Brooklyn Sunday School Union

The Brooklyn Sabbath School Union (later known as the Brooklyn Sunday School Union) was formed in 1830 for the purpose of providing young people with Christian religious instruction, which the Union's founders asserted was sorely lacking from public education. Churches of many Protestant denominations were represented in the Union, including Baptist, Presbyterian, Congregational, Lutheren, and Reformed churches.

Collecting area: Materials relating to the Brooklyn Sunday School Union.

The Brooklyn Sunday School Union, called the Brooklyn Sabbath School Union until the mid-nineteenth century, was founded in 1816 by a committee of men active in community affairs. This committee, following the example of the 18th century British Sunday School Movement, wanted to reduce illiteracy, and to improve the "moral tone" of children and youth by bringing them under the influence of the church via Sunday schools.

The main work of the Brooklyn Sunday School Union in its early years was the establishment of Sunday schools in Brooklyn. Many of these developed into churches, contributing to Brooklyn's reputation as the "city of churches." By the second half of the 19th century the Union began to concentrate on the improvement of the quality of teaching in the Sunday schools. They set up training schools, institutes, conferences, lecture series, and social gatherings for teachers and superintendents.

In 1829 the first Anniversary Day Parade was held. The day of the parade was eventually called Brooklyn-Queens Day and became an annual event consisting of services, singing, addresses, luncheons, and a parade of Sunday school children. As the number of schools belonging to the Union increased, it became an impressive event (in 1883, nearly 50,000 children paraded through the streets of Brooklyn). In 1905 a state law was passed giving Brooklyn children a school holiday so that they could participate in the parade. In 1922 the Union bought the house at 125 Fort Greene Place in which it makes its home today.