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

Caroline Veatch, in back, with sister Della Evans 1945 – The North Shore Unitarian Church was founded in Long Island, New York. It is now the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Shelter Rock in Manhasset, New York. As part of its founding outreach, the congregation contacted an Episcopalian named Caroline Veatch, who provided for the church … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History February 10

1917 – Conrad Wright was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. At Harvard Divinity School, where he became professor of American church history in 1969, he was an authority on American Unitarian history. His books included The Beginnings of Unitarianism in America (1955). Read more about Conrad Wright at: www.HarvardSquareLibrary.org – the digital library of Unitarian Universalism. … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History February 9

1852 – William Johnson Fox retired from a 28-year Unitarian ministry at South Place Chapel, London, which had been built in response to his preaching reputation. The post February 8 first appeared on Harvard Square Library. Read more at: www.HarvardSquareLibrary.org – the digital library of Unitarian Universalism.

1812 – Charles Dickens was born in Landport, England. Reared in great poverty, he had little formal education but wrote numerous novels, which collectively had a profound effect on social changes in early 19th century England. He wrote A Christmas Carol while a member of Little Portland Street Chapel, London (Unitarian). The post February 7 … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History February 7