VOLUNTEER INDUCTEES

DR. C. HOWARD HOPKINS (1905-2000)

His authoritative History of the YMCA in North America, is the only comprehensive history of the American YMCA Movement from its founding to the mid-1950s. Charles Howard Hopkins was chosen by the Committee on Historical Resources of the YMCA to research and write that history of the organization. He was selected not only because of his PhD in history from Yale, but also because his earlier book, The Rise of the Social Gospel in American Protestantism which dealt with an era that had been critical in the formation of the YMCA. Hopkins had also been a volunteer in student and city Ys. Following publication of his tome on YMCA history, Hopkins went on to write a highly regarded biography of Y icon John R. Mott. For many years, a copy of Hopkins’s History could be found in virtually every American YMCA, referred to just as “Hopkins”.

JAMES M. STOKES (1842-1918)

Stokes was part of the national governance of the YMCA starting with the Executive Committee and continuing with the International Committee. (These were predecessor organizations to the YMCA of the USA.) Committed to spreading the YMCA idea worldwide, Stokes was instrumental in the development and cultivation of YMCAs in France, Italy, Egypt, Syria, Switzerland and Great Britain. He was a private banker in New York and also director of a number of large business enterprises in the city. He funded YMCA buildings in St. Petersburg, Russia; Rome, Berlin, Vienna and other European cities, as well as in India, China and Japan.

NOVEMBER 16, 1861

Fifteen Northern YMCAs form “Christian Commission” for Civil War work.

YMCA HALL OF FAME 2013 Inductees