Carleton YMCA/YWCA Collection, 1874-1971 | Carleton College Archives

The Students' Christian Association at Carleton was established in 1874, "to promote evangelical religion among the Students of the College and the young people of this town."  In December of 1878, the SCA transmogrified itself into the YMCA, but initially retained its coed character.  A branch of the YWCA was formed not long after (but not before the spring of 1879).  The two new groups cooperated from the outset, but maintained their separate identities.  In the Carleton YMCA's early years, state and regional conferences and conventions were often held on the Carleton campus.  Among the branch's early projects were its association with a public reading room (details of which can be found in the "History" folder), and the sponsorship of campus lectures (details of which can be found in the "Events:  Calendars and Programs" folder).  The YWCA launched the famous Carleton May Fete pageants, and was responsible for organizing the annual "Pricilla Processions" at Thanksgiving, among other activities.

The YMCA was moribund from 1925 to 1948, but the YWCA remained extant and active.  After the re-establishment of a YMCA branch in 1948, the two groups began to act in concert and their affiliation with the national organization became looser.  Whether or not the Carleton branches ought to remain thus affiliated became a recurrent issue, particularly after the two groups merged (see, for example, "Student Organization and Annual Reports," and "Evaluation and Revisions Committee").  Circa 1960 the YMCA again became defunct on campus, and early in the 1960s (see "Words to the Y's," 1963) the YWCA expanded to include men under the rubric of the Student Christian Association.  The SCA remained affiliated with the National Student Council of YW/YMCAs.  The YMCA made sporadic reappearances until 1970, at which time both Ys and the SCA seem to have lapsed largely into inactivity.

Records of the groups' first half century of activity are sporadic except for the 1874-79 minute book, and no records at all survive from the 19th century for the YWCA.  The bulk of the records in this record group date from the late 1940s to the late 1960s.  The record group has been broadly organized into two overlapping series, one containing records reflecting the activities specifically of the Carleton branches, and one accommodating the communications distributed by the national organizations to student chapters.  Some material in the Carleton series evinces its relationship to the national.

Of particular interest in the series which reflects Carleton branch activity are:  the ledger containing the SCA and early YMCA records; a YWCA statement on women's liberation (in the "Miscellaneous" folder); a speech on the purpose and early history of the YMCA given by Frank Cutler, one of the branch's first presidents ("History"); evidence of the interaction between the national and branch organizations (the "Worship committee" folder, for example, contains correspondence with the national Y); evidence of the varying degrees of emphasis placed on religious and social activities, respectively (see, for example, the various committee report folders); and records of the Carleton branch's events (such as the YW/YMCA's involvement with freshmen orientation activities--see "Miscellaneous," and "Informational Brochures").

The National Student Council of YW/YMCAs series is of particular interest because it contains position statements on such issues as:  the Vietnam War; civil disorder; the role of Christian worship in the intellectual setting of a college, and the student perception of Christian groups (including a statement by Richard Niebuhr); and particularly, on combatting racism, which the Y dubbed the "One Imperative."  Included in the latter section is a bit of propaganda on the plight of Angela Davis, notably an article by James Baldwin and an interview with Davis in Muhammad Speaks.