A black and white photo postcard, circa 1904, showing the Williams-Douglas House, which later became the YWCA, the Bessemer House, the gymnasium, and other buildings up the hill behind them. The front caption reads: “Residences and Bisbee Gymnasium”. The postcard is unused and was published by the Humphries Photo Company, El Paso, Texas. Bush Neal collection.

The YMCA is the Young Men’s Christian Association which was founded by George Williams on June 6th, 1844 in London, England. The organization was created to help with the unhealthy conditions that were forming in cities due to the pollution from first industrial revolution. In 1851, the organization spread to other nations due to the Great Exhibition creating new chapters in the United States, Canada, Australia, Germany, France and the Netherlands. The push for a global YMCA came from Henry Durant, winner of the first Nobel Peace Price and founder of the International Committee of the Red Cross. On August 1855, the first YMCA World Conference was held. The offices for the World YMCA were established in 1978 in Geneva, Switzerland. This organization along with the North American counterparts helped millions of new European immigrants settle in the United States and Canada. Today the YMCA operates chapters in 120 countries and focus on addressing social issues such as sustainable development, racism, gender equality and the AIDS epidemic. In Bisbee, the YMCA building was built in 1903 by the Copper Queen Consolidated Mining Company to provide recreation and healthier living for the community. They added the adjacent Gymnasium Club building and its equipment on December 15th, 1905. An official chapter of the Bisbee YMCA formed in 1907 and was led by a number of prominent Bisbee-ites, among them were John C Greenway, H.C. Hernie, along with a superintendent of the Copper Queen Mine, Gerald Sherman and the engineers I.W. Wallace and Harry Atkin. The YMCA often lent out the use of their basement swimming pool to the YWCA. The building was sold to the city of Bisbee in 1977 and was renovated into 17 separate apartments. - The first Young Women’s Christian Association in Bisbee was housed in the former Williams-Douglas house known locally as the Manager’s house. Lewis Douglas and Ben Williams made additions to the home in the earlier years before James Douglas donated it to the community. It functioned as the first YWCA building for eight years from 1908 to 1916. Band concerts were held in the front yard and pair of Saguaro cactus flanked the stairs that led up the terraced steps to the building. The second YWCA building was built in 1916, it was originally designed three floors and a fourth floor was added in a year later. Along with the YMCA, the YWCA was nicknamed “the Welfare Factories” of Bisbee. Unmarried young women who came to Bisbee could rely on the YWCA for boarding and meals. They offered classes in home economics such as embroidery and sewing. The YWCA had a cafeteria opened to the public for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. For their Girl Reserves, they operated a summer camp in the Huachuca mountains. In the early 1920s the YWCA would often borrow the YMCA The YWCA building is now utilized by Community Y. The Young Women’s Christian Organization or YWCA was founded in London, England in 1855 by Mary Jane Kinnaird and was later merged with Emma Roberts’ Prayer Union in 1877. Like the Young Men’s Christian Organization, the YWCA formed to combat the social problems in urban areas due to industrialization. The organization became global in 1894 with the formation of the World YWCA founded by Great Britain, Norway, Sweden and the United States. The YWCA continues its working, helping with women’s rights, poverty eradication, spreading literacy and aiding refugees among their causes. They maintain members in a hundred countries and maintain an office in Geneva, Switzerland. - The Bessemer Hotel or the Bessemer House was built by Phelps Dodge in and was an example of Queen Anne design. The proprietor was Mrs Mary Crossey who was well known for her catering skills. On August 6th, 1899, plans were submitted for additions to the Bessemer hotel. Six years after it opened, the Hotel shuttered and Mary Crossey moved on to work in the Angius hotel. The building was demolished to make way for the new dispensary building for the Copper Queen Hospital.

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