Biographical Note

Edgar Munroe Robinson, who was born in 1867, devoted his professional life to the development of boys’ work and ideas of outdoor life, camping, and physical education, and he was a pioneer in several organizations. Robinson worked with the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) both at home and abroad as the first Boy’s Work Secretary of Massachusetts and Rhode Island in 1898 and as the first Boys’ Work Secretary for the International Committee of the YMCA in 1890. From 1921 to1927 Robinson served as the Boys’ Work Secretary of the World Alliance of YMCAs, a post he held in Geneva, Switzerland.

The YMCA served all young men, but differentiated between age groups. Boys’ Work focused on boys under the age of seventeen. As a Boys’ Work Secretary, Robinson’s responsibility was with these boys rather than with the older group of young men ages 17-21. By 1913, when the first National Assembly of Boys’ Work Secretaries was held, there were 131,000 boy members of the YMCA. Robinson was also the editor of the YMCA’s boys’ work journal Association Boys from 1902-1912, a contributing editor in the successive journal American Youth, and an occasional writer for the later Association Boys’ Work Journal.

As the YMCA movement grew, the Boy Scouts of America was also gaining popularity. In 1905, the Boy Scouts of America merged with the Sons of Daniel Boone, an organization founded by Daniel Carter Beard, whose correspondence with Robinson can be found in this collection. While still working with the YMCA, Robinson also served as the first Organizing Secretary of the Boy Scouts of America, beginning in 1910.

Robinson was a graduate of Springfield College, class of 1901. After graduating and working away from the Springfield area with both the YMCA and the Boy Scouts of America, Robinson returned to his alma mater in 1927 as a faculty member and the Honorary Director of Boys Work Courses and the Advisor in Principles and Methods in Work with Boys. Robinson was granted an honorary Master of Humanics degree from the College in 1928. Robinson played a large role in the organization and implementation of the College’s Freshman Camp, which was first held in 1930. The Freshman Camp tradition continues today with the College’s Outdoor Pursuits program for incoming students. Robinson brought the many ideas of boys’ work and physical education from the YMCA and Boy Scouts of America to Springfield College and its Freshman Camp. In addition to playing a part in the Camp’s inception, curriculum, and execution, Robinson also assisted in the construction of two camp lodges: Pukwana Lodge and the Pueblo of the Seven Fires. After retiring from Springfield College in 1937, Robinson returned to the YMCA in an initiative to bring its ideas to high schools across the country through the HI-Y program.

In addition to having an active career, Robinson was also an avid researcher and writer. He chronicled the histories of the YMCA and the Boy Scouts of America in his manuscripts “Early Years of the YMCA’s Work With Boys” and “Recollections of the Early Days of the Boys Scouts of America,” respectively. He also wrote about his friend and colleague Ernest Thompson Seton in "Ernest Thompson Seton: An Unforgettable Personality.”

Robinson died in Springfield on April 9, 1951. His widow, Mrs. Serena Robinson, maintained contact with Springfield College through the alumni association until 1965, as is evidenced by the small amount of her correspondence contained in this collection.

Found in 6 Collections and/or Records: