The lower left panels in Lady’s Chapel, Westminster Abbey, marking Sir George Williams’ work and the YMCA during World War I. Photo credit: Dean and Chapter of Westminster.

The greatest ventures the world has ever known begin with a small seed, often not involving enough people to even fill a small room. Yet, they become forces for good with the might to move mountain ranges. The settings so often portrayed in Charles Dickens’ novels — Industrial Revolution England — were places grappling with the questions of cultural, economic, and social upheaval. Nothing seemed less fixed, less permanent, less reliable than what industrialization was changing almost overnight in those days. It was one of those 150,000 young men, shoved from the farms into the quickly crowding city of London to work in the shops, factories and mills who met that displacement squarely. He did not merely opine the lost days of yore, he did something about it. He acted to supply what he saw being neglected through all the changes: the spiritual needs of young men. Apprenticed as a draper, twenty-two year old George Williams would bring together just under a dozen friends to form on June 6, 1844 the Young Men’s Christian Association, a haven from the deprivation of life on the streets and around Bible study, prayer, Christian discipleship and humanitarian service. Knighted by Queen Victoria in 1894, Sir George is laid to rest among the illustrious departed of Westminster Abbey, looking to the resurrection. A stained glass window dedicated to the work of the YMCA during World War I has stood there since 1921.

Captain Thomas Valentine Sullivan, the founder of the first Young Men’s Christian Association in America. 

It was Boston sea captain Thomas Valentine Sullivan, following shipwreck in Antarctica, a near-fatal fall from a yardarm and a dramatic brush with pirates, who (inspired by George Williams’ example) began the first Young Men’s Christian Association with six others in America in 1851. He saw the same challenges in the shipping trades Williams had seen in inner city London for young men who needed Christ, whether aboard ship half-way across the world or along any of the docks, wharves and ports they worked.

It was the need to minister to the whole person — never neglecting those vital requirements of the soul — that brought Captain Sullivan and Sir George to spark welfare work in its truest and most significant form. It was this mission through the Y. M. C. A. that went forth into the hospitals, camps and battlefields of the United States during the Civil War, itself the inspiration for Clara Barton to establish an American Red Cross. It was the army of volunteers under the Y. M. C. A. that labored across fields, forests and camps in World War I, accomplishing as General Pershing and former President Taft reported, “nine tenths of the welfare work among the American forces in Europe.” At the same time, went the work of the YMCA in Britain and on the continent. They were the USO of the Great War, supplying not only help to the wounded but relief and recreation to those deployed, comfort and counsel to the spirit. It was the Y. M. C. A. with other organizations who actually established the United Service Organizations (USO) that military members and their families have come to know so well. Before it all was the Young Men’s Christian Association.

As originally constituted and led, the Y. M. C. A. was more than merely a “fun place” to stay but a refuge for the soul, a haven for strengthening the spirit, an oasis for Christian mission work not abstractly “out there” but right where we are. The world in which Christians are to go is never that far away. Satan’s war to snatch young men’s souls from Christ has only intensified. The mission begun by Sir George Williams and Captain Thomas Sullivan is much more than an interesting footnote in the textbooks of history, it reveals the ongoing spiritual warfare unfolding every day inside us and all around us. At times it moves unseen by our mortal eyes only to remind us, perhaps at times like this, that the forces of evil and the mightier forces of good are nonetheless real.

YMCA workers preparing to show a film for the troops.

Soldiers visiting a YMCA library tent.

Entertaining the troops “over there.”

Visiting a YMCA canteen.

YMCA volunteering writing a letter home for a wounded soldier. Photo credit: Ohio Memory Project.

It was on the occasion of the Forty-Second International Convention of the Young Men’s Christian Association in 1925 that President Coolidge delivered this address in recognition of what God had wrought through the men and women of its membership. It had traveled a long road since those early days when Captain Sullivan and six others resolved to do more than passively allow circumstances to shape the future or let the world, itself lost without Christ, raise young men.

Coolidge began:

Mr. Chairman, Members of the Convention:

This gathering has brought together from nearly all the American States and Canadian Provinces the lay leaders of what has come to be a great world movement. It is a body representative of Young Men’s Christian Associations not only of large and small cities and of the town and the countryside, but also of those located in institutions of learning, centers of industry, at the convergence of railroad systems, in Army and Navy posts and stations, and among our colored population. Wherever there are young men, these associations recognize that there is a field for their activities.

This is one of the oldest international conventions that are held on this continent. For more than the allotted span of three score years and ten it has been in existence, forming one of the strongest bonds of common interest between the Provinces and the States. It illustrates in a most striking way that the influence of men banded together to do good tends to increase rather than to diminish. The lay forces of these two great North American powers, in their united efforts to preserve the faith and build up the character of youth, have only seen their power gradually extended until it reaches an innumerable host, but have also seen it contribute to a greater harmony of interests between two neighboring nations. Since 1851, when the first international associations included only the beginnings in Boston and Montreal, the movement has spread over the earth until now it includes 9,000 branches in more than 50 different countries, with an active membership of 2,000,000, not including other millions of older men who through their past contact have broadened their vision, raised their ideals, and strengthened their character. One of the greatest services which our country has rendered to humanity has been in providing almost entirely the initiative, leadership, and financial support which have carried the associations into nearly every corner of the globe.

It must be apparent that such a far-reaching success, running over so long a period of time, could not have been accomplished unless it was making an important contribution to society and was in harmony with the vital forces of progress. Institutions which are not useful decline and perish. It is only those which minister to the needs of their times which increase and multiply. Time tests out every appeal and proposal, but rejecting all others grants and adopts only those which contribute to the breadth and value of life. It could only be because it was recognized as performing a most notable service that this movement, lasting so long and spreading so far, could have reached its present state of strength and virility.

This movement has brought into existence and organized one of the greatest lay forces that the world has even seen. One of the chief characteristics of Christianity is that it is a militant and crusading faith. Those who have become partakers of its inspirations and its consolations, since it first began its early march over the hostile territory of the Roman Empire, have been constantly spreading its truths among all their associates. If that faith is to maintain its vitality that work must go on. It is not enough that there should be action in the pulpits – there must be reaction in the pews. It will not be sufficient to have exalted preaching by the clergy unless there is exalted living by the laity. Your Christian Associations represent a practical effort to organize and augment in every field the lay forces and to translate the truths of religion into the life of the people.

It is increasingly true that the hope of the future lies in the youth of the present. Probably no other lay force asserts so large an influence upon the young people as that which you represent. It stands as a direct challenge to materialism. It is a constant assertion that there is something more than the things that are seen. It seeks to overcome the tendency of an age of profusion which is so likely to develop into a condition of luxury and pleasure, selfishness and ease, destructive of the vitality and character of society. It is an effort to secure that development which only comes through action, and to strengthen the physical, intellectual, and moral life by an ever active campaign against disease, ignorance, poverty, and other evils. It seeks to create better understanding, to reveal young men to themselves, to show them their great powers, to direct them into unselfish ways, to give them more self-control, and broaden the whole scope of their lives. It is a most practical effort in the training of citizenship.

One of the important results of all these activities is the preparation of young men to be the future heads of the homes of the people. There are too many indications that the functions of parenthood are breaking down. Too many people are neglecting the real well-being of their children, shifting the responsibility for their actions, and turning over supervision of their discipline and conduct to the juvenile courts. It is stated on high authority that a very large proportion of the outcasts and criminals come from the ranks of those who lost the advantages of normal parental control in their youth. They are the refugees from broken homes who were denied the necessary benefits of parental love and direction. The home is the corner stone of the Nation, and any effective better-homes movement must begin with the training of the youth for those responsibilities, or we shall see the disposition to attempt in some way to turn over to the Government the responsibilities for the rearing of children constantly increased. What the youth of the country need is not more public control through Government action, but more home control through parental action.

These associations are an effort in that direction. Through the High-Y clubs they have reached the older boys in the high schools, and through the Employed Boys Brotherhoods they have performed important work in industrial centers. They have taken a strong hold in directing the moral and religious life in many of the State universities and the principal colleges of the country. They are intrenched along nearly all the great railway systems of the United States and Canada and are doing a most promising work among the merchant marine of our Atlantic and Pacific ports, as well as those of Europe and the Far East. Ever since the Spanish War they have maintained the principal welfare agency in the American Army and Navy. They have adapted themselves to the youth of all nationalities and races and become an indispensable factor in multitudes of great industrial establishments, ministering through the physical, intellectual, and the spiritual to the whole range of life of young men.

Special emphasis is being placed upon the need of training for citizenship. Not only by the general development of character, by encouraging industry and discouraging waste, are they strengthening the community and raising up leaders, but by informing the young respecting the teachings of the New Testament and of the Hebrew prophets they are providing them with a grasp on the principles which must underlie all enduring civilization. Through countless study circles and in open forums they are given opportunity to read and discuss the current economic, social, and political problems under the admonition that such training is not intended alone for personal betterment, but to prepare for a wiser discharge of public obligations. It is realized that every youth is a potential lawmaker, law interpreter, and law enforcer; that in the coming days their word, their action, and their franchise will inevitably exert some ruling influence over the lot of their fellow men.

In addition to the contribution which the associations are making to the strengthening of the home and the building up of citizenship, they are a source of great assistance to the church and its work. Through their contact with students in high schools and colleges they are an important factor in interesting some of the best qualified young men in the vocation of the Christian ministry. The missionary departments of the student associations have been instrumental in recruiting over 12,000 student volunteers to serve under the boards of North America in the foreign fields. These volunteers form a most practical part of missionary effort abroad. They are composed not only of evangelists, but they reach into the field that is treating disease through their physicians, they reach into the field that is remedying ignorance through their teachers and writers, and they also reach into the field that is seeking to improve agricultural and industrial methods through their scientific and vocational experts. They are demonstrating the practical value of enlightened civilization which rests on religion. They are carrying into the life of distant peoples a true interpretation of that which we consider best in America and Canada. Beside the standards which are oftentimes none too high of those who make foreign contacts solely for the purposes of gain, go this great multitude of those who, chosen for their unselfishness, have dedicated their lives to the service of others, in order that an accurate knowledge of the true standards of our people, our institutions, and our civilization may carry their better influences to the knowledge of all the world.

But while that which we send abroad is important, that which we keep at home is even more important. It would be difficult to find any leaders in the life of our present day who have not in one way or another come under the influence and the teaching of our countless associations. They speak not only from the pulpit but from the bench and the bar, from the pages of journalism and the halls of legislation, from industry and commerce and finance. These are all on a higher plane and exerting a more humanizing influence because of the results of this great work.

Perhaps one of the most significant results that is flowing from all these activities is the unifying influence which they are producing. We do not all need to be alike, but it is usually more helpful and certainly more comfortable to put the most emphasis on those characteristics which we have in common, rather than to dwell too much on divergences and dissimilarities. One leads to friendship and cooperation, while the other is likely to develop contention and animosity. Amid all the divergent influences that have been manifesting themselves among the different peoples of the earth in recent times, it is exceedingly reassuring to realize that there is a quiet and constructive effort on the part of a world-wide brotherhood of Christian youth for coordination and harmony. The same factor is at work in bringing together the different religious denominations. Because so many of their leaders have been accustomed to a common experience in their youth under the leadership of the associations, a sympathetic cord of increasing strength is bringing about a spiritual union of North America with the nearby countries of Latin America, Europe, and the lands of the eastern churches of Russia, the Balkans, and their neighboring States. When the people of different countries are finding so much on which they can agree, it is more and more unlikely that their governments will disagree.

The same influence is being cast over our domestic affairs. Employer and employee are being brought together in a common fellowship. Much is being done to diminish and disperse race antagonisms. It was the American association that established the interracial commissions, which it is generally agreed have been of great importance in the past few years in promoting better understanding and relations between the white people and the colored people. This example has been an inspiration to students of the problem of race relation in all parts of the world.

But it is impossible to do more than sketch in the briefest way some of the outstanding features of the work of this organization that plays such an important part in molding the character of youth in all parts of the world. It is a great instrument for domestic improvement and international progress. In addition to all the local outlays, the National Council alone has a budget of over $4,000,000 for the coming year. It is difficult to imagine a field where such an expenditure could be more beneficially made. The remarkable results which this organization accomplished in southeastern Europe in helping to restore the morale of those shattered peoples is well known to all students of that situation. The help that is likely to be given in China through the access which these associations have to the student bodies promises to be important, far-reaching, and beneficial. Wherever there is a religious work to be performed, this organization will be found doing more than its share and accomplishing most desirable results.

America has many reasons for pride and satisfaction in the spirit and character of its citizenship. It is gratifying to know that it has the resources with which to make these outlays and perform these services. We ought to be thankful in remembering that our own people do not need to receive this kind of assistance from any other people. We are able to look after our own. But that which rises above all other considerations is the fact that our people are imbued with a religious charity which makes them disposed to extend these benefits to those who are less fortunately circumstanced at home and abroad. There are those who constantly reprove our people and our Government for an alleged failure to assist other peoples. I do not know that anyone could ever say that we were doing enough, but it is my strong suspicion that those who are making the loudest complaints have never taken the trouble to ascertain what we have done and what we are doing. It is gratifying beyond measure to realize how the steady, courageous, generous hand of the real America continues to reach out to those in need. It stands as a conclusive answer to all censorious criticism. These works stamp America with a continuing effort working for moral regeneration.

Christmas Day in the London Bridge YMCA Canteen, 1920 by Clare Atwood. Photo credit: Imperial War Museum.

The American Red Cross National Headquarters as they appeared in 1922.

President Coolidge took his place before the seventh annual convention of the American Red Cross the evening of October 3, 1927. A nationwide hookup, beginning its time slot at 7:30 to be ready for the President’s address at 8 p.m. had already been prepared. The central focus on everyone’s minds was the disastrous flooding of the past summer that had left so many dead, displaced, and otherwise distraught over what remained ahead not only for disaster relief assistance but picking up the pieces in the aftermath.

Standing on the site dedicated by President Wilson for the Red Cross Headquarters back in March 1915, Coolidge had proved his remarkable skills as a disaster relief fundraiser yet again, first exhibited in response to the devastating earthquake that hit Japan in 1923, shortly after he had taken office. Cal would continue to encourage the vital work of the Red Cross to the very end of his tenure. Mistakenly portrayed as a cheapskate by some over the years, Coolidge supported the extensive work taken on by the American Red Cross, including its part in the cornerstone dedication of the Women’s World War I Memorial Building in Washington. The structure would be intended for the use of the D. C. Chapter of the Red Cross. He would attend the ceremonies, held the next year (May 1928), helping former First Lady Edith Wilson dedicate the site in honor of the ladies who had served in so many ways during the late conflagration. But more than, he had a great deal to commend when it came to the Red Cross’ role in mitigating the suffering and meeting the various needs of those forever changed by the Mississippi River Floods of 1927.

President Coolidge and former First Lady Edith Wilson dedicating in May 1928 the new cornerstone for the Women’s World War I Memorial Building completed in 1930.

The President took to the podium and spoke crisply into the microphones that carried his message to nearly every radio in the country. Coolidge began:

Members of the American Red Cross:

The past months have been times of great activity on the part of our organization. For the fiscal year which ended June 30 relief was extended in 20 different disasters which occurred abroad. Nearly $643,000 was devoted to foreign work. In the same year $8,216,893 was expended in relieving about 690,000 people as a result of 77 domestic disasters. In this sum only about $3,000,000 of the Mississippi flood fund is included, but it does cover $4,480,000 used for relief and rehabilitation due to the storm in Florida, which occurred last year. Including the $3,000,000 expended on the Mississippi flood, the aggregate amount used at home and abroad in the charitable work of this organization in the 12 months referred to amounts to about $16,000,000.

The main work of the present season has been caused by the Mississippi flood. While high water in this basin has been of constant recurrence, the rise this year was 2 or 3 feet above any other record from Cairo to the Gulf of Mexico, a distance of over a thousand miles. Dikes were broken down in 145 places, submerging over 20,000 square miles, involving 174 counties in parts of 7 States. The means of communication were entirely interrupted, much livestock was destroyed, and homes of more than 700,000 persons were flooded. It is estimated that about 250 people were drowned.

The Red Cross established its first flood-relief camp in Arkansas on March 28. In April the situation steadily grew worse. When, on April 21, the city of Greenville, Miss., was inundated, it was realized that a serious catastrophe was impending. The following day the full organization of the Red Cross was placed in action. I issued a proclamation asking the people to contribute $5,000,000 for its work. I named a committee of the Cabinet to see that all the resources of the Government were made available. Secretary Hoover, as a member of the central committee of the Red Cross, was placed in charge of operations. Cooperation and coordination were assured through his general direction and leadership, ably assisted by James L. Feiser, acting chairman of the Red Cross in the absence abroad of Judge Payne. Accompanied by Gen. Edgar Jadwin, Chief of Engineers of the War Department, they left for Memphis on April 23. They have made four trips since, spending a total of about 75 days in the flooded area. The Secretary of War has also been on the scene of the disaster.

President Coolidge at the cornerstone dedication the following year. Photo credit: Library of Congress.

The story is one of the fine chapters in American history – a record of generous response to a call for funds, of the high devotion to duty by those engaged in saving life and relieving distress,and of endurance and courage shown by the people of the stricken area. The North and the South have been brought closer together in the bonds of sympathy and understanding. The heart of an entire nation has been quickened.

I issued a second call for an additional five million dollars on May 2, and our country quickly responded. Without further request, the Red Cross fund has now reached a total of over $17,000,000. The money in hand is sufficient to carry the relief still required and the reconstruction plans, already under way, well beyond January 1.

There were many deaths from drowning prior to April 22, but so efficiently was the relief extended that less than half a dozen persons lost their lives thereafter, although the perils were very great. The health of the refugees was so well guarded that there were more births than deaths in the concentration camps. A recent medical survey of the districts affected shows that, generally speaking, disease is less prevalent now than in previous years. This affliction may have proved a blessing in disguise. Undoubtedly the people have learned lessons of sanitation and health which will not be forgotten. The lands have been enriched by deposits of river mud, and many of the farmers, supplied with a better quality of seeds than used before, have been astonished by the size of the crops they have been able to grow since the waters subsided. New buildings will be better than the old. The advantages will remain. And, finally, we propose to solve the problem of flood control so such a situation may never again have to be met. In the solution we shall advance our system of inland waterways.

The $17,000,000 contributed to the Red Cross for Mississippi flood relief by no means represents the total expenditures. It is extremely difficult to estimate the value of the services, the equipment, and the supplies given by the Federal Government, but it probably amounted to about $7,000,000. Of course, a great deal of the equipment will be salvaged.

The railroads in the affected area responded superbly. They provided thousands of box car for shelter, gave free transportation for works and materials – all at an approximate cost of $3,000,000. Other large corporations were most generous. In addition there were important contributions from the States affected and from a variety of organizations in various parts of the country and personal services given by thousands of volunteer workers.

President Coolidge begins the annual Red Cross membership drive in 1923, being pinned by Miss Janet Moffett, daughter of Admiral (and MOH recipient) William A. Moffett. 

Never before have so may governmental departments been used in the disaster relief work. The War Department had former experience in working with the Red Cross and was familiar with the Mississippi through its Engineer Corps. This department not only did what was possible to hold the levees intact but provided tents, cots, blankets, stoves, and clothing from various depots to the value of $3,000,000. Rescue work was organized in four districts, each under an Army engineer. Marine and aerial activity was coordinated in a most effective way. The Army and the Navy furnished more than 50 airplanes. Without the plane and the radio, the fatalities and destruction would have been much greater. They worked together, collecting and transmitting information, scouting for refugees, and transporting rescue workers and placing in needed points in the quickest possible time medicines and other emergency supplies. A fleet of 1,000 boats, large and small, was used. It came from the Navy, the Army Engineers, the Coast Guard, the Lighthouse Service, and the Coast and Geodetic Survey under the supervision of the Department of Commerce, the Mississippi River Commission, the Inland Waterways Corporation, and other sources.

The Navy contributed 21 airplanes, which covered a total of 100,000 miles, 2 tugs, 16 radio sets, some motor boats, 59 officers, and 155 men. In addition to the work of its Coast Guard, the Treasury Department put its Public Health Service to work on the many serious problems. Nineteen medical officers and four sanitary engineers, thoroughly experienced in public health emergency work and familiar with the localities, at once were placed at the service of the State health officers. Nurses were provided, also about $60,000 worth of equipment and medical supplies, including vaccines and serums. A protective sanitary program has been mapped out, in which the Public Health Service is cooperating with the State and local authorities in 19 counties in 7 States for a period of 18 months, until such authorities can assume the full burden. Of an estimated expenditure of $1,000,000 for the fiscal year 1928, the Public Health Service has agreed to pay $262,000, and to furnish about $200,000 more for 1929. The Rockefeller Foundation is helping to finance the balance of the cost. This work will be of lasting benefit to that country.

The Coast Guard, under the supervision of the Treasury, took up its traditional work for those overwhelmed by the waters. It had 128 boats and 647 officers and men in service, and manned and operated 40 additional boats. This force helped other agencies in rescuing victims of the flood, transporting officers and workers, distributing supplies, salvaging livestock and property, and establishing and operating telephone and telegraph and radio communication.

The Farm Loan Board, through its intermediate credit banks, assumed a very important service in the work of reconstruction. It was realized that money was needed to enable the farmers to replant their crops, to assist local industries with working capital, and protect the local banks. An emergency finance corporation with local capital of $500,000 was organized in each of the States of Louisiana, Arkansas, and Mississippi. At my suggestion to Lewis E. Pierson, its president, the Chamber of Commerce of the United States secured the doubling of this capital through the subscriptions of financiers in other States. The intermediate credit banks have undertaken to discount loans made on this capital of $3,000,000 under terms that will provide total credit resources of $12,000,000. As over a considerable area replanting this year has been impossible, it is suggested that the finance corporations be continued to assist in the 1928 crop operations.

The Department of Agriculture cooperated through the extension forces employed jointly by it and the State agricultural colleges. These agents assisted in moving persons and livestock out of the flooded area and aided the Red Cross in determining certain measures of rehabilitation, the kinds of seeds to be bought, and the best methods of planting. The home-demonstration agents were most useful in the refugee camps and in giving advice on home problems to be faced later by the farmers. The Post Office Department had a difficult problem in handling the mail, which it met most acceptably. The Veterans’ Bureau was also of great assistance.

In addition to this participation of the National Government we must not fail to remember the services rendered by the States themselves through their militia, health, and other departments, and by the American Legion. To mention all the industries and organizations which played a helpful part would make an almost interminable list.

So well had the situation been composed by July 12 that the flood relief headquarters, originally established at Memphis and later moved to New Orleans, were transferred to national headquarters here in Washington.

Over 600,000 people have been dependent on the Red Cross for food, clothing, and medical assistance. While nearly 280,000 insisted upon remaining in their water-logged homes, where the task of caring for them was tremendous, 330,000 were transferred to the Red Cross refugee camps, one of which contained as many as 20,000 persons.

When the floods receded the refugees were returned to their homes. Then began the no less important work of rehabilitation and reconstruction, with specially constituted State commissions to work in cooperation with the Red Cross. This included furnishing shelter and household goods where necessary, repairs to buildings, livestock, agricultural implements, and seeds. Out of a crop acreage of about 4,500,000 which was flooded, 1,622,000 acres have been replanted through the assistance of the Red Cross. The crops include cotton, corn, oats, soy beans, peas, wheat, sweet potatoes, alfalfa, and garden truck. Over 100,000 families have been rehabilitated. Now, all except 8 per cent of the people affected are able to provide for themselves.

President Coolidge, Cabinet officers and staff with Red Cross leaders, 1923.

The people of the South are most appreciative of the assistance given to their stricken States. In my capacity as President of the United States, and as head of the American Red Cross, I wish to extend the highest commendation and thanks of the country to the members of the Cabinet, to all Government officials and employees, to the officers and staff of the Red Cross, to the thousands of volunteers, and to other persons and agencies for the unselfish contribution of time and substance to this great humanitarian work in the Mississippi Valley. But, in our admiration for the stupendous work done there, we must not forget that the Red Cross organization has functioned efficiently throughout the year in every emergency call and in all of its regular activities.

Much glory has been added to our Red Cross emblem. More and more it is coming to be recognized universally as the symbol of love, sympathy, and charity for all those in suffering and distress. Its benign influence reaches out to touch and soften our daily lives, dispelling envy and malice, so that we think less of self and more of others, bringing more of peace on earth and good will toward men.

This memorial, marked by the cross, at Fort Niagara State Park, commemorates the site where Father Pierre Millet, with others, rescued 12 survivors left of the 100 men stationed at Fort Niagara following a devastating winter there in 1687. Father Millet placed a wooden cross there in the spring of 1688 when the rescuers arrived to remember the dead. The site was declared a National Monument in 1925 by President Coolidge. It has since been downgraded by Congress. Photo credit: Circle to Circle.

Tomorrow will be Easter Sunday. In every quarter of the globe it will be observed in memory of a risen Saviour. So far reaching has been this event, so wide has become the realm of Christendom, that it would be difficult to find anywhere on earth a human being whose life has not been modified in some degree by the influence of the Christian religion. 

Outside the teachings of religion there is no answer to the problems of life. Our international and social relations cannot be solved by material forces. Armaments, wages, profits are not mere questions of quantity. They are questions of quality. Changing and fixing their amount will afford no final solution. What is needed is a change of mind, a change of attitude toward the use of these material things and toward each other. The real problems of the world are not material, but spiritual. 

Easter teaches us the reality of the things that are unseen and the power of the spirit. A risen Saviour established a new faith in the world that showed the reason and authority of service and sacrifice. 

— Calvin Coolidge, daily column, April 3, 1931