Thomas E. Wise (b.July 25, 1868) was the second African American Universalist minister. After serving with the first African American Universalist minister, Joseph Jordan, at the First Universalist Church and school of Norfolk, Virginia, he founded two other Universalist missions in southeastern Virginia.…
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.
Phineas Taylor Barnum (July 5, 1810-April 7, 1891), known as P. T. Barnum, a prominent Universalist, the most influential American showman of the nineteenth century, was the founder of the first financially successful museum in America to gain wide public support and creator of the modern three-ring circus.…
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.”
Alice Cary (April 26, 1820-February 12, 1871) and Phoebe Cary (September 4, 1824-July 31, 1871) were in their day well known and loved for their poetry and other writings. Alice also wrote prose sketches of rural Ohio and short stories.
Joseph Jordan (1842-1901), the first African American to be ordained as a minister by the Universalist denomination, founded the First Universalist Church of Norfolk, Virginia in 1887 and initiated an educational effort for African American children in Norfolk and vicinity.
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.
David Pickering (May 28, 1788-January 6, 1859), a Universalist minister, founded the Providence Association, an organization which challenged the disciplinary authority of the New England Universalist General Convention. With Paul Dean and Adin Ballou, Pickering led a Restorationist faction of 19th century Universalists into schism and helped to found the short-lived sect, the Massachusetts Association of Universal Restorationists (MAUR).
William Stevens Balch (April 13, 1806-December 25, 1887), a celebrated Universalist preacher, was also an evangelist, a denominational organizer, journalist, politician, teacher, and historian. Proud of his impartiality, he stood apart from Universalist factions. Having mentored many students for the ministry, he promoted formal theological education and was a founder of St.…