LAURENCE L. DOGGETT

Laurence Doggett’s first involvement with the YMCA was in 1886 through the Oberlin College Student YMCA. He felt the great hope of the city was “in the prevention of young men going wrong and the building up of a positive Christian personality.” He saw the YMCA as the most appropriate place for this to occur. Following graduation, he accepted a position with the State YMCA of Ohio. During this time he found that, among associations which failed, the primary cause was lack of well-trained leadership.

After one year, he left the YMCA to earn his doctorate at the University of Leipzig. He wrote his thesis on the history of the early YMCA, from its founding to 1855. It was published by the International Committee as Volume I of the History of the Young Men’s Christian Association.

Upon completion of his doctorate, Doggett returned to the USA and served as the head of the State YMCA of Ohio. In 1896, he was offered the position of president of the International YMCA Training School, which he accepted because it gave him the opportunity to focus all of his energy on the training of YMCA secretaries. L.K. Hall, Doggett’s biographer, wrote, “He was to build a school to build men who in turn would be builders of men.”

During his forty-year presidency, he focused on the education of YMCA secretaries in the USA as well as internationally. Through his vision, the YMCA adopted the equilateral triangle of Luther Gulick as its symbol, emphasizing the equal development of the spirit, mind, and body. The term “humanics” was applied to describe the education of the whole person.

Under Doggett’s leadership, the school was known for its liberal religious teachings and for trainingpeople outside of the YMCA movement. As president, Doggett ran four separate capital campaigns to help enhance the campus facilities, as well as to establish a substantial endowment for the school. In 1912 the Training School became known as the International Young Men’s Christian Association College and then later as Springfield College.

Doggett was responsible for the Training School becoming certified as a college. In 1905, the College was authorized to grant the degrees of Bachelor and Master of Humanics and Bachelor and Master of Physical Education, which enabled students to apply the educational credit to other institutions. The first degrees were awarded in 1906. Later, the degrees of Bachelor and Master of Education were added.

Doggett dedicated his life to enhancing the education of YMCA secretaries. His summers were spent at the YMCA Summer Training Institute at Silver Bay, New York. He published two books, Man and a School and The Life of Robert McBurney, as well as many articles. Doggett died in 1957.