The Society of Christian Socialists (SCS), founded in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
in 1889, was the first self-proclaimed
Christian socialist
Christian socialism is a religious and political philosophy that blends Christianity and socialism, endorsing left-wing politics and socialist economics on the basis of the Bible and the teachings of Jesus. Many Christian socialists believe cap ...
organization in the United States.
The primary figure in the creation of the SCS was
William Dwight Porter Bliss, an
Episcopal priest. Bliss had been interested in social problems and had been active in various groups to help advance the cause of labor. While he was in the First
Nationalist Club
Nationalist Clubs were an organized network of socialist political groups which emerged at the end of the 1880s in the United States of America in an effort to make real the ideas advanced by Edward Bellamy in his utopian novel ''Looking Backwa ...
of Boston, the most important group of the
Bellamyite Nationalist movement, he broached the idea of forming a society that would espouse
socialism
Socialism is a left-wing Economic ideology, economic philosophy and Political movement, movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to Private prop ...
from an explicitly Christian viewpoint. On February 18, 1889, Bliss,
Francis Bellamy
Francis Julius Bellamy (May 18, 1855 – August 28, 1931) was an American Christian socialist Baptist minister and author. He is best known for writing the original version of the Pledge of Allegiance in 1892.
Early life
Francis Julius Bellamy ...
,
A. G. Lawson, and sixteen others met at
Tremont Temple
The Tremont Temple on 88 Tremont Street is a Baptist church in Boston, affiliated with the American Baptist Churches, USA. The existing multi-storey, Renaissance Revival structure was designed by architect Clarence Blackall of Boston, and opene ...
to discuss the possibility. A declaration of principles was adopted on April 15, a constitution on April 24 and a meeting to effect permanent organization on May 7. The first issue of the group's magazine, ''The Dawn'' was issued on May 15.
Throughout its history, the main activity of the SCS was centered in Boston. A
New York branch was established in February 1890, and state societies were formed in
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
, based in
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
, and
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...
, based in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, in May of that year. Kansas followed with a state Christian Socialist Society based in
Independence
Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...
,
Kansas
Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...
, by August.
[''The Dawn''. Vol. 3–4 no. 3–4. July–August 1890. p. 164.] Daniel De Leon's future wife, Bertha Canary was apparently a member. Notices of the activities of these groups in ''The Dawn'', however, were sporadic compared to the consistent reports of meeting of the Boston society.
Beginning with the December 4, 1890, issue, ''The Dawn'' was relinquished as the society's periodical and became the private property of Bliss, with the understanding that a regular page would be devoted to the progress of the SCS. After this the chapters outside of Boston gradually became dormant. The last mention of activity in Cincinnati was on December 18, 1890, from New York in the January 29, 1891, and from Chicago in the February 12, 1891, issue. The last mention of a meeting of the Boston society is in the May 1 issue, with this note:
See also
*
Church of the Carpenter
References
Footnotes
Bibliography
*
*
Further reading
*
External links
''What Is Christian Socialism''a manifesto of the society
''The Dawn''. Vol II #1 May 1890 - Vol. II #7 Nov. 1890''The Dawn''. Vol III #1 Dec. 4 1890 - Vol. III #11 June 1891
{{Authority control
Christian socialist organizations
Defunct democratic socialist organizations in the United States
Defunct social democratic organizations in the United States
Religious organizations established in 1889