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First Unitarian Church of Salt Lake City records, 1891-2010

Overview of the Collection

Creator
First Unitarian Church (Salt Lake City, Utah)
Title
First Unitarian Church of Salt Lake City records
Dates
1891-2010 (inclusive)
Quantity
249 boxes, (111.75 linear feet)
Collection Number
MS 0508
Summary
The First Unitarian Church of Salt Lake City records (1891-2010) is a rich collection of source materials, containing primarily original documents tracing the history and activities of the Unitarian Church in Salt Lake City. It is organized into 221 boxes of records dating from its founding in l89l up to 2010. The Unitarian Church has been an advocate of many causes and has played a vital cultural role in the Salt Lake City area.
Repository
University of Utah Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library
University of Utah
295 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City, UT
84112-0860

Telephone: 8015818863
special@library.utah.edu
Access Restrictions

Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.

Languages
English
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Historical Note

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.)

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Content Description

The First Unitarian Church of Salt Lake City records (1891-2010) is a rich collection of source materials, containing primarily original documents tracing the history and activities of the Unitarian Church in Salt Lake City. It is organized into 249 boxes of records dating from its founding in 1891 up to 2010.

The collection has been divided into eleven major sections. Section one contains original minutes of the board of trustees meetings from 1891 to 1989 (not inclusive) and board of trustees correspondence and office correspondence. It also contains minutes of the annual congregational meetings from 1891 to 1989 (not inclusive). The three books used during the 1890s also contain signatures of new members, some financial records, telegrams, and correspondence.

Section two contains financial records, treasurers' books, counting committee reports, summaries of church collections, weekly income recaps, contribution lists, and reports of pledge campaigns. Also included in this section are the records of the Endowment Trust Fund, including correspondence, minute books, donor names, and thank you letters.

Section three contains material on the ministers of the church. Each minister of the church since 1891 is represented in the collection, although in the early period only one folder of material is available for most ministers. Copies of sermons preached, radio addresses given, and letters received and sent assist in filling the historical picture. Also included in this section are the speeches and sermons given in Salt Lake City by guest speakers from 1942 to 1989, as well as Unitarian sermons delivered elsewhere.

Section four contains the manuscripts and correspondence involved in organizing the celebrations of various church anniversaries, especially the fiftieth in 1941 and seventy-fifth in 1966. It also includes documents on the construction and expansion of the church buildings located at 138 S. 200 East and 569 S. 1300 East in Salt Lake City. Section five contains copies of the weekly order of service for 1898, 1904, 1927 1949, 1961, and 1989. Also included are files on church music, program notes, christening/dedication services, marriages, funerals, obituaries, and memorials. Section six contains membership cards and lists of members for most years from 1951 to 1988. Also included are biographical sketches of prominent members of the church, as well as those for whom transcripts of oral interviews are available.

Section seven contains files on the women's alliance, which is an organization separate from the church. Over the years it was known as the Ladies' Unitarian Society, Unity Circle, Ladies Unity Circle, Lloyd Alliance, Alliance of Unitarian and Other Liberal Christian Women, and the Alliance of Unitarian Women, Salt Lake Branch. Included in this section are minute books from 1897 to 1989, account books, year books from 1936 to 1978, and correspondence from 1909 to 1979.

Section eight contains material collected by various church committees, including the Budget Committee, Building and Grounds Committee, Caring Committee, Finance Committee, Historian Committee, Long Range Planning Committee, Membership Committee, Ministerial Search Committee, Personnel Committee, Service Committee, Social Action Committee, Summer Forum, Youth Adult Committee, and even a Committee on Committees. Also in this section are files of Religious Education from 1891 to 1988.

Section nine contains files on various affiliated and community organizations and activities. Some of these have been affiliated with the First Unitarian Church of Salt Lake City, while other have simply used the church facilities for meetings or activities. These include such groups as Amnesty International, Browning Club, Cambridge Forum, Channing Club, Church of Religious Science, Church of the Larger Fellowship, Community Cooperative Nursery School, Credo Group, Discovery Group, Eliot Club, Friendship Manor, Humanists of Utah, Laymen's League, Liberal Religious Youth, Marmalade Hill School, Metropolitan Community Church, Planned Parenthood of Utah, Salt Lake Memorial Association, Single Parent Group, Thoreau School, Unidrama Club, Unity Volunteer Club, Womanspirit, Young People's Religious Union, and Zion's First International Church.

Section ten contains various local publications: Unitarian for 1898, newsletters from 1923 to 1949, the Ram's Horn from 1950 to 1960, and the Torch from 196l to 1989. Representative examples of national publications are also included: the Beacon from 1913 to 1915, the Christian Unitarian Register from 1927 to 1964, the Bridge from 1962 to 1972, and the UU World from 1972 to 1988. Because of the close connection between many Unitarians and Humanists, there are some Humanist publications: The Humanist of 1932 and the Humanist World Digest from 1955 to 1968. Section eleven contains a good selection of local Unitarian scrapbooks, which provide valuable information from 1928 to 1988.

Addenda includes material relating to the Board of Trustees, financial material, various committee records, office files relating to the Centennial Campaign for building expansion, auction and fund-raising materials, sermons, orders of service, membership information, records pertaining to the Religous Education program, office files of the Women's Alliance, Humanist Association and social action materials, archives of The Torch newsletter, and news clippings. These materials largely date from the 1980s-2000s.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

The library does not claim to control copyright for all materials in the collection. An individual depicted in a reproduction has privacy rights as outlined in Title 45 CFR, part 46 (Protection of Human Subjects). For further information, please review the J. Willard Marriott Library’s Use Agreement and Reproduction Request forms.

Preferred Citation

Collection Name, Collection Number, Box Number, Folder Number. Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

Organized in eleven series: I. Board of Trustees and Congregational Meetings; II. Financial Records; III. Ministers; IV. Church Anniversaries and Buildings; V. Church Services; VI. Membership Records; VII. Women's Alliance; VIII. Church Committees; IX. Affiliated and Community Organizations; X. Unitarian Publications; XI. Scrapbooks; XII. Addenda.

Acquisition Information

Boxes 1-144 were donated from 1984 on (76 linear feet). Box 145 was donated in 1994 (0.5 linear feet).

Boxes 162-212 were donated by the First Unitarian Church in 2012.

Boxes 213-249 were donated by Jennifer Killpack-Knutsen in 2012.

Box 249, folder 1 was donated by Rick Gregory in 2012.

Processing Note

Processed by Stan Larson, Lorille Horne Miller, Betty Greenhalgh, and Martha Stewart in 1990.

Addenda processed by Emma McFarland in 2012.

Addenda processed by Emma McFarland in 2013.

Separated Materials

Photographs and audio-visual materials were transferred to the Multimedia Division of Special Collections (P0282 and A0282).

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Finding aid created by Stan Larson, Lorille Horne Miller, Betty Greenhalgh, and Martha Stewart
1990 (last modified: 2013 and 2018)

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