1822 – Edward Everett Hale was born in Boston. He served as a minister at Church of the Unity in Worcester and South Congregational in Boston. A prolific writer, he achieved literary fame when his story “The Man without a Country” appeared in The Atlantic Monthly (1863). In 1903 the U.S. Senate elected him chaplain, … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History April 3

1805 – The Universalist storyteller Hans Christian Andersen was born at Odense, Denmark. A successful novelist and poet, Andersen is best known for such fairy tales as “The Little Match Girl,” “The Ugly Duckling,” “The Snow Queen,” and “The Red Shoes.” In 1842 he wrote The True Story of My Life. The post April 2 first … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History April 2

1764 – Henry Ware Sr. was born in Sherborn, Massachusetts. He was minister of First parish (Old Ship Church) in Hingham, Massachusetts, when Harvard University elected him as Hollis Professor of Divinity. That began the great separation from the Calvinists — and the opening of the Unitarian controversy, which split the Massachusetts Standing Order. Read … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History April 1

1892 – Thomas Gold Appleton was born in Boston. His father wanted him to join the family business, but he decided to paint and write poetry. Appleton made numerous trips to Europe to study art and became a celebrated author of essays and short stories. he was an active member of the Federal Street Church … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History March 31

1850 – John Calhoun, who served as U.S. secretary of war and secretary of state, died at age 68. He was a charter member of All Souls Unitarian Church in Washington, D.C. Born in South Carolina, he was appointed secretary of war by James Monroe and was twice elected vice president, first under fellow Unitarian … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History March 30

1906 – Dorothy Tilden Spoerl was born in Brooklyn. She was ordained a Universalist minister in 1929. Most famous as a religious educator, she was also co-author with Sophia Lyon Fahs of the popular Beginnings of Life and Death and Beginnings of Earth and Sky. In 1966, Spoerl became adult programs editor for the Unitarian … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History March 29

1794 – Orville Dewey was born in Sheffield, Massachusetts. Dewey held pastorates in New Bedford, New York, Albany, Washington, D.C., and Boston. Among the foremost theologians of his day, he served as president of the American Unitarian Association from 1845 to 1847. He wrote more than 50 books. Read more about Orville Dewey at: www.HarvardSquareLibrary.org … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History March 28

Central Park, Winter 1813 – Nathaniel Currier was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts. With James Merritt Ives, he produced highly popular lithographs and prints. They showed typical scenes and events in American family life, decorated with lively young men and women. Nathaniel Currier, a Unitarian, died on November 20, 1888. The post March 27 first appeared … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History March 27

1773 – Nathaniel Bowditch was born in Salem, Massachusetts. He was reared poor but became a wealthy merchant, president of a marine insurance company in Salem, and an accomplished mathematician, navigator, ans scholar. He wrote The American Practical Navigator (1802). Read more about Nathaniel Bowditch at: www.HarvardSquareLibrary.org – the digital library of Unitarian Universalism. The … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History March 26

1881 – Béla Bartók was born in Hungary. He was an outstanding composer, but his greatest passion was for Hungarian peasant songs. Bartók was professor of piano at Budapest Academy, but his anti-Fascist stance during World War II forced him to leave Hungary for the United States, where he died in 1945. He is an … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History March 25