Archives West Finding Aid

Organized on 24 February 1891, with 187 signatures affixed to its constitution, the Unitarian Church in Salt Lake City enjoyed an unusual measure of prestige from its very beginning. Utah Territory in the 1880s experienced an influx of prominent eastern people and politicians interested in promoting statehood. Many were graduates of large eastern universities and eminent in their fields. The local newspapers were eager for contacts with a culture beyond that of the western frontier. Then, as now, there were religious renegades who did not find the prevailing churches to their liking and welcomed the appearance of a more liberal religion.

When Samuel A. Eliot, Unitarian minister in Denver, arrived on the local scene November 30, 1890, to speak at the Salt Lake Theatre, some 300 people turned out to hear him and Salt Lake City's introduction to Unitarianism began.

A permanent organization soon followed. Dr. David Utter, a Harvard graduate and an eloquent speaker, was engaged as the first minister. The Ladies' Unitarian Society and a Sunday School were organized during that first year. Meetings were held in the Salt Lake Theatre, rented from the Salt Lake Dramatic Association for $20 each week.

In 1892 the First Unitarian Society appointed its first historian and began to discuss a new building. However, the financial panic of 1893 had a devastating effect upon the society; many early adherents returned to the East, leaving the infant organization to struggle for its very existence. Dr. Utter found it necessary to accept a teaching position to eke out a living for his family.

Other ministers followed. It was not until January 1903 that events set in motion by the Reverend William H. Fish, Jr., culminated in the dedication of Unity Hall (138 S. Second East) on Christmas Day 1904. This was the first home of the Unitarian Society. Due to his wife's ill health, Reverend Fish had resigned in November 1904, but he and his family remained in the city for a month in order to attend the dedication. A succession of ministers followed, notably: William Thurston Brown, 1907-1910, whose liberal philosophy created great controversy; the Reverend John Malick, 1913-1918, who also managed the local Red Cross during World War I; the Reverend Frank Lee Hunt, 1923-1930, during whose ministry the present church was built in l927.

Unity Hall was built with an eye to its utility as a rental hall for other organizations. When the property was sold in 1926 and the lot at Sixth South and Thirteenth East was purchased, Slack Winburn, local architect, was engaged to work with Boston architects to design a suitable church building. The present georgian colonial building, in the best tradition of early American architecture, was dedicated September 4, 1927.

Jacob Trapp, 1930-1941, came to the church from Berkeley and remained through the depression of the 1930s. When the Trapps moved to the Denver church, Dr. J. Raymond Cope, professor of philosophy at Indiana University, came to the local pulpit and remained until April 1946; it was then that Eliot Hall was converted into a nursery school for children of working mothers.

Dr. Cope's resignation to accept a call to the Berkeley church brought the Reverend Edwin H. Wilson from Schenectady, New York. He arrived in August 1946 and remained until September 1949 when he became the director of the American Humanist Association in Yellow Springs, Ohio. From Vancouver, British Columbia, came Alfred Stiernotte in January 1947 to be an assistant minister and the managing editor of the Humanist Magazine that was edited by Reverend Wilson and published locally during his time in Utah.

Dr. Harold Scott came to Salt Lake in February 1950 and remained for ten years. Hugh Gillilan, 1960-1969, arrived as a graduate of Meadville Lombard Theological School in Illinois. He was an articulate speaker "as the conscience of the people." Growth in membership made it necessary to hold two services on Sunday mornings. Encounter groups, book groups, church choir, a lending library, a church archives, and a community nursery school were a few of the activities sponsored by the Unitarian community at this time. Under his leadership the church became one of the sponsoring organizations for Friendship Manor, Salt Lake City's first retirement building, built on land adjoining church property. Richard Harris, a student minister from Starr King at Berkeley, served his year of internship in 1965-1966 to help with the ministerial duties of the growing church community. Michael Cunningham, 1969-1970, did not stay long, but his ardent interest in social action made an impact upon the congregation and the community. Ron Clark, 1971-1976, was the great facilitator. He initiated the extended family program, audience groups, an investment group, and special adult educational programs.

Richard Henry, 1977-1986, had great energy and enthusiasm for his work with this congregation. He brought great variety as well as a lively calendar of events: the January retreat for board of trustee members and committee chairs, June's all church picnic, October Mill Hollow Retreat, significant ceremonies for the dedication of children and the induction of new members into the congregation, special fund raising events (the musical "Godspell"), and much more. As a very visible person in both the Salt Lake City and Ogden communities, Henry organized open forums to discuss topical subjects by local and national leaders on various issues such as hunger, peace, disarmament, Equal Rights Amendment, Russian sister city affiliation, town meetings, etc. His encouragement, facilitation, and support of new ideas from members made the South Valley Unitarian Universalist Society a reality. Also, the annual birthday party began 24 February 1981. The ministerial search resulted in the hiring of Thomas R. Goldsmith in September 1987.

(The above history utilized the 1986 Ministerial Information Packet, pp. 5-8, located in Bx 86, Fd 10.)