From Within These Walls Celebrating 100 Years at 10 South Gilbert

March 2008 Women in Our Congregation Getting to Know Your Society - Quiz Qs for March  Check it out
Thorough-going Devotion to the Cause of Liberal Religion WOMEN IN OUR CONGREGATION Susan Eberly
“It is good to remember that a church is more than a building, a minister, and a congregation: it is a living history of all the work and character and ideals that have been associated with it. …Throughout the years of changing ministers, boards of trustees, and church officials, and of shifting, moving …congregations …the Iowa City church has been fostered, guided, bandaged when bruised, ministered unto, and sustained by a handful of liberal minded, generous hearted, faithful, efficient women.”                                                             Celebrating 100 years of AUA, 1925
Since its earliest days as a frontier congregation in Iowa Territory, the organization that is now UUSIC has included a number of remarkable women. Space precludes listing all those who demonstrated their “thorough-going devotion to the cause of liberal religion” over the years, but we know women participated in that first Universalist gathering in 1841; that they took part 30 years later when “there passed from view… that brave little association of Universalists” and the congregation became Unitarian; and that they were actively involved in the 1960s, when we became Unitarian Universalists. Women like Bertha Shambaugh, Gertrude Goodwin, and Mary Bell Glick were instrumental in preserving our history as a congregation. Much of this history — in the form of scrapbooks, minutes, financial records, newspaper clippings, and photos — is now in the archives of the State Historical Society, just across the street.* These materials, which are quoted throughout this article, give us a glimpse of those “liberal minded, generous hearted, faithful and efficient women” who have shaped the “living history, character, and ideals” that are the heart of UUSIC. Women’s groups Our congregation has been home to a number of women’s groups, and these have called themselves a variety of names, including the Women’s Industrial Group (1871), Ladies Working Society (1879), Women’s Alliance (1901), and finally the UU Women’s Federation (1960s).  The Women's Federation met on Saturdays so that working women could attend; it disbanded in the late 1990s as gender boundaries faded. Women’s groups raised money on a regular basis. For many years, they  served  lunch  every  Saturday “at 25¢ per plate for the combined benefit of the church treasury and hungry farmers," made quilts, and took in sewing. Minutes from the 1870s record that they “finished off …one undershirt for John Irish” in December and “worked on drawers for Mrs. Dietz” in January. They held “Sociables, Fairs, Festivals, Exhibitions, Tableau parties.” Money was often tight, and the income that the women’s groups generated was used to fund everything from building maintenance to ministers’ salaries. These women’s groups also played a wider role in the community. For example, when the flu epidemic peaked in the fall of 1918 — an epidemic that killed an estimated 675,000 Americans—our building became an annex to University Hospital. During a 3-week period, women coordinated and served 3,500 meals to health care staff. Thirty years later, in 1949, our congregation ranked 6th among similar groups in the nation for the amount of clothing collected and sent overseas. Several women’s group members and early “Mothers of the Church” are vividly described by Rev. C.M. Perry (1913-19): Edna Brown Wilson, the “Roman matron” who “never failed to meet an obligation, never shirked a duty, never violated a trust.” Amanda Clark Webb, “sophisticated lady of the manor,” whose conversation “ran lightly over personalities and events.” Mrs. Cynthia Furbish, one of a group of “capable and picturesque elderly women,” known for “shrewd comment and advice.”	Although the first person to join the Universalist congregation in 1841 was a woman, Mrs. Rosella Andrews, and women often filled key roles in our congregation, it was not until 1973 that Nancy Jordison was elected the first woman president of our congregation. Since that time, twelve other women have served in this office. Helpmeets Our society has also welcomed women who were skilled partners in the work of their minister-husbands. Scotswoman Mary Clute (here from 1878-84) “organized an Iowa City branch of the American Agassiz Association.” Lizzie Ward (1900-06) “set some tongues wagging, for she bobbed her hair, wore ‘dress reform’ clothes, and advocated ‘women’s rights.’” At her funeral in 1933, her husband passionately urged that “no university be allowed to close its doors to any person because of their sex” — for Lizzie had been denied entrance to Harvard, his alma mater. Under the watchful eye of Clara Weatherly (1922-29), the parsonage was “a combination of home and club house for young people, “who were “all over the place. …if there was anything going on at the church, Mrs. Weatherly was there with her sleeves rolled up.” Amy Worthley (1931-51) was “as fine as her husband … worth talking to, she has brains.” Women in the pulpit We welcomed women as ministers early in our history. Augusta Chapin, among the first women to be ordained as a  minister,  and  the first to sit on the  Council  of  the General Convention   of  Universalists, was pastor here from 1869-73. Chapin was a charter member of the national American Woman Suffrage Association, so it isn’t surprising that in 1870 she proposed that the General Convention of Universalists use gender-neutral wording for its new fellowship rules — a proposal they adopted. Twenty-five years later, Eleanor Gordon, who had been inspired to become a minister when she heard Rev. Oscar Clute (our minister from 1878-84) speak in her hometown, became  our  pastor. She served  here from  1896 - 1900, became Field Representative for the  Iowa Unitarian Association. In this role, she worked closely with Rev. Robert Loring to design the building that is now our home at 10 South Gilbert. They used a “domestic idiom” to guide its design, for they wanted this “little church that looked like a house” to be home to a personal and civic ethos that would “prove to be a source of good” for the wider community. In the final decades of the 20th century, women continued to be welcome in our pulpits, as evidenced by Carolyn Owen-Towle, ministerial intern here in 1975; and Elizabeth Kerman, interim minister 1991-92. Michelle Tonozzi was our minister from 1992-96, and our current minister, Nancy Haley, has been with us since 1997. Learn more about these and other ministers who have served this congregation in our upcoming September issue, which will focus on ministers at UUSIC. Special thanks to Marilyn Jennewein and Jeanette Carter for all their help with preparing this article.
*Learn more about UUSIC historical resources available at the State Historical Society of Iowa.
Getting to Know Your Society Quiz Qs for March
1. Who was the first person to join Iowa City’s Universalist church when it was founded in 1841? 2. How did Unitarian women help their community during the flu epidemic of 1918?	3. What minister of our congregation proposed in 1870 that the General Convention of Universalists use gender-neutral wording for its new fellowship rules? 4. What long-serving minister's wife was described as being “as fine as her husband...worth talking to..."? 5. Who was the first woman president of our congregation? When was she elected?
Check it out …	From Within These Walls is a project of the UUSIC Building Centennial Team: Jeanette Carter, Susan Eberly, Marilyn Jennewein, David Martin, Betty McKray, Charity Rowley, Faye Strayer, and Mark Yuskis, with the help of many others in our UUSIC community.
The UUSIC timeline - Decade by decade historical highlights, located on the south wall of Channing hall, and updated monthly. Answers to each month’s “Getting to Know Your Society” quiz - Posted beside the timeline in Channing Hall. The FWTW web page, with new information every month.

Site built by Erik Pauls, Big Bluestem Design