History Archives – Heritage UU Church

Fin du Siècle

World Peace Bell, Newport, Kentucky

by Mike Roberts, Church Historian

We are nearing the end of another decade. Twenty years ago, the world was preparing for the end of a millennium. Much was being written about the Y2K bug, which threatened to bring the global information system crashing down around us because few computer systems had been programmed to handle the year 2000. Chaos was imminent. Some people were looking forward to gargantuan celebrations. The London Eye, a giant Ferris wheel, was to open on New Year’s Eve on the Thames River. Concerts featuring some of the world’s greatest pop music groups were being held in both hemispheres. ZZ Top and Lynyrd Skynyrd were to perform in Dallas and Barbra Streisand was to wow an audience in Las Vegas. Where were you in 1999 and what was happening at Heritage Universalist Unitarian Church?

A search of the archives reveals that life at our church was marching ahead at a fast pace. During July of 1999, the church leaders created a scavenger hunt which took the participants room to room and around the grounds seeking out the answers to about 40 questions concerning our facility. That same month, Grant and Frank Lyon, sons of Barb and Bill Lyon, were dedicated.

Heritage paired with St. John Fisher Catholic Church, just up Newtown Road, to support a refugee family from Kosovo. The family included a mother, father and a total of seven family members. Activities of support included helping the adults learn how to use the post office, write checks, get a driver’s license and look for work. Tutoring was provided for the children who spoke no English and the family was taken on a Halloween fun night. When they left their home in Kosovo it had been reduced to ashes in the war, and they were able to take with them only a paring knife and a demitasse cup and the clothes they were wearing. Terry O’Donnell-Parsons coordinated the program for Heritage.

Dan Mathey, son of Dean and Becky Mathey, had neared completion of the labyrinth as part of his Eagle Scout project. Members were asked to bring a small stone or brick on October 31 to complete the construction. Twenty years later, the labyrinth still occupies a sacred place in our religious community.

As the year came near to a close, Reverend Elinor Artman offered a sermon entitled “Fin du Siècle” (sometimes written as “Fin de Siècle” and meaning “End of the Century”). Her status as an interim minister was being questioned by some. She was beloved by all but some felt that a full-time minister was needed for the congregation to thrive. Sam Gamble, president of the Board of Trustees, was sponsoring discussions and planning regarding this issue. Nancy Howard and Jill Frank both reflected on the future of the church in Heirloom articles.

On the eve of the new millennium, several ways of ushering in 2000 were offered. From 2:30 to 4:00 p.m. on December 31st, an interfaith gathering was held at the Peace Bell in Newport. Singing and children’s activities focused on supporting peace initiatives in the years to come. At 8:00 p.m., Heritage Universalist Unitarian Church offered a family friendly New Millennium party. The organizers promised good company, fun games and a roaring fire as well as a stroll through the labyrinth. Melissa Rockenfield supervised the event.

So much has happened in the intervening 20 years. The Y2K bug seems almost insignificant in comparison to the events that followed that night of ringing in a new millennium.

September 2019.

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Turn-of-the-Century Cincinnati Architecture

By Mike Roberts, Church Historian

In the pictures immediately below, the upper left and right pictures and the lower left are icons of Cincinnati architecture. In order, they are Cincinnati Music Hall, City Hall and Elsinore Arch. Many of our church members will recognize the lower right picture as the Essex Street church that our congregation occupied for 70 years. What do they have in common?

All were designed by the architectural firm headed by Samuel Hannaford. His firm was, without doubt, the most highly acclaimed architectural firm in the city in the late 19th century, when so much building was occurring in a growing metropolis. In all, he and his firm designed over 300 structures throughout the Midwest and South. In Cincinnati, some of his other designs included the Cincinnati Observatory, the Cincinnatian Hotel, the Phoenix Club, the H & S Pogue Department Store, the Times-Star Building and St. George’s Cathedral (the twin spired church on the edge of the University of Cincinnati).

Hannaford was born in England and came to Cincinnati with his family at age 9. As a young adult he graduated from Farmers College and was hired into an architectural firm. He learned the trade and then opened his own firm. In 1887 that firm became Samuel Hannaford and Sons. At his death in 1911 he was President of the Cincinnati Mechanics Institute.

With the urging of Reverend Ulysses Milburn, The First Universalist Society of Cincinnati embarked on a building program that resulted in the Essex Street facility. Since leaving the Plum Street Church in 1884, the First Universalists had been worshiping in a rented church near Peebles Corners. In February 1898, they obtained land via a perpetual lease from Mr. and Mrs. William Rendig. Next, they hired the Hannaford firm to do the architectural plans. Finally, they employed the Michael Marcus firm to build the church. The price of construction was set at $12,660 with options to use a higher grade stone if the church so chose thus increasing the cost. The building committee was headed by George Utter. Edgar Wooley served as the secretary of the committee.

The church was completed in time for Christmas 1898, at a final cost of just over $17,000. Several additions were made to the original plan which accounted for the cost overrun. The church had set aside $15,000 for the entire project and pledges from church members covered the remainder. Thus, our spiritual ancestors opened a church that joined the ranks of Cincinnati’s finest architectural wonders.

August 2019.

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Our Heritage Room

by Mike Roberts, Church Historian

The Heritage Room of our church is dedicated to the thousands of people who have worked many long and hard hours to maintain Universalist traditions for Cincinnatians who have been drawn to our belief system. It houses many archives that tell the story of our religious community.

That history dates back to the formation of our church in a house in downtown Cincinnati in 1827. While our congregation has worshiped at times in temporary quarters, our church has enjoyed lengthy residence at five different locations. The first was in a church constructed on Walnut Street between 3rd and 4th Streets. That site is currently occupied by Key Bank in the old Dixie Terminal Building. The second was on Plum Street half a block from the present Duke Energy Center. It is now a surface parking lot. The church building was sold by our congregation in 1884 and the business that occupied it burned to the ground in the 1920’s. Like many Cincinnatians in the late 19th century, our congregation headed out of downtown to settle into the hills that surround the city. They built a church in Walnut Hills on Essex Street and it was occupied by our religious ancestors for nearly 60 years. A dwindling membership next moved to a house in Salem Acres in Anderson Township in the mid 1960’s and maintained UU worship there until our present church was constructed in 1985.

Needless to say, in the 192 years of our existence, many archival materials have survived. These include a nearly complete set of Board of Trustees minutes that date back to 1844; church newsletters nearly all of which are from the last fifty years; some orders of service, the oldest dating to the early 1940’s; legal documents and hundreds of odds and ends, a few of which date back to the early years of our church. This archival material is contained in the old filing cabinet located next to the far entrance door to the Heritage Room. Most of the files are placed in folders and are organized chronologically from the middle years of the 18th century to the present. A few of these records are still maintained in bound volumes, especially the early Board of Trustees minutes.

In addition to the archives, a small library exists and is open to all church members for use. The books contained in the library are divided by category. These are the subject categories as well as the number of titles available in each category:

Music and Readings (21)
Religious Education for Children (60)
Universalism/Unitarianism (85)
World Religions (110)
Self Help (42)
Social Justice (35)
Church Management (27)
Gender Issues (21)
Spirituality and Meditation (42)
Miscellaneous (19)

That are a total of 462 titles. Books are numbered in each category and are available for use. A checkout system is explained in the basket atop the archive filing cabinet. A bibliography of our titles is also included. Some of the books, especially those in the Universalism/Unitarianism category, are quite old. Nearly all of them are in good shape and some, I am sure, would qualify as rare books. Several are authored by former ministers of our church.

Around the room are tributes and items contributed to the church over the years by members and friends. Take a minute in your free time to look around and enjoy this living record of our past. You might take note of a plaque that indicates the name of the room is the Cora Littell room, named after the last member of the Littell family who was a member of our church.

July 2019.

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The Essex Street Church and Rudolph Scheibert

by Mike Roberts, Church Historian

Hanging in the Heritage Room is this copper likeness of our old Essex Street Church. The edifice served as our home for almost 70 years, until the move to Salem Acres. A recent find in our archives revealed that this work of hammered copper was executed by a church member, Mr. Rudolph Scheibert.

Scheibert, along with his wife Amy, donated the piece to the church on Easter Sunday, 1942. Scheibert was the head of the Industrial Arts Department at Washington School, a junior high school located on Hopple Street. He worked with students teaching the manual arts. In addition, he and a number of other teachers sponsored an arts show every year where students could display and sell their works.

During the peak of World War II in 1944 when toys were scarce, Scheibert developed patterns so children could make their own toys out of scrap wood and metal. He took these templates to the annual Christmas Toyland held at the Masonic Temple and distributed them to children and parents, so they could go home and make Christmas toys for their families.

The Scheiberts left this beautiful work of art to honor their church and it continues to do so 77 years after their gift of love.

June 2019.

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In Memory of Richard Grant White, a Universalist Serviceman

by Mike Roberts, Church Historian

The month of May brings us annually to Memorial Day where we honor those who have served the country in war and peace and particularly those who have given their lives in that service. That thought led to a search of our church records to discover what activities our religious group may have conducted in support of the war effort during World War II and how many of our members served in the Armed Services during that conflict.

Early in 1942, four members of the congregation were listed as serving in the military and, additionally, Reverend Ralph Boyd had resigned our church’s pulpit in July 1941 to begin training as a chaplain in the U.S. Army. By the end of 1943, the number of members in service had risen to ten. Those were: Lieutenant Richard G. White, Capt. Joe E. Sweets, Frank D. Elstun, George Bowman, Lt. Robert Buescher, Major Burnet Reed, Frances Constiner, William Mockbee, Ben Smith and Stanley C. Stall.

It is not possible to discover the stories of all these ten servicemen, but the tale of one is worth exploring as a tribute to all of our Universalists who served. That veteran would be Lieutenant Richard G. White.

Richard Grant White was the son of long-time members of our church, Richard and Ella White. He was a graduate of Withrow High School and was enrolled at the University of Cincinnati when World War II broke out. He had only months left to graduation, but enlisted in the Air Force in December 1941. His early enlistment could have been expected. His uncle, Horace H. White, was in charge of the bombardment post at Fort George Wright in Spokane, Washington, and another uncle, Colonel Walter White, was the commanding officer at Randolph Field, Texas.

The day after the completion of his training, Richard White married Marian Smith of Nashville, Michigan, at Turner Field in Albany, Georgia. The next day he deployed to England as a navigator on a Superfortress bomber.

Action came early. On one mission, White’s bomber took a direct hit leaving a huge hole in the fuselage of the plane. Despite the critical condition of the aircraft, the crew was able to get the plane back to safety in England. White was awarded an air medal for “exceptional meritorious service” on this flight. Unfortunately, the medal was awarded to White’s wife, living with her parents in Nashville, because Richard White was missing in action having been shot down over Germany on a subsequent flight.

For two months, White’s parents and wife agonized over his fate. Then word was received that he was a prisoner of war being held in the German POW Camp Stalag Luft III. Eventually, letters from White forwarded by the Red Cross reached his parents and wife. He said he was eating well and that his health was good but asked for warm clothes to be sent through the Red Cross as winter was coming.

What he did not tell his wife and parents was that he was placed in a camp with fellow British, Canadian and Australian soldiers and they were planning an escape by tunneling out of the camp. As he described after the war, his first tunnel assignment was to serve as a “stooge”, which was to alert the tunnelers that German guards were approaching. Later he became a “penguin”, which meant he was to carry the brightly colored unearthed sand to another part of the compound where it could be hidden. Shortly before the tunnel was completed, White was transfered to a different section of the camp which was exclusively for American prisoners. The escape from Stalag Luft III took place without White a few weeks later. Sadly, many of the escapees were recaptured and the Germans claimed they executed over 50 of the soldiers who tunneled out of the camp. The efforts of those prisoners at Stalag Luft III were later immortalized in the movie, “The Great Escape”.

Tunneling was also being conducted in the American camp, and White’s assignment there was to map the course of the tunnels. However, before the tunnels could be completed, the entire camp was closed and moved westward to evade the advancing Russian Army. Finally, on April 29, 1945, the prisoners were freed by troops from George Patton’s 16th Armored division.

Richard White, like millions of American soldiers, returned to the normalcy of civilian post-war life. He reenrolled at the University of Cincinnati to complete his degree work and then matriculated to Ohio State University where he completed a Master’s Degree in social work. He went on to work in a number of mental health agencies and organizations, mostly in New Jersey. He spent the last 21 years of his career as the Executive Director of a mental health agency in Camden, New Jersey.

He did not forget his roots in Universalism, joining the Unitarian Universalist Church in Cherry Hills, New Jersey, where he and his wife were active members for over 40 years. He and his wife were the parents of four children. Richard White died in 2010 at the age of 92. His funeral was held at his Unitarian Universalist Church in Cherry Hills.

May the memory of Richard White serve as a tribute to all the members of our church, past and present, who have served their country through military service.

Richard G. White military grave marker

May 2019.

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Meet Miss Georgia Green

Large, upper-class house built in the late 1800s or early 1900s.

Modern photo of house in Hyde Park where Miss Georgia Green lived in the 1920s-1960s.

by Mike Roberts, Church Historian

If one were to casually read through our church archives from the late 1930’s to the late 1960’s, one name would appear prominently and with great frequency. That person would be Miss Georgia Green. During her 30+ year affiliation with our church, she served in many different capacities. She was a corresponding secretary for the church and her name is signed at the bottom of many communications with other church organizations, with our own regional and national offices, with businesses and neighborhood groups. She also served as church treasurer for a number of years and also was very active on many committees and in the church’s service groups. Hardly a month would pass without her name appearing in church records.

Georgia Green came to Cincinnati from Muncie, Indiana, with her mother in the 1920’s and they took up residence in Hyde Park. Miss Green’s mother passed away in 1936 but before she died, she bought a new house for her daughter at 3430 Stettinius, also in Hyde Park. A reporter for the Enquirer, Louise Hurst, described the house as “cluttered” but a beehive of activity. Stacks of correspondence were piled on a desk, the phone rang constantly and programs and paperwork from her many volunteer activities were prevalent throughout the house. Miss Green lived in the house until the last few months of her life.

Miss Green had become well-established and active in the community by the 1930’s when she was past age 50. She was an executive with the Owens Bottle Company. This company had revolutionized the glass industry with the invention of bottle making machines that replaced hand blown glass bottles.

Georgia Green used her career success to enter other fields of endeavor. She was the founder of the Cincinnati Business and Professional Women’s Club serving it for many years as an officer and representative at national meetings.

She was also very active with the Cincinnati Symphony. She stated that she never missed a Friday afternoon concert and was a season ticket holder for many years. She was a member of the Symphony Club and served as its auditor.

However, Miss Green’s greatest gift to the city was founding and operating the Craft Shop at the Drake Home and Hospital. Drake served as a residence for the handicapped and the Craft Shop featured handicrafts made by the residents. These were offered for sale at Shillito’s and helped the patients both by earning money and giving some purpose to their days at the home. Miss Green hosted a party each month where the residents were offered entertainment and refreshments. Included at each of these parties were 44 dozen donuts. Sometimes she would recruit First Universalist Church members to assist. For example, the church soloist, William Mockbee, would sing patriotic songs at the parties. She also enlisted County Sheriff Dan Tehan and Karline Brown of the local library to provide a full-length movie for these soirees. In 1962, Miss Green was honored by the Drake for hosting the 200th consecutive party for its residents. It was stated that she had not missed any of those 200 parties.

She was not only recognized locally but in 1944 was awarded a “Good American” certificate from the ABC radio network. She was interviewed on one of their nightly national broadcasts when she received the award.

When asked where she got her organizational skills for volunteer work, she stated that much of it came from her work for the Clara Barton Guild of her church. She stated that “We recognize good where we find it.”

Miss Green suffered two broken arms in a fall at the church in 1964. While it caused her to miss a Drake party for the first time in almost 20 years, she coordinated the effort from her home. However, in the late 1960’s, her health began to fail and she was forced to move to an extended care center in Mason. She passed away in 1970 at the age of 90 years. She is buried in Mount Moriah Cemetery in Tobasco.

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Reliving 1969

Our congregation’s location in 1969

by Mike Roberts, Church Historian

Where were we as a church in 1969? An examination of church documents gives us glimpses into our church and its membership fifty years ago. During the year 1969, the church was located at Salem Acres and the minister was Karl Bach.

On January 6th, members participated in the 3rd annual Community Christmas Tree Burning Ceremony. “The Other Wiseman” was read and was followed by a burning of Christmas trees at the old Anderson Elementary School.

On January 7th, a special program was offered at church by the Couples Club. A guest speaker from the Cincinnati Telephone Company, engineer Harold A. Stephens, introduced guests to the wonders of a recently developed scientific device called the laser beam.

On March 30th, a drive for new membership was begun. The beliefs of our church were spelled out in the following declaration presented in the order of service. “Universalists believe in immortality in the greater majority, some do not; but, all agree that the best way to prepare for any future life after death including the memory of man is to live an exemplary life here and now! Universalists reject all doctrines of the Trinity, of ‘original sin’ and of salvation through the vicarious suffering and death of Jesus. The similarity of opinion among Universalists is the knowledge that sooner or later, reasonable minds working on the same materials as this earth, are likely to arrive at similar conclusions. Universalists believe that the great ideals of life and their fulfillment will ultimately be realized by all men of all religious faiths, even though every faith must reflect its own cultural patterns.”

In May, planning for the opening of the Salem Acres swimming pool began. It was noted that the cost of running the pool for the summer season ran between $400 to $500. It was motioned and passed that a $1.00 fee for adults and 25 cents for children be charged for pool use to defray the cost of operation.

On September 11th, a congregational meeting was held to discuss the dire financial situation of the church. Average costs for operating the church were $405 per week. Average collections for Sunday services were $135 and money accrued from investments averaged $105. That left a deficit of $165 per week.

At the September Board of Trustees meeting, Reverend Karl Bach offered his resignation as he felt there was no way the church could afford to pay the salary of a minister and remain solvent. It was agreed that he could remain with the church up to three months while he sought another church to serve.

The youth of the church held a drive to collect clothes for the Cherokee Indian Mission School in Bunch, Oklahoma.

In December, the Service Circle continued its work with the Men’s Ward of Longview Hospital. Small parties were held at the hospital once a month throughout the year and a Christmas party was conducted by the ladies for the men patients. Gifts were collected from the church and baskets distributed at the Christmas party. Among the gifts donated for the baskets were fruit, candy, cigarettes, handkerchiefs and cash.

Also in December, the Clara Barton Guild passed around a petition seeking signatures of support for a resolution to be raised at next summer’s General Assembly concerning women’s rights.

This commitment to women’s rights was significant in the history of the Universalist Church. The year 1969 marked the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Women’s Centenary Aid Association. At the 1869 biennial convention of the Universalist Church, this organization was initiated, making it the first women’s national church organization in the United States. It was begun to raise funds for church activities but quickly evolved into a group providing financial support to liberal colleges and eventually to funding its own missionary program. It later became the Unitarian Universalist Women’s Federation.

Posted for March 2019.

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The Quilt

by Mike Roberts, Church Historian

As you enter our sanctuary on Sundays or on other occasions, you certainly notice the brightly colored quilt that decorates the right wall. You may also have noted the date in the lower right-hand corner, 1885.

Quilt donated by Florence Angus

A plaque to the right of the quilt identifies the quilt as a gift from Mrs. Florence Case Angus and that it was donated in December 1985, the month that marked the opening of our present Heritage Church building.

An article written by Debbie Wiatt for the Hyde Park Living magazine dated November 1985 tells more of the story of Mrs. Angus and her gift to us.

“They just don’t make things the way they used to… and if you want proof, just talk to Florence Angus. Covering a table in the living room of her Hyde Park home is an exquisite quilt that was made in 1885—100 years ago— and it is still in mint condition!

“One first notices the intricate detail and brilliant colors. The entire quilt is made from pieces of silk and velvet of varying shapes and sizes, carefully bound together with stitching so perfect that the backing is almost as attractive as the front. Each piece is either needlepointed or hand-painted with a unique design that obviously had some special meaning. For instance, there are two women’s names, a pair of scissors, several hand-held fans, various animals, and other interesting designs lovingly attached and painted into the quilt.

“The quilt was made by Mrs. Ichabod Blakeslee with the help of her nine-year old granddaughter, Claudia Berdan (Mrs. Angus’ father’s cousin) in 1885 in the southern Minnesota town of Chatfield. Through the years the quilt changed hands and eventually found its way to Mrs. Angus’ living room. As magnificent as it is, she hates to keep the quilt to herself and would like someday to display it so that everyone can enjoy its beauty. Unfortunately, she heard about the recent quilt show at the Cincinnati Art Museum too late to enter. You can be sure, though, that Mrs. Angus will jump at the opportunity to show off this lovely heirloom. Be sure to look for it!”

Mrs. Ichabod Blakeslee (Louisa) unfortunately passed away just two years after completing the quilt. Her granddaughter, Claudia Berdan, reached adulthood and became a school teacher in Chatfield. She married Charles Seymour and they eventually moved to Great Falls, Montana. At age 64, Claudia was widowed and was working in Great Falls as a dressmaker. She died at age 88 in Great Falls in 1964.

As to our benefactor, Mrs. Florence Case Angus passed away on March 9, 1998 at the age of 97. It states in her obituary from the Cincinnati Enquirer that she worked as a medical technologist at Children’s Hospital and was a member of the group that developed the Sabin oral polio vaccine.

These closeup pictures of the quilt help to reveal the intricacies of the designs. Take the opportunity to examine the quilt swatch by swatch to see the detail of this marvelous example of homemade art.

The picture below of Florence Angus holding the quilt appeared in the November 1985 issue of Hyde Park Living. Our thanks go to the publisher (www.livingmagazines.com) for permission to use the photograph.

Florence Angus holding the 1885 quilt

Article “The Quilt” date: February 2019.

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The UU Civil Rights Heritage

by Mike Roberts, Church Historian

January marks the annual celebration of the birthday and accomplishments of Martin Luther King Jr. For many Unitarian Universalists, it encourages reflection on that terrifying and agonizing struggle to earn equal status for Black Americans. Many UU’s were active participants during the time of Martin Luther King’s courageous crusade to bring equality to Americans of African heritage. That crusade was marked by violence and death in response to King’s strategy of non-violent protest.

Television was a medium in its infancy and virtually unexplored as a method of bringing live news to the front rooms of American homes. One of the first intrusions into the American conscience came when the citizens of Little Rock, Arkansas, attempted to block the enrollment of nine African-American students at Little Rock Central High School. Television cameras relayed the vision of Federal troops being utilized to help these young people attend their local high school.

Little Rock Central High School

More violent response came when Freedom Riders tried to travel across the states of the deep South in Greyhound buses as a means of protesting racial segregation, especially that which required Blacks to be seated in the backs of buses and in separate rail cars. Cincinnati was a daily witness to that degradation. When Black Americans boarded a train at Union Terminal bound for the South, they had to be seated in a segregated car. If they were on a train entering the terminal from the South and were headed north, they were allowed to change cars and sit wherever they liked.

Perhaps the height of heinous violent response was reached in Birmingham, Alabama, when four girls were killed in their Sunday School class on September 15, 1963, at the 16th Street Baptist Church. A bomb containing 15 sticks of dynamite attached to a timer was placed on the wall outside their church. The explosion took their lives and injured several dozen others.

Sixteenth Street Baptist Church

A week after the bombing, a memorial watch was held at Fountain Square led by the Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth. He had recently relocated to Cincinnati from Birmingham where he had acted as the leader of non-violent resistance to the policies of a heavily segregated Birmingham. In Washington DC, a march of 5,000 mourners started at All-Souls Unitarian Church and proceeded to Lafayette Square in front of the White House.

Two years later, Black activists focused their efforts on eliminating the many measures used in the South to rob African American citizens of their right to vote. The focal point of that effort was Selma, Alabama. A march from Selma to Montgomery was organized for March of 1965. The march was brutally turned back at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma. A second march two days later forced marchers to return to their base at Brown Chapel AME Church.

Brown Chapel AME Church

On the night of the second march, three UU ministers, James Reeb, Clark Olsen and Orloff Miller were leaving an integrated restaurant when they were attacked by four men. Reeb suffered critical head injuries from the beating. He was taken first to the hospital that serviced the Black population in Selma. That hospital did not have the facilities to treat him. The Selma white hospital refused to admit him as did every hospital in Montgomery. He was finally treated at a hospital in Birmingham but to no avail as he passed away two days later on March 11, 1965. The Reverend Clark Weils of St. John’s Unitarian Church of Cincinnati, a friend of Reeb’s, was in the hospital room when Reeb died.

James Reeb memorial plaque

Nationwide protests were held in the weeks after Selma. Five thousand were in attendance in Cincinnati at a rally which the First Unitarian Church played a role in organizing. Our own church voted to send a fifty dollar memorial gift to Mrs. Reeb. In his eulogy delivered at Brown Chapel, Dr. King said of Reverend Reeb, “James Reeb symbolizes the forces of good will in our nation. He demonstrated the conscience of the nation. He was an attorney for the defense of the innocent in the court of world opinion. He was a witness to the truth that men of many races and classes might live, eat and work together as brothers.”

The violence continued. On March 25th, just a few weeks after Reeb’s brutal murder, Mrs. Viola Liuzzo was ambushed on the highway between Selma and Montgomery. Mrs. Liuzzo, who had recently joined the UU faith, was shuttling protesters between Selma and Montgomery when she was shot to death in her car on Highway 80. To add another level of inexcusable inhumanity to her death, J. Edgar Hoover initiated a smear campaign against her to deflect attention from the fact that one of her killers was a paid FBI informant. Since that time, Mrs. Liuzzo has received multiple recognitions as a true fallen hero of the civil rights movement.

Viola Liuzzo marker

As we take time to recognize the great works of Dr. King, we should remember all those who gave their time, energy and in some cases, their lives, to make America a more just place in which to live. Many Unitarian Universalists, most of whom remain nameless, played a central role in that struggle.

On a recent trip to Little Rock, Ann and I had the opportunity to visit Little Rock Central High School. It was a Saturday morning and a group of students were planting fall flowers on the grounds of the school. There were students of many racial and ethnic backgrounds working on the project and they were laughing and enjoying the company of each other. While much yet needs to be done, it gave us time to reflect on how much has been accomplished by those who chose to fight for equal justice in America.

Students planting flowers at Little Rock Central High School

January 2019.

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Christmas through the Years

by Mike Roberts, Church Historian

Becca Tureen dresses up as Santa Lucia, with children as attendants, when our congregation was Salem Acres Community Church. Photo is from the early 1980’s.

Longtime member Ralph Carpenter decorates the Christmas Tree. (Based upon the blond altar, this must have been at Salem Acres.)

Rev. Doak Mansfield winds a chain around the Christmas Tree to symbolically bind the congregation together. This was when our congregation met at H.D. West Community Center.