HISTORICAL SKETCH
Somo Account of the Organi
zation and Growth of
tn Association.
Although the reeordu do nut show
vliv proposed thu organization of tlhu
association In our university, yet by
Inquiry wo have found that it was
cither our 'beloved Dr. Jt. L. Paine or
J. L. -Marsh of the class of 'SI. The
ilrst notice we 'June In the records Is
"MiiitMcsi of MecMngs," anid under the
date of February -. 1SS2, we have:
"UusiiicH mooting iml.vd to order.
President' in chair." .So r Jinia't
conclude they iiiad some time prior to
(his fo jucd a iii oigiiirizuiion. Jltil Hie
association constitution was not udop
tcd until .March lu, issa.
The association conii:i nued to work
under this eoiutii'tutiun unitil Ootobur
J, litM, when u new one was luLit-e'd.
The organization of the V. W. C. A.
in the universi'ty on September !27,
jsM, by I.. D. Wisliard, urns the eause
of thichunge. The minutes say that
"Mix). L. D. Wis'nard organized a
oung Womviu's (.'lirlfeiliau Aisooia
liou, w it'll the joimjf itulieo ot the as
sociation and inane who had no't' be
longed to that association."
Jitloic this time all meetings had
been hie id together, and they contin
ued to be so lor euniu time. The
change 'U separate meetings was slow
anil was deemed worthy of frequent
mention in tho minutes. It was not
until JhS7 tuiun. an exclusively men's
meeting was started." It was held on
Saturday evenings In room No. i. The
minutes of the meeting for October,
U, lhbfc, says: "Time mostly itaken up
by prayer, etc."
.Professor Hitchcock held a 'Sunday
invtrning bible class for the Ilrst year.
Besides this 'there was a meeting on
Wedhosda evenings which vvmis led
by Mime member of the association, i
was much interested1 in the minutes of
the meeting for September 21, JSS4,
which are its follows: "21 there, Dr.
Pninc included."
They seem to have had their diffi
culties, for we flnv.1 that they had no
meetings because the janitor forgo't to
open the dooiv, anl again they coin
pl.iin because a sociail was interrupted
lv ills turning- oil' the gas.
it is also evident that they had some
if the .same difficulties to deal with
ih.it we have to meet, for tihe iniivuton
n: .May 10, 1SSS, say: "Three persons
prc-en't when the meeting began. Hut
twenty came in 'before 'meeting
dosed'."
The officers of the association were
elected only for a term corresponldlng
to a school term until 1SSS, since when
tJie.v have been elected for one year,
in IMC the wiiisti'tution was again
changed 1o its present form In ivgnrd
U Hie time of electing oflleers and the
length of their term.
There were but three standing com
mittees lit Ilrst the membership, de
votional and missionary. This nuiin
her has been gradually increased until
now we have standing committees on
biiile study, lliiauce, printing and ad
vertising, calling and relief, ushering
and rooms, music, iivtereu'.loglute re
lations, daily prayer meeting, hand
book, annual address, like (ienevn.
. Convention time has always been
one of enthusiasm for tilie association
and we llnd at llrstt, as now, something
eira was expected from thine who
were privileged 'to attend the-e meet-In.-,
of Christian men. They expect
ed them to Come home full of en
thusiasm and plans for furthering
tlic Master's klued'oni In the uiuver
sit.v. To show jxirt of whiiit we expect
of our delegates I will give the effect
of l lie convention of 'SI on one of the
(isMieiulioa members of that time. M
was at the Sunday meeting fciMowlng
tin- convention, anw after the pro
gr.iai it i said: "Koy Codding, being
full of the convention, talked for a
minute or two.
There were 'twenty-live charter
incinoiMs of the association. Nine of
the-,. ere vvuinen. When the new
cinitiiintlon was adopted the member
Miip in the Y. M. C. A. was twonty
thnv. This has gradually Increased,
until wow we have a mem'bershlp of
-S. fifty-four of wIkmu are lu bible
olas-c.
riie finances have always 'been a
Mnirce of trouble to the association.
Winn it was organized the nioinbor
liip fee was fixed at A cents a mouth.
This was changed In 1HS5 to !2.r cents
H'r term, and their later changed1 1o
$l per year, as at present. Often the
delegates to the state conventions
were Instruotcd 'to nloduro $10 to the
state work and find that this oooiudon
cd trouble, for in 1881, after the usuel
hiNt met laus had been gilven, they
moved: "Also, that we bewt.r our-wlve-,
and pay up the $10 we now
owe." in was in tlhis year that the
precedent, which we follow with
mtch good advantage, was established.
I rifer to the asking of tho faculty to
ii1m us In our work flnaiiclally. They
hud Mich good success till at the niln
vifc report within a week after the
"Ppointing of the committee filial 'they
liml received $5 from the chancellor,
hut had not seen any more, of the fac
ulty yet."
Meetings were hold' In tlhu chapel
nd I'lillndinu hull and Dollun hull. In
''vemiber, 1880, they procured tho
ukp of vmin Xo. 7 and fixed If up as
ft V. M. 0. A. and n Y, W. 0. A. room
it the expedite of $1B. However, they
eonitlnued to hold their Sundviy meet
ing's in the larger hulls. After the
completion of the conservatory we oc
cupied rooms there until we moved In
to our present quarters.
The Held of the association lnu ibeen
vons'tantily wid'enlng and aunoiig the
new features of the past few years are
the annual addiess, morning wiiiteh,
baiul work, l.rkc Uenevn, delegation
fall campaign, hunl book, and last of
all tihe employment bureau.
I found hake (Ienevn first mentioned
in the minutes iw May, 1802, as fol
low: win send Tucker, Tniiver,
Whalcy and Dimmer to Lake Oeneva."
The years ':i and 'ill were years of
great advance in the association work
hi the university,
In .May, 'll.'l, haiwl work was taken up
in an energetic way. A committee was
appointed to choose members for tllie
bands. The work has proven to 'be a
success and ha. become u llxed part
of our work.
On .Tune I. of ,.il year. lion. W. K,
IMPROVEMENTS.
Marks of Material Progross
During the Past
Year.
Ntc'.hlng, perhaps shows the life and
activity of the association better ithen
the improvements that have been
made dining the past year. The Y. M.
C. A. boy vycre "long sull'erliig." They
trudged down tihe cellar stairs,
through that dark, narrow passage for
a long time without a nnirnitir, for
they realized the cramped ecr.idition
of the university. When the new
building was erected and finished, the
'boys became less forbearing and as
they saw the different departments
move Into the commodious new build
ing u spirit of discontent was discov
ered iiud this wplriit scon expressed it
self in words, when a p'.ca was made
Andrews delivered the Ilrst aiiituii'l ad- t0 tm' i"hneellor and regents. Here
dress. , hearty co-operation wus fn.iiiKl and lu
At a meeting on October 20. lMl.'l ' n hort time the room, innnediately
there was inaugurated iir the un-lvor-1 lnt of "lv 0,IL' 1"1 "I'C'ph'd, was
sity a movement which lias touched
the deeper life or the inctulbcrs or the
assoela'tion nunc than any ,N.,cr one
niovcnieivt. I refer to the 'morning
watch," and till custoni. whliili wup a
source of blessing to them, has been
handed down to us wlitii all s bene
fits. The committee oa 'handbook is first
mentioned in April. '!M, and in Octo
ber or the same year is 'tHie Ilrst men
tion oT the rail campaign.
Jn 181)0 we find that the mission
work was being pushed vigorously. It
was also during this year that ' the
college settlement was first discusM'd.
given to the awtoeiiitilun. Only those
who unevv tine condition of the rooms
as they e.vlsted at the openlwg of the
school room can appreciate the new
0111"
A front door has been put In, thus
rellevelng the boyn of embarrassment
lit bringing their friends to the
rooms. The walls and' ceilings have
been beautifully frescoed, new rugs
and furniture have been secured and
in all the rooms present a beautiful
appearance. "The Old Swearing
Ii. mi" lias been torn away. Tradi
tion say- that here is where the pres
ident and members of the cabinet
mild that this was tho most success
ful social event liv the association's
history.
A large number of vlsltom were
present, some men of national repu
tation as V. M. C. A. workers, among
whom nuij be mentioned U. U. Mlneh
ener of Chicago, ami C. S. Ward of
.Ntlmneapolls. Doth of these men are
members of the International commit
tee and their visit to the local asso
ciation has meant much to our work.
Aa this dinner men were Impressed' as
never before of the great brother
hood of which they were u part. The
need of active work, while lu col
lege was born into the mi mis of the
men. An effort has also been niude
to unify the membership and workers.
At this dinner men were surprised
at their own force and It did' much
to bring the commit teeiinen Into an
l'ltj-nnlzed body. The emu milt cu
muli's conference recently held
was of the same nature us
the dinner. At this time forty-five
committeemen! sat for three
nours iii earnest discussion ol asso
ciation problems. Difficult ics peculiar
to the Cnivierslty of Nebraska were
taken up aul prrobleins which had
nften seemed beyond' solution were
earnestly considered by that strong
class of men. it vva. r.niu.l at tui.ese
two gathering that men had been
thinking of the association work, but
had hesitated to expres their plans
and Miggcnilonw. The dbiner aiwl con
ference has put the work In a new
light befo.'e the men. They now feel
that the association problems are not
for a few to solve, but for the whole
working force to consider and act up
ii. 'Pile association will continue tills
policy in the coining year with great
er vigor. Already the great good of
and plans that might be put into use
the coming year.
The work of the committees In gen
eral was presuuful by C. J. Allen.
'Mr. Allen's long service In the ius3v
oiittion and his familiarity with all
phases of eoni'inlttcc organlzintlo and
work gave especial weight to all of his
recommendations. The more invport
ant of his suggestions were that tho
personnel of the committee should bo
as representative as possible, that
there should be perfect harmony be
tween the chairman and the mem
bers of it he committee, and that the
chairman of the committee should not
assume too much responsibility him
self, but rather give those under him
plemty lo do and make thorn respon
sible for the work in part,
rrofessor F. (1. Franklin followed
Mr. Allen, giving- sonic of his person
al reeollcoitions of ,1ohn H. '.Mott, tho
great Y. M. C. A, worker. Professor
Franklin and Mr. .Mott were class
mates in Cornell uulvcniity, and they
were very iiitlinately connected with
each other. The rare ability of Mott
as an organizer and director was set
forth in a very Interesting way by
the professor. '
.). K. Uoyle spoke or the Y. LM. C. A.
i a helpfull fuctoi lu university lite,
lie spo'e in a general way of the dif
ferent lines of work carried on by the
association, and of the bearing' of this
work on the men who come into con
tact with it. Mr. lloylc's paper led
to perhaps the inr.st interesting dis
cussion of the aftcrnooiv.
(leneral Secretary .Moore was to
have discussed a topic, but the Intones-
of the hour led him to defer it
until some other time.
The dinner which followed the pre-
" V jiff f ' ' - , ?;; "1"
JM B U Jk' ,xMXk Jk k-TtdKsi JKtr Km. Ml JrlH m
ASSOCIATION GLEE CLUB, 9S.
The assoeintitiiv has from its found
ing been favored by the counsel., ami
uld of (lodly men in our faculty, min
isters and laymen of itUio city, and also
the sUute secretaries ami the secreta
ries of the international committee.
We have had with us at various times,
Nash, Ober, .Mott, lni'knian, (iutcs,
Ward, and It wiia throtiun the advice
and aid of Mr. .dlci.euer, who wus with
us last year, that wv were enabled to
make our la'test movomumt .orward.
Uist year the oflleers of our associa
tion, after much prayer uuU o.iiihel,
determined that we, ai an association,
should move forward to a gmiter
work and lo a larger Hold than we
ii.i.i ..ii.r ..I'lMinled before. It was the
would seclude .themselves whem com
mittees refused to work.
A president or cabinet officer has
never 'been found who would say that
he liiin ever sworn while In this his
toric corner, ir none arc guilty, a
great many of the member, present
and past, 'would like to kn'ovv h...v
the room eunie to hear ueh a name.
Mho attendance at the roi.ms has al
most doubled in the past year. M'hey
are fast becoming, us they should be,
the common meeting place of the elev
en hundred young men in the universi
ty. One feature recently added to the
rooms Is free Ink to the nu-mborshlp
..f itHie association. MMiis Ink Is pro
vided by the Parker Pen company of
Vowing ..r the plan;, which they for- .Inncvllle. N Is., ami Is proving to be
mulated that led' to 'the changing of u thing (.r great convenience. It s
. constitution, m that now the a- the purpose that mure improvements
111
Hocihrtlon work In 'the university is on
a firm bawls. With our boura of con
trol, composed of wtudonts pro
fessors and two buInes men. or Lin
coln to direct the work, and the gen
eral secretary, who has general super
vision, wo ought to mow forward to
greater vl.-torlos for our Ohrlst than
any wo have yet achieved.
The work of 'the present school year
opened up most aiiHpleloiisly, and haw
exceeded even our highest ambitions.
Lat fall the regents kindly granted
us another room, which has been fur
nished from Hno proceed' of an enter
tailivinon't hold' recently. At our Com
mitteemen's dinner Chancellor Muo
U'lin promised us an ontMde entrance
and when we rotinwd from our
('hrlrftnins recess we found it already
in. M'he opening of our new quorters
l.. . .a 'IMii. Inv
occurred some wcck nr
t
Mhe hoys
hat night gave us h TU'eseint of 'twon-v-flve
dollars. vvJhieh Is being used In
buying needed furniture.
Our ooniHvit'twH are busily engaged
In lierfeeiing plmis for the work next
yonr. which wo expect lo malfo oven
inoro produetlvo of good than has bnen
shall lie added at the opening of the
coining school. It is hoped to place in
the main reception roim about one
hundred lockers where the linys can
leave their Imoks with cafety during
class hours. M'he rooms are always
kept neat and clean nukl are always
open to young liven In the universi
ty rogurdtlosu. of nuiin'berJliIp In the
association.
MMI KCOMMrmOIOMAN'S l NX lilt.
There Is no line of work more Im
portant in the association than the
training of men. M'o make each mem
ber feel that he has a part lin the or
ganization, to 'make each mnir feel a
responsibility. I "' c'f "ho difficult
tasks before' the Y. M. C. A. Tt was
a pant of the ofli)'ito policy of the
association last year to enlarge Hie
committees' use, great care liii the se
lection of men and then have eiioh
cominitteeiiKin do some definite- v ii'U
. ii ..i. i.i
or irive way to iiiuuinsr who wimihi
educating the men along iirogressjlve
lines has been discovered and no
painw will be spared to make all the
membership and individual workers
perfectly familiar wltiih all phases of
the work. Another conference will be
held this year when all comimi'ttees
will organize into one large force in
preparation for the work for new stu
dents. Mill is will be discussed and an
attempt will be made to have a large
number of workers on tho ground
oariy when bcliool opens the coining
year.
It is th eluteiitioii to make the
work f r new students coming in next
year the most effective that 'it has ev
er been.
sentntion of the different subjects
and their discussion was both excel
lent mid abundant.
Till')
CO.M.M lTTKICM AX'S CONiFlllt-
liXCH.
Saturday afternoon and evening,
April 'JL', the Y. M. C. A. 'had a com
mitteeman's meeting and di'inner itn Its
Hums in the main building. A large
majoriiiy of the men serving on. the
d liferent committees' were present
and the meeting proved to be a very
profitable one. M'he work of the com
mittee and plun for the govern 1 wel
fare of the association were presented
by different leaders in the work, and
the discussion 'that followed the pre
sentation of each subject was Inter
esting and spirited. Before the year
closes it isi hoped that, a meeting of
a similar nature may 'bo held to furth
er consider tho association and its
needi).
In opening the meeting .T. J. King,
the new pre.sid'dit of the nssoeliitlon,
nuido ii few general remarks, making
reference, among other thing, to the
work of the organization for tho corn-
In tho pnBt one
TiTIObVN .T. MATtSll.
assist, MMic plan, as adopted, "has sue-1 nig year. ,,.,,
wuded beyond all expeditions. MMie .1. L. Sheldon, who has had the bible
ooniniitteonian'si d'l'irner givoni at the Utudy work In charge during tho
eonwervntory of music. December 9, ltmsfc ..unp inl(lo sllC)T.L ,(U1 m fl,oh
IS1I8, did more to bring ubrmtithls hap- offeettvo wnv the
py fttnto of ulTa.h'H than' any other,1'0 lu fftlUl ,n ,m ellcotho vvaj the
event of Ihe. year aad' it may ha truly importance and claims of Uiblo sturdy
AMTITLMIM OF OTllElt OltGANlZ
TIOX45 TOWAltl) Y. M. C. A.
A disentail of the eonditlom o the
Y. M. C. A. ait present and its work
In the past wouM1 be incomplete
without dine regard to tho encourage
ment and substantial assistance that
has even been rendered by other pr
gauiiztitious and the management of
the university.
The fnatmiities have opened their
houses for receptions and' social gath
erings, and shawn courtesies to the or
ganization in nui'iiy wenys. The lit
erary societies have opened' their
halls and welcomed the Y. M. C. A.
boys upon many occasion.
Too much cnivwot be said of what
has been done by the chancellor. Up
on all occasions he has shown tho
keenest Interest in the work and has
proven to be one of the best advisers
in 'the university. Upon all lines of
work the chancellor Is interested an
the moral development of the young
men, and for this reason Is only too
glndi to assist any organization that
is working aloivg this line.
M'o individualize the members of the
faculty who have assisted' iiv the
work and who have helped itb put It
where it is would require 'the whole is
sue, suffice it to say that all teachers
are Interested in this work that Is do
livg so much among our young men.
Tlio favors shown 'by thoso in the
executive offices and those employed
upon tho campus, have been appreci
ated nnl It is hoped the Young Men's
Oh.rlstif .V association, may prove itself
worth the many friend, which It may
ii'Ow rightfully claim.
All tin university publications have
opened their oliiimn- to imtir.es and
reports. This ha- meant miuh ot tho
work.
