Humanists Are Marching!
National Secular Society members and Humanists protesting on Easter Monday in Hyde Park, c.1970.
Campaign against the ‘misrepresentation’ of Pius XII, 1958
With the death of Pope Pius XII on 9 October 1958, British news published and broadcast a wave of positive eulogies for the Catholic leader. Celebrated nationally as the ‘Pope of Peace’, the National Secular Society were alarmed by the uncritical reporting of Pius’ leadership.
NSS Outing c.1970
This orphaned photograph from a National Secular Society annual outing c.1970 shows the broad appeal of the Society, with men and women of all ages.
Charles Bradlaugh and the National Secular Society
The National Secular Society was established by the political activist and atheist Charles Bradlaugh in 1886. The Society aimed to promote secularism and argued for a division between church and state.
Sunday Lectures at Conway Hall
Conway Hall Ethical Society has been providing an alternative to Sunday services – the Sunday Lectures, since the congregation of South Place Chapel moved away from religion in the nineteenth century.
Famous Connections
In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries Conway Hall Ethical Society was connected to both the great and the good of the age. Many came to address the Society at their Sunday and mid week lectures including Bertrand Russell, William Morris, Sidney Webb and the suffragettes Marion Phillips and Marion Holmes.
The case of Senor Ferrer: secularist, anarchist and freethinker
Conway Hall Ethical Society (formerly South Place Ethical Society) has a long history of promoting liberty, ethics and justice, as well as supporting social, political and secular campaigners. In 1909 the Society publicly demonstrated its support for Senor Francisco Ferrer, a Spanish anarchist who used his fortune to promote secular education and campaign for political freedom.
Illustrations of South Place Chapel, Moorgate, 1924 and Conway Hall, Holborn, 1931
Illustrations of South Place Chapel, Moorgate, 1924 and Conway Hall, Holborn, 1931.
Book plate from inside the 1824-1924 Centenary Souvenir Annual of South Place Ethical Society
A beautiful book plate from inside the 1824-1924 Centenary Souvenir Annual of South Place Ethical Society.