The Young Men’s Christian Association of Worcester originally was housed at Mechanics Hall, and in 1886 moved to 10 Elm St., pictured. (Cliff Smith YMCA Postcard Collection, Springfield College Archives and Special Collections)
As a child, Marshall Taylor was stung when he was not allowed in to the YMCA in Indianapolis with his white playmates. The rejection based purely on skin color made a lasting impression on the budding athlete who would go on to cross the “color line” in his sport. As a teenager, he was “pleased beyond expression,” he later wrote, to be permitted to join the YMCA in Worcester. Working out in the gym under the guidance of the Y’s physical director, Edward Wilder, Taylor developed upper body strength to complement his formidable leg power.
Major Taylor kept a strict exercise routine, even when traveling, and it paid off. Weightlifting, boxing, and deep breathing drills were part of his training. He swung weighted clubs and used a system of weights and pulleys called a Whitley exerciser.
He also had an attachment to the YMCA because in many cities, it was a place he could stay when other accommodations were denied to him. When he left Worcester in 1930, he stayed at the South Wabash Avenue YMCA in Chicago, the first Y established specifically for a black community in the North.
