SALUTE TO THE FIRST UNITARIAN CHURCH OF CHICAGO'S 175th ANNIVERSARY
WHEREAS, On June 29, 2011, the First Unitarian Church of Chicago commemorated its 1751 Anniversary at worship service celebrating its significant contribution to the spiritual and moral fabric of this diverse city; and
WHEREAS, Founded in 1836, one year before Chicago became a city, the First Unitarian Church spent its first three years in temporary quarters served by itinerant ministers and missionaries until the congregants called Joseph Harrington, Jr. as their minister. He raised money for the building of a permanent edifice on the site where the Picasso in the Daley Center Plaza stands today; and
WHEREAS, Until 1859, the First Unitarian Church was served by William Adam (1846-1849), Rush Rhee Shippen (1849-1857) and George F. Noyes (1857-1859). The church saw growth in both the congregation and real estate. The church moved across the street and was twice enlarged. The congregation grew so much that, eventually, it was decided to establish a Second Unitarian Church on the corner of Walton and Dearborn; and
WHEREAS, It was George F. Noyes who saw the urgent need for expanded social services the Unitarians began to offer the community. He established a Ministry-at-Large as a social service agency supported by the church and manned by volunteers that served as the only private agency for general relief in the city at a time when government did very little for the poor and needy; and
WHEREAS, Pennsylvanian Robert Collyer, a blacksmith by trade, headed the Ministry-at-Large and established an outside Sunday School for the poor with 200 pupils, evening school for all ages that enrolled 180, sewing classes, an employment service that found 150 jobs, and a bureau for the placement of children and the elderly in foster homes. Rev. Collyer was appointed to the U. S. Sanitary Commission, a forerunner of the Red Cross and an agency that tended to the medical needs of the Union soldiers sponsored by the Unitarians and Universalists. Shortly thereafter, he was called to become Minister at the Second Unitarian Church; and
WHEREAS, After Noyes resigned in 1859, Charles B. Thompson became minister in 1861 at the start of the United States Civil War. Although he haled from New Orleans, Rev. Thompson was a staunch Abolitionist and an opponent of secession. He started work on a new edifice on Wabash near what is now Balbo Street but faulty construction forced its dismantling before completion. Soon thereafter, he was dismissed under less than auspicious circumstances; and
WHEREAS, In 1866, Robert Laird Collier became Minister. An outstanding pastor, he also led the Chicago Relief and Aid Society and opened the church as a refuge from the ravages of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Even though the South Wabash structure survived the fire, he spearheaded the effort to build a 1,000 seat sanctuary on South Michigan and 23rd Street that was completed in 1873 at a cost of $80,000; and
WHEREAS, Brooke Herford traveled from Manchester, England to become Minister in 1874 after Rev. Collier resigned due to failing health. He continued the denomination's great tradition of social service and, during his pastorate, the first free kindergarten in this city was established in 1881; and
WHEREAS, William Wallace Fenn became Minister in 1891 and was encouraged by the first president of the University of Chicago, William Rainey Harper to establish a mission chapel near the new university. One of the church's trustees and its treasurer, Morton Dennison Hull, built the chapel as a memorial to his parents. Dedicated in 1897 and known as Hull Chapel, it became the home of the First Unitarian Church after the South Michigan edifice was sold in 1909; and
WHEREAS, William Wallace Fenn left the First Unitarian Church in 1901 to become Busey Professor of Theology and, eventually, dean of the Harvard Divinity School. His successor was William Hansen Pulsford who held the pulpit for more than two decades, the longest serving minister in the church's history. In 1925, Von Ogden Vogt became Minister and inspired Trustee Hull to build the current church building on South Woodlawn that incorporated as a transept the chapel he had built in 1897. Dedicated in 1931, the magnificent English Perpendicular Gothic edifice stands today as a monument to this church's remarkable history; and
WHEREAS, Leslie T. Pennington, a member of the Universalist- Unitarian Commission that oversaw the merger of these two denominations completed in 1961, was pastor from 1944 until 1962. This era saw some of the most noteworthy civic and social contributions to the city's commonweal this eleemosynary body has made. In 1948, the congregation passed a resolution to actively pursue its racial integration. Rev. Pennington became one of the founding members of the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference whose historic purpose was to develop a "genuinely interracial community of high standards". In 1956, Christopher Moore became an assistant pastor and started what has today become the internationally famous Chicago Children's Choir. He led this outstanding interracial choir for three decades until his untimely death in 1987; and
WHEREAS, From 1962 until 1968, Jack Kent continued to extend the church's social involvement especially in the field of civil rights and early childhood education. From 1968 to 1978, Jack Mendelsohn reinforced the congregation's social commitment by establishing the Unitarian Preschool Center for daycare and the Depot, a counseling service for runaway youth that eventually was called the Center for Family Development, serving more than 400 families per annum. He also organized a coalition of civil rights organizations named the Alliance to End Repression and he became its first president; and
WHEREAS, Since 1978, the First Unitarian Church has been led by a secession of illustrious and innovative progressive ministers and interim ministers including Duke T. Gray (1980-1986), Peter Samson (1986-1988), Thomas Chulak (1988-1992), Michelle Bentley (1992-1993), Terasa Cooley (1993-1997), John Gilmore (1997-1999) and Dr. Nina D. Grey (1999-2011); and
WHEREAS, From the tumult of the last three decades of the twentieth century, the halcyon days leading up to the Millennium and the uncertain times after 9/11, the First Unitarian Church of Chicago has been a beacon of humanity and on the forefront of social activism; now therefore
BE IT RESOLVED That we, the Mayor and the members of the City of Chicago City Council, gathered together this 6th Day of July, 2011 AD, do hereby salute the membership of the historic First Unitarian Church of Chicago on the occasion of its 175th Anniversary and extend our very best wishes for continuing success in fulfillment of their praiseworthy mission.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED That a suitable copy of this resolution be prepared and presented to First Unitarian Church of Chicago.
LESLIE A. HAIRSTON Alderman - 5th Ward