St. Petersburg YMCA Staff

This lantern slide shows the fourteen employees of the Saint Petersburg YMCA in Russia. The city’s name was changed to Petrograd in 1914, Leningrad in 1924, and back to Saint Petersburg in 1991. Founded by Peter the Great on May 27, 1703, Saint Petersburg is Russia’s second largest city and a major cultural center. From 1713 to 1728, and again from 1732 to 1918, it served as Russia's capital. The first Russian YMCA opened in Saint Petersburg in 1900. Under the auspices of the Empress Alexandra, James Stocks of the United States raised interest in the YMCA through a project titled "The Light House." In 1905, Franklin A. Gaylord, the first secretary of the Russian YMCA, formed the St. Petersburg Society of Young People, an organization that quickly accrued more than two thousand members. Under this momentum, YMCA facilities were built in Krasnoyarsk, Vladivostok, and Riga. The October Revolution of 1917 halted the development of the Russian YMCA. In 1919, the Russian YMCA headquarters closed, and for the next seventy years growth stagnated. In 1996, the provisional board of the Russian YMCA was formed with Nikolai Kurochkin serving as chairman. In 1998, the Russian YMCA movement secured official status as the Inter-Regional Association of the YMCAs of Russia. In 2010, they officially joined the World Alliance of YMCAs.Glass is cracked; Text on border reads, "Petrograd Russia YMCA Staff.