Kautz Family YMCA Archives,

Lantern slide technology was widely used by the YMCA and the various lecture departments of national and local YMCAs during the early decades of the 20th century. Using either gas or electric lamps, light was projected through a glass image and thrown on a wall or screen. These images allowed lectures to add illustrative and often dramatic images to their presentations. Many Americans working in foreign YMCAs used this technology to help bridge the language gap. This allowed the YMCA to bring its messages of health, agricultural, and cultural education to large audiences. The bulk of the lantern slides in the collection are of photographic images, however many of those are hand colored, and in other cases the entire image is painted on by hand.

The Young Men's Christian Association was founded by George Williams in London in 1844. The first U.S. Y was founded in Boston in 1851. By the end of the Civil War the YMCA was well-established in North America, with its mission to improve the spiritual, mental, social and physical condition of young men. Activities soon expanded beyond the Bible study, lectures, and reading rooms of the earliest days to include broader educational programs, physical training, and social services. YMCAs took up boys work and organized summer camps. They set up exercise drills in classes. YMCAs organized college students for social action, literally invented the games of basketball and volleyball and served the special needs of railroad men who had no place to stay when the train reached the end of the line. By the 1890s, the Association had adopted the the triangle as its logo, symbolizing the equal importance of of spirit, mind and body. When the United States entered World War I in April 1917, YMCAs ran canteens for soldiers in the U.S. and France. It also took on war relief for both refugees and prisoners of war on both sides. It went on to co-found the USO during World War II. Educational programs such as vocational training were another strength. Youth work continued to be a major focus during the latter half of the 20th century, represented by programs such as Y-Indian Guides, Hi-Y, and Gra-Y. After 1975, the old physical programming featured by YMCAs for a century began to perk up as interest in healthy lifestyles increased nationwide. Child care for working parents, an extension of what YMCAs had done informally for years, came with a rush in 1983 and quickly joined health and fitness, camping and residences as a major source of YMCA income.