Men and Women Adrift: The YMCA and the YWCA in the City - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0814755429 ISBN 13: 9780814755426

Publisher: NYU Press, 1997

Synopsis

The YMCA and the YWCA have been an integral part of America's urban landscape since their emergence almost 150 years ago. Yet the significant influence these organizations had on American society has been largely overlooked. Men and Women Adrift explores the role of the YMCA and YWCA in shaping the identities of America's urban population.

Examining the urban experiences of the single young men and women who came to the cities in search of employment and personal freedom, these essays trace the role of the YMCA and the YWCA in urban America from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. The contributors detail the YMCA's early competition with churches and other urban institutions, the associations' unique architectural style, their services for members of the working class, African Americans, and immigrants, and their role in defining gender and sexual identities.

The volume includes contributions by Michelle Busby, Jessica Elfenbein, Sarah Heath, Adrienne Lash Jones, Paula Lupkin, Raymond A. Mohl, Elizabeth Norris, Cliff Putney, Nancy Robertson, Thomas Winter, and John D. Wrathall.

About this title

About the Author:

Nina Mjagkij is Associate Professor of History and Director of African-American Studies at Ball State University. She is the author of Light in the Darkness: African Americans and the YMCA, 1852-1946.

About this edition

• Publisher: NYU Press
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0814755429
• ISBN 13: 9780814755426
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 332
• Editor: Mjagkij Nina, Spratt Margaret Ann