In 1991 Paul Kurtz founds the Center for Inquiry in Amherst, New York, joining the secular humanist council and the skeptic movement's committee under one roof. The center gives the movement a campus, a publishing house in Prometheus Books' orbit, and a permanent institution beyond its founding generation.
Tagged: Secular Humanism
The Event
- Date
- 1991 (exact)
- Era
- Institutions and Declarations; Standard periodization of secular humanist history
- Location
- Amherst; today Amherst, New York
- Traditions
- Secular Humanism
- Streams
- Secular Humanism
- Key figures
- Paul Kurtz
Primary Sources
- The founding documents of the Center for Inquiry, Amherst, 1991.
Secondary Sources
- Kurtz, Paul, ed. Humanist Manifestos I and II. Buffalo: Prometheus Books, 1973.
- Lamont, Corliss. The Philosophy of Humanism. New York: Humanist Press, eighth edition, 1997.
- Walter, Nicolas. Humanism: What's in the Word. London: Rationalist Press Association, 1997.
Provenance: HIST-1395; confidence 0.95; accessed 2026-10-30.
Related on This Site
Art Tradition
Non-Theistic and Secular
Art without transcendence: humanist meaning-making, museums as secular temples, and protest art.
History Event
Humanist Manifesto II
1973
History Event
Julian Huxley takes the helm of UNESCO
1946
History Event
Kurtz founds the Council for Secular Humanism
1980
History Event
Lamont's The Philosophy of Humanism
1949
History Event
The British Humanist Association is founded
1967
History Event
The International Humanist and Ethical Union is founded
1952
History Event
Torcaso v. Watkins names secular humanism in law
1961