“From Boston in One Hundred Years: Christian Science 1970”

Lamme III, Ary Johannes. “From Boston in One Hundred Years: Christian Science 1970.” The Professional Geographer 23, no. 4 (1971): 329–32.

This 1970 study by Lamme examined the geographical “distributional pattern” of Christian Science in the U.S. and how cultural factors influenced this “diffusion” (329). His data was based on the services advertised by Christian Science churches. Although Christian Science churches and their services were found throughout the country, they were more numerous in cities and suburbs than rural areas, and along the east and west coasts and Great Lakes/Corn Belt regions. By contrast there were few Christian Science churches in the south (Florida being the exception). There were also larger numbers linked to New England, the region of origin for Christian Science. Lamme commented: “There is found acceptance in a nineteenth-century atmosphere of intellectual ferment” (330). As Christian Scientists spread out across the country, those most receptive to their services were found among diverse populations. Lamme notes that, in general, membership among Christian churches was lowest in those parts of the country affected by a large population influx—where “traditional church associations have been weakened” (330). By contrast, it was in these places of new populations that Christian Science “has made a strong showing” (330).

ISSN: 1467-9272
Print ISSN: 0033-0124

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0033-0124.1971.00329.x

For more, see Lamme’s 1968 thesis titled “The Spatial and Ecological Characteristics of the Diffusion of Christian Science in the United States 1875–1910.”