Henry Dickson and McBurney YMCA

W. H. Drew, Stereopticons · [1900?–1910?]

This lantern slide shows two images: the McBurney YMCA in New York City and Henry D. Dickson, who graduated in 1890 from the YMCA Training School, now Springfield College. Before college, Dickson worked as an assistant secretary at the Buffalo YMCA in New York. After graduation, he returned to this branch and remained as their general secretary. In 1908, Dickson began also serving as the New York Secretary to the International Committee. The following year, he transferred first to the Orange YMCA in New Jersey (1909-1911) and then to the Dayton YMCA in Ohio (1911-1934). Dickson retired on April 1, 1934 and died on June 21, 1957. The first permanent home of the McBurney YMCA, established in 1869, was the headquarters of the New York Association. In 1887, it was renamed the 23rd Street YMCA and housed in a French Renaissance building designed by notable New York architect James Renwick, Jr. In 1904, the branch moved into a state-of-the art building that was widely considered the finest YMCA in the United States. In 1943, they renamed the facilityin honor of Robert Ross McBurney, the chief executive of the New York Association from 1883 until 1898. The branch housed both the Chelsea School and the New York Law School from 1920 to 1933. In 2002, the McBurney YMCA relocated to West 14th Street, and the former building was transformed into special needs housing.