History of the Humanist Center

t the meeting point between the Hudson and Mohawk rivers, Albany was an important center for the indigenous Mohicans long before Henry Hudson arrived in 1609. The Dutch established the trading outpost of Fort Orange in 1624. When the British took over in 1664, it was given the name Albany. Nearly four centuries after the arrival of European settlers, Albany is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in North America.

In 1754, Benjamin Franklin met with other colonial leaders to draft the Albany Plan of Union, an important precursor to the U.S. Constitution. (Franklin’s plan was inspired in part by the Iroquois Confederacy, a political union among five nations of indigenous Americans who inhabited lands from Albany west to the Great Lakes.) Albany supported the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia and served as focal point for the Revolutionary War effort.

In 1791, Albany officially became the capital of New York State. In 1825 the 363 mile Erie Canal connected Albany to the Great Lakes, enabling products to pass from the continental heartland to the Atlantic seaboard. At the start of the 21st century, Albany is emerging as a global center for advanced technology, most notably nanotech.

he site that is now the Humanist Center at 48 Howard Street was just outside the stockade of Fort Orange in the early 17th Century. It was probably built on before the 18th century, but the current building was not constructed until around 1907.

48 Howard has had a long association with communications technology. The Message Realty Company owned and occupied the building from 1907-1915 and is believed to have been a telegraph company. From 1915 to 1920, the General Film Company occupied the building, followed by a film rental company, Vitagraph Inc., from 1920 to 1926.

From 1927 to 1958, the building was a printing press for J.R. Condon & Sons, publishers of The Evangelist newspaper. After sitting empty for nearly two decades, the building was bought in the 1970's by premier lobbying law firm Couch White. The building was extensively renovated for law offices. In the 1980's, 48 Howard Street was bought by a New York State politician, John Graziano, Sr., and the building was used by a lobbying firm until it was sold to the Institute for Humanist Studies in January 2005.

The Institute for Humanist Studies combines many of the elements of the earlier occupants of 48 Howard Street. The Institute focuses on new communications technology, using the Internet as its primary medium. With the nation's only registered humanist lobbyist, IHS also uses its proximity to the Capitol to good effect. However, with its focus on the nonreligious, the Institute's mission offers an interesting contrast to The Evangelist, which was published at 48 Howard Street for three decades!