The Mabel Tainter Literary, Library and Educational Society was incorporated of residents of Menomonie, Wisconsin, June 11, 1890, with the purpose of supervising the Mabel Tainter Memorial Library and the Mabel Tainter Memorial Building in which it was housed. The building had been constructed by Andrew Tainter, a wealthy Menomonie lumberman, in memory of his daughter who had died in 1886 at age 19. The building was a gift to Menomonie and besides the library included amusement rooms, an auditorium, a gallery, and reading and study rooms. It was especially intended as a home for the Unitarian Society of Menomonie. Located in the heart of the city, it was elegantly furnished and decorated and was an architecturally significant landmark.
At the meeting of the incorporators of the Society, a statement from Mr. and Mrs. Tainter was read which charged them with “the delivery of lectures and debates, the practice in declamation and public speaking on literary, scientific, historical, social and moral topics, and for rational, liberal or Unitarian religious instruction, and musical concerts or dramatic presentations.” They intended the building and the library to foster open inquiry, enlightenment, and entertainment for all of Menomonie's citizens. The Society was incorporated to provide ownership of the building and management of it with these aims in mind.
