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Alternatives To Religion – Archives’ Cataloguing Complete

Alternatives To Religion – Archives’ Cataloguing Complete

Eighteen months ago Nicky Hilton starting the enormous task of cataloguing the archives of Conway Hall Ethical Society, the British Humanist Association and also the National Secular Society, and now that work is complete. The archives of all three major institutions have been catalogued. Funded by the National Archive, Nicky’s work was spread across the […]

BHA seasonal card

Seasons Greetings from the British Humanist Association Archive, 1966

Seasons Greetings from the British Humanist Association Archive, 1966.

late twentieth-century leaflets

Three beautifully designed late twentieth-century leaflets from the British Humanist Association

Here are three beautifully designed late twentieth-century leaflets from the British Humanist Association archives advertising humanist ceremonies for birth, partnerships and death.

The Student Humanist Federation

The Student Humanist Federation

The Student Humanist Federation (formerly the University Humanist Federation) brought a strong youth presence to the British Humanist Association in the 1960s.

Council minutes

Snapshot of the Ethical Movement in 1904

Delving into the British Humanist Association archive, the first surviving minute book of the Union of Ethical Societies (forerunner of the Association) creates an image of a thriving, growing organisation with widespread interest in the Ethical Movement.

James Hemming, President 1977-1980

Past Presidents of the BHA

In 2013 Jim Al-Khalili, theoretical physicist, broadcaster and author, was announced as the new President of the British Humanist Association. Al-Khalili joins the list of distinguished former Presidents including Julian Huxley, Alfred Jules Ayer, Edmund Leach, George Melly, Harold Blackham, James Hemming, Hermann Bondi, Clare Rayner, Linda Smith and Polly Toynbee.

The records of the Ethical Union and British Humanist Association

The records of the Ethical Union and British Humanist Association

As well as the records of the Ethical Union and British Humanist Association, the archive (held by Bishopsgate Institute) also contains material of affiliated humanist groups.

The Ethical Church, Queensway, Bayswater

The Ethical Church, Queensway, Bayswater

The Ethical Church, Queensway, Bayswater, was established in the late 1890s by Dr Stanton Coit, founder of the West London Ethical Society and a prominent figure in the Ethical Movement. Coit hoped that his Church would be the first of many ‘ethical churches’ and act as encouragement to other established churches (ie. the Church of England), to move away from religious teaching.

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