The Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) is an international organization founded in London in 1844 as a mutual improvement society emphasizing the spiritual, moral, intellectual, and physical well-being of young men of all classes and conditions. The YMCA of Atlanta formed in 1858, but disbanded in 1861 due to low attendance resulting from the Civil War. Walter Richard Brown reestablished the organization in 1873 on Whitehall Street. Following the trend of other associations, the YMCA of Atlanta created its first branch, known as the "Railroad Department," in 1884 to better serve Atlanta's large population of railroad workers. With financial support from the railroad companies, this location provided a reading room, parlor, lecture room, and bathroom. Atlanta hosted the International Convention of the YMCA on May 13-17, 1885. The local organization used this attention to start the first in a series of successful building campaigns. The Butler Street YMCA, then known as the "Colored Branch," was organized in 1894 on West Mitchell Street with Dr. Henry R. Butler as President. Created to serve Atlanta's African-American community, the Butler Street YMCA broke ground on its first building in 1916 thanks in part to funds from Julius Rosenwald. The YMCA of Metropolitan Atlanta, as it was then known, gained national recognition in 1946 for its effort begun four years earlier to decentralize programs and locations better to serve the sprawling city. Atlanta's YMCA branches desegregated between 1965-1967. A separately incorporated YMCA Board of Trustees owned the property used by the YMCA of Metro Atlanta and the Butler Street YMCA. It also provided leadership during building campaigns, but voted to dissolve in 1982. The Butler Street YMCA remained independent and continued to predominantly serve African-Americans until its closure from lack of funding in 2012. As of 2017, the YMCA of Metro Atlanta is led by a Board of Directors and a President/CEO.