Browse the American Congregational Association records

The American Congregational Association was formed in 1851 as the Congregational Library Association. Two years later, reorganized and expanded, it rented rooms at the Tremont Street Temple in Boston, with a library of 56 books and pamphlets. The Association was formally incorporated in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1854 “for the purpose of establishing and perpetuating a library of the religious history and literature of New England, and for the erection of a suitable building for the accommodation of the same, and for the use of charitable societies.” In 1864, the organization changed its name to the American Congregational Association in recognition of its broader scope.

The Association lived in peripatetic existence until 1898. In 1857 the Association moved from its rented rooms at the Tremont Temple to a house on Chauncy Street where it remained for ten years. Between 1867 and 1872, the Association again rented space before purchasing two buildings at the corner of Beacon and Somerset Streets. The building was renovated for library space and rental offices. This new headquarters was dedicated in 1874. The Association moved once more, in 1898, to its present site in the Congregational House at 14 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts, a building constructed specifically for the library and for rental office space. Throughout its history, the American Congregational Association prioritized renting space to non-profit organizations.

In 2017 the American Congregational Association sold the Congregational House to Faros Properties and signed a long-term lease to keep the library within its historic home.