Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-05-15
COOPER RESIGNS Y. NJ. C.. A.;
L. w. DE CAST SUCCEEDS HIM
Turns to Lecture Platform
After Fl Years as General
Secretary of D. C. "Y."
Successor of De CAST as AS
sociate General Secretary
Is Not Announced.

William Knowles Cooper. fer 81 years
general secretary of the Washington
Young Mems Christian Association,
has resigned, effective October /, it was
announced today by Huston Thompson,
president of the. association and chair
man of the board of governors.
Leonard w. De Cast. associate general
secretary. will succeed Mr.. Cooper as
the executive head of the organization.
Mr.. Thompson announced on behalf Of
the board
Mr.. Cooper will go on the lecture
platform before college groups, clubs
and other organiza tons. He will begin
a series of lectures on current events
soon after relinquishing his post next
Fall. He will receive an annuity from
the national retirement fund of the
Y. M. c. A. when his term of service
ends.
II shall continue to live in Wash
in the affairs of the Y. M. c. A." Mr..
Cooper announced LAS lay volunteer
it will be my pleasure to assist the asso-
citation in every way possible"
Both Mr.. Cooper and Mr.. De Cast
are nationally known in Y. M. c. A.
circles and prominent in church, social
and civic work in the National Capital.
Mr.. Cooper is a past president of the
Rotary Club and Mr.. De Cast is secre-
tary of the Lions Club and chairman
of the Association of Division Secre-
taries of the Community Chest.
The retiring general secretary has
been in Y. M. c. A. work for nearly
40 years. Forsaking a youthful bust
ness career in his native city, Philadel-
phia, he was appointed secretary of the
Y. NJ. c. A. in NorriStown, Pa. He was
transferred to Brooklyn, NJ Y. as sec
rotary of the "Y'' there and again to
Springfield, Mass.
He came to Washington from SPRING
field on September Is. 1908. 1t is large
ly due to his administrative capacities
and his untiring energy that the local
association now is in the front rank. of
the larger Y. M. C. AS in the United
States. His services were recognized by
his appointment as member of the
National Council of the Y. M. c. A, the
national executive committee of the
Federal Council of Churches. the
Commission on Interchurch Relations
and other national church and welfare
bodies.
He has Travelled extensively and has
lectured frequently on conditions
aDTOau. ne WAS QSleSdCS W tuS
World Conference on Boys Work in
Austria in 1928 and TO the World Con-
ference of the Y. NJ. c. A. in Finland in
1925 His last trip to Europe was in
1927 with group of college presidents,
and others engaged in a
study of postwar economic and politi-
cal problems.
Mr. Cooper is member of the Con-
Church and of the national
committee on missions of that denomi
nation. He Is an executive committee
man of the Washington Council of So
cial Agencies, the Social Hygiene So
ciety and the local and national Boy
Scouts. He is a trustee of American
University. director of the Federal
American National Bank and a member
of the Rotary Club. City Club, Cosmos
Club, National Arts Club, Colorado
Mountain Club, La Fayette Lodge, F.
A. A. M; Sons of the American Revo-
luton, Columbia Historical Society, the
Board of Trade and the Chamber of