Boston, Massachusetts. City Mission Society. Records, 1820-2006.

Description

Historical Note[1]

The Boston Society for the Moral and Religious Instruction for the Poor was organized October 9, 1816 in Boston, although it was not officially incorporated until February 21, 1820. The founding officers were a mixture of clergymen, active church members and business men and included: Rev. Joshua Huntington, president; William Thurston, vice president; Josiah Salisbury, treasurer; and Thomas Vose, secretary. The original Board of Directors were Samuel Armstrong, Charles Cleveland, Pliny Cutler, Henry Homes, John Hopkins, John Proctor, Samuel Train and Josiah Vinton, Jr. Please note that many of the wives and relatives of these men were active and founding members of the Corban Society (Massachusetts) and Graham Society (Massachusetts); some of the men occasionally served as auditors for these societies.

The group was funded through life subscribers, who contributed $20, and annual subscribers, who contributed smaller amounts annually; individuals and churches also contributed funds. Some of the members were both life members and annual subscribers, i.e., Thomas Vose and Samuel Armstrong.[2]

The organization was concerned with the basic right of children to have an education; individuals who could not afford to attend church services and the relationship of illiteracy to this matter; and the spiritual leadership of seaman.[3] The Society was in part a response to the problems of the increased urbanization of Boston. There was an increase in immigration, as laborers were recruited for building railroads and as mill laborers.[4] Other issues for the poor of Boston were the Civil War, which contributed to the loss of family income earners and the Great Boston fire of November of 1872.[5] Public institutions were not able to deal with the employment needs, illness, and housing needs of the new residents, nor the change in the city's homogeneity. In this context, the City Missionary Society (renamed May 3, 1841) attempted to deal with the physical and spiritual needs of the poor though home visitation by paid missionaries, tract distributors, Sabbath Schools and summer programs for youth.

The City Missionary Society (CMS) has had seven different locations, with the majority of the history in Congregational House, 14 Beacon Street. CMS was located in the original Congregational House at 7A Beacon Street (1872-1899), as well as the current location (from 1899 to the present),[6] where CMS continues the work it started in 1816.

Scope of Collection

Collection includes annual reports, minutes of meetings from board of directors and committees; financial records; programs run by the Society; photographs and lantern slides. The Congregational Library & Archives does not hold a complete record of materials, as the organization is still active and retains many of its own records.

Further Searches

Subject Headings

After school programs.

African Americans - Massachusetts - Boston-Social conditions.

African Americans - Massachusetts - Boston - Religion.

Benevolent societies.

Boston (Mass.) - History.

Boston (Mass.) - Race relations.

Boston (Mass.) - Social Conditions.

Boston Seaman's Friend Society.

The Boston Society for the Moral and Religious Instruction for the Poor.

Camp Andover (Meredith, NH).

Camp Waldron (Meredith, NH).

City Mission Society of Boston.

City missions.

City missions - United States - History - 20th century.

Civil rights movements - Massachusetts - Boston.

Huntington, Joshua, 1751-1821.

Poor - Boston - Massachusetts.

Salisbury, Josiah.

Summer camps.

Thurston, William.

Vose, Thomas.

Related Materials

Boston City Missionary Society. Portraits. Image Collection

City Mission Society annual reports, 1817-1988. 3.9

Cleveland, Charles. Addresses and Reports. 3.9

Dunstan, John Leslie. A Light to the City: 150 years of the City Missionary Society of Boston, 1816-1966. Boston, Mass. 1966. 18.6.3.110

Arrangement

Contents

Footnotes