Marsh, Leo B.

Leo Bergman Marsh was born in Camden, Alabama in 1903. Marsh began his YMCA career in 1928 in Detroit, where he served as assistant youth work secretary, transferring to the same position in Chicago in 1929. From 1930 to 1945 he was the director of two branch YMCAs, first in Toledo, Ohio and then in Columbus, Ohio. In 1945 he became associate executive secretary of the Atlantic Area. Marsh joined the National Board as director of Interracial and Counseling Services in 1948. In 1954 he had the distinction of becoming the first black president of the Y's National Association of Secretaries (AOS). In 1967 Marsh became assistant executive of the Board and executive of the Committee for Interracial Advance. He was one of the founders and the first general chairman of the National Conference of Black and Non-White Laymen and Staff (BAN-WYS). In 1969, After retiring from the National Board in 1970, he served for a year as associate development director of the New York City YMCA, where he was instrumental in establishing a successful Black Achievers in Industry program for the Harlem YMCA.