March is Women’s History Month, a time to reflect on the incredible and often overlooked contributions that women have made throughout history. The works of Unitarian Universalists have been bending the arc towards justice for many years, and many UU women have not only shaped and led the faith, but they’ve also left an undeniable impact on history in general. These are but a few of well-known UU women in history.
Olympia Brown was not only one of the first women to be ordained in our denomination, but hers was the first women’s ordination to be recognized by any religious denomination. Olympia Brown spent a lifetime working for women’s suffrage and was among the few original suffragettes still alive to vote in 1919.
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825-1911), a Black woman, was born to free parents in Baltimore in 1825. She was one of the most famous abolitionists of her time, as well as a poet, author, orator, suffragist, and temperance activist. Her works were largely forgotten until scholars and Unitarian Universalists resurrected her legacy in the last twenty-five years. Harper defied both racial and gender-based expectations of her day.
Sophia Lyons Fahs (1876-1978) Without Sophia Lyon Fahs, UU religious education would not be what it is today. Fahs revolutionized the way traditional religious education was taught, making complex theological concepts and history more accessible and exciting for a younger audience through storytelling, painting, and other forms of creativity and self-expression. Fahs wrote 40 books and served as editor of Children’s Materials for the American Unitarian Association. Living to the age of 102, Fahs never ceased in her quest for knowledge and innovation.
Margaret Fuller (1810-1850) Unitarian Margaret Fuller was an author, editor, critic, teacher, feminist, and revolutionary who played a key role in the Transcendentalist movement. Many of her writings have been published by Skinner House Books and Beacon Press. She served as a war correspondent and wrote about poor conditions in prisons and mental hospitals for The New York Tribune. She is best known for writing the first American manifesto for women’s equality, “Woman of the Nineteenth Century,” published in 1845.
Fannie Barrier Williams (1855-1944) After moving to the South to teach and experiencing more discrimination than she had faced growing up in the North, Fannie Barrier Williams became passionate about working for the rights of African American women. A Unitarian, she was one of the first leaders to identify housing segregation and limited employment opportunities as crucial issues for racial justice. Through her many speeches and co-founding of interracial organizations, she championed the rights of African Americans and worked to ensure their recognition and inclusion.
In 2017 we elected the first female and the 9th president of our denomination. Reverend Susan Fredrick Gray was elected to a six-year term after serving congregations in Arizona, Ohio, and Tennessee. After leading the Unitarian Universalist response to Arizona’s anti-immigrant laws in 2010, she became lead organizer for the Arizona Immigration Ministry, among her other activisms. As president of the Association, she was responsible for administering staff and programs that served more than 1,000 member congregations. She also acted as principal spokesperson and minister-at-large for the UUA. President Gray brought a strong focus on mission and strategic planning to her leadership at the UUA as it continues works to dismantle systems of white supremacy.
These are just a few Unitarian Universalist Women who have moved our denomination forward. I encourage you to research many more women who deserve to be celebrated for their work.
Heart to Heart,
Rev. Addae