The Unitarian Universalist Historical Society has released the latest issue of its journal (volume XXXI, 2006-2007). The main article is by Rev. Raymond Hopkins, a retired UU minister, who was the first Executive Vice-President of the UUA and therefore the highest placed Universalist in the newly merged denomination. A witness and participant in history, Rev. Hopkins describes the process that led to merger, the administrations of the first two UUA presidents (Dana Greeley and Robert West), and the tumultuous, challenging, exciting early years of the UUA.
The second article is by Stephen Shoemaker, a Harvard instructor. Shoemaker discusses the Unitarian theological roots that drove Charles Eliot’s reforms at Harvard during his long turn of the century presidency. Eliot is a major figure in the history of American education, responsible for helping to move higher education in a secular direction. Nonetheless, as Shoemaker discusses, his actual motivations had a highly spiritual basis.
The issue also carries several short research notes, concerning a) the replacement of the Thomas Starr King statue with one of Ronald Reagan in the U.S. Capitol, b) the Universalism of 19th century Georgian humorist Joseph Gault, and c) early Transylvannian Unitarians and the Quran. Also, Joan Goodwin, a biographer, historian, and UU religious educator, receives an obituary.
Transient and Permanent 