Image of the Month for April 2008

In 1890, George M. Pullman (1831-97), the inventor and industrialist, offered to build a church in memory of his parents in Albion, New York, the hometown of his youth, if local Universalists could raise $5,000. On August 18, 1892, the Pullman Memorial Universalist Church was incorporated, and by December of that year the money had been raised. On May 19, 1894, the cornerstone of the church was laid. It was dedicated on January 31, 1895, with two of George Pullman's brothers, Dr. Royal Henry Pullman (1826-1900) and Dr. James M. Pullman (1836-1903), both Universalist ministers, participating in the service.

For more information, see: Dedication of the Pullman Memorial Universalist Church, January Thirty-First, 1895, Albion, N.Y., scanned during the Harvard-Google Project from the library's collection and available here, and the article in The New York Times about the dedication, "Pullman Memorial Church," February 1, 1895, p. 10. [Postcard: bMS 349/7. This postcard was included in the library's project to digitize postcards of Unitarian and Universalist church buildings; for more information, see the library's digital collections page about this project.]

For information on obtaining a copy of this image or using it for publication, see the library's Digital Reproduction Policy.

To see past images of the month, visit the images of people and images of congregations pages.

These images, often buried deep in our collections, are selected by Clifford Wunderlich; please address corrections to him.