55 Years at the Y

In Dr. Adolph G. Studer's time, Detroit has swelled from a dozing Midwestern town of less than 200,000 to the fourth city in the U.S., a brawling industrial center of nearly 2,000,000. The Young Men's Christian Association has grown with it. The chief reason: aged (79), devout Dr. Studer, the world's oldest active Y secretary, and one of the shrewdest Christian gentlemen who ever wore the triangle. Says he:

"Our fundamental purpose is the building of Christian character, and all the departments of our organization--physical, educational and social--are important as they contribute to this central objective. We must never lose sight of our central purpose, and if we ever do, the Y movement will be dead."

Young Adolph came to Detroit in 1887 to learn the hardware business. A crack athlete, he went to the Y for exercise. Four years later he was exercising full-time--as the Y's physical director. But he was doing a good deal more than exercise. He found that he was serving God in a way that best suited his abilities and temperament.

Temporary Job. Soon he decided he could do a better job if he knew more about the human body. So for the next ten years, in his spare time, he studied medicine, finally took his degree. During these years Dr. Studer helped James Naismith invent basketball, hired a young mechanic named Henry Ford for $2 a night to teach a Y class in ironworking. The strain of work and school eventually buckled Dr. Studer's health, and he went to Arizona to practice medicine. The Detroit Y soon persuaded him to come back "temporarily" as general secretary.

The new secretary promptly set the board of directors by the ears with a demand for a big new building. When the directors demurred, he crammed the old Y with every available member, took the ' board on a tour. After squeezing through groups of sweaty athletes and dodging medicine balls, the board gave in. Dr. Studer raised $400,000, built a ten-story building (now Detroit's downtown Y), which became the model for Y.M.C.A. buildings all over the U.S.

When Detroit's religious leaders complained that the building was just a big sports palace, Studer pointed to the Y's religious program of Christmas and Lenten services, retreats, discussion groups. The clergy finally came around, showed it by twice electing Studer head of the Detroit Council of Churches.

Man's Faith. Last week, still on "temporary" tenure after 55 years of service, Dr. Studer decided to quit before the job became permanent. He stepped down with confidence that the Y's work was good. Said he: "We do more vital religious work today than ever before. We work more with the individual. We strive to create a Christian atmosphere. . . . We try to solve the individual's problems both from a realistic and religious standpoint. We try to make him realize that there is a God in the universe and that He is our Father."

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