A Brief History of B.B.
In 1883 in Glasgow, Scotland, a young Sunday School teacher named William Alexander Smith was struggling. He was worried that the Boys in his class couldn't seem to settle down enough for him to teach them about Jesus. They were bored and felt they were too old for traditional Sunday School.
On Saturdays, William was an Officer in the Volunteers. He noticed that while he could get grown men to do exactly as he wanted through drill and discipline, he struggled with the boys on Sundays. He had a revolutionary idea: If boys could be as well-trained as his Volunteers, they would develop the self-control needed to get more out of life.
1883: The First Meeting
The Boys' Brigade was officially started on the 4th of October, 1883. The success was immediate. Boys enjoyed the challenge so much that Companies quickly spread from Scotland to the rest of the world.
The Symbol of Faith
Sir William Smith chose the Anchor as the emblem and the words "Sure and Stedfast"(from Hebrews 6:19) as the motto.
1926: The Great Union
The Boys' Brigade and the Boys' Life Brigade (which used a Red Cross emblem) joined together. They merged their emblems into the anchor-and-cross design we recognize today.
Expanding the Ranks
Originally for boys aged 12-17, the movement grew to include younger boys. In 1917, Carey Longmore started the "Boy Reserves." After the 1926 union, these became "The Life Boys," eventually unifying under the name The Boys' Brigade in 1966.
A Global Brotherhood
From a single room in Glasgow, the B.B. has grown into a global movement with nearly 5,000 Companies worldwide, continuing the mission to build "Christian Manliness."