1801 – Ezra Stiles Gannett was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Gannet became William Ellery Channing‘s associate and succeeded him as minister. One of the founders of the new American Unitarian Association, he served for 16 years as its first secretary. He later became AUA president and was coeditor of AUA publications. His other causes included … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History May 14
Switzerland 1534 – Claude of Savoy first preached Unitarianism in Switzerland. He traveled to Italy and Germany preaching the unity of God and was banished from many places. The post May 13 first appeared on Harvard Square Library. Read more at: www.HarvardSquareLibrary.org – the digital library of Unitarian Universalism.
1820 – Florence Nightingale was born in Florence, Italy. From a distinguished Unitarian family in England, she trained as a nurse. She volunteered in the Crimean War and took 38 nurses with her to set up a barrack hospital. Nightingale devoted many years to army sanitary reform and to improving nursing and public health. The … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History May 12
1769 – John Lowell was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts. He trained as a lawyer but enjoyed farming with scientific methods at his farm. A Unitarian, he was active in cultural and philanthropic circles, as well as Federalist causes. “Mr. Madison’s War” (protesting the War of 1812) was his most effective piece of writing. The post … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History May 11
1789 – Jared Sparks was born in Willington, Connecticut. In 1819, he accepted a call to the ministry of the Unitarian Church in Baltimore, Maryland, and William Ellery Channing preached his ordination sermon, “Unitarian Christianity.” As a professor of ancient and modern history at Harvard, he was the first to teach nonecclesiastical history in any … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History May 10
1892 – Angus MacLean was born in Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. A prominent Universalist religious educator, he wrote The New Era in Religious Education (1934) and The Method is the Message (1951). MacLean was the dean of the St. Lawrence University Theological School. Read more about Angus MacLean at: www.HarvardSquareLibrary.org – the digital library … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History May 9
1880 – Jones Very, a transcendentalist poet, died at the age of 66. Known as a radical pietist, he influenced Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, William Ellery Channing, the Peabody sisters (Elizabeth Palmer, Mary Tyler, and Sophia Amelia), Margaret Fuller, and Bronson Alcott. Read more about Jones Very at: www.HarvardSquareLibrary.org – the digital library of … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History May 8
1861 – The famous Indian writer Rabindranath Tagore was born in Calcutta. He was from a wealthy Bengali family and worked for Indian nationalism. Tagore produced 50 dramas, 100 books of verse, 40 volumes of novels, and many books of essays and philosophy. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913. Tagore and his … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History May 7
1769 – William Emerson, Jr. was born in Concord, Massachusetts. His pulpit eloquence and cultural activism in Boston led to a call to the city’s First Church (Unitarian). His son was Ralph Waldo Emerson. After William Emerson’s death, the Boston Athenaeum bought his library, which became the core of its collection. Read more about William … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History May 6
1751 – Judith Sargent Stevens Murray was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts. She married Universalist minister John Murray. A noted essayist, playwright, and poet, she also wrote on women’s issues. When John Murray died in 1815, she finished the autobiography he had begun, The Life of John Murray. A woman of creative genius, she was at … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History May 5
