Calcutta YMCA (c. 1916)

This hand-colored lantern slide shows a YMCA in Calcutta, Asia's oldest branch. A significant donation from the Montreal Boys' Department allowed the National Council of India, Burma, and Ceylon to establish their headquarters here. Located on 5 Russell Street, the building was once the former residence of Bishop Reginald Herber, an English clergyman, traveler, man of letters, and hymn-writer. The YMCA rennovated the building to include offices, a publishing house, staff apartments, and facilities. The building pictured here is not that building, but instead a different branch in Calcutta.In 1889, the Y.M.C.A. International Committee sent a young American named David McConaughy to Madras to serve as the first foreign secretary in India. McConaughy encouraged the development of pre-existing Associations and held the first National Convention in 1891, resulting in the formation of the National Council of India, Burma, and Ceylon. The Association’s most notable contribution in India was their rural development work, first begun by K. T. Paul in 1913. Paul established micro-loan programs that freed the rural poor from the grips of moneylenders and won many converts among India's lower classes.Text on border reads, "Calcutta, India, Building.