Fonds consists of records relating to operations and administration concerns, member associations, liaison conferences, conventions and workshops, YMCA locals throughout Canada, Western Territorial Committee, publications, as well as oversize material, including posters on various YMCA programs, 1856-1984. Fonds also contains photographs depicting YMCA services and activities for Canadian military personnel in Britain, 1940-1945; photos of YMCA camps, buildings, military operations, overseas projects, personel and programs in Canada, a souvenir album from Paris, 1918-1919; text slides used to illustrate a membership campaign, 1958; portraits of various board members, 1938-1953; conferences, educational activities, and summer camps, 1900-1955; and filmstrips depicting and promoting YMCA activities, 1949-1965. Fonds consists of sound recordings of dramas, documentaries and announcements produced for the YMCA by radio stations and record companies in Canada and the United States. Also includes parts of proceedings of the annual and executive meetings of the YMCA National Council of Canada, its committees and the Hogg Task Force and a message of Sir George Williams about the YMCA's role and philosophy, 1943-1972. Fonds also consists of films, primarily short documentaries, on the activities of the YMCA involving youth programs, war service campaigns, aid to refugees and the history of the organization, [ca. 1940-1974]. Fonds consists of survey plans of the YMCA campsite and drawings of buildings located at Geneva Park on Lake Couchiching near Orillia, Ontario.
National Council of YMCAs of Canada : The Young Men's Christian Association began in England in 1844 when George Williams, a clerk in a London dry goods firm, founded a society dedicated to "the improvement of the spiritual and mental condition of young men". Early YMCA programs included prayer meetings and Bible classes, evangelistic meetings, lectures, employment bureaux, boarding house register and social activities. By the end of the century these programs had expanded to include gymnasia and baths, camps, and technical and vocational education. The original targets of YMCA services were young men in white-collar occupations but the organization soon included boys, college students, industrial and railroad workers, and military personnel within its jurisdiction. Control of the organization rested in the hands of Protestant evangelical church leaders, professionals and prominent businessmen.
The YMCA concept spread rapidly to other parts of the globe, arriving in North America in 1851 with the founding of the Montreal YMCA. A World's Alliance of YMCA's was launched in Paris in 1855. Close contacts between early YMCAs in Canada and the United States resulted in the formation of the International Committee of YMCAs whose function was not only to coordinate YMCA work in those two countries but to finance and supervise YMCA missionary work in Asia, Africa and South America. In 1912 the Canadian YMCAs established their own National Council to coordinate YMCA work in this country but retained their membership in the International Committee and their commitment to YMCA World Services programs.
The National Council of YMCAs of Canada functions as a coordinating body whose members include, or have included, Family and Community YMCAs, Railroad YMCAs, YM-YWCA, YMCA Extensions, Hi-Y Clubs and Y's Men's Clubs. National Council responsibilities include the recruiting and training of leaders, research, the development of national standards, assistance with fund-raising and administration, and program development. Most important, perhaps, has been its function of liaison with the World's Alliance, the International Committee, other National YMCAs, the YWCA, government and a wide range of religious and social service organizations. Under the leadership of the National Council, the Canadian YMCA has played a major part in promoting adult education, physical education and camping in Canada; in providing services to Canadian troops overseas during both World Wars; in offering social and recreational services to railroad workers on CNR and CPR lines; in setting professional standards for Boys' Work; in initiating international development projects and in responding to changing social conditions affecting young people including the Great Depression, the Wars, the youth explosion of the 1950s, and the social and political turmoil of the late 1960s.
