YMCA of the USA. World Service.

In 1901, Bertram A. Shuman arrived in Buenos Aires and founded a YMCA there in 1902. He was joined in 1903 by Charles J. Ewald, who focused on YMCA work among students. Using money raised in Buenos Aires as well as a fund obtained by John R. Mott, a building was erected in 1912. In 1914, the South American Federation of Young Men's Christian Associations (Federación Sudamericana de Asociaciónes Cristianas de Jovenes) was formed, bringing together the YMCAs of that continent for comprehensive planning and fellowship. While the YMCA was Protestant in origin, in Latin America it was operating in a region which nominally was overwhelmingly Roman Catholic. Ultimately an agreement was reached that permitted young men who were Roman Catholics as well as Protestants and also those without church membership to be active members. While the membership was primarily British and Protestant at the outset, concerted efforts were made to attract Argentinians as members and leaders. By 1925, only two North American secretaries remained: Shuman as general secretary and Frederic W. Dickens as physical director. The other posts were filled by nationals, including F. Camerini Zabban, who served as joint general secretary with Shuman. In 1926, the Central Association had 4,400 members. Other developments of the 1920s included the acquisition of a site for summer camps and for community work, growth in boys' work, and the selection of Dickens to train the country's representatives in the Olympic games. In 1938 a new and much larger building was completed and dedicated. There were 8,000 members, said to be the largest number in any YMCA south of the equator. Besides the Association in Buenos Aires, two other YMCAs were organized in Argentina, at Rosario, in December 1929, and in Bahia Blanca. Both were begun on local initiative stimulated by secretaries of the Continental Committee.