of the U.S.A.
Youth-Massachusetts
Youth--Societies and clubs

CONTAINER LIST

INVENTORY

PRELIMINARY INDEX


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