History 1887-1960

In 1887, a Denver priest, two ministers and a rabbi recognized the need for cooperative action to address their city’s welfare problems. The Rev. Myron W. Reed, Msgr. William J. O’Ryan, Dean H. Martyn Hart and Rabbi William S. Friedman put their heads together to plan the first united campaign for ten health and welfare agencies. They created an organization to serve as an agent to collect funds for local charities, as well as to coordinate relief services, counsel and refer clients to cooperating agencies, and make emergency assistance grants in cases which could not be referred.

That year, Denver raised $21,700 and created a movement that would spread throughout the county to become the United Way. Over 118 years later, United Way is still focused on mobilizing the caring power of communities and making a difference in people’s lives..

1888: First United Way campaign in Denver raised $21,700.

1894: Charitable institutions became exempt from the first federal act that imposed a tax on all corporations organized for profit.

1913: The nation's first modern Community Chest was born in Cleveland, where a program for allocating campaign funds was developed.

1918: Executives of 12 fund-raising federations met in Chicago and formed the American Association for Community Organizations (AACO), the predecessor to United Way of America.

1919: Rochester, New York, used the name Community Chest, a name widely adopted by United Way organizations and used until the early 1950s. This year began a 10-year growth period in the number of Community Chests: 39 in 1919; 353 in 1929.

1948: More than 1,000 communities had established United Way organizations