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32-458: The Library was organized on May 25, 1853 by a gathering of Congregational ministers who donated a total of 56 books and pamphlets from their own personal collections. The Congregational Library Association was formally established in 1854 in Boston, Massachusetts "...for the purpose of establishing and perpetuating a library of religious history and literature of New England." The Association occupied

64-413: A racially integrated congregation. Although the building was largely used for religious purposes, it also served occasionally as the venue for public events. An Egyptian mummy was displayed beginning on 28 September 1850, and Sam Houston gave a speech there against slavery on 22 February 1855. Boston had a strong community of abolitionists, both black and white. Wendell Phillips gave a speech there

96-647: A place "...to protect the original Puritan literature." During design and construction the Building Committee of the American Congregational Association agreed on a series of four bas-reliefs should be included in the second story facade of the Congregational house, with each relief depicting a fundamental principle of Congregationalism. The tablets are carved from Knoxville marble and bear no inscription as it

128-757: A room in Tremont Temple until 1857, when the growing collection was moved to Chauncy Street. In 1864, the Congregational Library Association was authorized by the Governor of Massachusetts to change its name to the American Congregational Association as well as "do such acts as may promote the interests of Congregational Churches by publishing works, by furnishing libraries and pecuniary aid to parishes, churches, and cooperation among Congregational ministers and churches with other denominations by collecting and disbursing funds for

160-913: A short walk from the Massachusetts State House , King's Chapel , Park Street Church , Boston Common and the Library's reading room looks out over the Granary Burying Ground . The facade of the Congregational House is used as the office building of Cage & Fish, the fictional law firm of the legal comedy-drama Ally McBeal (1997-2002). The stacks of the Library were used in the 1988 legal drama film A Civil Action . 42°21′28.34″N 71°03′44.76″W  /  42.3578722°N 71.0624333°W  / 42.3578722; -71.0624333 Tremont Temple The Tremont Temple on 88 Tremont Street

192-631: A staged production of the opera The Burning Fiery Furnace by Benjamin Britten . Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge was a successful architecture firm based in Boston , Massachusetts , United States, operating between 1886 and 1915, with extensive commissions in monumental civic, religious, and collegiate architecture in the spirit and style of Henry Hobson Richardson . The firm grew out of Richardson's architectural practice. After Richardson's death at age 47 in 1886,

224-520: A trio consisting of George Foster Shepley (1860–1903), Charles Hercules Rutan (1851–1914), and Charles Allerton Coolidge (1858–1936) gained control of the firm and completed all of its nearly two dozen pending projects, including the John J. Glessner House in Chicago . Many of Richardson's projects were completed and modified in stages over years, making exact attribution difficult for such buildings as

256-617: Is a Baptist church in Boston , Massachusetts , affiliated with the American Baptist Churches, USA . The existing multi-storey, Renaissance Revival structure was designed by Boston architect Clarence Blackall , and opened in May 1896. It replaced a much smaller 1827 structure which had repeatedly suffered damage by fires. The new facility was designed with a large auditorium, ground-floor retail shops, and upper-story offices, all of which could be leased commercially so that

288-401: Is an eight-story brick building completed in 1898. The building was constructed, according to its explanatory plaque to house the Library and "...provide housing for Congregational societies and other religious charitable organizations." "The object of this Association shall be to secure the erection (and maintenance) in the city of Boston, of a Congregational House for the meetings of the body,

320-403: Is no admissions fee into the Library and the reading room is free and open to the public to visitors and researchers alike who may request access to any of the items in the collection, including the rare books collection. Book borrowing is limited to Library members but scans of specific materials can be made in the reading room or via email for a small fee to non-members. The Library is located

352-681: The Ames Gate Lodge in North Easton, Massachusetts , and even Richardson's masterwork Trinity Church, Boston . Two of the principals had been educated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology : Shepley (class of 1882) and Coolidge (class of 1883). Shepley married Richardson's daughter; and Coolidge later married Shepley's sister. In 1888, the firm was commissioned by Senator and Mrs. Leland Stanford to join landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted in planning

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384-734: The Christian Connection denomination. The Library's rare book room includes an unusually rich and complete representation of English and first-generation Puritan works, including an original copy of the Cambridge Platform of 1649. The Library's archival collection of colonial-era church records is also extensive, containing many sets of seventeenth-century documents as well as full collections from large and historically significant modern churches like Boston's Old South Church and Park Street Church . Many of these records have been digitized and made accessible as part of

416-577: The Congregational House July 28, 1897 and the corner stone was laid on November 29, 1897. The Library was to occupy the second floor of the Congregational House, with the reading room two stories high, with 1,000 reference books available, and with the ceiling decorated by the Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company , and the stacks holding a capacity of 125,00 bound volumes. The Congregational House, located at 14 Beacon Street,

448-423: The Congregational House to become home to a wide range of advocacy groups and nonprofits. In the summer of 2017, the American Congregational Association sold the Congregational House to Faros Properties for $ 25.4 million, citing the need to prioritize the mission of the organization over continuing to steward a large office building. The Library signed a lease for its current space for up to 100 years. The building

480-622: The Congregational Library & Archives was founded as a library for Congregational ministers, it has evolved into a research library and repository for some 250,000 books, pamphlets, and periodicals, documenting the growth and development of the Congregational tradition in the United States, intimately bound up with early American history and the social movements in which Congregationalists actively participated such as abolition , temperance , and women's suffrage . As

512-786: The Congregationalist , and Thomas Todd's Printing Establishment. In 1957, the United Church of Christ was founded after merging the Evangelical and Reformed Church and the Congregational Christian Churches together. The UCC moved its headquarters from the Congregational House to The Interchurch Center in New York City by 1961, and many church groups and Congregational organizations found space outside of 14 Beacon Street. This led

544-484: The New England's Hidden Histories program. The Congregational Library also has a large sermon collection, some 15,000 individual pieces, covering the period from the late 1600s to the twentieth century, in both manuscript and printed form. The Congregational Library & Archives is open to the public on Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. with some exceptions for after hours events. There

576-537: The Old Congregational House, at the corner of Beacon and Somerset Streets, was dedicated. After 20 years of occupying the old Congregational House, the Association posed the question if a more permanent location should be found. In 1898, it was decided that the old Congregational House would be sold and the lots of 12 and 14 Beacon Street would be purchased and built upon. Ground was broken for

608-431: The above objects." By 1866, the Library contained 3,638 bound volumes and approximately 20,000 pamphlets and found their current location was too small to accommodate the Library. The Association sold said property to Jordan, Marsh, & Co. By this point, the Library's collection grew significantly, up to 15,000 bound volumes and 50,000 pamphlets The Library was then temporarily housed at 40 Winter Street until, in 1873,

640-475: The accommodation of its library, and for the furtherance of its general purposes; to found and perpetuate a library of books, pamphlets, and manuscripts, and a collection of portraits and relics of the past; and to do whatever else -- within limits of its charter -- shall serve to illustrated Congregational History, and promote the general interest of the Congregational Churches." Occupants at

672-620: The campus for Stanford University . For major commissions in Chicago and the World's Columbian Exposition , Coolidge moved to Chicago and the firm opened its branch office there in 1893, in which many Prairie School architects received their early professional training, notably Hermann V. von Holst who was head draughtsman. A St. Louis branch office began the career of John Mauran ; a Pittsburgh branch office developed into several firms, including Rutan & Russell formed by Frank E. Rutan ,

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704-545: The church for twenty-one years, interrupted by brief pastorships in other locations. He left in 1901, after guiding the congregation through construction and opening of a new building, to move to a New York City congregation. The congregation had decided on a new, larger structure, which was completed and opened in May 1896. Designed by architect Clarence Blackall , it was intended to be a church with an auditorium and other spaces suitable for leasing for business purposes, in order to support church functions. The building originally

736-752: The congregation could welcome all worshippers for free. The building is currently under study for landmark status by the Boston Landmarks Commission . On 28 December 1843, the Free Church Baptists bought the Tremont Theatre , built in 1827 in Greek Revival style. They renamed it the Tremont Temple and adapted it for use for religious worship. They did not charge for attending their church and had

768-447: The day after Lincoln’s election: “the slave has chosen a President … Not an Abolitionist, hardly an antislavery man, Mr. Lincoln consents to represent an idea. A pawn on the chessboard. … we may soon change him for knight, Bishop or queen, and sweep the board (applause).” Frederick Douglass spoke there on December 3, 1860, in a hotly contested and even violent anti-slavery gathering that had to be quelled by Boston police . The Temple

800-919: The designated archive of the Congregational Christian churches, the Library collects material on the history of the denomination from the Puritans to its present incarnation, holding all significant institutional records from the United Church of Christ , the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches , and the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference , before and after. The Library also holds some 1,500 different periodicals representing its longstanding interest in social reform, missionary work , and education. The Congregational Library also holds rare newspapers from

832-1118: The time of founding include the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions , the Woman's Board of Missions , the Woman's Home Missionary Association, the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society , the National Council , the Congregational Educational Society , the American Missionary Association , the Seaman's Friend Society , the Boston City Mission Society , the Sunday School and Publishing Society ,

864-747: The younger brother of Charles. Other Pittsburgh firms developed by branch office employees include Longfellow, Alden & Harlow and Frank Irving Cooper ; Pasadena architect Myron Hunt spent three years with them in Boston as draftsman. Stylistically, the firm continued to work mainly in the architectural vocabulary of Richardsonian Romanesque , although with less imagination—for instance, Richardson's asymmetry disappears. The firm continued as Shepley Rutan and Coolidge through 1915, then became Coolidge and Shattuck (Boston) and Coolidge and Hodgdon (Chicago) concurrently from 1915 through 1924, then Coolidge Shepley Bulfinch and Abbott from 1924 through 1952, Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbott from 1952, and

896-486: Was assumed the subject of each panel would be known on sight to the average citizen. The reliefs were carved by Domingo Mora , a Spanish sculptor who, catalyzed by the Spanish–American War , left the country and reliefs unfinished, citing his inability to stay and work in a country hostile to his own. The reliefs were carefully completed according to Mora's design by a Swiss modeler known only as Mr. Stadler. While

928-545: Was damaged by fire in April 1852; at the time, offices were occupied by music instructors, dentists, a taxidermist, and several artists: Fitz Henry Lane , Benjamin Champney , Mr. Kimberly, John C. King , B. F. Mason , Wellman Morrison , John Pope , and John W. A. Scott . It was also used for the storage of Thomas Thompson extensive art collection, largely destroyed. The temple suffered subsequent fires in 1879 and 1893 and

960-712: Was designed by the Boston-based architecture firm Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge , now Shepley Bulfinch , in a Georgian - Federal revival style and built by the Norcoss Brothers . The building was added to the Park Street Historic District in the National Register of Historic Places on May 1, 1974, citing the historic significance of the architecture of the area and the importance of the Congregational House and Library as

992-407: Was designed with retail stores on the ground floor and commercial offices on the upper floors. Revenue from business rents and rental of the auditorium for concerts enabled the church to continue to provide free seats to all worshippers. At various times in the 20th century, films were screened at Tremont Temple, though commercial leasing ended in 1956. The auditorium was used December 31, 1985, for

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1024-442: Was repaired. The Temple was the site of Charles Dickens ' first reading during his 1867–68 tour of the United States. Dickens read from "A Christmas Carol" and "The Pickwick Papers" during his two-hour reading on December 2, 1867. The congregation called it Tremont Street Baptist Church and later Union Temple Baptist Church, adopting the name Tremont Temple Baptist Church in 1891. The Reverend George C. Lorimer served as pastor of

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