May Memorial Unitarian Universalist Society began in 1838 in Syracuse, New York. Its founders had left the Congregational Church of New England in Boston, preferring to study the gospels for themselves and worship according to individual conscience. The church was originally named "Church of the Messiah." Members of the congregation were active in the community; their second minister, Samuel Joseph May, was a well-known abolitionist and reformer best remembered in Syracuse for his part in the escape of Jerry, a runaway slave, memorialized in the "Jerry Rescue" sculpture in downtown Syracuse's Clinton Square. In 1885 the church moved to James Street and named their new stone building "May Memorial Church" in his honor; some time later the group voted to change their name to May Memorial Unitarian Universalist Society.
From the guide to the May Memorial Unitarian Universalist Society Records, 1830-1988, 1839-1952, (Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries)
