Account of the Founding of the Boston Y.M.C.A., written by Rufus P. Parrish
Description:
"Account of the Founding of the Boston Y.M.C.A." was written by Rufus P. Parrish of Kewanee, IL and completed on January 14, 1899. It briefly describes how he assisted Sullivan and three other men in founding the Boston Y.M.C.A., the writing of its constitution, and the men involved. After the title page is a letter addressed to J. Titus Bowne, mailed on June 24, 1917 from E.L. Mogge. Enclosed in the letter is a copy of a communication E.L. Mogge received in 1899 from Parrish while he was the General Secretary of the Geneva YMCA. The letter from Mogge appears to have been printed on stock paper with an advertisement for the Zanesville Young Men's Christian Association (the advertisement discusses their campaign to raise $200,000 in eight days). Parrish's communication documents "the earliest [Y.M.C.A.] meetings held in the little Chapel of the Old South Church, Boston." Rufus Parrish (1816 – April 10, 1903) was the President of the free Public Library in Kewanee, IL, which he helped to form on January 7, 1875. He was known for bringing many well-respected lecturers to Kewanee, such as Abraham Lincoln, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Emerson. The Boston Y.M.C.A. was the first to open in the United States (December 29, 1851) and was founded by Captain Thomas Valentine Sullivan (1800–1859), an American seaman and missionary.
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