Several months ago, I was running along one of the streets here at Fort Leavenworth when the words “Young Man’s Christian Association” caught my attention. Assuming that there were no more remaining YMCA facilities operating on-post, the history of the building intrigued me. I was able to go back and take a closer look.
The YMCA building on Fort Leavenworth now houses the Child and Youth Services offices, but at one time was a safe place for Soldiers to spend their time after arriving at Fort Leavenworth. Located across the street from the trolley station leading into the town of Leavenworth, The Kansas Historical Society reminds us that “the Y provided activities for men stationed at Fort Leavenworth with the aim of protecting soldiers from “social outcasts.” I love to pass this building and imagine the stories that the building could tell. Being built in 1907, Soldiers from World War I and II, Korea, and Vietnam passed through its doors. I can imagine the scene out of old movies where Soldiers gathered around a big piano to sing the evening away in a time before radio or television. I also imagine a Soldier getting off the trolley late at night and his first stop was to visit the YMCA across the street. I believe this sets the example for Christians everywhere, to be the people to visit first when you arrive in a new place, because there you will find help and acceptance.
In the book “Fort Leavenworth, The People Behind the Names”, Quentin Schillare explains that “the building was erected for the Army by The Army Department of the International Committee of the Young Men’s Christian Association in 1907. The building was dedicated by American heiress and philanthropist Helen Miller Gould in memory of her father Jay Gould.”