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4. Crossing the Border of Race The Unitarians, the World’s Fair, and the Chicago Woman’s Club On the fourth Sunday in July of 1890, Barrier Williams was the guest speaker at All Souls Unitarian Church. It would not be the last time that she would appear in the pulpit, but this presentation topic, “Prudence Crandall Philleo,” had a particular meaning.1 It honored the memory of Crandall, who had died the previous January. Crandall married Baptist minister Calvin Philleo shortly after she was forced to close her school for black girls in 1834. When the couple left Connecticut, they eventually migrated west and lived for a time in Illinois. Crandall’s life story was a strong illustration of a principle that Barrier Williams held dear: a dedication to promoting education. The admiration for Prudence Crandall’s accomplishments was clear in the name that her husband and Lloyd Wheeler gave the club they had co-founded three years earlier. And because Crandall’s Quaker background was at the heart of her antislavery activism and commitment to black rights, Barrier Williams saw a clear link between Crandall ’s social justice ideals and the religious ideology she embraced.2 All Souls presented Barrier Williams with an institutional venue for advancing black progress in the same way that Crandall’s educational institution had done so for young black girls in the early nineteenth century. All Souls was part of the Unitarian movement that began in the Northeast and found its footing in the Midwest in 1849 when the few Unitarian ministers located in the region held their first conference in Chicago. Rapid growth encouraged a second meeting seven years later.3 By the time Fannie and S. Laing Williams arrived more than thirty years later the denomination had become firmly entrenched. In Chicago, Jenkin Lloyd Jones had built one of the most successful religious institutions in the city. Jones, who was born in 1843, acquired his deeply religious and freethinking ideas from his Welsh parents, who were liberal Christians. They immigrated to 70 chapter 4 the United States when he was one year old and settled on a farm in Wisconsin. Though his formal education was limited, he was exposed early to religious study. Several of his uncles had been Unitarian ministers, and his father had led church services. During the Civil War, Jones enlisted in the Union army. After the war, in 1866, he entered the Preparatory Department at Meadville Theological School in Pennsylvania. After graduating in 1870, he married Susan C. Barber, a secretary at Meadville. The two formed a formidable team that lasted until Susan’s death in 1911.4 The first professional years for the couple were nomadic and sometimes difficult . Initially Jones found a position as a minister in Winnetka, Illinois, where he preached at Liberal Christian Church. But that appointment proved incompatible with his style of leadership. The couple moved to First Independent Society of Liberal Christians in Janesville, Wisconsin, where they flourished. With Susan’s assistance, Jones published The Sunday School, a monthly devoted to religious education and creative methods of teaching theology to children. He also established the Mutual Improvement Club. The club pulled women into the public life of church work, social service, and reform. Similar to a lyceum, it offered readings, discussions, and lectures in topics such as classical literature, art, and poetry. There were also lectures and sections on current events. As regional and national interest in women’s issues increased, suffrage, temperance, and civil service reform discussions were held often.5 The couple also participated in the Western Unitarian Conference. Established in 1852, the conference covered a large territory that encompassed the old Northwest and parts of western New York State. As a result of the expansive geographical territory, regional as well as ideological differences threatened the cohesiveness of the group. Debates over oversight grew as Midwestern members , motivated by their own unique regional circumstances, questioned church authority, teachings, and doctrine. Debates over slavery and the role of blacks in society also caused much concern, pitting individuals, local communities, and the national organization against each other.6 By the end of Reconstruction , however, many of the differences had been resolved. To be sure, regional distinctions remained: Midwestern Unitarians were in a constant struggle for power and control with their northeastern colleagues, the seat of Unitarian dominance. The impact of the dissension, however, was minimized primarily because of Jones’s enthusiasm for increasing the membership of midwestern Unitarians. Serving as missionary...

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