Samuel Joseph May (September 12, 1797-July 1, 1871), a Unitarian minister, was one of the greatest social and educational reformers of the nineteenth century. He advocated and organized on behalf of freedom and civil rights for blacks, emancipation and voting rights for women, and just rights for workers.…
Henry Trevett Channing (January 17, 1760-August 27, 1840) was the uncle and mentor of the leading exponent of American Unitarian Christianity, William Ellery Channing. He played a role in the earliest days of the Unitarian controversy.
The youngest of seven children of Mary Chaloner and merchant John Channing, Henry was born in Newport, Rhode Island.
A. Powell Davies (June 5, 1902-September 26, 1957), a Unitarian minister, was a renowned orator and a prominent social activist for civil liberties, government accountability, civilian control of atomic energy, family planning, and desegregation. As a denominational leader, he helped push for the formulation of a more visionary and explicit statement of Unitarian faith that contributed to congregational extension.
Dr. Lotta Hitschmanova (November 28, 1909-August 1, 1990), a Czech immigrant to Canada from war-ravaged Europe, was the founder of the Unitarian Service Committee of Canada (USC). She directed the USC for forty years, making yearly trips around the world, searching out villages and towns in need of Canadian aid to recover from war, drought, disease, and poverty.…
Moncure Daniel Conway (March 17, 1832-November 15, 1907) was a clergyman, abolitionist, scholar, and author, best known for his outspoken opposition to slavery in the decade prior to and during the Civil War, his freethinking ministry to South Place Chapel in London, and his biography of Thomas Paine.…
Alexander Gordon (June 9, 1841-February 21, 1931), a Unitarian minister and educator, was a prominent historian of religion, particularly of religious dissent. Describing himself as “an Englishman by birth, a Scotsman by education and an Irishman by inclination”, he assisted in consolidating the strands of the Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland into a unified denomination.
Edwin Burdette Backus (December 27, 1888-July 7, 1955), a Unitarian minister and proponent of humanism, had a popular radio ministry. He was a notable supporter of civil rights, civil liberties, world peace, and mental health. His successor, Jack Mendelsohn, called him “a shining example of a broad-gauged liberal minister, rich in compassion, gentleness, courage, personal dignity, scholarly grounding, equally appreciative of scientific method and democratic values—a good person, a good parson, a good world citizen.”
John Caldwell Calhoun (March 18, 1782-March 31, 1850) was a United States representative, senator, secretary of war, secretary of state, and vice president. A political sparring partner to John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Daniel Webster, and Henry Clay, Calhoun is best remembered for the rallying cries of “states’ rights” and “nullification,” both of which he invoked to support his steadfast opposition to tariffs on manufactures and his defense of slavery.
Frances Power Cobbe (December 4, 1822-April 5, 1904) was one of the most influential figures in the British Unitarian movement of her day. Although she lacked formal educational and professional credentials, she made her way among the leaders of progressive thought by sheer force of personality and intellect.
William Sullivan Barnes (June 16, 1841-April 2, 1912), an outstanding preacher, was for thirty years minister of the Church of the Messiah (Unitarian) in Montreal. A liberal Christian, his sermons reflected the most advanced thinking of his day. Yet his distinctive reputation is best conveyed by the word “saintly”.…
Dorothy Livesay (October 12, 1909-December 29, 1996) was one of the leading Canadian poets of the twentieth century. Her free verse poetry probes the mysteries of existence—life and death, waking and dreaming, love and hate, male and female, being and doing—rejoicing that “small miracles / shatter the facts— / explode!”
Dorothea Lynde Dix (April 4, 1802-July 18, 1887), in her early career a teacher and author of children’s books, was, in her unique and international role as an advocate for improvements in the treatment of patients suffering from mental and emotional disorders, the most visible humanitarian reformer of the 19th century.