Last Updated on January 21, 2012 by Dennis
Lewis, Robert Ellsworth; gen. sec’y Y. M. C. A.; born, Berkshire, Vermont, Sept. 28, 1869; son of C. P. V. and Ellen E. Haynes Lewis; University of Vermont, class of 1892, degrees Ph. D., M. A., L. H. D.; married, Brookline, Massachusetts, Aug. 24, 1893, Grace Mason Brackett (Wellesley, 1890); issue, five sons, three daughters; captain and aide staff Brig. Gen. J. J. Estey, Vermont National Guard, 1892-1894; expedition relief Peking, China, 1900, attached to 14th infantry staff until after capture of Peking; began career as college Y. M. C. A. sec’y in Massachusetts and Rhode Island; national traveling sec’y S. V. M. F. M.; sec’y International Committee, Y. M. C. A., in China 1898-1907; state sec’y, Ohio, 1908; gen. sec’y, Cleveland, 1909; built largest Y. M. C. A. in Asia; built Martyrs’ Memorial Hall, in national memory of Boxer massacres from 1910-1913, Cleveland Y. M. C. A. rehoused in three new buildings at cost of $1,090,000; director Institute and Training School, Chicago; member corp. International College, Springfield, Mass.; chairman General Committee on Vocational Guidance; member Royal Asiatic Society, Am. Ass’n of China, National Geographic Society, Am. Ass’n of Labor Legislation, Chamber of Commerce, Phi Delta Theta, University, and City Clubs. Author: Educational Conquest of the Far East; Government Education in Japan, published by U. S. Government and translated and published in Chinese by Chinese government; articles in North American Review, Forum, Outlook, Independent, Harper’s Weekly, Congregationalist.