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by Frances E. Hughes ‘The boy whom no one else wants around is good enough for me.” This was the slogan of Flora May Gilman Gulick, founder of the Terre Haute Boys’ Club Inc., formerly known as the Flora Gulick Boys’ Club. Mrs. Gulick believed that ‘Right always prevails and the Boys’ Club work in Terre Haute, Indiana, was started in the right way. It is God’s work and God’s work cannot fail. For her organization and years of work with the club, Mrs. Gulick received the dis tinguished service medal from the Boys’ Clubs of America, New York City, an emblem given only to those who have ac complished an outstanding piece of work. Mrs. Gulick was born and reared in Terre Haute. Born in 1865, she was the daughter of Timothy R. and Lucinda Scott Gilman of one of the city’s oldest and most promi nent families. Her father was an early Vigo County pioneer who in 1866 started the Mammoth Stave factory of Gilman Brothers and Com pany, one of the most creditable of Terre Haute manufacturing concerns. Her mother, known for her beauty and social graces, was a descendent of Esther West Scott, who came from Virginia and was Terre Haute’s first woman school teacher. Flora Gilman attended public schools in Terre Haute and soon after graduating from college married A. J. Gulick, a druggist. Two daughters died while young and Mrs. Gulick also was left a widow when she was quite young. She became one of the first women employees of the United States Post Office in Terre Haute. Her work was in the Money Order Department. Boys selling newspa pers in the lobby of the Post Office came to her window to get change. While conversing with these boys, Mrs. Gulick found many could neither read nor write. She realized that the city schools were not having free night schools and that there was no compulsory school law. So, she announced that she would hold free night school and, one stormy night in Janu ary, 1908, she held her first class by candlelight in the Social Settlement House Kitchen, First and Cherry streets. There, five little boys sat around an old broken down table to begin their education. Thus, the Boys’ Club was started. In four months, there were 50 pupils enrolled. With the help of prominent citizens, Mrs. Gulick’s club soon grew to where she had to move uptown to Sixth and Ohio streets, where the newsboys could come in off the street to rest and other boys could come to read during the day. In the evenings, there would be quiet games, gymnasium exercises and educational classes. Outgrowing four rooms, the club soon moved to eight rooms on North Sixth Street between Chestnut and Sycamore streets to accommodate the hundreds of boys. The club grew over the years to become one of 2 THE SPECTATOR EMBER 4. 1976 There is a lake at the camp and modern buildings and facilities for camp outings for the boys. During World War I, the Boys’ Club was in charge of all the salvage in Vigo County. Monthly paper drives were held with 50 trucks and 250 boys participating. Also, the boys were in charge of all tin and other salvage in the county. At the close of the war, the boys had amassed $50,000 for their new building. In 1950, the new clubhouse was erected on the North Third Street property at a cost of $250,000. When this building was opened in July of 1951, it was paid for by this money the largest and most outstanding boys’ clubs in the nation. Following her retirement from the Post Office, Mrs. Gulick devoted her entire time for years, as well as practically all her resources, to the direction of the club she founded. In later years, the active management of the club was taken over by other directors, but Flora Gilman Gulick personally taught the Sunday School at the club. The founder died in 1941. The club was pushed from pillar to post until 1922, when property at 220 North Third Street was purchased, with the help of the Lions Club, and a new gymnasium was at tached to the very old frame house there. This served as the Boys’ Club until 1939, when adjoining property was purchased. In 1940, C. J. Root, local philanthropist, purchased 72 acres of land between Turkey Run State Park and the Shades State Park, and the Terre Haute Boys’ Club Camp, named Camp Gulick, was started. In 1955, 80 more acres were purchased for the camp, and that donated by citizens of the city without the necessity of conducting a drive. From an original membership of five boys in 1908, the Boys’ Club has held steadily for several years to a membership of around 1,600 boys. Members participate in all Boys’ Club activities throughout the state and also have their own leagues in all games. Employees are trained in counsel ing and guidance of the boys and are al ways on the lookout for a boy who might be in trouble so they can help him. The Boys’ Club is not only a recreational center, however. It is a place where boys from six to 18 years of age are taught to take orders, learn to conform with a group, and enjoy a place to live, laugh, love and think for themselves. Max Jones, club director, and Bruce Lemmon, in charge of all programming and camp director, are the only full-time employes. There also are five part-time employees from the Recreation Department of Indiana State University. In the Winter months, there are also as many as 150 volunteer workers. The Terre Haute Boys’ Club Inc., is sup ported by the United Way, donations and special funds. It is a member of the Boys’ Clubs of America, a 100-year-old national organization. There are more than 1,000 clubs in more than 500 cities in the United States with at least one million members. Purposes of the national organization, as well as the local club, are to promote juvenile decency, interests and worthy means of recreation. The club is open Monday through Friday, from 3 until 8:30 p.m.; Saturday, from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m., and all school holidays, from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. The Boys’ Club looked this way in the 1930s, an old residence in the front served for most activities, while a gymnasium built rather recently took care of the recreational needs. This photo is from ‘“‘The Wabash Valley Remembers, ’’ published in 1938.
Newspaper Details
Terre Haute Spectator
Terre Haute, Indiana, US
Sat, Sep 04, 1976
Page 12
Full Page
Clipped by
Samuel M.
NC, USA 21 Jul 2026
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