Sunday School Photograph Collection, circa 1914-1921

The first public institutionalized Sunday School in America was formed in Philadelphia in January, 1791, and was called the First Day School Society. It was formed to provide for the education of the poor female children of Philadelphia. Other large cities soon followed the lead of Philadelphia, including Pittsburgh, Boston, New York, Albany, Hartford, Baltimore, and Charleston.

In May of 1824, the American Sunday School Union was formed with the mission of spreading religious information, publications and establishing Sunday schools through the United States. Six years later missionaries were sent west into the Mississippi Valley. One missionary, Stephen Paxson, traveled from the Alleghenies to the Rockies, and established and organized over 1,300 Sunday Schools, with a total of 83,405 teachers and students. Many of Sunday Schools eventually grew to become churches, which typically retained the Sunday School as a part of their organization.

The first National Sunday School Convention was held in Philadelphia in 1832. The fifth convention was held in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1872. It was at the fifth convention that the International Uniform Lesson was adopted. Until 1872 there had been no common curriculum for the Sunday Schools throughout the country. Each denomination was preparing and providing its own lessons. Thus, a committee was formed that would arrange for common lessons to be shared by all. Variations on the common lessons developed, including the International Graded Series and Group Graded Lesson, designed to be age appropriate. Some denominations chose to develop its own curriculum based on its own needs.

Starting in 1872 National Sunday School Conventions have met every three years. After continual participation from a large number of foreign nations, the name was changed to the International Sunday School Convention.