16, 1826, it was proposed that there be organized an association of all the
teachers connected with Unitarian parishes in Boston and the vicinity. On
February 27, 1827, a meeting was held in the Berry Street vestry for this
purpose; and on April 18 a constitution was adopted for the Boston Sunday
School Society. The schools joining in this organization were the Hancock,
Franklin, and Howard, and those connected with the West, Federal Street,
Hollis Street, and Twelfth Congregational Churches. Dr. Joseph Tuckerman
was elected president; Moses Grant, vice-president; Dr. J.F. Flagg,
corresponding secretary; and Rev. Frederick T. Gray, recording secretary.
The first annual meeting was held November 28, 1827; and the above-named
officers were re-elected. On December 12 a public meeting was held in the
Federal Street Church, which was well filled. Reports of the work of the
schools, including that at Cambridgeport, were read; and addresses were
made.
The objects of the Sunday School Society were the helping of teachers, the
extending of the interests of the schools, and the publishing of books. It
was difficult to procure suitable books for use in Sunday-schools and for
their libraries, and the prices were very high. In the autumn of 1828
arrangements were made for the publishing of books, the American Unitarian
Association co-operating therein by providing a capital of $300 for this
purpose, the profits going to the Sunday School Society, and the money
borrowed being returned without interest. This connection was abandoned in
1831 because it was found that the Unitarian name on the title-page of the
books hindered their sale. In April, 1828, was issued the first number of
the Christian Teacher's Manual, a small monthly, of which Mrs. Eliza Lee
Follen was the editor, intended for the use of families and Sunday-schools.
According to the preface the subjects chiefly considered were the best
methods of addressing the minds of children, suggestions to teachers,
explanations of Scripture, religious instruction from natural objects,
histories taken from real life, stories and hymns adapted to children, and
accounts of Sunday-schools.
The Manual was continued for two years; and it was followed by The
Scriptural Interpreter, edited by Rev. Ezra S. Gannett. The editor of the
Interpreter preferred to publish it under his own name, because he did "not
wish it to be considered the organ or the representative of a denomination
of Christians." "It will have one object," he said, "to furnish the means
of acquaintance with the true sense and value of Scripture, and
particularly of the New Testament; but whatever will promote this object
will come within the scope the publication." It was issued bi-monthly, and
was continued for five years. It was wholly devoted to the exposition of
the Bible, a systematic series of translations and interpretations of the
Gospels forming a distinct feature of its pages. A considerable part of it
was prepared by the editor, who drew freely upon expository works. Among
the contributors were William H. Furness, Orville Dewey, Alexander Young,
Edward B. Hall, James Walker, Henry Ware, Jr., and J.P. Dabney. In 1836,
Dr. Gannett's health having failed, the magazine was edited by Theodore
Parker, George E. Ellis, and William Silsbee, then students in the Harvard
Divinity School.
One important feature of the work of the Sunday School Society was the
extension of the cause it represented. In December, 1829, reports were
presented at the annual meeting from nearly fifty schools; and it was
thought desirable that they should be brought into closer relations with
the society. Accordingly, Frederick T. Gray, the secretary, visited many of
these schools. The next year, as a result, a considerable number of those
outside the city connected themselves with the society; and the lists of
vice-presidents and directors were enlarged to include them in its
operations. Afterwards this work was carried on by a committee of the
society, the members of which visited the schools, giving addresses, and in
other ways helping to give strength and purpose to the work in which they
were engaged. Schools were visited in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts,
Rhode Island, New York, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and other states. To give
better opportunity for the attendance of delegates from schools outside the
city, the yearly meeting was changed from December to anniversary week in
May.
The society published a considerable number of tracts, which were
distributed gratuitously by the agents and in other ways. It also issued
lesson-books, as well as books for the juvenile libraries which were
forming at this time in all the churches. To meet this demand, the younger
Henry Ware began editing, in 1833, the Sunday-school Library for Young
Persons, in which were included his own Life of the Saviour, Mrs. John
Farrar's Life of Howard, Rev. Stephen G. Bulfinch's Holy Land, and Rev.
Thomas B. Fox's Sketch of the Reformation. The next year Mr. Ware began a
series of books which he called Scenes and Characters illustrating
Christian Truth. Another method used by the society was the giving of
expository lectures.
The society at first held quarterly meetings; but the interest grew, and
the meetings became monthly. Great enthusiasm was felt at this time in
regard to the work of these schools, and many persons of prominence praised
them and took part in their management. "The institution of Sunday-schools
constitutes one of the most remarkable features of the present age," wrote
Dr. Joseph Allen, in 1830. "It has already done much to supply the
deficiencies of domestic education, and, if wisely conducted, is destined,
we trust, to become at no distant day one of the most efficient instruments
in forming the characters of the young."[7] Writing in 1838, the younger
Henry Ware said that "the Sunday-school has become one of the established
institutions of religion in connection with the church, and the character
of religion is henceforth to depend, in no small degree, on the wisdom with
which it shall be administered."[8]
In 1834 was organized the Worcester Sunday School Society. It had its
origin as far back as November 17, 1817, when a committee of the Worcester
Association of Ministers was appointed to report on the subject of
Sunday-schools. A meeting was held in Lancaster, October 9, 1834, when an
organization was perfected. The succeeding meetings were largely attended,
and much interest was awakened.[9] In 1842 a similar society was
organized in Middlesex County; and at about the same time one came into
existence in Cheshire County, New Hampshire. Soon after societies were
organized in the counties of Norfolk, Plymouth (North), Middlesex (West),
Worcester, and in Portland and its neighborhood.
In April, 1831, the directors of the Boston Sunday School Society discussed
the feasibility of starting a weekly paper for the use of the schools. In
July, 1836, Rev. Bernard Whitman began the publication of The Sunday School
Teacher and Children's Friend. In January, 1837, The Young Christian was
begun, and was published weekly at the office of The Christian Register, by
David Reed. These papers were continued only for a few years. From 1845 to
1857 Mrs. Eliza Lee Follen edited a monthly magazine for children, called
The Children's Friend. The first number of the Sunday School Gazette was
published in Worcester, August 7, 1849, under the direction of the
Worcester Sunday School Society. It was established at the suggestion of
Rev. Edward Everett Hale, then a minister in that city, in connection with
Rev. Edmund B. Willson, then settled in Grafton. The editor was Rev.
Francis Le Baron, the minister at large in Worcester, though Mr. Hale was a
frequent contributor. When the National Sunday School Society was
organized, the Sunday School Gazette was transferred to, its charge; but
the publication of this paper was continued in Worcester until 1860.[10]
[Sidenote: Unitarian Sunday School Society.]
As time went on, and the work of the Sunday-schools enlarged, it was felt
that it was necessary there should be one general organization which should
bring together all Unitarian schools into a compact working force. To meet
this growing need, a convention of the county societies and of local
schools was held in Worcester, October 4, 1854, at which time the Sunday
School Society was organized as a general denominational body. Hon. Albert
Fearing, of Boston, was made the president, and Rev. Frederick T. Gray the
secretary. The society provided itself with a desk in the rooms of the
Unitarian Association, and provision was made for the collection and sale
of all the helps demanded by the schools.
From 1855 until 1865 the society was sadly crippled by the lack of funds.
The hard times preceding the Civil War, and the absorption of public
interest in that great national event, made it difficult for the society to
continue its work with any degree of success. For some years little was
done but to hold the annual meeting in the autumn and that in anniversary
week, and to continue the publication of the Sunday School Gazette. For a
number of years, however, Teachers' Institutes were held; and these were
continued at irregular intervals until about 1875. The Sunday School
Teachers' Institute was organized in 1852, and continued in existence for
ten years.
After the death of Rev. Frederick T. Gray in 1855, he was succeeded in the
position of secretary of the Sunday School Society by Rev. Stephen G.
Bulfinch. In 1856 Rev. Warren H. Cudworth became the secretary, and the
editor of the Gazette; and he held these positions until May, 1861, when he
became the chaplain of the first Massachusetts regiment taking part in the
Civil War. In the October following, Mr. Joseph H. Allen, a Boston
merchant, afterwards the editor of The Schoolmate, became the secretary and
editor. He continued to edit the Gazette until November, 1865; but Mr. M.T.
Rice was made secretary in 1863. At the end of 1865, when the society was
in a condition of almost complete collapse, Rev. Thomas J. Mumford became
the secretary, and the editor of the Gazette for one year. He restored
confidence in the society, and made the paper a success. During the war the
paper was published monthly for the sake of economy; but with the first of
January, 1866, it was restored to its former semi-monthly issue.
The new life that came to the denomination in 1865 had its influence upon
the Sunday School Society. In the autumn of 1866, when the Unitarian
Association had secured a large increase of funds, it was proposed that the
Sunday School Society should unite with it, and that the larger
organization should have the direction of all denominational activities,
especially those of publishing. The more zealous friends of the society did
not approve of such consolidation, and succeeded in reanimating its work by
appointing as its secretary Mr. James P. Walker, who had been the head of
the publishing firm of Walker, Wise & Co., a young man of earnest purpose,
a successful Sunday-school teacher and superintendent, and an enthusiastic
believer in the mission of Unitarianism. Mr. Walker devoted his whole time
to the interests of the society, and an energetic effort was made to revive
and extend its work. He proved to be the man for the position, largely
increasing the bookselling and publishing activities, visiting schools and
conferences, and awakening much enthusiasm in regard to the interests of
Sunday-schools. He wore himself out in this work, however, and died in
March, 1868, greatly lamented throughout the denomination.[11]
After the death of Mr. Walker, consolidation with the Association was again
urged; but Rev. Leonard J. Livermore was in June elected the secretary. At
the annual meeting it was resolved to raise $5,000 for the work of the
society, and the next year it was proposed to make the annual contribution
$10,000. The name was changed to the Unitarian Sunday School Society at the
annual meeting of 1868, held in Worcester. In 1871 Mr. John Kneeland became
the secretary; and with the beginning of 1872 the Gazette was changed to
The Dayspring, which was issued monthly. In the autumn of that year the
society began the publication of monthly lessons, and there was issued with
them a Teachers' Guide for the lessons of the year. With the beginning of
1877 the Guide was discontinued, and the lesson papers enlarged. In
November, 1875, Rev. George F. Piper became the secretary,--a position he
held until May 1, 1883. During his administration about three hundred
lessons were prepared by him, and these had a circulation of about nine
thousand copies. The transition condition of the denomination made it
difficult to carry on the work of the society at this time, for it was
impossible to please both conservatives and radicals with any lessons that
might be prepared. One superintendent warned his school against the
heretical tendencies of lessons which, from the other point of view, a
minister condemned as being fit for orthodox schools, but not for
Unitarians. In the same mail came a letter from a minister saying the
lessons were too elementary, and from another saying they were much too
advanced. In the latter part of Mr. Piper's term service was begun an
important work of preparing manuals thoroughly modern in their spirit and
methods.[12]
In May, 1883, Rev. Henry G. Spaulding became the secretary; and the work of
publishing modern manuals was largely extended.[13] At the suggestion and
with the co-operation of the secretary there was organized, November 12,
1883, the Unitarian Sunday School Union of Boston, having for its object
"to develop the best methods of Sunday-school work." At about the same time
a lending library of reference books was established in connection with the
work of the society. In the autumn of 1883 the society began to hold in
Channing Hall weekly lectures for teachers. In 1885 The Dayspring was
enlarged and became Every Other Sunday, being much improved in its literary
contents as well as in its illustrations. The same year the society was
incorporated, and the number of directors was increased to include
representatives from all sections of the country; while all Sunday-schools
contributing to the society's treasury were given a delegate representation
in its membership. Mr. Spaulding continued his connection with the society
until January 1, 1892.
Rev. Edward A. Horton, who had for several years taken an active part in
the work of the society, assumed charge February 1, 1892. Mr. Horton was
made the president, it being deemed wise to have the head of the society
its executive officer. During his administration there has been a steady
growth in Sunday-school interest, which has demanded a rapid increase in
the number and variety of publications. The book department has been taxed
to the utmost to meet the demand. A new book of Song and Service, compiled
by Mr. Horton, has reached a sale of nearly 25,000 copies. A simple
statement of "Our Faith" has had a circulation of 40,000 copies, and in a
form suitable for the walls of Sunday-school rooms it has been in
considerable demand.[14] A series of lessons, covering a period of seven
years, upon the three-grade, one-topic plan, has been largely used in the
schools. Besides the twenty manuals published in this course of lessons,
forty other text-books have been published, making a total of sixty in all,
from 1892 to 1902.[15] There have also been many additions to
Sunday-school helps by way of special services for festival days, free
tracts, and statements of belief. The Channing Hall talks to Sunday-school
teachers have been made to bear upon these courses of lessons. Every Other
Sunday has been improved, and its circulation extended. The number of
donating churches and schools has been steadily increased, the number in
1901 being 255, the largest by far yet reached. At the annual meeting of
the society and at local conferences representative speakers have presented
the newest methods of Sunday-school work. Sunday-school unions have been
formed in various parts of the country, and churches are awakened to a new
interest in the work of religious instruction. "Home and School
Conferences" have been held with a view to bringing parents and teachers
into closer sympathy and co-operation.
[Sidenote: Western Unitarian Sunday School Society.]
In the west the first movement towards Sunday-school activities began in
1871 with the publication of a four-page lesson-sheet at Janesville, Wis.,
by Rev. Jenkin Lloyd Jones. This was continued for two or three years.
Through the interest of Mr. Jones in Sunday-school work a meeting for
organization was called in the fourth church, Chicago, October 14, 1873,
when the Western Unitarian Sunday School Society was organized, with Rev.
Milton J. Miller as president and Mr. Jones as secretary. At the meeting
the next year in St. Louis a committee was appointed to prepare a song-book
for the schools, which resulted in the production of The Sunny Side, edited
by Rev. Charles W. Wendte. The next step was to establish headquarters in
Chicago, where all kinds of material could be furnished to the schools,
with the necessary advice and encouragement. Through successive years the
effort of the society was to systematize the work of Unitarian
Sunday-schools, to put into them the best literature, the best song and
service books, the best lesson papers, and other tools,--in short, to
secure better and more definite teaching, such as is in accord with the
best scholarship and thought of the age.[16]
In 1882 the society became incorporated, and its work from this time
enlarged in all directions. To develop these results more fully, an
Institute was held in the Third Church, Chicago, in November, 1887, at
which five sessions were given to Sunday-school work, and two to Unity Club
interests. In the course of several years of encouraging success, the
Institute developed into a Summer Assembly of two or more weeks'
continuance at Hillside, Helena Valley, Wis., which still continues its
yearly sessions. In May, 1902, The Western Sunday School Society was
consolidated with the national organization; and the plates and stock which
it possessed were handed over to the Unitarian Sunday School Society. A
western headquarters is maintained in Chicago, where all the publications
of the two societies are kept on sale.
[Sidenote: Unity Clubs.]
As adjuncts to the Sunday-school, and to continue its work for adults and
in other spheres of ethical training, the Unity Club came into existence
about the year 1873, beginning with the work of Rev. Jenkin Ll. Jones at
Janesville. In the course of the next ten years nearly every Unitarian
church in the west organized such a club, and the movement to some degree
extended to other parts of the country. In 1887 there was organized in
Boston the National Bureau of Unity Clubs. These clubs devoted themselves
to literary, sociological, and religious courses of study; and they
furnished centres for the social activities of the churches. About the year
1878 began a movement to organize societies of young people for the
cultivation of the spirit of worship and religious development. This
resulted in 1889 in the organization of the National Guild Alliance; and in
1890 this organization joined with the Bureau of Unity Clubs and the
Unitarian Temperance Society in supporting an agency in the Unitarian
Building, Boston, with the aid of the Unitarian Association. The Young
People's Religious Union was organized in Boston, May 28, 1896; and in
large degree, it took the place of the Bureau and the Alliance, uniting the
two in a more efficient effort to interest the young people of the
churches.[17]
[Sidenote: The Ladies' Commission on Sunday-school Books.]
In the autumn of 1865, Rev. Charles Lowe, then the secretary of the
Unitarian Association, invited a number of women to meet him for the
purpose of conference on the subject of Sunday-school libraries. At his
suggestion they organized themselves on October 12 as The Ladies'
Commission on Sunday-school Books, with the object of preparing a catalogue
of books read and approved by competent persons. At the first meeting ten
persons were present, but the number was soon enlarged to thirty; and it
was still farther increased by the addition of corresponding members in
cities too remote for personal attendance. Among those taking part in the
work of the commission at first were Miss Lucretia P. Hale, Miss Anna C.
Lowell, Mrs. Edwin P. Whipple, Mrs. Ednah D. Cheney, Mrs. A.D.T. Whitney,
Mrs. S. Bennett, Mrs. Caroline H. Dall, Mrs. E.E. Hale, Mrs. E.P. Tileston,
and Miss Hannah E. Stevenson.
The commission not only aimed to select books for Sunday-school libraries,
but also those for the home reading of young persons and for the use of
teachers. It undertook also the procuring of the publication of suitable
juvenile books. The first catalogue was issued in October, 1866, and
contained a list of two hundred books, selected from twelve hundred
examined. In the spring of 1867 a catalogue of five hundred and
seventy-three books was printed, as the result of the reading of nineteen
hundred volumes.
In the beginning of its work the commission did not confine its activities
to the selecting of juvenile books; for the Sunday School Hymn and Tune
Book, published in 1869, was largely due to its efforts. Under the
administration of Mr. James P. Walker the Sunday School Society undertook
to procure the publication of a number of books of fiction suitable for
Sunday-school libraries, and offered prizes to this end. The commission
gave its encouragement to this effort, read the manuscripts, and aided in
determining to whom the prizes should be given. The result was the
publication of a half-dozen volumes by the Sunday School Society and the
Unitarian Association. The society also aided to some extent in meeting the
expenses of the commission, though these were usually met by the
Association.
For many years the books approved by the commission were grouped under
three heads: books especially recommended for Unitarian Sunday-school
libraries; those highly recommended for their religious tone, but somewhat
impaired for this purpose by the use of phrases and the adoption of a
spirit not in accord with the Unitarian faith; and those profitable and
valuable, but not adapted to the purposes of a Sunday-school library. Every
book recommended was read and approved by at least five persons, discussed
in committee of the whole, and accepted by a two-thirds vote of all the
members. Books about which there was much diversity of opinion were read by
a larger number of persons. This classification proved rather cumbersome,
and it was often found difficult to decide into which list a book should be
placed; and the result was that about 1890 the simpler plan was adopted of
putting all titles in their alphabetical order, with explanatory notes for
each book. In 1882 the list of books for teachers was discontinued as being
no longer necessary.
Annual lists of books have been published by the commission since 1866;
and, in addition, several catalogues have been issued, containing all the
books approved during a period of five years. In the early days of the
commission, supplementary lists for children and young persons were issued,
containing books of a more secular character than were thought suitable for
Sunday-school libraries. Gradually, it has extended its work to include the
needs of all juvenile libraries; and these books are now incorporated into
the one annual catalogue. In thirty-four years the commission has examined
10,957 books, and has approved 3,076, or about one-third.[18]
[1] Sunday School Times, September 15, 1860.
[2] Asa Bullard, Fifty Years with the Sabbath Schools, 37.
[3] C.A. Bartol, The West Church and its Ministers, Appendix.
[4] See the Remains of Nathaniel Appleton Haven, with a Memoir of his
life, by George Ticknor.
[5] The Hancock Sunday-school assembled at eight in the morning and at
one in the afternoon, Moses Grant being the first superintendent.