The Origin of the YMCA: From London Drapery Counter to Global Youth Movement
In 1844, a 23-year-old draper's assistant in London founded a small prayer group that would eventually become one of the world's largest youth organizations. The YMCA's unlikely journey from a religious study circle to a global network of community centers, sports facilities, and social services reveals how Victorian-era anxieties about urban youth, physical fitness, and moral decline shaped a movement that continues to serve millions today.
