Harvard Square Library is grateful to the Andover-Harvard Theological Library, for permission to put these documents online, and to Archives and Special Collections Librarian Frances O’Donnell for her assistance.

The original archival collection of these papers is part of the Universalist Church of America’s General Assembly Records in the Special Collections at Andover-Harvard Theological Library.…

If the plans for traveling to Pasadena, California for the 1915 United Universalist Conventions by Pullman train were not elaborate enough, the organizers went to great lengths to ensure that the journey would prove pleasant for everyone. A printing press was brought on board for the publishing of a daily newspaper–the delightfully acronymned UGCWUMAYPCUSS, with three hundred copies printed on board each day.…

For the 1915 United Universalist Conventions, train rides to Pasadena originated in Boston on July 1, with stops in New York in Albany, Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo along the way. The group arrived in Chicago on July 2, where they joined for lunch and a meeting at St.…

In addition to reports and programs, however, the archival record of the Universalist General Convention of 1915 gives a sense of the excitement and uniqueness of this event through letters sent to the convention as well as photographs of the event.…

One hundred years ago, the United Universalist Conventions met in Pasadena, California, for their 1915 convention. This was no ordinary gathering of early twentieth-century religious liberals, however. The convention proper started with a train journey that began in Boston and crossed the continental United States, stopping at Chicago, Salt Lake City, and other major cities, each time picking up Universalist “pilgrims” bound for Pasadena.…