1855 – Joseph Hume, a member of Parliament who adopted Universalist views, died. He was the leader of the Radical Party for thirty years, taking special interest in financial oversight of both public and private enterprises. The post February 20 first appeared on Harvard Square Library. Read more at: www.HarvardSquareLibrary.org – the digital library of … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History February 20

1868 – Phebe Ann Coffin Hannaford was ordained at Hingham, Massachusetts, becoming the first woman Universalist minister in New England. The post February 19 first appeared on Harvard Square Library. Read more at: www.HarvardSquareLibrary.org – the digital library of Unitarian Universalism.

1719 – The English Parliament repealed the Schism Act, an extreme High Tory measure to prevent nonconformists and Catholics from educating their own children. Queen Anne died on the day the Act was to take effect in 1714. It was repealed because her successor, King George I, did nothing to enforce it. The post February … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History February 18

1958 – Frederick May Eliot, president of the American Unitarian Association, died at age 68. Born in Dorchester, Massachusetts, Eliot descended from a long line of Unitarian ministers. He headed the Commission on Appraisal of the American Unitarian Association when it issued its historic report Unitarians Face a New Age in 1936. As president of … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History February 17

1791 – Samuel Gilman was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts. He graduated from Harvard College in 1811, taught school and mathematics at Harvard College from 1817 to 1819, and was ordained to the Unitarian ministry in Charlston, South Carolina. His song “Fair Harvard” is still sung at every Harvard University commencement. Read more about Samuel Gilman … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History February 16

1820 – Susan Brownell Anthony was born in Adams, Massachusetts. Her family were Quaker but also active members of the First Unitarian Church in Rochester, New York, where she recieved guidance from the church’s minister. Anthony organized the National Woman Suffrage Association with Elizabeth Cady Stanton in 1869. In 1872, she went to the polls … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History February 15

1772 – Josiah Quincy was born in Boston. He served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, U.S. Senate, and U.S. House of Representatives. The people of Boston elected Quincy as mayor in 1823, an office he filled until taking over as president of Harvard University. He was a member of the Federal Street Church of … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History February 14

1730 – Josiah Wedgwood, the founder of Wedgwood Pottery, was born in England. Along with the simple designs and pure colors of his art, he invented the manufacturing processes for his famous pottery. He was a devoted Unitarian, philanthropist, and friend of Joseph Priestley. The post February 13 first appeared on Harvard Square Library. Read … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History February 13

1791 – The industrialist, inventor, and philanthropist Peter Cooper was born in New York City. His ironworks in Baltimore, the first in America to use the Bessemer process to refine iron from ore, produced Tom Thumb, the first steam locomotive built in the United States. Cooper was also the president of two telegraph companies that together … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History February 12

1819 – William Rathbone was born in Liverpool, England. He was a merchant, ship owner, member of Parliament, and lifelong Unitarian. He refused a peerage because it would entail expense that he wanted saved for charity. The post February 11 first appeared on Harvard Square Library. Read more at: www.HarvardSquareLibrary.org – the digital library of … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History February 11