Monuments for Freethought (Atheists, Agnostics, Nonbelievers, Nontheists, Rationalists, Secularists, Humanists, Unitarians, Universalists, etc.)

N.B.: Above image reads "AtheisM: Good enough for these idiots" and picures Ernest Hemingway, Abraham Lincoln, Carl Sagan [1934-1996], Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson, Albert Einstein, Charles Darwin, and Benjamin Franklin.

Click here for Wikipedia's lists of famous nontheists.

Right click image to enlarge.

C H U R C H

1732 - Hollis Street Church, Boston, Massachusetts (USA). Was Congregational (1732-c1800) and then Unitarian (c1800-1887). Ministers included: Mather Byles (1732-1777); Ebenezer Wight (1778-1788); Samuel West (1789-1808); Horace Holley (1809-1818); John Pierpont (1819-1845); David Fosdick (1846-1847); Thomas Starr King (1848-1860); George Leonard Chaney (1862-1877); Henry Bernard Carpenter (1878-1887). A fire destroyed the church building in 1787. The replacement in 1788 (as shown by the image) was the first building of Charles Bulfinch [1763-1844] who later became the architect of the US Capitol. The Hollis Street Church merged with the South Congregational Society of Boston in 1887.

C H U R C H

1754 - King's Chapel, 64 Beacon Street (School & Tremont Streets), Boston, Massachusetts (USA). "Organized as an Anglican congregation on June 15, 1686. First house of worship was a small wooden meeting house where the church stands today, dedicated on June 30, 1689. A larger building was opened in 1754. Closed in 1776 following the exile of Royalists in March, but reopened for the funeral of Patriot General Joseph Warren [1741-1775] who was killed at the Battle of Bunker Hill. No minister until James Freeman [1759-1835] was hired as lay reader in 1782 and became minister in 1783. He introduced Unitarian ideas in his preaching and revised the Anglican Book of Common Prayer along Unitarian principles. King's Chapel continues to follow a form of the Anglican liturgy, using the 9th edition of the "Book of Common Prayer According to the Use in King's Chapel" published in 1986. King's Chapel is now an 'independent congregation affiliated with the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations (UUA).'"

H O U S E

1770 - "The Old Manse," Concord, Massachusetts (USA). Built for "Rev. William Emerson [1769-1811], "one of Boston's leading citizens, a liberal-minded Unitarian minister, pastor to Boston's First Church and founder of its Philosophical Society, Anthology Club, and Boston Athenaeum, and father to Ralph Waldo Emerson [1803-1882]." He watched the Battle of Concord [April 19, 1775] from here. The house was "also home to Nathaniel Hawthorne [1804-1864] for a period. To the left of the house (not shown in this photo) is a small vegetable garden originally planted for Hawthorne by Henry David Thoreau [1817-1862]."

C H U R C H

1787 - Unitarian Church, 4 Archdale Street, Charleston, South Carolina (USA). A National Historic Landmark. "The oldest Unitarian church in the South. In colonial Charleston, members of the Circular Congregational Church (then known as the Independent Church) were so numerous the need arose to build a second church building. Construction began at this Archdale site in 1772, but was temporarily interrupted by the Revolutionary War. The small rectangular brick church was finally completed in 1787. In 1817, the Archdale congregation was chartered as the Second Independent Church, with a Unitarian minister presiding. As the American Unitarian Association (AUA) was not organized until 1825, it was not until 1839 that this congregation was rechartered as Unitarian. The church received a major remodeling in the mid-19th century."

1793 - Conway Hall Humanist Centre, South Place Ethical Society (SPES), Red Lion Square, Holborn, London (England). "The oldest freethought community in the world. Began as a group of nonconformists known as Philadelphians or Universalists." Hall named for American Moncure Conway [1832-1907] "who led the society 1864-1885 and 1892-1897, during which time it moved further away from Unitarianism."

C H U R C H

1806 - Independent Christian Church, Universalist, 10 Church Street, Gloucester, Massachusetts (USA). A simple clapboard building with a 100-foot spire. It’s an unusual name for a Unitarian Universalist church. But there’s a lot about this church that’s unusual. The church is the oldest Universalist congregation in America. "The writings of James Relly [c1722-1778], an English theologian who taught that Jesus’ death had saved everyone, found a receptive audience in Gloucester. Some members of First Parish, the town’s only church, formed a group in the 1770's to discuss these ideas, meeting at the home of Winthrop Sargent [1727-1793], a leading merchant and intellectual -- and father of Judith Sargent Murray [1751-1820]. This group would later leave First Parish to form a Universalist congregation. When the Gloucester coterie heard that John Murray [1741-1815] was preaching in Boston, they invited him to visit—and persuaded him to stay on as their minister." "Fifteen years ago, the building was in a state of decline and was sustained by an aging congregation of 16 active members. Today the church counts 118 members... The original 1780 building was replaced in 1806 by the building used today."

G R A V E

1815 - Grave of John Murray, Granary Burial Ground, Boston, Massadchusetts (USA). According to Wikipedia, Rev. John Murray [1741-1815] is "sometimes recalled as founder of the Universalist denomination in the USA [but] might more fairly be described as a pioneer minister and an inspirational figure, as his theological legacy to the later Universalist denomination was minimal."

G R A V E

1820 - Grave of Judith Sargent Murray, Bingaman Cemetery, Natchez, Mississippi (USA). Cemetery is across St. Catherine Creek from the Grand Village of the Natchez Indians but is not being maintained. This is only readable marker. Judith Sargent Murray [1751-1820] was an "Author, Feminist, and Religious Educator. The oldest child of Winthrop and Judith Saunders Sargent, Judith grew up as an avid reader and self-described "scribbler." She first married John Stevens, with whom she adopted two daughters. Her concern for their religious education led her to begin writing Universalist materials for children. After the death of John Stevens, Judith married Universalist minister John Murray [1741-1815]. Judith helped spread Universalism in the USA, along with promoting women's rights through publications like her "On the Equality of the Sexes," a short essay stressing the importance of education for women and appreciation of women's intellects. At the age of forty-one, she gave birth to Julia Maria Murray. She continued writing poetry, essays, and religious materials while teaching her daughter as well as various other children in her home. After John Murray's death in 1815, Judith moved to Mississippi to live with Julia Maria and her husband, Adam Lewis Bingaman [c1790-1869], at Fatherland, the Bingaman plantation near Natchez."

C H U R C H

December 7, 1826 - Community Church of New York Unitarian Universalist (CCNY), 40 East 35th Street, New York, New York (USA). "When the first building in our history was dedicated, William Cullen Bryant [1794-1878], a member of the congregation, wrote a hymn for the occasion, and William Ellery Channing [1780-1842] preached one of his most celebrated sermons, 'Unitarian Christianity Most Favorable to Piety.' Dr. John Haynes Holmes [1879-1964] -- our minister from 1907 to 1949 -- called this address the 'dedication not of a building at all, but of the whole life and temper of an institution.' It seemed a radical sermon in those days -- a revolt against the theological creeds of the times -- in which Dr. Channing stressed the great ideal of religious freedom, which has remained fundamental in the life of The Community Church." Image shows modern building.

C H U R C H

1828 - United First Parish Church (Unitarian Universalist), Quincy, Massachusetts (USA). "First gathered in 1636 as a branch of Church in Boston (which started in 1633), First Parish was established as an independent Church in 1639. Known then simply as 'Ye Church of Braintry.' its establishment made it possible for the Town of Braintree to incorporate in 1640. 'Old Braintree' was later to become the City of Quincy and the Towns of Braintree, Randolph, and Holbrook. This magnificent edifice was designed by Alexander Parris and built of granite donated by John Adams. Now known as "The Church of Presidents" because John Adams [1735-1826] and John Quincy Adams [1767-1848] are buried in its its graveyard. Image from c1851-1854.

G R A V E

1864 - Grave of Thomas Starr King, First Unitarian Universalist Society, 1187 Franklin Street (corner of Geary Street), San Francisco, California (USA). Stone sarcophagus contains the earthly remains of Thomas Starr King [1824-1864], an American Unitarian minister, influential in California politics during the American Civil War. Statue of King (or a male mourner?) and two children added when?

B O O K

1876 - "The Burgess-Underwood Debate: Commencing June 29, 1875, at Aylmer, Ontario, and Continuing Four Days Between O. A. Burgess and B. F. Underwood" by John T. Hawke, published by D. M. Bennett. Offered by National Book Auctions for estimated $22: "Condition/Details: Bound in half leather with marbled boards, this antique volume is a scarce nineteenth-century political pamphlet. Title page states "reported by John T. Hawke." Benjamin Franklin Underwood [1839-1914], born in New York in July 1839, served in the Civil War and was a POW in Richmond for 9 months. He went on to become a lecturer, debater, and writer in the cause of Rationalism. He published several works of Freethought, now all very scarce. His sister, Sara A. Underwood, was the author of "Heroines of Freethought." Freethought pamphlets are rarely found in any condition, and this one is a scarce early D.M. Bennett imprint in remarkable condition, thanks to library preservation."

C H U R C H

1884 - Park Hall, Free Congregation of Sauk County, 307 Polk Street, Sauk City, Wisconsin (USA). "A Unitarian Universalist Fellowship...we are a Free Thought congregation with origins in the German Freie Gemeinden (’free congregations’ or ‘free societies’). When liberal reform efforts, both political and religious, failed in Germany after 1848, German liberals immigrated to the USA where they founded numerous free thought societies and congregations, most of them in the northeast and upper mid-west. One such German liberal, Eduard Schroeter [1811-1888], helped to found this congregation in 1852 and became its first Speaker (leader and teacher). Ours is the last remaining Free Congregation in North America."

C H A P E L

1886 - Unity Chapel, Spring Green, Wisconsin (USA). "Built at the direction of the Reverend Jenkin Lloyd Jones [1843-1918], a son of the family who was also a prominent Unitarian minister in Chicago. The designer of record was Joseph Silsbee, who had designed buildings for Jenkin in Chicago, and a draughtsman assigned to the job was Jenkin's 18-year old nephew, Frank Lloyd Wright [1867-1959]." "This is arguably the first building that young Mr. Wright had any say in designing. He was said to have done some of the interior design." Jenkin Lloyd Jones organized the first Parliament of the World's Religions in 1893. He was General Secretary, 1994-1906, of the American Congress of Liberal Religion, an alliance of liberal Jews, Unitarians, Universalists, and Ethical Culturalists. (Their goal was a "Church of Humanity, democratic in organization, progressive in thought, cherishing the spiritual traditions and experiences of the past but keeping itself open to all new light.") He founded the Abraham Lincoln Centre in 1905 and sailed on Henry Ford's Peace Ship in 1918-19. Lower image is Jenkins' grave at the chapel.

S T A T U E

January 8, 1893 - Channing Monument, 135 Pelham Street, Touro Park, Newport, Rhode Island (USA). Statue of Dr. William Ellery Channing [1780-1842], the foremost Unitarian preacher in the USA in the early 19th century. Channing's religion and thought were among the chief influences on the New England Transcendentalists, though he never countenanced their views, which he saw as extreme." "Sculpted by William Clark Noble [1858-1938] and cast by the Henry-Bonnard Bronze Company of New York... Stands opposite the Channing Memorial Church, which was built in 1880 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Channing's birth."

September 11-27, 1893 - First Parliament of the World's Religions, Chicago, Illinois (USA). Concurrent with the World Columbian Exposition (Chicago World's Fair). Attended by 4,000 delegates from all over the World. Organized by Unitarian minister Reverend Jenkin Lloyd Jones [1843-1918]. Addresses included an introducton to Hinduism by Swami Vivekananda [1863-1902] and "The Religious Mission of the Colored Race" by Fannie Barrier Williams [1855-1944], a black member of Jones's Unitarian church in Chicago. Attended by 75-year-old Frederick Douglass [c1818-1895].

1898 - Das Dutsches Haus, Indianapolis, Indiana (USA). "A magnificent victory monument for a rational outlook on life." Built as a German American Turnverein, clubhouse & community center between 1894 and 1898. Bernard Vonnegut, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.’s grandfather, was principal architect and builder... The so-called “Forty-Eighters,” political activists who were forced out of Germany after the failed < href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolutions_of_1848_in_the_German_states">revolution of 1848, brought a liberal mindset and political zeal to the Midwest and to Indianapolis. They founded the Turnverein, a gymnastics society that embodied the motto of Friedrich Jahn [1778-1852], the founder of the Turner movement in Germany: “A Sound Mind in a Sound Body.” Along with another motto inscribed on the building’s East Tower, "Frisch, Frei, Stark und Treu" (vibrant, free, strong and loyal), these words are lasting tributes to this influential group of liberal thinkers which included the Vonnegut family and other prominent German-Americans such as the Liebers. In 1870, several of them founded the Freethinkers Society.

G R A V E

1901 - Grave of William Ellery Channing, Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Concord, Massadchusetts (USA). This Willam Ellery Channing [1818-1901] is the husband of Margaret's Fuller's younger sister Ellen and the nephew of the famous Unitarian of the same name [1780-1842]. Where is his grave?

H O U S E

1902 - Margaret Fuller Neighborhood House (MFNH), Cambridge, Massachusetts (USA). "Eleventh oldest settlement house in the United States. Provides critical information and services to immigrants to successfully assimilate into the American culture. House built in 1807. Birthplace of Margaret Fuller Osolli [1810-1850], famed author, feminist, Unitarian, transcendentalist, and social critic.

C E N T E R

1905 - Abraham Lincoln Centre (ALC), 3858 South Cottage Grove Avenue, Chicago, Illinois (USA). Founded by Unitarian minister Jenkin Lloyd Jones [1843-1918] as an outreach ministry (settlement house) of All Souls Unitarian Chruch.

C H U R C H

September 26, 1909 - Unity Temple, 875 Lake Street, Oak Park, Chicago, Illinois (USA). Replaced Universalist church which burned to the ground on June 6, 1905. Now Unity Temple Unitarian Universalist Congregation. Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright [1867-1959] and considered to be one of his most important structures.

1910 - Hall, New York Society for Ethical Culture, 2 West 64th Street (SW corner at Central Park West), New York City, New York (USA). The original ethical society. Founded in 1876 by Felix Adler [1851-1933]. Building has breathtaking views of Central Park and an auditoriam seating 800 people. "The New York Society for Ethical Culture opened its hall on the SW corner of Central Park West & 64th Street in 1911, nine years after it had opened its school building on the NW corner of Central Park West & 63rd Street. The former was designed by Robert D. Kohn and the latter by Robert D. Kohn and Carrčre & Hastings. The hall is an imposing but stark, limestone-clad low-rise building in dramatic contrast with the red-brick structure of the school. The two buildings occupy the entire Central Park West blockfront between 63rd & 64th Streets."

S T A T U E

October 28, 1911 - Statue of Robert G. Ingersoll, Glen Oak Park, Peoria, Illinois (USA). From the New York Times: "Oct. 28 -- In the presence of a great crowd a memorial statue of Col. Robert G. Ingersoll [1833-1911], the lecturer and freethinker, one of Peoria's most noted men, was unveiled this afternoon in Glen Oak Park by Robert G. Ingersoll Brown of New York City, a grandson."

M U S E U M

1919 - Sargent House Museum, 49 Middle Street, Gloucester, Massachusetts (USA). Also known as Sargent-Murray-Gilman-Hough House. "Built in 1782 for writer and activist Judith Sargent Murray [1751-1820], this country's earliest champion of women's equality, education and economic independence, and shared by her husband, Reverend John Murray [1741-1815], the founder of Universalism in America. Then the home of sea merchants, American patriots, religious and community leaders. A fine example of Georgian architecture. Visitors will see Judith Sargent Murray's dictionary and her published series, The Gleaner; and works of art by American painter John Singer Sargent [1856-1925], Judith Sargent Murray's great-great nephew and an original founder of the museum."

M U S E U M

1929 - Mark Twain House & Museum, 351 Farmington Avenue, Hartford, Connecticut (USA). Mark Twain [1835-1910] lived here 1874-1891. New museum opened in November 2003.

C H U R C H

1948 - Members of the first fellowship chartered by the American Unitarian Association (AUA) gathered in 1948 in Boulder, Colorado (USA).

C H U R C H

1951 - First Unitarian Society of Madison, Madison, Wisconsin (USA). "The architectural treasure that we call home was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, a member of the congregation, and was completed in 1951."

1952? - Mark Twain Study, Elmira College, Elmira, New York (USA). Constructed at Quarry Farm in 1874 & moved to current location on campus in 1952. In the 1870's & 1880's, Mark Twain [1835-1910] spent summers in Elmira working on Roughing It, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Prince and the Pauper, A Tramp Abroad, Life on the Mississippi, and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, as well as many short pieces.

1973 - Omega Peace Institute (OPI), Arkansas Avenue, North Mesa, Los Alamos New Mexico (USA). Next door to Black Hole (qv). Former Grace Lutheran Church purchased in 1973 by Ed Grothus [1923-2009]. First called 'The Omega Peace Institute' and later named 'The First Church of High Technology.' "Adorned with a large peace sign mounted on the [A-frame] building, two symbolically broken torpedos out front, and a sign that reads: "OMEGA PEACE INSTITUTE, FIRST CHURCH OF HIGH TECHNOLOGY, BLACK HOLE SYNOD, Critical Mass Every Sunday with Bomb Unworship Service.' Actually, no services are held, and the church building itself is stuffed with more junk [from the Black Hole]."

B U S T

1980 - Bust of Bertrand Russell, Red Lion Square, London WC1 (England). Sculpted by Marcelle Quinton. Bertrand Russell [1872-1970] received the 1950 Nobel Prize for Literature. One of 21 peace monuments named by the PPU website. Named in "A Peace Trail Through London" by Valerie Flessati (1998). One of 309 London monuments in Kershman (2007), page 196.

P L A Q U E

2002 - Blue Plaque for Bertrand Russell, 34 Russell Chambers, Bury Place, London WC1 (England). Russell lived here in flat no.34, 1911-1916.

M U S E U M

Date? - Women's Rights National Historic Park, National Park Service (NPS), 136 Fall Street, Seneca Falls, New York (USA). Includes home of Elizabeth Cady Stanton [1815-1902] and site of site of the First Women's Rights Convention held July 19-20, 1848.

P L A Q U E

1992 - Plaque entitled "Sri Chinmoy International Peace Falls," Niagara Falls, Ontario (Canada). Sri Chinmoy [1931-2007] "was an Indian spiritual teacher and philosopher who emigrated to the USA in 1964. An author, composer, artist, and athlete, he was perhaps best known for holding public events on the theme of inner peace and world harmony (such as concerts, meditations, and races)... In 1996, a plaque associated with Sri Chinmoy at the Statue of Liberty [New York City, NY (USA)] was removed by the National Park Service after several weeks of protests due to a call by American Atheists, who viewed this as a violation of the separation of church and state." Image & information courtesy of Ed Buckner, president of American Atheists.

M U S E U M

1993 - Robert Green Ingersoll Birthplace Museum, Council for Secular Humanism, Dresden, New York (USA). "Historical artifacts, displays, and a specially-produced high-definition video presentation bring Ingersoll and his times to life." Robert Green Ingersoll [1833-1899] was a Civil War veteran, American political leader, and orator during the "Golden Age of Freethought," (late 19th-century USA) noted for his broad range of culture and his defense of agnosticism.

July 4, 1999 - Atheists in Foxholes Monument, Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), Lake Hypatia Freethought Hall, Munford, Alabama (USA). Inscribed: "In memory of ATHEISTS IN FOXHOLES and the countless FREETHINKERS [atheists, agnostics & skeptics of any persuasion] who have served this country with honor and distinction. Presented by the national FFRF with hope that in the future humankind may learn to avoid all war." The FFRF originally proposed an "Atheists in Foxholes" monument to replace a cross on public property in San Diego, California, but the foundation's formal bid was rejected in favor of religious bidders.

March 7, 2005 - James Reeb Memorial, Sidewalk, Selma, Alabama (USA). On March 9, 1965 (two days after "Bloody Sunday", three Unitarian Universalist ministers -- Clark Olsen, Orloff Miller and James Reeb [1927-1965] -- were attacked near this spot after leaving Strong's Restaurant (then called Walker's Cafe). Reeb died two days later. Photo by EWL during dedication ceremony shows Rev. Clark Olsen (speaking) & Evelyn G. Lowery (looking on), wife of Rev. Joseph P. Lowery. This is one of 13 civil rights memorials created by Mrs. Lowery in Alabama.

T R A I L

2005 - Freethought Trail, Council for Secular Humanism, Amherst, New York (USA). "A collection of locations in west-central New York State important to the history of freethought. In the 19th century, [this area] was a hotbed of social, political & religious innovation. Fayetteville suffragist Matilda Joslyn Gage [1826-1898] called religion the enemy of women. Writing from Elmira, Mark Twain [1835-1910] raised irreverence to an American art form. At Ithaca, Andrew Dickson White [1832-1918] co-founded Cornell University, the nation's first secular institution of higher learning. In 1848 reformers & freethinkers thronged Seneca Falls to demand new roles for women. Corning native Margaret Sanger [1879-1966] led the birth control movement. The birthplace museum of orator, political speechmaker & outspoken agnostic Robert G. Ingersoll [1833-1899] is in Dresden." The trail was wholly redesigned and expanded in 2009.

P L A Q U E

September 5, 2006 - Plaque honoring Charles Darwin, Charles Darwin Park, Wallerawang, near Lithgow, New South Wales (Australia). At site of the house where Darwin (age 26) stayed January 12-30, 1836. Note platypus descending the stone.

October 22, 2006 - Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Cosmos, SETI Institute, Mountain View, California (USA). "On November 9, 2001, on what would have been Sagan's 67th birthday, the NASA Ames Research Center dedicated the site for the Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Cosmos. "Carl was an incredible visionary, and now his legacy can be preserved and advanced by a 21st century research and education laboratory committed to enhancing our understanding of life in the universe and furthering the cause of space exploration for all time", said NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin. Ann Druyan was at the Center as it opened its doors on October 22, 2006."

March 2008, Flying Spaghetti Monster (FSM), Courthouse Lawn, Crossville, Tennessee (USA). Pastafarians Ariel & David Sufdie placed the statue in a free speech zone. It gained national interest on blogs and internet news sites and appeared in Rolling Stone magazine. It was later removed from the premises, along with all other long-term statues, due to an effort sparked mainly by controversy over the statue. "The FSM is the deity of the parody religion Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster or Pastafarianism. Created in 2005 by Bobby Henderson, it was originally intended as a satirical protest against the decision by the Kansas State Board of Education to require the teaching of intelligent design as an alternative to evolution in public schools."

October 28, 2009, "Keep Religion OUT of Government" billboard, 2600 block of North Avenue, Grand Junction, Colorado (USA). "The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) today announced it is offering a $1,000 award to anyone coming forward with information leading to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrator(s) of a hate crime directed against the Foundation and gays. The Foundation's billboard was defaced, apparently last weekend. A vandal X'ed out the word "religion," and painted in the word "fag." "This is a hate crime directed both at the nonreligious and at gays—it's a perversion of our message honoring a precious constitutional principle," said Foundation Co-President, Annie Laurie Gaylor."