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Guide to the First Unitarian Congregational Society of Brooklyn records ARC.109

Center for Brooklyn History
128 Pierrepont Street
Brooklyn 11201
cbhreference@bklynlibrary.org


Brooklyn Historical Society

Collection processed by Craig P. Savino

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on June 08, 2022
eng using Describing Archives: A Content Standard

 Updated by Archivist Alice Griffin to add CBH language.  , June 2022

Descriptive Summary

Creator: First Unitarian Church of Brooklyn (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.)
Creator: Lathrop, John Howland
Title: First Unitarian Congregational Society of Brooklyn records
Dates [inclusive]: 1790-1972
Dates [bulk]: 1833-1967
Abstract: 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.
Quantity: 50.5 Linear Feet in 99 manuscript boxes and 18 oversize flat boxes
Location: The majority of the materials in this collection are stored offsite and advance notice is required for use. Please contact cbhreference@bklynlibrary.org at least three weeks prior to research visit.
Call Phrase: ARC.109