“The YMCA Hall of Fame was conceived by members of the 4-year-old YMCA Springfield College Advisory Council [in 1985]. The committee, comprised of YMCA professionals […], desired to recognize the achievements of individuals who have devoted their lives to the YMCA.” The first committee was chaired by William A. Howes, retired President of the YMCA of Greater New York, and other committee members “were Y professionals from throughout the USA and Canada.” At a committee meeting in Worcester, Massachusetts on January 24, 1985 the members came to “a consensus on the purpose of the Hall of Fame, as well as the selection criteria for inductees.” They also chose the first two men to be inducted, Herbert P. Lansdale, Jr. and Paul Moyer Limbert.

According to the original selection criteria, “an individual must be a current or former professional from the YMCAs of the USA and Canada. The person must have demonstrated exceptional and creative leadership, fostered the development of staff and volunteer participation in the YMCA, and exemplified the ideals of the YMCA and Springfield College in his or her personal and professional lives.” The person also had to be present to receive his or her award, which limited potential nominees to Y professionals who were still living.

Springfield College, in Springfield, Massachusetts, was chosen as the location for the new YMCA Hall of Fame “in recognition of [its] historic relationship dating back to 1885 with the YMCA, and of its status as one of only two YMCA association colleges in the United States.” This decision was particularly significant because Springfield College was celebrating its 100th anniversary at the time. Both Wilbert E. Locklin—the President of Springfield College from 1965 to 1985—and Solon B. Cousins—the National Executive Director of the YMCA of the USA from 1980 to 1990—were instrumental in the establishment of the YMCA Hall of Fame and worked together to obtain a trademark for the new organization’s name.

Originally located in the chapel in Marsh Memorial on the Springfield College campus, the YMCA Hall of Fame moved into the College’s newly renovated Stitzer YMCA Center in Judd Gymnasia in fall 2010. From founding of the Hall of Fame, there has been “a plaque with the name and portrait of each inductee” placed in the Hall of Fame in the chapel, and “a separate plaque—personalized for each individual and signed by the Hall of Fame chairman and the College President—[is] presented to the honoree[s] at the induction ceremony[ies].” In addition to this, inductees from the first several years received commemorative rings, which bore “the seals of both the YMCA and Springfield College as well as an inscription of the YMCA Hall of Fame.” It is unclear exactly when and why the practice of ring-giving was discontinued.

After just a few years, the Hall of Fame committee recognized that their selection criteria prohibited the induction Y professionals who had historically played a significant role in the development of the YMCA, and in 1990, the first historical figures—John R. Mott and Sir George Williams—were inducted into the Hall of Fame. Since that time, many prominent historical figures, including Edgar M. Robinson, James Naismith, Lawrence K. Hall, Luther Halsey Gulick, Robert R. McBurney, and William G. Morgan, have been inducted into the YMCA Hall of Fame.

From 2003 to 2007, the committee made revisions to the governance of the YMCA Hall of Fame which both changed the way in which committee members were selected and which also clarified and improved the nomination and selection processes for inductees. In 2005, the committee made extensive changes to the by-laws because they saw the Hall of Fame’s 20th anniversary as “an opportune time to redesign the institution and greatly enhance its visibility and importance to the Movement.” The committee’s recommendations and reports from that year “are intended as a substantial start in that direction.” It is, perhaps, also significant that these changes were made in 2005—the only year between 1985 and 2007 when no induction ceremony was held. In 2007, the committee decided to hold the induction ceremonies every three years at the YMCA of the USA General Assembly instead of holding them annually as had been the practice.

The most recent change in the inductee selection criteria came in 2009, in preparation for the 2010 induction ceremony. Previously, only Y professionals could be nominated, but after this point, Y volunteers also became eligible. As John B. Coduri (Association of YMCA Professionals Executive Director), Richard B. Flynn (President, Spring Field College), Julius Jones (President, Association of YMCA Retirees), Neil J. Nicoll (President, YMCA of the USA), and John M. Preis (President, YMCA Retirement Fund) state in their 2009 article Saving YMCA History: The YMCA Hall of Fame, “the YMCA Movement would not be where it is today without the selfless, enduring work of its volunteers. Much of the work done by heroic YMCA volunteers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries would today be regarded as staff work. Unpaid volunteers, notably some who developed YMCAs in other countries, reported to, and were supervised by the American YMCA leadership. Among them were a number of financially comfortable men who declined compensation, serving the YMCA because of their dedication to its ideals and mission. The YMCA Hall of Fame expanded to allow volunteers as inductees in recognition of their contributions.”

At the 2010 induction ceremony, seventeen YMCA historical figures, staff, and volunteers were inducted into the Hall of Fame, and according to the article above, “the induction ceremony [gave] formal recognition, in some cases overdue, to our commendable YMCA predecessors over the last 160 years.”

Currently, “leaders of the Association of YMCA Professionals, Association of YMCA Retirees, Springfield College, YMCA of the USA, and the YMCA Retirement Fund serve as sponsors of the YMCA Hall of Fame,” and they “have endeavored in recent years to enhance the YMCA Hall of Fame into an honor deserving of [their] YMCA predecessors, and to perfect the nomination process.” The YMCA Hall of Fame at Springfield College is administered and supervised by the College’s Office of YMCA Relations.

In addition to the fact that the YMCA Hall of Fame is located at Springfield College, many of the inductees have personal and/or professional ties to the College. A number of inductees have been Springfield College undergraduates, graduate students, faculty members, administrators, honorary degree recipients, and/or invited lecturers or guest speakers.

Looking towards future growth and development of the YMCA Hall of Fame, Coduri, Flynn, Jones, Nicoll, and Preis assert, “we have five objectives: Elevate the YMCA Hall of Fame to a level commensurate with our YMCA legacy; fully incorporate our institutional history by inducting past heroes, and educate today’s workforce about that history; maximize the advantage of Springfield College in academically preparing the next generation of Y leaders; develop an effective Web presence and traveling expedition to further support the education initiatives; and establish an appropriate governance structure and best-practice induction and operating function for the YMCA Hall of Fame.”