Page 5 - HERITAGE STORY Y’S MEN INTERNATIONAL

Toledo YMCA after WWI

The Great War (World War I) had recently ended. But
while people had resumed their civilian activities,
society had changed. War-ravaged, plagued by a flu
epidemic but also energised and expectant, a simple
return to “life as usual” was impossible.

The post-war era of the “Roaring Twenties”, known as
a time of excess and unprecedented progress, was
also conversely an incubator for a new social
movement calling for increased civic awareness and
accountability. The result: the birth of the modern
service organisation.

Within the Toledo YMCA, a young programme director
noticing an increase in both time and monetary
donations to the YMCA, wondered how to build upon
this positive trend. Could the service club concept be a
possibility?

Identifying 15 young Toledo businessmen working
within the YMCA as volunteers and two staff members,
he approached them with his idea to start a club.