Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York is an independent non-denominational, seminary in the Christian tradition, located in New York City. It is the oldest independent seminary in the United States and has long been known as a bastion of progressive Christian scholarship, with a number of prominent thinkers among its faculty or alumni. It was founded in 1836 by members of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., but was open to students of all denominations. In 1893, Union rescinded the right of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church to veto faculty appointments, thus becoming fully independent. In the 20th century, Union became a center of liberal Christianity. It served as the birthplace of the Black theology, womanist theology, and other theological movements. Union houses the Columbia University Burke Library, one of the largest theological libraries in the Western Hemisphere.Union is affiliated with neighboring Columbia University. Since 1928, the seminary has served as Columbia's constituent faculty of theology. Although administratively independent, Union is represented in Columbia's governance structure and appoints one faculty member and one student to the Columbia University Senate. In 1964, Union also established an affiliation with the neighboring Jewish Theological Seminary of America.