Seamen's Church Institute

Description

An American maritime nonprofit organization that serves mariners and seafarers through chaplaincy, crisis response, training, feasibility studies, legal advocacy, and maritime policy. in 1834

Established, 1834

Founded in Lower Manhattan as the Young Men's Church Missionary Society.

Built, 1844

The Floating Church of Our Saviour is the 1st shipboard chapel started by the Seamen's Church Institute. Built and docked at the foot of Pike Street on the East River. The first mission house is built at 34 Pike St. in 1868.

Constructed, 1913

SCI opens the doors of its 12-story building at 25 South Street in lower Manhattan, with room to house up to 580 seafarers in dormitory-style rooms. The headquarters also housed an employment bureau, savings bank, library, restaurant, and a chapel. SCI opened an outpatient Medical Clinic for seafarers at 25 South Street in 1925. They opened a Dental and Eye Clinic at 25 South Street, providing exams and procedures for active merchant seafarers, many of whom had been turned down for jobs at sea due to poor teeth or eyesight in 1931

Moved, 1991

SCI’s New York City headquarters moves to 241 Water Street. The building housed a chapel, meeting rooms, legal aid offices, classrooms for maritime education and training, an art gallery, a cafeteria, and internet access and phones for mariners’ use. In 2001, SCI’s NYC headquarters is transformed into an emergency relief station for 9/11 rescue workers, providing thousands of meals and distributing truckloads of donated supplies to aid Ground Zero workers. The headquarters was sold in 2011 and transferred its archival collections to CUNY Queens College on permanent loan.

Moved, 2014

SCI moved to its current headquarters at 50 Broadway in New York City.

Factoids

Apr 15, 1912 -SCI lays the cornerstone of its new “million-dollar home for seamen”, the morning of the sinking of RMS Titanic. Dignitaries including New York City’s mayor deliver speeches mourning the disaster as news trickles into the city. Upon arrival in New York aboard Carpathia, SCI delivers clothing and kits to surviving crew members.

Related People & Organizations

Franklin D. Roosevelt,Franklin D. Roosevelt joins SCI's Board in 1908, on which he remained until his death in 1945

Timeline

1913

1913 - Constructed

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1913 - Constructed - Images

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37-24, 24th St, Suite 102, Long Island City, NY 11101