This Week in UU History

Families and teachers--
You'll see this segment in our weekly blog posts now. This is something we've been sharing with teachers in their email message, and we're moving it to the blog for everyone to read. 

Enjoy!
Betsy

THIS WEEK IN UU HISTORY:

On February 22, Sarah Flower Adams was born in Harlow, Essex, England. An actress who achieved a dramatic triumph as Lady Macbeth, she became ill suddenly and had to give up the stage. She was a lifelong Unitarian, deeply devoted to her Unitarian church in South Place, London, and the author of many religious works, including Vivia Perpetua (“Eternal Life”). She also compoased symns, the most famous of which is “Nearer, My God, to Thee.” Adams worked with prisons, fought for greater civil and religious liberty, and established Sunday schools and benevolent societies. She died on August 15, 1848.

On February 23, 1813, John Murray Forbes was born in Bordeaux, France. His father was a wealthy merchant and John learned the trade. He invested in land, iron, steam, and railraods and served as president of the Michigan Central Railroad. After the assassination of Elijah Lovejoy, Murray became an abolitionist and provided equal pay to freed slaves. He supported Abraham Lincoln’s candidacy for president and was counsel to him during the Civil War. Forbes also fought for the rights of Irish immigrants. The Forbes family intermarried weveral times with the Emersons. John Murray Forbes used his great wealth for civic betterment. He was a member of First Parish (Unitarian) of Milton, Massachusetts, and gave the land for its parsonage. John Murray Forbes died on October 12, 1898.

Also on February 23, but in 1848, John Quincy Adams, a lifelong Unitarian and sixth president of the United States, died at age 80 of a stroke on the flor of the U.S. House of Representatives.

WEEKLY INSPIRATION:

"Our generation has a mission, a clear and evident one; we have a compelling moral purpose which can direct our lives and our energies—literally, we are about saving the world. These days of challenge call us to put aside our pettiness and our little quarrels, our theological differences, and to focus on the larger issues. You don’t talk about the color of the drapes when the house is burning down."


- Rev. Marilyn Sewell of First Unitarian Church of Portland, Oregon, from a sermon October 2006 on “The Moral Dimensions of Global Warming”