DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Young Men's Christian Association of Beaumont. Now, you want to talk about a city that needed saving in a hurry — Beaumont in 1901 fits that bill about as well as any place in Texas history. The Spindletop oil boom had blown into town like a West Texas dust storm, and right behind it came vice, corruption, and a housing situation so desperate that a young man named H.
G. Behrman was sleeping in a tent in his friend's backyard. Not a hotel.
Not a boarding house. A tent. In a backyard.
But here's the thing about Behrman — sleeping rough didn't keep him from meeting the right person. That person was W. M.
Lewis, state secretary of the YMCA. Now those two got to talking, and talking turned into planning, and planning turned into action. On November 3rd, 1901, they pulled together a community meeting, and by the time that gathering broke up, the Beaumont YMCA was organized.
A board was elected, George W. Carroll was named president, and every single one of the thirty-five people present that evening enrolled in the association. Thirty-five people walked in, thirty-five members walked out.
Not bad for a night's work. The board didn't waste any time after that. They authorized the purchase of a lot and the erection of a structure, and by 1903 a building at Pearl and Forsythe streets was standing and ready.
And this was no bare-bones operation, friends. Thirty dormitory rooms. An eight-hundred-seat auditorium.
A bowling alley. An indoor swimming pool. For a city that'd just been sleeping men in backyard tents, that was quite a leap.
Then comes 1928, and the story shifts again. General Secretary Dr. Hastings Harrison joined forces with Charles Berly, B.
A. Steinhagen, J. L.
C. McFaddin, Marrs McLean, W. Emmett Sampson, and a whole coalition of civic and religious leaders, and together they raised three hundred and sixteen thousand dollars to construct a modern building.
That's not pocket change in any era. Dr. Harrison, though — he deserves a moment of his own.
He was responsible for securing the first YMCA board member of the Jewish faith in the entire United States. The entire country. And he got the Garth Friendship Club going, serving two hundred underprivileged boys.
Then in 1936, Steinhagen provided a building for blacks. And the work kept on moving. Since 1970, suburban branches have been established, stretching the reach of the association out to serve a growing and changing community.
A man sleeping in a tent in a backyard. One conversation. Thirty-five hands raised on the third of November, 1901.
That's how a city decides to be better than the chaos that came to town.
What the marker says
The 1901 Spindletop oil boom brought vice, corruption and inadequate housing problems to Beaumont. H. G. Behrman, a young man who was sleeping in a tent in his friend's backyard, met W. M. Lewis, state secretary of the YMCA. Through their efforts, a community meeting was held Nov. 3, 1901, and the Beaumont YMCA was organized. A board was elected, George W. Carroll was named president, and all 35 present enrolled in the association. The board authorized the purchase of a lot and erection of a structure. In 1903 a building at Pearl and Forsythe streets was completed. Among its features were 30 dormitory rooms, an 800-seat auditorium, bowling alley, and indoor swimming pool. In 1928, General Secretary Dr. Hastings Harrison, Charles Berly, B. A. Steinhagen, J. L. C. McFaddin, Marrs McLean, W. Emmett Sampson, and other civic and religious leaders raised $316,000 to construct a modern building. Dr. Harrison was responsible for securing the first YMCA board member of the Jewish faith in the United States and for beginning the Garth Friendship Club for 200 underprivileged boys. Steinhagen in 1936 provided a building for blacks. Since 1970, to insure service to a growing and changing community, suburban branches have been established.