Known as the "Cradle of Equal Suffrage" and "Free Speech Chapel," Union Chapel was intended to be open and free for all denominations without being monopolized by anyone or excluding anyone. Built in 1858 or 1859 on land donated by Anson Matthews, it reportedly arose after James A. Garfield, then principal of the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute and later president of the United States, was scheduled to speak at the Congregationists' Brick Church in December 1857 but had his invitation withdrawn because his speech was considered controversial. In response, outraged citizens built the chapel, which went on to welcome reform groups in late 19th-century America, including advocates of women's dress reform and temperance. One of its most active organizations was the Newbury Woman's Suffrage Political Club, founded in January 1874, which met there, and the chapel also hosted lectures by Susan B. Anthony and Harriet Taylor Upton, as well as singing schools, plays, and other social, religious, and political gatherings.
