By Bonnie Withers Not so long ago, there was no internet to allow you to easily hook up with church services remotely. What could you do when you lived too far from an established UU congregation to attend services? One resource available to those “out of reach” continues to be the Church of the Larger … Continue reading Moments in UU History: Sallie Ellis
Meet a Renaissance Woman. Florida Ridley – As I have poked about in various biographical resources for these little essays, I have been pleased…and surprised to find the stories of many African Americans who have been members of UU congregations and who have worked prominently in the service of social justice long before the ‘60’s. … Continue reading Moments in UU History: Florida Ridley
By Bonnie Withers October 2, 1755 is the birthday of Hannah Adams. She was the first woman in America to earn her living (modestly) as a writer. A sickly child with no formal schooling, she was educated primarily through libraries, first her father’s and then others including the Harvard Library, the Boston Atheneum, and the … Continue reading Moments in UU History – Hannah Adams
By Bonnie Withers After the first Selma march ended in bloodshed on the Edmund Pettis Bridge onMarch 7, 1965, Dr. Martin Luther King called for ministers to join him in Selma. 125Unitarian-Universalist ministers responded to the call to join the second march forvoting rights for black Americans. One of them was 38 year-old James Reeb, … Continue reading Moments in UU History – March 11, 1965
By Bonnie Withers What name comes to mind when you think about the origins of the Universalist half of our name? John Murray? You’ll get half credit for that one, but Dr. George DeBenneville was preaching Universalism in America 30 years before John Murray landed. (Murray holds the distinction of insisting on a separate, defined … Continue reading Moments in UU History: Salvation For All
By Bonnie Withers Are you old enough to remember radio soap operas? Each day, after school, my mom and I would settle in for an hour of fifteen-minute dramas. Road to Happiness, Backstage Wife, and, of course, Stella Dallas. Now, many decades later, I learn that Stella Dallas was the creation of a Unitarian writer, … Continue reading Moments in UU History: Olive Prouty
By Bonnie Withers All I ever knew about Lydia Pinkham I learned from a rousing (bawdy) fraternity song: “The benefactress of the human race.She invented a vegetable compound,And now all papers print her face”. (many versions can be found on YouTube) But there is much more to Lydia Pinkham than her patent medicine (18% alcohol). … Continue reading Moments in UU History – Lydia Pinkham
By Bonnie Withers Have you heard of Egbert Ethelred Brown? He was one of Rev. Mark Morrison-Reed’s subjects in his book, Black Pioneers in a White Denomination, and that title tells you a lot about this story. The date we are commemorating is June 25, 1912, the year Brown was ordained at Meadville Theological School. … Continue reading Moments in UU History: E.E. Brown
By Bonnie Withers April 1, 1786, marked the birthday of a brilliant English Unitarian minister, William Johnson Fox. Fox, born to poor parents, worked as a weaver and in a bank before studying for the ministry. One of his church placements was in the Universalist Chapel in Parliament Court in London. He was well known … Continue reading Moments in UU History: William Johnson Fox
By Bonnie Withers Who was the first African-American woman to refuse to give up her seat on public transportation? Rosa Parks? No. Claudette Colvin? You get points for having read the Philip Hoose book, but the answer is still “No”. That woman, born September 24, 1825, is Frances Ellen Watkins Harper. She refused to give … Continue reading Moments in UU History: Frances Harper
