This series contains information and materials on the Armory Hill YMCA, a branch of the Springfield YMCA. Included within are pamphlets, annual reports, newspapers (Association Notes), constitutions, and scrapbook pages containing pamphlets and newspaper articles about various activities and functions held at the YMCA in the late 19th century. Of particular importance are two bound manuscripts containing glued in receipts/forms describing missionary or membership work within the local community of Mason Square during 1885 & 1886. Receipts include the name of the person visited and a listing of the results of the visit and/or reasons why they did or did not attend church, and whether they regarded themselves as Christian. Some early Springfield College faculty and students, such as Jacob Bowne, participated and have signed these receipts. The scrapbook pages include many different types of materials, including anniversary celebration materials, early advertisements of the Armory Hill YMCA, official reports that list members, and constitutions and by-laws from the years from 1885 to 1892. These materials include information on and photographs of the School for Christian Building where they rented their rooms.

Association Notes – This is a monthly newspaper/magazine published from December 1885 through February 1891. It was distributed by the Armory Hill YMCA. The first issue described the intention of the paper to be the messenger of the society to the public and a medium of communication between members. It also described what occurred during the members’ monthly meeting, the Sunday morning bible study and how many attended, the young men’s meeting and its combined service of song and meeting, the work of the reception committee which entailed welcoming the young men who visit the rooms, and finally the paper reported on the workers’ training class which aims to make the members of the class acquainted with the general construction of the bible and to study how to do personal Christian work. The last issue of this newspaper, published February of 1891, provided a different format. It included statistics for January, such as average attendance in the YMCA rooms, the number of physical examinations, and how many men attended a talk on “Baseball” by Mr. Stagg. The paper listed the new members of the branch and a poem written by member. It is not known if there were more issues of this newspaper or if this is the final issue.