Going walkabout in windswept Chicago last week, I paused for a while to admire the Merchandise Mart building, a classic in Art Deco. And turning around, I saw a series of obelisks, each topped with a bust, commemorating pioneers in trade. The names did not strike a chord until I came to John Wanamaker.
Those interested in Madras history will know that it was his donation of $30,000 (and not 40,000 as is often recorded) which made the beautiful YMCA building on NSC Bose Road possible. Wanamaker was serving as the U.S.
Postmaster General when he made that contribution, he having accepted that position during the presidency of Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893). But his association with the YMCA stretched back to his youth. Wikipedia informs that he, born in 1838, joined the YMCA at the age of 19, and became its first Corresponding Secretary.
And he remained committed to the cause throughout his life. Fortune from trade Outside of this, Wanamaker made his fortune in a chain of departmental stores in the Philadelphia area and there exists a building in that city commemorating him. His tenure as PMG evidently was not without controversy.
He died in 1922. That Chicago-Chennai connect, other than Swami Vivekananda and his address at the Parliament of Religions in 1893, brought to mind some further bits and pieces I had stored away regarding the YMCA building’s construction. In its time, it received considerable attention in the world press.
It was one of six YMCA structures made possib.
