First Unitarian Congregational Society of Brooklyn records, 1790-1970s. 99 manuscript boxes and 18 oversize flat boxes (50.5 linear feet)
ARC.109
The First Unitarian Congregational Society of Brooklyn records contains documents created and collected by the Church from the point of its founding in 1833 to the mid 1970s. The collection contains a broad range of documents covering the variety of the Congregation’s work and operations including its official minutes and trustee records, financial records, ministers files, sermons, photographs, calendars, celebration programs and registers, and building records that include deeds, leases, and building plans for the Church of the Saviour and other buildings owned by the First Church. The community and charity work of the Church is represented as well through ledgers, correspondence, notes and reports by the various clubs and committees and through similar documentation from the Church’s Willow Place Chapel where the Church’s settlement and welfare programs and Sunday school operated. The Church was also involved with local and international relief and aid groups, particularly during the tenure of Minister John H. Lathrop. Lathrop’s files include correspondence, minutes of committees, and other documents from his work with a variety of local and worldwide religious and humanitarian groups. Lathrop also collected a variety of reference materials, including pamphlets, flyers, and articles pertaining to peace, liberalism, theology, and family planning. Other major figures of the First Church and Brooklyn history represented by the collection include the Low family and Alfred T. White. The collection also holds scrapbooks with relevant collected clippings that were donated by parishioners and photographs of some church members and activities.
The Second and Third Unitarian Congregations are both represented within this collection as well. These two congregations split from the First Congregation at different points in the 19th century and both re-united with the First Congregation in the mid-1920s. The variety of records relative to these congregations is similar to that of the First Congregation including trustee records, building records, finances, minister files, clubs and social work, and Sunday school records. The documents related to these congregations also include the record books of their respective Women’s Branch Alliances.
Access Points:
Personal Names
- Barlow, David H., (David Hatch), 1805-1864
- Camp, Stephen H.
- Chadwick, John White, 1840-1904
- Collier, H. Price
- Eliot, Samuel A., (Samuel Atkins), 1862-1950
- Farley, Frederick A., (Frederick Augustus), 1800-1892
- Forbes, John P.
- Goodnough, Alfred Everett
- Holland, Frederick W.
- Lafever, Minard
- Lathrop, John Howland, 1880-1967
- Longfellow, Samuel, 1819-1892
- Low, Abiel Abbot, 1811-1893
- Low, Seth, 1782-1853
- Masaryk, Jan, 1886-1948
- Masaryková, Charlotta G. (Charlotta Garrigue), 1850-1923
- Putnam, A. P. , (Alfred Porter), 1827-1906
- Staples, N. A., (Nahor Augustus), 1830-1864
- White, Alfred Tredway, 1846-1921
Corporate Names
- American Association of the Red Cross. Brooklyn Chapter.
- American Committee on Religious Rights and Minorities.
- American Unitarian Association.
- Brooklyn Urban League (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.).
- Church of the Saviour (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.).
- First Unitarian Church of Brooklyn (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.). Samaritan Alliance.
- First Unitarian Church of Brooklyn (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.).
- Furman Street Mission (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.).
- Green-Wood Cemetery (New York, N.Y.).
- International Association for Liberal Christianity and Religious Freedom.
- National Peace Conference (U.S.).
- Second Unitarian Church (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.).
- Second Unitarian Society of Brooklyn (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.). Women’s Branch Alliance.
- Second Unitarian Society of Brooklyn (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.).
- Third Unitarian Congregational Society of Brooklyn (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.). Women’s Branch Alliance.
- Third Unitarian Congregational Society of Brooklyn (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.).
- Willow Place Chapel (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.).
Geographic Names
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)-Church History
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)-Genealogy
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)-Religious life and customs
- Brooklyn Heights (New York, N.Y.)
- Brooklyn Heights (New York, N.Y.)-Intellectual Life-20th century
- Czechoslovakia
Subjects
- Architecture-New York (State)-Kings County-History-19th century
- Charities-New York (State)-Kings County
- Church finance-Accounting
- Community centers-New York (State)-Kings County
- Gothic Revival (Architecture)
- Peace movements-United States-History
- Refugees-International relief
- Religion and social problems
- Social action-New York (State)-Kings County-History
- Social settlements-New York (State)-Kings County
- Sunday schools
- Unitarian Churches-History
- Unitarian Churches-Romania-Transylvania
- Unitarian theology
- Unitarianism
- Unitarianism-New York (State)-Kings County-History