In Good Times and in Bad The Story of Sacramento’s Unitarians 1868–1984 Rodney Cobb and Irma West edited by: Doris Simonis Jeff Voeller Kathyrn Young Sacramento, California 2008 Unitarian Universalist Society of Sacramento 2425 Sierra Boulevard Sacramento, California 95825 www.uuss.org © 2008, 2010 Unitarian Universalist Society of Sacramento, All rights reserved. First Edition: Authorized History of the Unitarian Universalist Society of Sacramento, 1868 - 1970, Rodney Cobb, published in 5 parts between 1975 and 1982. Second Edition: Authorized History of the Unitarian Universalist Society of Sacramento, 1868 - 1970, Rodney Cobb and Helen Bradfield, edited by Elizabeth Austin, 1990. Third Edition: Authorized History of the Sacramento Unitarian Society, 1970- 1984, Dr. Irma West, 1996. Fourth Edition: In Good Times and in Bad: The Story of Sacramento’s Unitarians, 1868- 1984, edited by Doris Simonis, Jeff Voeller, Kathryn Young, 2008. Fifth Edition: 2010. In memory of the early leaders of Sacramento’s Unitarian church with gratitude far their perseverance. TABLE OF CONTENTS Time Line vii Illustrations x Introductions and Acknowledgements xii Foreword by the Reverend Doug Kraft xv PART ONE: The First Half Century (1868–1915) 17 1. Earliest Events in Sacramento 18 2. Origins of the First Unitarian Church in Sacramento 21 3. Sacramento Unitarian Church Revived (1887) 24 4. A Sacramento Minister and a Church Service of 1889 27 5. One Unitarian Week of Eighty Five Years Ago 30 6. The 1892 Incorporation as the First Unitarian Society 33 7. Sacramento Unitarians of the 1890s 35 8. The Sacramento Society Enters the Twentieth Century 37 9. Onward and Upward Forever (1912) 39 10. Church Building Plans and More Liberal Principles (1912) 41 11. Church Building, The Bold Venture of 1914 43 12. Completion of the Church Building (1915) 45 13. Symbol of the Past, Symbol of the Future (1915) 47 PART TWO: The Long Thirty Years (1915–1945) 50 14. World War I Years and the Return to Peace (1916–1921) 51 15. The Society in the Nineteen-Twenties 58 16. Robert E. Starkey (1927–1931) 64 17. The Storm Clouds Gather 69 18. The Depression Deepens 76 TABLE OF CONTENTS — v 19. The Stockton Connection 82 20. Looking Back at the Era of 1936–1945 90 PART THREE: Transition into the Modern Sacramento Society 95 21. The Postwar Period 96 22. The Year of 1946 101 23. Theodore Curtis Abell’s Early Life 104 24. A Season of Disenchantment 107 25. A Dominating Purpose 112 26. Progress Under the “Four-Year Plan” 115 27. The Church School Gets Its Own Building 120 PART FOUR: The House of a Thousand Windows — Building the New Church on Sierra Boulevard 129 28. Easter 1951 130 29. A Labor of Love 133 30. “The Way We Were” — 1951 136 31. The Idea: A New Church Building 143 32. A Summer’s Interlude 145 33. Gathering Momentum 148 34. The Proposed North Sacramento Site 151 35. Sierra Boulevard Site Chosen 154 36. Developing a Commitment 156 37. Raising the Money 161 38. The Structure Rises, 1959–1960 164 39. The Annual Meeting, 1960 170 40. Triumph and Tragedy 174 PART FIVE: The Sixties (1960–1970) 178 41. Autumn 1960 179 42. “Seating” the Minister 183 43. 1961 — The Year of the Church School 186 44. Easter 1962 190 45. Early Life of Ford Lewis 192 46. A Surprising Entrance into an Academic Career 196 47. Phyllis Gardner and Planned Parenthood 199 TABLE OF CONTENTS — vi 48. An Expanding Congregation 201 49. The Sacramento Unitarian Centennial Celebration (1968) 205 50. The Sixties: A Decade of Religious Education 207 51. An Overview of the 1960s Congregation 210 PART SIX: 1970–1984 214 52. Search for a New Minister 215 53. The New Minister 219 54. Administrative Structure of the Church 221 55. The Religious Education Program 223 56. Alliance 226 57. Forum 228 58. Servetus Club 230 59. Notes from the Unigram and Annual Reports 232 60. The Church Banners 237 61. Retreat of 1981 242 62. The Minister’s First Ten Years 244 63. Epilogue 246 Appendix 251 I. Biography of Rodney Cobb 251 II. Biography of Irma West, M.D 253 Notes 255 TIME LINE 1858 First known Unitarian sermon in Sacramento 1860 Rev. Starr King gives two lectures in city 1865 $100,000 raised for Unitarian “missionary work” in northern CA 1867 Rev. Charles Gordon Ames visiting; regular meetings held 1868 First Unitarian Church founded on 3129/68, serves 17 families 1868 to 1873 Rev. Henry W. Brown 1873 Financial Panic nationwide 1873 to 1887 No records of church activity for 14 years 1887 to 1892 Rev. Charles Massey, Pioneer Hall & Pythian Castle meetings 1892 Incorporation of First Unitarian Society of Sacramento 1892 to 1894 Rev. T.J. Horner 1893 Another Financial Panic nationwide 1895 to 1901 No church activity except one $25 donation to American Unitarian Association in 1898 1901 Request to American Unitarian Association for $25/mo. support for Sacramento church 1901 to 1911 No records of church activity for ten years 1911 Board of Directors resumes meeting 1912 to 1913 Rev. Franklin Baker serves Sacramento and Woodland 1913 to 1918 Rev. Charles Pease 1915 First Unitarian Church completed on 27th Street 1920 to 1921 Rev. Martin F. Fereshetian (Interim) 1921 to 1922 Rev. Hubert Cyril Carter (Interim) 1922 to 1927 Rev. Berkeley B. Blake TIME LINE — viii 1927 to 1931 Rev. Robert E. Starkey 1929 Great Depression begins, membership tops 100 for the 1st time 1931 to 1933 Rev. Robert C. Withington 1934 to 1935 No minister; membership declines to 20 members 1936 Rev. Clarence Vickland serves Sacramento & Stockton (part time) 1936 to 1945 Rev. Arthur Foote serves Sacramento and Stockton (part time) 1945 to 1960 Rev. Theodore C. Abell 1949 Julia Bray Fund established, R.E. building completed 1951 200 attend Easter services, largest crowd to date 1960 New church completed on Sierra Boulevard, membership 450 1960 Rev. John Albert Taylor (interim) 1960 to 1970 Rev. Ford Lewis 1961 Merger creates national Unitarian Universalist Association 1961 Funds raised for construction of three church school buildings 1962 to 1968 Three new Unitarian churches spring up briefly in city 1966 Membership peaks at 735; three new R.E. buildings completed 1970 to 1971 Rev. Josiah Bartlett. 1st “official” Interim Minister 1971 to 1983 Rev. Theodore Webb 1976 Name changed to Unitarian Universalist Society of Sacramento 1979 Church membership at 559 1982 Eighteen symbolic banners hung in church 1983 to 1984 Rev. Aaron Gilmartin (Interim Minister) 1984 to 1985 Rev. Donald Beaudreault 1985 to 1986 Rev. Eileen Karples (Interim Minister) 1986 to 1988 Rev. Douglas Strong (Interim Minister) 1988 to 1998 Rev. Dr. John Young 1992 to 1994 Rev. Richelle Russell (Assistant Minister) 1997 to 2000 Rev. Shirley Ranck (Pastoral Minister) TIME LINE — ix 1999 to 2000 Rev. Sydney Wilde (Interim co-Minister) 1999 to 2000 Rev. Dennis Daniel (Interim co-Minister) 2000 to pres Rev. Douglas Kraft 2004 to 2006 Rev Lyn Cox (Asst Minister for Education) 2007 to 2008 Rev Connie Grant (Minister for Education) 2008 to pres Rev. Roger Jones (Family Minister) ILLUSTRATIONS Front Street, Sacramento, 1869 ............................................................ 17 Rev. Thomas Starr King ........................................................................ 18 Downtown Sacramento in the 1860s ................................................... 20 Dr. Alexander Nixon ........................................................................... 23 Sacramento’s First Unitarian Church on 27th Street, 1915 ................... 45 Dr. Henry Nichols ............................................................................... 47 Arbor Day, 1920 ................................................................................. 53 Sacramento Unitarian Society, 1922 ................................................... 58 Rev. Berkeley B. Blake ......................................................................... 59 Unitarian Pre-Schoolers, 1928 ............................................................ 65 Rev. Withington with Unitarian Sunday School Students ..................... 76 Rev. Arthur Foote ................................................................................ 84 Rev. Theodore Curtis Abell .................................................................. 98 Unitarian Society Sunday School Class, 1950 ..................................... 120 Julia Bray, Lola Bray ............................................................................ 123 Groundbreaking, Sunday School Cottage Annex, June 18, 1950 .......... 126 Sunday School Class, Jean Whittlesay, Instructor, 1950 ........................ 127 Sunday School Class, Awanna Kalal, Instructor, 1950 .......................... 127 Sunday School Class, Beulah Finch, Instructor, 1950 .......................... 128 Teen Group with Alex Pesonen, 1950 .................................................. 128 Model for New Church, Auditorium and School on Sierra Blvd ........... 129 Unitarian Society of Sacramento, 1415 27th Street ............................. 137 The Bookstore with Hans Poppe Attending .......................................... 138 27th Street Coffee Hour. ...................................................................... 138 Bible Study for Adults .......................................................................... 140 ILLUSTRATIONS — xi 27th Street Church Auditorium, 1953 .................................................. 141 Green Thumb Sunday with Alex Pesonen ............................................ 142 Ed Hillier and George Reitter .............................................................