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The
University of Southern Mississippi -- McCain Library and Archives
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Collection Title: Pine Belt Family YMCA Records Collection Number: M268 Dates: 1913-1993 Volume: 9.3 cu. ft. Provenance: Collection donated to the University in April 1992 and April 1994 by the Pine Belt Family YMCA. Copyright: This collection may be protected from unauthorized copying by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code). Biographical/Historical Sketch: The idea of establishing a Young Mens Christian Association (YMCA) club in Hattiesburg, Mississippi was initially discussed on July 1, 1913, by Dr. C.C. Hightower, Howard A. Gillam, and Dr. V.L. Isard. On August 13, 1913, a meeting was held to begin raising $50,000 toward the construction of a YMCA building. Temporary boards of trustees and directors were elected, and in May 1914, a contract was let for a site on the corner of Main Street and New Orleans Street in Hattiesburg. Construction began in October, 1914. On April 13, 1915, construction had to be halted due to lack of funds. Even so, the Hattiesburg YMCA applied for incorporation that same day. On December 6, 1915, a charter of incorporation was granted under Mississippi law. Completion of the original YMCA building had to wait for World War I. The U. S. Army opened Camp Shelby as a training site, and the YMCA building was completed with National War Work Council funds early in 1918. Until early 1919, the building would be operated by the military and used almost exclusively by soldiers. The YMCA struggled in the 1920s and 1930s due to financial problems. Virtually the only recreational facility in Hattiesburg, the YMCA housed numerous church groups and other organizations, providing them with meeting and dining space, as well as a gymnasium and other recreational opportunities. These groups often paid modest fees for such services, yet at times they paid nothing. It was during these years that J. Maury Gandy came to the Hattiesburg YMCA from Birmingham, Alabama. Hired as the Industrial Secretary in 1923, Gandy traveled to various lumber camps and factories showing safety and recreational films. Gandy would become the General Secretary in 1925, and throughout the next five decades, a Gandy would be working full time for the Hattiesburg YMCA. 1923 also saw the opening of Camp Dantzler in southern Forrest County. Under Gandy's leadership, the Hattiesburg YMCA instituted a regular summer camp at Camp Dantzler. Gandy also began Friendly Indian League baseball, the forerunner of Hattiesburg youth baseball. The senior Gandy saw the YMCA through its most difficult times, the worst being the years of the Great Depression of the 1930s. By 1932, the YMCA's annual budget had dropped to $4,500, by far its lowest level ever. In order to keep the doors of the YMCA open, Gandy accepted a fifty percent cut in salary and moved his family into the YMCA building. The Gandy family constituted the entire staff of the YMCA for much of the 1930s. Their efforts kept the building and the organization going, with the help of numerous volunteers. Frank M. Tatum, Sr., was also instrumental in saving the YMCA; he served as president of the Board of Directors for six consecutive years. The depression had scarcely ended when Camp Shelby reopened in 1941, several months before World War II. Soldiers soon outnumbered civilians in Hattiesburg, and the YMCA again shifted to meet the needs of the military. Soldiers were charged reduced fees, and the building was kept open longer. Extra sessions were added to the Camp Dantzler summer schedule to accommodate the children of servicemen. The end of World War II brought relative quiet to Hattiesburg but the YMCA continued to grow. A health club was begun in the YMCA basement in 1948. Camp Dantzler was gradually modernized in the 1940s and 1950s, and plans were made for the construction of a new building. J. Maury Gandy, Jr. joined the staff as the Physical Director after his discharge from the Army in 1946. His father retired in 1947, although he remained active in supporting the YMCA. In 1948, the Hattiesburg YMCA joined several other southern YMCA's in leaving the National Association of YMCA's due to a controversy involving the desegregation of the National Association's meetings and organizational structure. The Hattiesburg YMCA returned to the National Association in 1984. By 1955, the need for a new YMCA building was becoming daily more apparent. The YMCA purchased a 2.5 acre site on 12th Avenue near Hattiesburg High School, which was then under construction. Fund raising drives and the sale of the old building paid for the new building, although the funds raised were insufficient for the construction of a swimming pool. The new building opened September 5, 1959. The 1960s saw improvements made at Camp Dantzler, including the construction of a creek-side beach. Concrete cabins replaced the old wooden ones after Hurricane Camille damaged the latter. An outdoor swimming pool was added to the 12th Avenue building in 1968, with money raised in a special fund raising drive. Soon after, the Hub Fins swim team formed and began to compete with other area teams. Many of these programs were under the supervision of the Physical Director, Paul Ott Carruth. Carruth achieved local fame both as a singer and outdoorsman. The YMCA flourished in the 1970s. Church-league basketball became a favorite winter activity, and Camp Dantzler continued to be popular in the summer. The 1977 retirement of J. Maury Gandy, Jr. marked the end of an era; for 54 years the father and son had served the Hattiesburg YMCA. The organization moved forward into the 1980s with a full complement of programs at the building on 12th Avenue. Camp Dantzler, however, had to be closed in 1980 due to damage caused by Hurricane Frederick. In 1984 the Hattiesburg YMCA merged with the local YWCA to form the Pine Belt Family YMCA. New programs implemented in the 1980s were a summer day camp, summer adult-league basketball, and morning league baseball, the latter being a baseball program for youngsters whose skills need developing. Fund raising for a new building began in 1987 and the Camp Dantzler property was sold that year to help fund the building project. In 1993 construction began at the building site on U.S. Highway 11 south, near the Timberton Golf Course and Interstate Highway 59. This multi-faceted collection consists of materials related to the 80 year history of the Pine Belt Family YMCA, originally known as the Hattiesburg YMCA. The collection is divided into an overview section and three distinct series:
The overview section includes general material on the international and national YMCA and community information pertaining to Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Some newspaper articles on the local YMCA's history are also included. The first series contains meeting minutes of the Board of Directors dating back to the first organizational meeting of the Hattiesburg YMCA on August 13, 1913. The first seventeen years of meeting minutes are recorded in bound record books, while later minutes are of the loose-leaf type. There are some gaps in the meeting minutes, especially during the 1930s, when the Great Depression forced Y.M.C.A. staffing and activities to be kept to a minimum. General Secretary Reports to the Board of Directors and annual reports to the national office provide a year to year record of YMCA activities. This series also includes a number of financial records, which are strongest for the 1980s. Some correspondence concerning personnel are also included in this series. The second series contains a diverse array of materials related to the YMCA's many local recreational activities and community services. A number of newspaper articles describe the highly successful summer camp run by the YMCA at Camp Dantzler in southern Forrest County. Numerous photographs of summer campers are included in a separate box, and some large camper award plaques are contained in an oversized box. YMCA baseball from the Friendly Indian League of the 1920s to today's popular Morning League is described in photographs as well as newspaper articles. Basketball is similarly treated. Numerous community services such as swimming lessons are also covered in newspaper articles. Many of these activities are covered in the scrapbooks of Jack Gandy, Jr., who joined the Hattiesburg YMCA staff in 1946, and retired as General Secretary in 1977. The third series contains various records of the YMCA's capital projects, from the original building on Main Street to the current construction of the new Pine Belt Family YMCA facility on U.S. Highway 11. There are records covering construction at Camp Dantzler, although the bulk of the records concerns the 1950s construction of the current facility on 12th Avenue. There are three general areas covered by this series: land acquisition and sale, fund raising, and building construction. Materials include architects' drawings for proposed buildings at Camp Dantzler, building-fund checkbooks for the 12th Avenue facility, fund raising pledge cards, and legal documents pertaining to the selling of older property and the buying of new sites. This collection helps to illuminate the history of Hattiesburg's principal recreational institution during the past 80 years (1913-1993). In doing so it helps to show the progress of a growing city over that time. Hattiesburg YWCA Records, M274
Accession Number: AM 2000-113 Dates: ca. 1920s, ca. 1940s Volume: ca. 50 cubic feet Provenance: Donated by Dr. Michael Gandy. Copyright: This collection may be protected from unauthorized copying by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code). Form of Material: The accession comprises:
Dates: 1998-2000 Volume: 1 item Provenance: Donated by Mr. Van Lowry. Copyright: This collection may be protected from unauthorized copying by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code). Form of Material: Scrapbook of newspaper clippings documenting the activities of the Pine Belt Family YMCA. Accession Number: AM 2001-42 Dates: 2001 Volume: 3 items Provenance: Donated by Mr. Van Lowry. Copyright: This collection may be protected from unauthorized copying by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code). Form of Material: Three items pertaining to the 2001 YMCA Camp Dantzler Reunion:
Accession Number: AM 2001-49 Dates: ca. 1950s-1960s Volume: 3 items Provenance: Donated by Mr. Van Lowry. Copyright: This collection may be protected from unauthorized copying by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code). Form of Material: Three items pertaining to Camp Dantzler:
Accession Number: AM 2001-54 Dates: ca. 1960s, 2000 Volume: 3 items Provenance: Donated by Mr. Van Lowry. Copyright: This collection may be protected from unauthorized copying by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code). Form of Material: This accession includes:
Accession Number: AM 2001-59 Dates: ca. 1950s Volume: 3 items Provenance: Donated by Mr. Van Lowry. Copyright: This collection may be protected from unauthorized copying by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code). Form of Material: This accession includes:
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