1793 – Nathaniel Langdon Frothingham was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He was the father of Octavius Brooks Frothingham, an eloquent Unitarian preacher and abolitionist. Himself a minister, Frothingham led the First Church in Boston from 1815 to 1850. Harvard awarded him a D.D. degree in 1836. The post July 23 first appeared on Harvard Square … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History July 23

1967 – Carl Sandburg, a Unitarian poet and three-time Pulitzer Prize winner, died at age 89. Born in Galesburg, Illinois, he published his first book, Chicago Poems, in 1916, and won his first Pulitzer Prize (for poetry) for Cornhuskers, in 1918. Sandburg traveled around America traveling and singing folk songs, many of which were published … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History July 22

1770 – John Murray, the founder of organized Universalism in the United States, sailed from England to America on the Hand-in-Hand. He had lived through great sorrows in England, including the death of his father, wife, and child, and become a convinced Universalist. He wanted a fresh start in the New World. He landed at … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History July 21

Königsberg Castle before WWI 1611 – Florian Crusias, as distinguished philosopher and theologian of Danzig, Poland, held a public Greek disputation for his students at the University of Königsberg. Greek was the language used by advanced scholars in the study of the New Testament. The Socinians regarded Crusius as the “prince of philosophers.”   The … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History July 20

1860 – Florence Buck was born. She was headmistress of a school in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and a lifelong friend of the Unitarian minister there, Marion Murdock. Eventually Buck studied for the Unitarian ministry, and was ordained in Chicago at All Souls Church in 1893. She and Murdock were called as co-pastors of Unity Church in … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History July 19

1926 – The celebrated Canadian author Margaret Laurence was born in Neepawa, Manitoba. She was one of the greatest novelists of the 20th century. Her books, which reflect her commitment to justice and social causes, include The Stone Angel, and A Bird in the House. Laurence and her husband joined the Unitarian church in Vancouver, … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History July 18

1674 – Isaac Watts, “the father of English hymnody,” was born in Southampton, England. He was a nonconformist minister whose views later in life became decidedly Unitarian. Watts tried to have the references to the Trinity removed from his hymns, but the publisher, who owned the copyrights, would not oblige him. Even so, most of … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History July 17

1836 – Augusta Jane Chapin was born in Lakeville, New York. She was the first woman to receive an honorary D.D. degree (Lombard University, 1893), and the second woman to be ordained a Universalist minister. She was ordained in Lansing, Michigan on December 3, 1863. Chapin served churches in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, California, Nebraska, Massachusetts, … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History July 16

1838 – Ralph Waldo Emerson delivered a sermon at Harvard Divinity School to seven graduating students, faculty members, and local ministers. Known as the Divinity School Address, the sermon caused a storm of protests, and Emerson was not allowed to speak at Harvard for another generation. Henry Ware Jr. and Andrew Norton rebuked him, but … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History July 15

1791 – Mobs burned the home, church, library, and laboratory of Joseph Priestley, urged on by the Church of England because of Priestley’s Unitarianism and his support of the French Revolution. Priestley left England and moved to Pennsylvania, where he established Unitarian churches in Philadelphia and Germantown. There he resumed a life of science and theology … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History July 14