1991
Howard H. Kustermann

er while attending the University of Wiser, Kustermann worked in camping and ive of the Colorado Springs (CO) YMCA. He left Colorado to become the General Executive for Public Relations and Development of the YMCA of Chicago (IL). He later assumed successive General Executive positions in Dallas and Philadelphia before his appointment as Executive Director of the International Committee of the YMCAs of the U.S. and Canada. In 1973, he joined the World Alliance of YMCAs as Associate Secretary General in Geneva, Switzerland, where he oversaw the development and spread of YMCA work in over 90 countries.

1991
Leo B. Marsh

After graduating from Knoxville College in 1928, Leo B. Marsh began working at the Detroit (MI) YMCA as the Youth Work Secretary. He held a series of YMCA positions in Chicago (IL), Toledo and Columbus, Ohio. In 1944, he joined the national staff as Associate Executive Secretary of the Central Atlantic Area. He later served as the Director of the Board of Interracial and Counseling Services. During this period, he continued his education at George Williams College, Springfield College, the University of Chicago, and Columbia University. During his twenty-six years as Director, he became the first African American President of the National Association of Secretaries in 1954. He also served as the U.S.

representative at the World Conference of Christian Youth in India in 1952 and as a delegate to the YMCA World Council Meeting in Japan in 1965. He was one of the founders and first General Chair of the National Conference of Black and Non-White YMCA Staff (BANWYS). Marsh also served for two years as the Assistant Executive Director of the National Board and as Executive for the Committee for Interracial Advancement in 1967. After he retired in 1970, he served as a consultant to the Harlem Branch of the YMCA of Greater New York, where he was instrumental in the creation of the Black Achievers program as a strategy to create mentorships between inner city youth of color and successful minority businessmen.

1991
Robert R. McBurney

When Robert McBurney arrived in the United States from Ireland in 1854, he took a room at a YMCA. Eight years later, he became the only employed staff person of the New York City YMCA. He was responsible for taking care of the library and programs in the few rented rooms that made up the Association. Under McBurney’s leadership, the Association grew and moved several times into larger quarters. In 1870, the YMCA moved into its own building, designed by McBurney to accommodate the specific membership and program needs of the Y. Over the next seven years, McBurney oversaw the development of nine more facilities as well as a dramatic increase in membership. He was an outspoken advocate of the “fourfold purpose”, incorporating physical activity as part of the Y’s mission when the idea was controversial. He developed the “Metropolitan Association” model of a semi-autonomous branch network with one central administrative authority. Robert McBurney also served in senior leadership roles for the International Committee, the precursor of today’s YMCA of the USA. One of his biographers wrote that McBurney’s influence on the YMCA Movement was “profound, exceeding that of any other man.”

1991
C. Edward Singer

As a teen, Ed Singer was a member of the Zanesfield, Ohio Hi-Y Club. He began his career as a Physical Education Director in branches of first the Columbus (OH) and then Cincinnati YMCAs from 1936 to 1941. Singer served as director of the Douglas USO Club at Fort Sill (OK) and as the Itinerant Director of the Regional Army and Navy Department of the YMCA. He returned to local YMCA work after World War II as Executive Director of the YMCA in Kansas City (KS). Singer resigned from the Y in protest after being told that, despite his credentials, “the time was not right for the appointment of a colored secretary” when he applied for the General Secretary for the Midwest position. One year later, Leo Marsh recruited him back to the Y as General Program and Membership Secretary for the Center Avenue Branch in Pittsburgh (PA). Singer remained in Pittsburgh until 1951, when he moved to a Branch Executive, and subsequently Associate General Secretary, in Pasadena (CA). He and other African-American leaders promoted an “open door” policy of YMCA membership throughout the U.S. as well as an “equal pay for equal positions” policy for all Y staff. In 1961, Singer was appointed Executive Director of the Nuuanu YMCA Branch in Honolulu. Five years later, he joined the national staff as Association Executive of the Pacific Southwest Area Council of the YMCA. In 1967, he was appointed the Director of the Washington Office of the National Board where he served until his retirement.

1992
Clifford M. Carey

Clifford Carey’s connection with the YMCA was established so early in life that even his high school yearbook predicted a YMCA career. He received his undergraduate degree in 1923 from Denison University in Ohio and his Ph.D. from the University of Southern California in 1942. In those twenty years he balanced his schooling and remained a full time staff member of the YMCA. He held positions with the Dayton (OH), Chicago (IL), and Los Angeles (CA) YMCAs. In 1942, Carey joined the National Council staff and remained there for twenty-eight years, until 1970. He served in a number of positions, including Young Men’s Program Services, Director of Research and Planning, and Executive for Program and Research. For two years prior to his retirement, Carey was the Associate General Executive, where he implemented changes in the organization of field services. Carey wrote and taught training classes, including refresher courses for Y staff returning after WWII. He helped write Young Men Speak, A Self Appraisal Plan for the YMCAs, and Survey Techniques for Local YMCAs.