Madison Square Boys

Madison Square Boys & Girls Club was founded in 1884 to provide recreational and vocational programs to keep young people away from gang activity on the east side of Manhattan. Founded in a vacant store on First Avenue and 37th Street and operating as a mission of the Madison Square Church, the Club relocated within the community several times before becoming an organization independent of the church in 1902. In the early years, trustees took turns opening the Club and supervising recreational and vocational programs which included crafts, dramatics, sports, lectures and trade classes. The Club operated in a variety of buildings including public schools, private houses and church basements until 1939, when Herbert Hoover, then Chairman of the National Association of Boys Clubs, opened our first youth dedicated facility at 29th Street in Manhattan. Although girls participated in Club programs from the organization's beginning, their involvement was limited, and Madison's trustees were instrumental in founding the Girls Club of New York in recognition of the need for girls' programs. In 1984 the Clubs were officially opened to all young people and the organization was renamed the Madison Square Boys & Girls Club. Today the Club builds on more than a century of effective youth development in New York City's most underserved communities and provides life-changing programs to thousands of young people each year.