UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CONGREGATION OF ATLANTA.
Records, 1832-2001.
RECORD GROUP NUMBER 026
EXTENT: 32.5 cubic ft. (63 legal-size archives boxes; 3 legal half-size archives boxes; 11 letter-size archives boxes; 2 letter half-size archives boxes; 3 slide boxes; and 3 oversize boxes)
ACCESS: Unrestricted
REPRODUCTION: All requests subject to limitations noted in departmental policies on reproduction.
COPYRIGHT: Information on copyright (literary rights) available from repository.
CITATION: Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta Records, RG 026, Archives and Manuscripts Dept., Pitts Theology Library, Emory University.
The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta has its roots in two separate congregations that were established in Atlanta in the late 19th century. In 1879 Rev. W. C. Bowman established a Universalist congregation that lasted less than a year. The next attempt was in1893 when Rev. Q. H. Shinn succeeded in organizing a congregation that became the First Universalist Church in 1895.
George Chaney, a northern Unitarian minister and educator who founded the Artisan's Institute, a vocational school that later became Georgia Institute of Technology, conducted the first Unitarian service for a congregation of eight on February 19, 1882. The following year this congregation established the Church of our Father. The church experienced growth and decline in its membership and ultimately changed its name to The Unitarian Church of Atlanta on June 9, 1904. In 1915 the American Unitarian Association (AUA) financed construction of a church building at 669 West Peachtree Street.
On November 14, 1918 the Unitarians merged with the Universalist congregation to form the Liberal Christian Church. This merger is particularly noteworthy because it occurred 43 years before the national bodies of these two denominations merged. Under the dynamic leadership of Rev. Clinton Lee Scott from 1926 to 1929, the congregation approved another name change in June 1927 and became the United Liberal Church. The effects of the Great Depression, however, almost caused the church to close its doors in 1934 but the congregation managed to persevere until the 1940s.
The congregation's position on race almost destroyed the church during the late forties. In 1944, after the AUA criticized the church's policy on segregation, the congregation broke its ties with the national body. The ultimate crisis occurred in 1948, however, when the Rev. Isaiah Jonathan Domas resigned after the congregation refused membership to Dr. Thomas Baker Jones, an African-American Unitarian who chaired the Department of Social Work at Atlanta University. In response to this incident, the American Unitarian Ministers' Association urged its members to boycott the pastorate at the Atlanta church. The congregation stood its ground and turned to a minister from the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) during part of this struggle. In 1951 the American Unitarian Association resolved the crisis by selling the church building out from under the congregation.
The AUA provided an opportunity for a fresh start by sending Rev. Glenn O. Canfield to officially reorganize the church in the spring of 1952. A church building was purchased in 1953 and on January 20, 1954 the new United Liberal Church was officially reestablished. During the 1950s and 1960s the congregation demonstrated a commitment to the fight for human and civil rights. Rev. Edward A. Cahill and Rev. Eugene Pickett followed Canfield in providing the leadership the congregation needed during these tumultuous decades. On February 21, 1965, the congregation adopted a new constitution and changed the name of the church to the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta. That same year construction began on the new church building located on Cliff Valley Way.
The church is governed by a Board of Trustees in accordance with instructions by the congregation and the authority delegated by the congregation through the bylaws and polices. The Board consists of eighteen members, including the president of the congregation, the chief financial officer and the two additional trustees of finance. All of these officials are elected by the congregation. The Executive Committee of the Board consists of the president of the congregation, vice-president of the congregation, chief financial officer of the congregation, and as ex-officio members, the senior minister and church administrator. This committee attends to details of business that are delegated by the Board of Trustees and reports its recommendations to the Board. The church's ministry consists of the senior minister, an associate minister and an assistant minister.
This collection consists of the minutes, correspondence, bulletins, brochures and publications, reports, newsletters, sermons, photographs, and other material that document the history and activities of the congregation.
Of particular importance are the minutes of the Board of Trustees and church committees, the bylaws, and the constitutions. The collection also contains an almost complete set of bulletins or orders of service and newsletters from 1952-1983. The sub-series, Publications of UUCA Press, consists of everything produced by the church to announce events and issues, programs of events, and other documents that reveal the activities supported by the congregation.
The collection also contains sermons, student notebooks, and some miscellaneous correspondence that were written by or belonged to George Chaney. Sermons and lectures, primarily from the 1970s and early 1980s, are also included. In addition to Chaney, the collection contains sermons or lectures delivered by Ed Cahill, Donald J. Jacobson, Robert Karnan, Delos B. McKown, Glyn Pruce, David O. Rankin, Charles Reinhardt, Carl Scovel, Todd Taylor, and Sydney Wilde-Nugent.
The records also contain clippings and other material documenting the congregation's involvement in and support for the civil rights movement during the 1950s and 1960s.
CONTAINER LISTING
Box Folder Description Date
ADMINISTRATIVE FILES
Board of Trustees:
1 1 United Liberal Church Organization meeting minutes,
congregation meeting, budgets 1954
1 2 United Liberal Church Board and congregation minutes 1955-1957
1 3 Minutes 1959 May-Dec
1 4-5 Minutes 1960-1965
1 6-7 Minutes 1966-1967
2 1-2 Minutes 1968-1969
2 3-5 Minutes 1969-1970
2 6-7 Minutes 1971-1972
3 1-2 Minutes 1973-1974
3 3-5 Minutes 1975-1978
3 6-7 Minutes 1978-1979
4 1-2 Minutes 1980-1982
4 3 Minutes 1982 Feb
65 2-5 Minutes 1982 Jul-1983
64 7-8 Minutes 1987 Oct-1989 Feb
65 1 Minutes 1987 Oct-1989 Feb
64 4-6 Minutes 1989 Mar-1990 May
64 1-3 Minutes 1990 Jan-1991 Oct
63 7-8 Minutes 1991 Nov-1992
63 4-6 Minutes 1993
63 1-2 Minutes 1994
62 3 Minutes [loose material] 1994
75 1-3 Minutes 1995
75 4-6 Minutes 1997
76 1-2 Minutes 1998
76 3-4 Board Member Notebook 1991-1992
Committees:
4 4 1963
4 5-6 [includes Board of Trustees agenda and minutes] 1968-1969
4 7 Correspondence 1968-1969
5 1-2 [includes Board of Trustees minutes] 1976-1978
5 3-4 Congregational Identity and Long Range Planning 1976-1977
5 5-6 Congregational Identity and Long Range Planning 1977 May - 1978 Apr
65 7 Congregational Identity and Long Range Planning 1982
5 7 Committee and council reports 1988-1989
6 1-3 [Adult Education ] brochures 1966-1979
65 6 [Adult Education ] brochures 1980-1982
6 4 Aging and Awareness 1974
6 5 Art 1974-1979
6 6 Board of Trustees retreats 1974-1978
6 7 Building 1964-1965
7 1 Communications [Ad hoc] 1974-1979
7 2 Public Relations: Thinking P. R. packets 1976
7 3 Public Relations: Thinking P. R. packets 1977
61 Endowment Fund, A-C 1967-2000
62 Endowment Fund, C-M 1967-2000
74 Endowment Fund, P-T 1967-2000
Endowment Fund, A-Z 2001-2003
7 4 Congregation Identity 1977-1978
7 5-6 Long Range Planning 1966-1968
7 7 Long Range Planning 1977-1987
8 1 Long Range Planning 1977-1987
8 2 Long Range Planning 1989-1994
8 3 Personal Needs Program 1974-1975
8 4 Personal Needs 1975-1978
8 5 Public Issues 1962
8 6 Public Issues 1967-1969
8 7 Religious Education 1975-1977
65 8 Religious Education 1964-1998
76 5 Religious Education Council Board, Intergenerational
Activities 1992
8 8 Self-Study 1971-1972
9 1 Social Concerns [Social Service Committee] 1965-1968
9 2 Social Concerns 1977
9 3 Women and Religion [Ad Hoc] 1975-1980
9 4 Women's Faire 1980-1981
9 5 Miscellaneous 1979-1980
General files:
9 6 Annual meeting 1978-1979
9 7 Annual report to UUA 1957-1968
53 4 Awards and proclamations 1982-1987
9 8 Brochures, Miscellaneous 1965-1970
9 9 Brochures 1970-1975
10 1 Brochures on death circa 1975
10 2 Building renovation 1982
53 5 Candidate bios undated
10 3 Chandler III, Ordination service of Floyd Vernon 1976
10 4 Church histories 1975-1982
10 5 Church history circa 1960-1982
66 1 Church history 1988
10 6 Cliff Valley School 1972
10 7 Congregational meeting 1978 Apr
10 8 Congregational Statement of Purpose Surveys 1984
10 9 Conscientious objector statement circa 1965
10 10-11 Correspondence 1970-1979
11 1 Directory of Activities - Organizations 1978-1980
11 2 Endowment Fund circa 1978
11 3 Every Member Canvas 1974-1975
76 6-7 Every Member Canvas, Executive Committee 1992-1993
77 1 Feasibility Study Final Report 1999
11 4 General Assembly 1976-1978
66 2 Guide to UUCA 1969, 1978
11 5 Guide to UUCA 1979-1991
66 3 Guide to UUCA 1991, 1996-1998
11 6 Insurance policies 1957-1964
11 7 Interfaith program 1974-1977
11 8 Intern program 1976
11 9 Equipment inventory circa 1973
11 10 Legal Advisory Service [Lawyers Referral Service] 1979-1980
12 1 Memorials - Ross, Penningroth, Hollums, McDonald 1978
12 2 Mid-South District - annual report 1982-1983, 1993
12 3 Mid-South District - meeting 1977
Ministerial:
12 4 Certificate and service of dedication undated
12 5 Church history for new members 1978
12 6 Counseling service forms undated
12 7 New member check list [blank forms] undated
12 8 New member letter from president 1962-1983
12 9 New member recognition service undated
12 10 Wedding ceremonies 1977
12 11 Wedding certificates undated
12 12 Wedding forms undated
Ministerial Candidates:
77 2-3 Associate Minister Candidate's Notebook 1989
77 4-5 Associate Minister Candidate's Notebook 1999-2000
77 6-7 Senior Minister Candidate's Notebook 1988
12 13 Ministerial issues 1977-1983
12 14 Ministerial settlement guidelines circa 1975
12 15 Ministers Association, Unitarian Universalist 1970-1974
12 16 Moravian love feast 1969-1980
12 17 Mountain highlands program 1980
13 1 Organizational handbook 1959-1965
13 2 Other Voices newsletter 1976-1978
13 3 Pickett, Eugene O. 1969-1980
13 4 Organizational proposal, United Liberal Church 1963
13 5 Organizational proposal for the United Liberal Church undated
77 8 Pledge Reports 1991-1992
13 6 Policies: 1980
13 7 By-Laws 1970
13 8 By-Laws 1975-1976
13 9 By-Laws 1977-1978
13 10 By-Laws 1980
13 11 By-Laws 1982, 1988
13 12 By-Laws 1993
13 13 By-Laws - revision 1969-1970
13 14 By-Laws and constitution 1963-1966
66 4 By-Laws and policies 1991
13 15 Charter, by-laws, policies 1952-1978
13 16 Priorities, budget, miscellaneous 1975-1979
13 17 Use of church building 1969-1976
14 1 Pruce, Glyn - Interim minister 1974-1975
14 2 Rankin, David O. - installation service 1979
78 1-4 REACH Packet 1987
78 5-6 REACH Packet 1992
72 Register of weddings, dedications and funerals 1955-1991
14 3 Reinhardt, Charles A. - resignation 1976
79 1 Renovation and Addition Project Manual 1999
14 4 Rising Press 1989
14 5 SUUSI - Southeastern UU Summer Institute 1977-1980
14 6 Southeast Winter Institute of Miami 1976-1980
14 7 Star Island Conference brochure 1978
79 2 Sunday Attendance Records 1989-1994
79 3 Sunday Teacher's Announcements 1988-1993
14 8 Sweetser, Terry - Candidate for minister circa 1983
14 9 Sweetser, Terry - Installation 1983
14 10 Underground Theatre 1980
79 4 Unitarian Universalism in the Home 1986
14 11 United Liberal Church 1952-1965
14 12 Ushering procedure undated
14 13 UUA Unitarian Universalists Association 1976-1979
15 1 Vietnamese project (Lap Van Nguyen) 1975-1976
79 5 Weddings, Dedications, and Memorial Services 1990-2001
15 2-3 Weekly Sunday statistics 1968-1979
15 4 You and the UUCA [brochure] 1967-1968
79 6 Youth and Parenting Brochures circa 1960s
15 5 Miscellaneous 1976-1977
15 6 Miscellaneous 1983
ANNUAL REPORTS
16 1 Annual Report 1957-1958
16 2 Annual Report 1958-1959
16 3 Annual Report 1960-1961
16 4 Annual Report 1961-1963
16 5 Annual Report 1963-1965
16 6 Annual Report 1965-1966
16 7 Annual Report 1967
16 8 Annual Report 1967-1970
16 9 Annual Report 1971-1975
16 10 Annual Report 1975-1978
16 11 Annual Report 1979-1984
66 5 Annual Report 1986-1988
66 6 Annual Report 1989-1990
16 12 Annual Report 1991-1994
66 7 Annual Report 1991-1994
66 8 Annual Report 1995-2000
79 7 Annual Report 1997
CHURCH DIRECTORIES
17 1 Church directories [United Liberal Church] 1958-1961
66 9 Church directories 1961-1964
17 2 Church directories 1965-1970
66 10 Church directories 1971
17 3 Church directories 1972-1975
17 4 Church directories 1976-1979
17 5 Church directories 1980
66 11 Church directories 1982
17 5 Church directories 1984-1985
17 6-7 Church directories [proof pages] 1984-1985
17 8 Church directories 1984,1986
66 12 Church directories 1992-1995
66 13 Church directories 1995-1998
66 14 Church directories 1998-2000
66 15 Church directories 2001
66 16 Church directories 2002
18 FISCAL RECORDS 1958-1983
19 GUEST BOOKS 1952-1977
(Includes Pledge to family of Martin Luther King, Jr.)
HISTORICAL FILES
George Chaney's files:
20 1 Correspondence 1885-1890
20 2 Correspondence - 15 empty envelopes circa 1882-1904
20 3 Deed for property in Virginia 1894
20 4 Miscellaneous 1874-1900
20 5 Publications on abolition 1860-1862
20 6 Published sermons of the American Unitarian Association
Tracts - 1st series #2-#129 circa 1831-1838
20 7 Published sermons of the American Unitarian Association
Tracts - 1st series #138-#246 circa 1838-1848
20 8 Published sermons of the American Unitarian Association
Tracts - 4th and 5th series circa 1878, undated
21 1 Publications of the American Unitarian Association - Misc. 1858-1890
21 2 Published sermons, programs, and proceedings circa 1860-1889
21 3 Student notebooks - Questions on theology 1860 Sep
21 4 Student notebooks - Prof. Folsom 1860 Sep
21 5 Student notebooks - Ecclesiastical history, Prof.
Huidekoper 1860 Sep
21 6 Student notebooks - Anthropology 1861
22 Sermons 1861-1871
23 Sermons 1871-1885
24 Sermons 1886-1890, undated
25 Unitarian Church of Atlanta - Minutes, Book I 1884-1909
26 2 Unitarian Church of Atlanta - Minutes, Book II 1884-1909
26 1 Unitarian Church of Atlanta - Index to Record Books I & II 1884-1909
60 1 First Universalist Church - Board minutes 1900-1907
60 2 First Universalist Church - Mission Circle minutes 1897-1899
Liberal Christian Church:
26 3-4 Minutes of meetings 1925-1938
26 5 Membership directory undated
26 6 Sunday School attendance register 1919-1925
60 3 Woman's Union minutes 1919-1921
60 4 Woman's Union minutes 1922-1924
60 5 Woman's Union minutes 1924-1926
26 7 Young People's Christian Union minutes 1916-1925
26 8 Correspondence and bulletins 1923-1930
United Liberal Church:
60 6 Women's Union minutes 1942-1948
60 7 Women's Union minutes 1949-1951
26 9 Young People's minutes 1939
60 8 History of Universalism in Atlanta, Ga. 1917-1934
60 9 Clippings and programs from History of Universalism
in Atlanta, Ga. folder 1900-1936
26 10 United Liberal Church 1946-1949
27 1 Miscellaneous - Orders of Service from other churches 1936-1939
27 2 Miscellaneous publications - Self-Culture by William E.
Channing 1838
28 Miscellaneous publications - Atlanta and Its Builders:
A Comprehensive History of the Gate City of the South,
Vol. 2 by Thomas H. Martin 1902
27 3 Miscellaneous publications - Unitarian and Universalist
literature 1925-1937
27 4 Miscellaneous publications - The Quiet Heart by Frances Towne 1968
60 10 Teacher training card and exam of Eloise Templeman 1927
MEMBERSHIP
73 Register - "Grand Folly" circa 1950s-1960s
85 New Member Photo Directory 1984-1988
PUBLICITY FILES
27 5 Clippings from scrapbook 1952-1958
27 6 Miscellaneous 1954-1965
27 7 Racial issues 1962-1963
27 8 Church building 1962-1966
27 9 Miscellaneous 1962-1988
27 10 Atlanta Magazine 1966 Aug
27 11 Atlanta Magazine 1972 Dec
ORDERS OF SERVICE AND NEWSLETTERS
60 11 ULC Sunday service programs 1931-1932
29 ULC Sunday service programs 1952-1957
30 ULC Sunday service programs 1958-1961
30 10 includes programs from other Unitarian congregations 1961-1964
67 1 ULC newsletters 1961 Jan-Jun
31 ULC Sunday service programs and newsletters 1962-1965
32 UUCA orders of service and newsletters 1965-1968 Feb
33 UUCA orders of service and newsletters 1968 Mar-1970 Feb
34 UUCA orders of service and newsletters 1970 Mar-1972 Apr
35 UUCA orders of service and newsletters 1972 Apr-1974
36 UUCA orders of service and newsletters 1975-1976
37 UUCA orders of service and newsletters 1977-1979 Mar
38 UUCA orders of service and newsletters 1979 Apr-1981
39 1 UUCA orders of service and newsletters 1982 Jan-Apr
39 2 UUCA orders of service and newsletters 1982 Dec-1983 Jan
39 3 UUCA orders of service and newsletters 1983 Feb-Apr
69 6-7 UUCA orders of service 1980
69 8 UUCA orders of service 1981 Jan-Mar
69 9 UUCA orders of service 1982 May-Dec
70 UUCA orders of service 1983 May-1986
71 1-2 UUCA orders of service 1987
71 3-5 UUCA orders of service 1988
71 6-7 UUCA orders of service 1989
79 8 UUCA orders of service 1990
80 1 UUCA orders of service 1990
80 2-3 UUCA orders of service 1991
80 4-5 UUCA orders of service 1992
80 6-7 UUCA orders of service 1993
81 1-2 UUCA orders of service 1994
81 3 UUCA orders of service 1995
81 4-5 UUCA orders of service 1996
81 6-7 UUCA orders of service 1997
82 1-2 UUCA orders of service 1998
82 3 UUCA orders of service 1999
82 4 UUCA orders of service 2000
82 5-6 UUCA orders of service, Children's Sunday worship services 1988-1998
83 1 UUCA orders of service, Children's Sunday worship services 1988-1998
83 2-5 UUCA orders of service, Wednesday worship services 1988-1991
83 6-8 UUCA orders of service, Wednesday worship services 1991-1993
67 2 UUCA orders of service - memorial services 1986-1991
67 3-4 UUCA newsletters 1980
67 5 UUCA newsletters 1981 Jan-Apr, 1981 Jul
67 6 UUCA newsletters 1982 Apr-Nov
67 7 UUCA newsletters 1983 Apr-Dec
67 8-9 UUCA newsletters 1984
68 UUCA newsletters 1984-1988
69 1 UUCA newsletters 1989
69 2-5 UUCA newsletters 1993 Sep-1995 Aug
84 1 UUCA newsletter, The Cliffhanger 1996-1997
84 2 UUCA newsletter, The Cliffhanger 1998-1999
84 3 UUCA newsletter, The Cliffhanger 2000
PUBLICATIONS OF UUCA PRESS
40 1982 Feb-1979 Aug
41 1979 Jul-1978 Nov
42 1978 Nov-Mar
43 1978 Mar-1977 Mar
44 1977 Mar-1976 Aug
45 1976 Aug-1974 Oct
46 1974 Oct-1972 Sep
47 1972 Aug-1970 Feb
48 1970 Feb-1968
49 1968-1966 Apr
50 1966 Apr-1964 Aug
51 1964-1961
SERMONS AND LECTURES
52 1 Cahill, Ed 1957-1958, undated
52 2 Jacobson, Donald J. 1966-1981
52 3 Karnan, Robert 1978-1981
52 4 McKown, Delos B 1978
71 8 Pickett, Eugene 1967
52 5 Pruce, Glyn 1974-1975
52 6 Rankin, David O. 1979-1980
52 7 Rankin, David O. 1980-1982
52 8 Reinhardt, Charles 1975-1978
52 9 Scovel, Carl - Picket lectures 1985
52 10 Taylor, Todd 1979
53 1 Wilde-Nugent, Sydney 1980
53 2 Miscellaneous 1973-1985
53 3 Service scripts circa 1977-1978
PHOTOGRAPHS AND FILM
54 Photographs 1884-1976
55 Slides, 1-199 [Slide listing available in repository] circa 1950s-1960s
56 Slides, 200-399 circa 1960s-1970s
57 Slides, 400-503 circa 1970s
58 Home movie film undated
59 Scrapbook [oversize] undated