by Mike Roberts, HUUC Church Historian
Last month, in presenting a snippet of the lives of two of our past members, it occurred to me, that the role of women in the church has historically been restricted to certain designated areas. Certainly, our liberal church expanded the role of women ahead of most other beliefs, but in examining the archives, many of our female members played their parts in traditional pursuits of outreach, charity, and aiding the less fortunate.
Our first female minister did not take the pulpit until the 1980s. However, a woman held our pulpit as guest minister for nearly nine months in the 1880s. In the mid-1930s, a woman named Lydia Beck served on the Board of Trustees and several other women served as Board Secretary and the Society’s Financial Manager. Nonetheless, it would be an injustice not to mention some of these women in our past while examining the church leadership. The first to consider will be a surname well known to many in Cincinnati.
Mrs. Charlotte Wooley Crosley was born on March 29, 1864 in Cincinnati, the daughter of Lewis Utz and Elizabeth Wooley. On October 8, 1885, she married Powel Crosley, Sr. a prominent Cincinnati attorney. They had four children, Powel Jr., Lewis, Evelyn, and Charlotte who died at age three of scarlet fever.
The family is most remembered for the accomplishments of Powel, Jr. and Lewis. The former was the owner of WLW and the Cincinnati Reds. His entrepreneurial ideas were often turned over to brother, Lewis, who was an engineer and could turn Powel’s dreams into reality. Just to name two dreams, the brothers marketed the first low-cost radio to families across the nation and built the proximity fuse that many believed shortened WWII by several months. As is the case with many high achievers, much credit for their success has to go to their parents.
Mrs. Crosley died on January 14, 1949 and her obituary states that, “outside of her home, which was her primary interest in life, Mrs. Crosley found her greatest satisfaction in working for the First Universalist Church, Essex Place, which her grandparents had helped to found. She was one of the oldest members of the congregation, having been active in church affairs up to the time of her death.”
Mrs. Crosley served faithfully for years on the Women’s Universalist Missionary Alliance (WUMA). The group supported the Universalist mission in Japan and outreach efforts in the U.S., especially in North Carolina. She hosted fund raising events, cooked meals to be sold at dinners, and donated her own money to the cause. She chaired numerous committees for the Alliance including one to beautify the church lawn. The WUMA provided lengthy annual reports to the Board of Trustees and those survive in our archives. Sadly, reports from other committees have been lost so it is difficult to know what other roles she may have played in the church but it is known that she collaborated with the Clara Barton Guild on many occasions.
The Universalist missionary effort in Japan became increasingly difficult to maintain because of Japan’s militaristic stance with their East Asian neighbors and the existence of the WUMA was to come to an end even before Pearl Harbor. During the war, much of the church’s charitable efforts were directed toward support of the troops and Mrs. Crosley was active on that front both through the church and her sons’ efforts.
Image courtesy of Mike Roberts