A number of notable people have considered themselves Unitarians, Universalists, and following the merger of these denominations in the United States and Canada in 1961, Unitarian Universalists. Additionally, there are persons who, because of their writings or reputation, are considered to have held Unitarian or Universalist beliefs. Individuals who held unitarian (nontrinitarian) beliefs but were not affiliated with Unitarian organizations are often referred to as "small 'u'" unitarians. The same principle can be applied to those who believed in universal salvation but were not members of Universalist organizations. This article, therefore, makes the distinction between capitalized "Unitarians" and "Universalists" and lowercase "unitarians" and "universalists".
The Unitarians and Universalists are groups that existed long before the creation of Unitarian Universalism.
Early Unitarians did not hold Universalist beliefs, and early Universalists did not hold Unitarian beliefs. But beginning in the nineteenth century the theologies of the two groups started becoming more similar.
Additionally, their eventual merger as the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) did not eliminate divergent Unitarian and Universalist congregations, especially outside the US. Even within the US, some congregations still keep only one of the two names, "Unitarian" or "Universalist". However, with only a few exceptions, all belong to the UUA—even those that maintain dual affiliation (e.g., Unitarian and Quaker). Transcendentalism was a movement that diverged from contemporary American Unitarianism but has been embraced by later Unitarians and Unitarian Universalists.
In Northern Ireland, Unitarian churches are officially called "Non-Subscribing Presbyterian", but are informally known as "Unitarian" and are affiliated with the Unitarian churches of the rest of the world.
William Herbert Carruth (1859–1924) – educator, poet, President of Pacific Coast Conference of the Unitarian Church
Samuel Carter (1805–1878) – British MP and early railway solicitor[28]
Lee Carter (born 1987) — delegate for Virginia's 50th House of Delegates district (according to his campaign website, he and his family attend their local Unitarian Universalist Church)[29]
Joseph Chamberlain (1836–1914) – Manufacturer, Unitarian, founder of local government in Britain.
Augusta Jane Chapin (1836–1905) – American Universalist minister, educator and activist for women's rights[31][32]
William Ellery Channing (1780–1842) – Unitarian minister, whose 1819 sermon "Unitarian Christianity" laid the foundations for American Unitarianism.[4]
William Cushing (1732–1810) – one of the original US Supreme Court Justices, appointed by Geo. Washington and longest serving of the original justices (1789–1810).[41]
Ferenc Dávid (born as Franz David Hertel, often rendered as Francis David or Francis Davidis) (1510–1579) – Transylvanian priest, minister and bishop, founder of the Unitarian Church of Transylvania, first to use the word "Unitarian" to describe his faith[4]
Gary Gygax (1938–2008) – game designer and creator of Dungeons & Dragons, called himself a Christian, "albeit one that is of the Arian (Unitarian) persuasion."[62]
H
Edward Everett Hale (1822–1909) – American author, historian and Unitarian clergyman
Frances Harper (1825–1911) – abolitionist, suffragist, poet, teacher, public speaker, and writer; one of the first African-American women to be published in the United States. Unitarian.
Roman Hruska (1904–1999) – conservative Republican Senator from Nebraska[68]
David Hubel (1926–2013) – Nobel Prize Laureate in Medicine 1981
Charles Hudson (1795–1881) – Universalist minister and politician
Harm Jan Huidekoper (1776–1854) – businessman, essayist and lay theologian, a vice president of the American Unitarian Association, and co-founder of the Meadville Theological School
Michelle Huneven (born August 14, 1953) – American novelist and journalist. She attends Neighborhood Unitarian Universalist Church in Pasadena, California.[69]
J
Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) – third president of the U.S., unitarian but not affiliated with any sect[70]
Abner Kneeland (1774–1844) – Universalist minister and denominational leader who, after leaving the denomination to become a leader in the freethought movement, was convicted and jailed for blasphemy.[5]
Richard Knight (1768–1844) – friend, colleague and follower of Joseph Priestley, developed the first method to make platinum malleable. Stored Priestley's library during his escape to America.[73]
Penney Kome (born 1948) – Canadian author and journalist[74]
Judith Sargent Murray (1751–1820) – American writer, held a local Universalist preacher's license in the 1790s, an advocate of Universalism and women's rights[32][31]
N
Isaac Newton (1642–1726) – English physicist and mathematician[80]
Richard Peacock (1820–1889) – British locomotive engineer and philanthropist
Laura Pedersen (born 1965) – American author, journalist, playwright and humorist. Books and plays with humanist themes. Lifelong UU, Interfaith minister.
Sarah Maria Clinton Perkins (1824–1905) – American Universalist minister, social reformer, lecturer, editor, author
Ellery Schempp (born 1940) – physicist who was the primary student involved in the landmark 1963 United States Supreme Court case of Abington School District v. Schempp, which declared that public school-sanctioned Bible readings were unconstitutional.[94]
Amos G. Throop (1811–1894) – Founder of Throop University, which later became the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, where he was also the city's third mayor. Throop Unitarian Universalist Church in Pasadena, a Unitarian Universalist congregation founded in 1923, was named after him.
V
William Vidler (1758–1816) – English Universalist and Unitarian minister
^Biographical Information for Abbot, Francis Ellingwood. Family Papers, 1815–1940, in the collections of the Andover-Harvard Theological Library, Harvard Divinity School. Retrieved August 28, 2007.
^ abcdefghijklmn"Some famous Unitarians include presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams, Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Paul Revere, President William Howard Taft, and Frank Lloyd Wright... Important figures from this period in Unitarian history include John Biddle, Francis David, Michael Servetus, King John Sigismund and Faustus Socinus... The influential Unitarians from this era included William Ellery Channing, Theodore Parker, Joseph Priestly [sic], and Thomas Starr King, who was also a Universalist." [1]Archived 2010-12-20 at the Wayback Machine, uduuf.org. Retrieved August 1, 2011.
^"Delineated in detail are formative influences such as her... religious environment (Quaker and Unitarian)..." Suffrage for All, Review of Susan B. Anthony: Rebel, Crusader, Humanitarian by Alma Lutz. Review author: Hazel Browne Williams, The Phylon Quarterly, Vol. 20, No. 2. (2nd Qtr., 1959), p. 205. . Retrieved August 25, 2007.
^Kohn, Alfie (March 20, 1987). "Crusader still leads way on abortion rights". USA Today.
^Marteka, Peter (October 31, 2005). "An 'Unfinished Crusade'". The Hartford Courant.
^"Ballou, the son of a poor Calvinist Baptist preacher, was converted to Universalism and began preaching the new "heresy" on a Calvinistic basis in 1791… His first sermon on a Unitarian and Arian base was preached in 1795. Within ten years, through the power of his argumentation, and against the opposition of the prominent Universalist John Murray, Ballou had converted the Universalist ministry to Unitarianism."Hosea Ballou, Preacher of Universal Salvation, Ernest Cassara, Church History, Vol. 26, No. 4. (Dec., 1957), p. 382. . Retrieved August 25, 2007.
^ abcdefghij"Some famous Universalists include Clara Barton, Olympia Brown, Thomas Starr King, Horace Greeley, George Pullman, Mary Livermore, and Benjamin Rush. ...Universalist beliefs have been proclaimed for thousands of years, starting with Origen in 200 CE and continuing through to James Relly in the sixteen hundreds... Universalists including Hosea Ballou, John Murray, and Benjamin Rush helped to spread and develop their faith's teachings throughout the denomination's early years." Universalism, UUA.org, August 1, 2007. . Retrieved August 27, 2007. Archived February 4, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
^ ab"The Struggle for Racial Justice describes the key roles played by Unitarian and Universalist women... These women included Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross, and Julia Ward Howe, who wrote 'The Battle Hymn of the Republic.'" Exhibit "Standing Before Us: Unitarian Universalist Women and Social Reform" On Display at Women's Rights National Historical Park, Women's Rights National Historical Park news release, Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Contact: Vivien Rose. . Retrieved August 28, 2007.
^"Bergh used his wealth and prestige to raise public awareness of the suffering of animals and to enlist support from powerful New York businessmen, politicians, and religious leaders in the founding of the ASPCA. Among these was his minister, Henry Whitney Bellows of the First Congregational Church of New York City (now the Unitarian Church of All Souls)" http://www25-temp.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/henrybergh.htmlArchived 2010-08-24 at the Wayback Machine
^ abcdefgh"Some Unitarian Universalists of whom you may already have heard include Tim Berners-Lee, Paul Newman, Christopher Reeve, May Sarton, Pete Seeger, and Kurt Vonnegut... Unitarian Universalists James Reeb and Viola Liuzzo were killed because of their participation in this protest..." Unitarian Universalism, UUA.org, March 1, 2007. . Retrieved August 28, 2007. Archived January 13, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
^Reynolds, H. "Clark, Andrew Inglis (1848–1907)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 2 February 2018 – via Australian Dictionary of Biography.
^Jordan, John Woolf (1912). Genealogical and Personal History of Fayette County Pennsylvania, Volume 1. Fayette County, PA: Lewis Historical Publishing Company.
^Hromatko, Wesley (December 23, 2001). "Charles Dickens". Dictionary of Unitarian & Universalist Biography. Unitarian Universalist History & Heritage Society (UUHHS). Archived from the original on April 15, 2017. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
^Keohane, John (September 3, 2003). "Paul Douglas". Dictionary of Unitarian & Universalist Biography. Unitarian Universalist History & Heritage Society (UUHHS). Archived from the original on April 14, 2008. Retrieved February 23, 2007.
^Hughes, Peter (n.d.), "Eleanor Elizabeth Gordon", Dictionary of Unitarian & Universalist Biography, Unitarian Universalist History and Heritage Society (UUHHS), archived from the original on September 28, 2013
^Christofle, Robert (Fall 2013), "Unitarian's Book Censored"(PDF), Newsletter, Canadian Unitarian, vol. 55, no. 2, p. 19, archived from the original(PDF) on 2016-03-15, retrieved 2016-12-30
^Peirce, Hank (February 2006). "Post Script"(PDF). Newsletter. Highlights. Unitarian Universalist Church of Medford. Archived from the original(PDF) on May 6, 2006.
^Wu, Duncan (2007). "Hazlitt, William (1737–1820)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press accessed 25 Nov 2011.
^Crăciun, Maria (1996). Protestantism și ortodoxie în Moldova secolului al XVI-lea 1950. Cluj: Presa Universitară Clujană. pp. 105–118, 124–126, 133. ISBN973-9261-15-9.
^"More than one Republican apologist fairly pointed out that the unitarian Jefferson was no greater an infidel than the unitarian Adams... Although [Jefferson] was elected to an Anglican parish vestry, no record exists of his having served in that capacity. He was famous for not attending church and did so semiregularly only during his presidency and near the end of his life. To friends, he referred to himself variously as a 'Theist,' 'Deist,' 'Unitarian,' 'Rational Christian,' and 'Epicurean'; 'I am a sect unto myself, as far as I know,' he wrote." America's Founding Faiths, by Forrest Church, UU World magazine, Vol. XXI, Nol 4, Winter 2007.
^"On February 24, 1860, the Boston Unitarian minister and transcendentalist, Theodore Parker, wrote Professor Desor from Rome..." Darwin and the Transcendentalists, John B. Wilson, Journal of the History of Ideas, Vol. 26, No. 2. (Apr. – June, 1965), p. 286. . Retrieved August 25, 2007.
^"Randy Pausch, Computer Science Professor at Carnegie Mellon University, died on July 25 after a two-year struggle with pancreatic cancer. A Unitarian Universalist who first came to this faith as a member of the First Unitarian Church of Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania), Pausch was 47 years old. Celebrated in his field for co-founding the pioneering Carnegie Mellon Entertainment Technology Center and for creating the innovative educational software tool known as "Alice", Pausch earned his greatest worldwide fame for his The Last Lecture, which was subsequently published by Hyperion Books.In Memoriam: Randy PauschArchived 2009-01-14 at the Wayback Machine, UUA.org
^"Unitarian Universalist Melissa Harris-Perry is a distinguished academic and a commentator on MSNBC. She has written the book, Barbershops, Bibles, and BET: Everyday Talk and Black Political Thought, and delivered the Ware Lecture at the 2009 General Assembly of the UUA." October 31, 2012 "Unitarian Universalist History - UUA". Archived from the original on 2014-07-02. Retrieved 2016-02-06. Retrieved August 11, 2013
^"Some famous modern-day Unitarian Universalists include Tim Berners-Lee, Melissa Harris-Perry, Christopher Reeve, May Sarton, Randy Pausch, Pete Seeger, Joanne Woodward, and Kurt Vonnegut." October 31, 2012 "Unitarian Universalist History - UUA". Archived from the original on 2014-07-02. Retrieved 2016-02-06. Retrieved August 11, 2013
^"Unitarian Universalist... Christopher Reeve... was today remembered by UUA President William G. Sinkford... Sinkford said, '...Christopher bore witness in both word and deed to the healing power of his Unitarian Universalist faith. I am so thankful that he found a religious home with us and a faithful minister in the Rev. Frank Hall of the Westport (Connecticut) Unitarian Church.'" In Memoriam: Christopher Reeve, Unitarian Universalist, UUA.org, Oct. 12, 2004. . Retrieved August 27, 2007.
^"The Quaker Oats company, for example, should have been called the Universalist Oats, for it was started by Ferdinand Schumacher, an Akron, Ohio, Universalist who got rich selling oatmeal to the Union army during the Civil War." http://www.uuworld.org/ideas/articles/2745.shtml
^"The Serlings joined the UU Community Church of Santa Monica, California..." * Looking back: 'Twilight Zone' writer challenged prejudice, by Kimberly French, UU World magazine, Vol. XXI, Nol 4, Winter 2007.
^https://www.yadvashem.org/righteous/stories/sharp.html "And so we must know these good people who helped Jews during the Holocaust. We must learn from them, and in gratitude and hope, we must remember them."
(Elie Wiesel)
^Staff reporters (January 17, 2011). "N.J. plans Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebrations". Newark Star-Ledger. Retrieved 2011-07-31. ... Program of Remembrance, sermon by the Rev. Vanessa Southern of the Unitarian Church of Summit and song by Continuo Arts Foundation commemorating Martin Luther King Jr.'s contributions to all people
^Eade, Susan, "Catherine Helen Spence (1825–1910)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 2024-07-24
^Vonnegut said "I am an atheist (or at best a Unitarian who winds up in churches quite a lot)."Haught, James A. (1996). 2,000 Years of Disbelief: Famous People with the Courage to Doubt. Prometheus Books. ISBN978-1-57392-067-4.
^"Bring O Past Your Honor: Congregation Histories : Minnesota". Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2014-01-10. W. D. Washburn was a chief founder of the church [First Universalist Church of Minneapolis] when it was formally incorporated in 1859, and a faithful member for fifty years. (From the Washburn family also early members of the church) came the present day Pillsbury and General Mills companies
^"I am a Muslim and I worship in mosques when I am in Pakistan. I also worship in Unitarian Churches when I'm in the US..." * Global Citizen, by Dawud Wharnsby, Scout UK magazine, June/July 2010.
^"uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/alfredwhite.html White, a lifelong member of the church [The First Unitarian Church of Brooklyn]"
^"Some famous modern-day Unitarian Universalists include Tim Berners-Lee, Melissa Harris-Perry, Christopher Reeve, May Sarton, Randy Pausch, Pete Seeger, Joanne Woodward, and Kurt Vonnegut." October 2012 "Unitarian Universalist History - UUA". Archived from the original on 2014-07-02. Retrieved 2016-02-06. Accessed August 11, 2013
^"Frank Lloyd Wright's contact with All Souls Church may have begun in December 1884 when his father had preached there. The All Souls Church Fourth Annual, dated January 6, 1887, was the first to list Wright as a member..." [All Souls is a Unitarian church in Chicago, Illinois] Frank Lloyd Wright's Unity Temple and Architecture for Liberal Religion in Chicago, 1885–1909, Joseph Siry, The Art Bulletin, Vol. 73, No. 2. (Jun., 1991), pp. 257–282. . Retrieved August 26, 2007.
