Dear Madam, -

Perhaps a few words from the first president of your institution may have some interest for you. From a very small beginning your beloved society has grown to the degree of prosperity and far-reaching usefulness which you enjoy. I hope that to all who with prayer and labor are now striving to lay an enduring foundation for your work, it may be given to see with the eye of the spirit the substantial and beautiful structure which gives shelter and comfort to the young women under your care.

I enclose a copy of our bylaws and some newspaper clippings which relate to our work. I hope they may be legible when you open this envelope.

On August tenth, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, at a meeting held in the first Presbyterian church, a few women organized the Young Women's Christian Association of Colorado Springs, the better to promote "the religious, intellectual, social, and temporal welfare of women, especially young women dependent upon their own exertions for their support."

On October tenth of the same year, the house known as 116 North Weber Street was opened as a home for self-supporting women of small means. Our work thus far has been successful beyond our hopes. We believe there will be Young Women's Christian Associations so long as the world stands and we wish that we might see the work as you will see it.

Generations will pass before you read these lines and each will have done its work with fresh courage and faith.

I am, dear Madam, with profound interest,

Most Sincerely Yours,

Mary Tenney Hatch
802 North Tejon Street,
Colorado Springs, Colorado,
August third, 1901.