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A resolution recognizing Northwest YMCA's 50th anniversary celebration.
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WHEREAS, in 1965, when Ralph Brunson became General Director of the Nashville YMCA, he immediately began evaluating how the Y could be more effective as an association; and
WHEREAS, soon after, the board commissioned a study of the greater Nashville area to identify communities in need of a YMCA and Northwest Nashville was among the neighborhoods identified in the study; and
WHEREAS, in 1966, at the urging of then YMCA Extension Chairman Roupen Gulbenk, and with potential leadership available through Fisk and Tennessee A & I Universities, the board authorized the establishment of a YMCA branch in North Nashville; and
WHEREAS, once the North Branch was established, Nashville YMCA leaders approached leaders of the colored YMCA about the possibility of a merger; and
WHEREAS, the colored YMCA had operated independently of the Nashville YMCA since obtaining its own charter in the 1920s, but in September of 1966, an agreement was reached to dissolve the Colored Y and to merge its efforts with the newly established branch of the Nashville YMCA; and
WHERAS, the branch was officially organized with 28 board members, 20 of whom were minorities and Julius Jones, a Youth Program Director from Jacksonville, Florida, became the branch's first Executive Director; and
WHEREAS, prior to the construction of the existing building, the North Branch operated out of a temporary home on North Jefferson Street, where staff and volunteers led arts programs, and in cooperation with Fisk University, began a recreational program at the Juvenile Detention Center; and
WHEREAS, the land on which the Y now stands was purchased in 1968, and work began in earnest to first build an outdoor recreation facility and in the summer of 1969, before breaking ground on the building, the North Branch opened its outdoor pool; and
WHEREAS, to celebrate the grand opening, the Y welcomed the community to the pool for t...
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