International New Thought Alliance
The International New Thought Alliance (INTA) is an umbrella organization for New Thought adherents "dedicated to serving the New Thought Movement’s various branches, organizations and individuals".[1]
History
The antecedents of the International New Thought Alliance date back to an 1899 New England convention of the Metaphysical Club,[2] one of the first New Thought organizations,[3] formed in Boston, Massachusetts in 1895 by, among others, L. B. Macdonald, J. W. Lindy and Frederick Reed. The first public lecture sponsored by the club was an address by Julia Ward Howe.[4] This convention led to the founding of the International Metaphysical League the following year.[5] This League held the "International New Thought Convention" in Chicago in 1903, which was followed by similar conventions in 1906 and 1907. In 1908, the organization was renamed the "National New Thought Alliance". This organization held national conventions annually through 1914. The first international convention, held in London, England June 21–26, 1914, saw the renaming and re-organizing of the National New Thought Alliance into the International New Thought Alliance.[6] The New Thought Bulletin was the newsletter for the organization.[7]
The Panama-Pacific International Exposition held a New Thought Day on August 28, 1915. The following day opened the First International New Thought Congress, held until September 5. The first International New Thought Alliance Annual World Congress was held here, with a variety of New Thought luminaries leading the organization, such as James A. Edgerton, Annie Rix Militz, Thomas Troward, and many others. Throughout its history, other New Thought notables such as William Walker Atkinson, Clara Bewick Colby, Florence Crawford, Horatio W. Dresser, George Wharton James, Edgar L. Larkin, Orison Swett Marden, and Elizabeth Towne were involved in the INTA.
The organization continues to conduct its Annual World Congress, publishes New Thought magazine, and asserts that it houses the largest New Thought Archives known.[1]
Past presidents
- W.W. Atkinson
- Horatio Dresser
- Charles Brodie Patterson
- Annie Rix Militz
Dr. Blaine C. Mays
See also
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 International New Thought Alliance website, accessed May 2008.
- ↑ Miller, p. 327. Dresser, p. 195, who says "out of its [the Metaphysical Club's] efforts there came in time the first really international organization". Interestingly enough, Miller states that the conference was in Hartford, Connecticut while Dresser states that the convention was held at "Lorimer Hall, Tremont Temple, Boston, October 24–26, 1899".
- ↑ Dresser (p. 183) calls it the "first permanent New Thought club". The Catholic Encyclopedia says "this society, through its active propaganda, was the first which made a determined effort to spread its views and try to gain a general following" (p. 538).
- ↑ Dresser, pp. 181-182.
- ↑ Dresser, p. 195.
- ↑ Satter, p. 226.
- ↑ Harley, p. 98.
References
- Dresser, Horatio (1919) A History of the New Thought Movement, Thomas Y. Crowell. Available online at .
- Harley, Gail M. (2002) Emma Curtis Hopkins: Forgotten Founder of New Thought Syracuse University Press, ISBN 0-8156-2933-8.
- Miller, Timothy (1995) America's Alternative Religions, State University of New York Press, ISBN 978-0-7914-2397-4.
- Satter, Beryl (2001) Each Mind a Kingdom: American Women, Sexual Purity, and the New Thought Movement, 1875-1920, University of California Press, ISBN 978-0-520-22927-3.
- Anderson, C. Alan and Deborah G. Whitehouse (2003) New Thought: A Practical American Spirituality, 1st Books, ISBN 1-4107-0172-7.