Robert R. McBurney

A portrait photograph Robert Ross McBurney.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.”Portrait appeared in the February 1899 issue of Men (Vol. XXV, No. 2, page 80) in the article "Robert R. McBurney: The History of a Strong Life"