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Northeast District Unitarian Universalist Association records

 Collection
Identifier: Coll. 4257

Scope and Content note

Correspondence, minutes, financial records, printed material (including periodicals, programs), newspaper clippings, photographs, sermons, scrapbook.

Dates

  • Creation: 1871 - 1995

Creator

Access

Unrestricted

Copyright

Access to collections at Maine Historical Society is not an authorization to publish. Rights and reproduction requests may be submitted in writing to the MHS Image Services Coordinator or Research & Administrative Librarian, subject to format.

Administrative note

The majority of this collection are the historical records of the Universalists in Maine (Maine Universalist Convention and later Universalist Church of Maine), with less about the Unitarians (Maine Unitarian Association). The two denominations merged in 1961, when the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of America merged, to create the Northeast District Unitarian Universalist Association.

In July 2008 the Northeast District, which included Maine, Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island, merged with the New Hampshire Vermont District of Unitarian Universalist Societies to become the Northern New England District (of the Unitarian Universalist Church). At the district annual meeting on September 20, 2020, delegates voted for the dissolution of the district and merger with the New England Region (of the Unitarian Universalist Church).

Source: Unitarian Universalist Associaiton, Former Districts of the New England Region.

Key players: Maine Universalist Convention. (Started in 1861)

  • 1910-1917: Asa Mayo Bradley (1856-1937)
  • 1917-192?: Dwight A. Ball, Superintendent. Also minister at the First Universalist Church in West Paris, Maine
  • 1920s-1930s: Rev. Milo G. Folsom was the Acting Secretary and Superintendent. He was the minister at the First Universalist Church in Gardiner, Maine.
  • 1924-1933. Stanley Manning was the superintendent of the Maine Universalist Convention.
  • 1930s: Rev. William Dawes Veazie, Secretary and Superintendent of Churches.
  • 1940-1967: Kenneth G. Hawkes was the Secretary and Superintendent. He later became the Executive Secretary of the Northeast District Unitarian Universalist Association in the 1960s. Clarence Philbrick was the Chairman of the Trustees of the Universalist Church of Maine.
  • 1968- : Robert C. Sallies was District Executive Secretary
Universalist Church of Maine.
  • 1950s: Walter Kellison was Superintendent of The Universalist Church of Maine. He resigned in 1955. See Maine Universalist (Nov.-Dec. 1955)
Maine Unitarian Association.
  • 1920s: Elias Thomas, Treasurer; Norman Bassett, Treasurer
  • 1940s: Rev. Horace Colpitts (Eastport, Maine) was Secretary
Northern New England Region of Unitarian Churches. Northeast District Unitarian Universalist Association.
  • 1980s: Isabel T. Coburn, District Executive.
Includes sermons by C. L. (Charles L.) Waite, who preached at various churches in Maine, including Brunswick and Freeport. Before coming to Maine he served in churches in New York, Ohio, Iowa, and Massachusetts. He also served as editor of the “Gospel Banner.” He retired to Portland (Woodfords), and attended All Souls in Portland (See Box 32, Folder 8). From around 1917-1925 Rev. Charles L. Waite (1839-1928) lived at 170 Glenwood Ave. in Portland (according to city directories), and died in Portland in 1928 at the age of 89 (See Box 28, Folder 10).

Also of interest are records related to the Passamaquoddy Indians “situation” in 1966-1968.

Extent

32 Linear Feet

1 Volumes (scrapbook)

1 Sheets (oversize folder)

Language of Materials

English

Series

  • 1. Churches (including some in New Brunswick) – 19 boxes
  • 2. Clergy/People – 3 boxes
  • 3. Sermons by C.L. Waite – 6 boxes
  • 4. Maine Universalist Convention and Universalist Church of Maine – 25 boxes
  • 4.1 Correspondence – 8 boxes
  • 4.2 Administrative records – 17 boxes
  • 5. Maine Unitarian Association – 5 boxes
  • 6. Northeast District Unitarian Universalist Association – 6 boxes
  • 7. Periodicals and newsletters (some transferred to MHS library shelves) – 1 box
  • 8. Oversized – folder (OS7-A) and scrapbook

Container list

Series 1: Churches
  • Box 1: Churches - A (Addison-Augusta All Souls)
  • Box 2: Churches – A (Augusta All Souls) – B (Bangor Independent Congregational Society)
  • Box 3: Churches – B (Bangor Independent Congregational Society – Bath)
  • Box 4: Churches – B (Belfast – Bowdoinham)
  • Box 5: Churches – B (Bowdoinham) – C (Calais)
  • Box 6: Churches – C (Canton – Castine)
  • Box 7: Churches – D (Dexter) – E (Exeter)
  • Box 8: Churches – F (Fairfield) – H (Hope)
  • Box 9: Churches – H (Houlton) – L (Leeds)
  • Box 10: Churches – L (Lewiston – Livermore Falls)
  • Box 11: Churches – M (Machias) – N (North Jay)
  • Box 12: Churches – N (Norway) – O (Old Town)
  • Box 13: Churches – O (Orono) – P (Pittsfield)
  • Box 14: Churches – P (Portland – All Souls/Church of the Messiah – Congress Square)
  • Box 15: Churches – P (Portland – Congress Square – Presque Isle)
  • Box 16: Churches – R (Rockland – Rumford)
  • Box 17: Churches – R (Rumford) – S (Saco)
  • Box 18: Churches – S (Sangerville – Stockton Springs)
  • Box 19: Churches – S (Swanville) – Y (Yarmouth)
Series 2: Clergy/People
  • Box 20: Clergy/People – A (Ames) – H (Hilton)
  • Box 21: Clergy/People – K (Kellison) – R (Reardon)
  • Box 22: Clergy/People – R (Robbins) – W (West); Miscellaneous
Series 3: Sermons by C. L. Waite
  • Box 23: Sermons: no. 8-159
  • Box 24: Sermons: no. 160-233, B63-C25
  • Box 25: Sermons: no. C31-C53; Bible verses (Old Testament and Gospels)
  • Box 26: Sermons: Bible verses (New Testament after Gospels); Alphabetical titles A-D
  • Box 27: Sermons: Alphabetical titles G-T
  • Box 28: Sermons: Alphabetical titles U-X and fragments
Series 4: Maine Universalist Convention
Subseries 4.1: Maine Universalist Convention correspondence
  • Box 29: Correspondence, 1912-1914 (A-I)
  • Box 30: Correspondence, 1914 (J) – 1915 (L)
  • Box 31: Correspondence, 1915 (M) – 1916 (M)
  • Box 32: Correspondence, 1916 (N-Y) and 1917 (October)
  • Box 33: Correspondence, 1917 (Nov.) – 1918 (Dec.)
  • Box 34: Correspondence, 1919 (Jan.-Oct.)
  • Box 35: Correspondence, 1919 (Nov.-Dec.) – 1920
  • Box 36: Correspondence, 1921-1936; Miscellaneous 1874-1938
Subseries 4.2: Administrative records
  • Box 37: Reports and administrative records, 1902-1927
  • Box 38: Reports and administrative records, 1928-1939
  • Box 39: Trustees, treasurers, and financial records, 1907-1939
  • Box 40: Reports and administrative records, 1940-1941
  • Box 41: Reports and administrative records, 1941-1942
  • Box 42: Reports and administrative records, 1942-1943
  • Box 43: Reports and administrative records, 1943-1944
  • Box 44: Reports and administrative records, 1944-1945
  • Box 45: Reports and administrative records, 1946-1947
  • Box 46: Reports and administrative records, 1948-1949
  • Box 47: Trustees, treasurers, and financial records, 1940-1945
  • Box 48: Trustees, treasurers, and financial records, 1945-1947
  • Box 49: Trustees, treasurers, and financial records, 1948-1956; Religious education, ca. 1950-1955
  • Box 50: Reports and administrative records, 1950-1953
  • Box 51: Reports and administrative records, 1953-1954
  • Box 52: Reports and administrative records, 1955-1959; Manuscript (n.d.)
  • Box 53: Reports and administrative records, 1960-1965
Series 5: Maine Unitarian Association
    (Unitarian church records)
  • Box 54: Administrative records, 1874-1945
  • Box 55: Financial records, 1918-1932
  • Box 56: Administrative records, 1946-1954
  • Box 57: Administrative records, 1954-1957
  • Box 58: Administrative records, 1958-1962
Series 6: Northeast District Unitarian Universalist Association
  • Box 59: Administrative records, 1960-1962
  • Box 60: Administrative records, 1962-1963
  • Box 61: Administrative records, 1964-1965; Passamaquoddy Indians Project, 1964-1969
  • Box 62: Administrative records, 1966-1969
  • Box 63: Administrative records, 1969-1970
  • Box 64: Administrative records, 1971-1977 (1982); Legal sized Universalist and Unitarian records
Series 7: Periodicals and newsletters
  • Box 65: Periodicals and newsletters, 1949-1979
Series 8: Oversized: folder and scrapbook

Provenance

Gift of New England District of the Unitarian Universalist Association (acc. nos. 1998.217 (?), 2007.071). The gifts came at different times and have been in backlog for many years.

Related material

See also MHS Coll. 42: Maine Universalist records, ca. 1830-1965.

In museum

Printing plate, ca. 1930s, showing group of men under sign: “Worster.”

Processing note

By 2023 the collection was in a combination of record cartons and document boxes, due to the work of John Knowlton, MHS volunteer, ca. 2006: Unitarian Universalists (New England Division), records, ca. 10,000 items; NB cartons were originally numbered 1 – 26, but they were condensed into 14 record cartons and 28 manuscript cartons; container #1 has a list of the material in 21 of the containers. Retaining this order, the collection was then rehoused into 74 document boxes. The boxes were then rearranged into series. There were at least three series of records about individual churches, so these were combined into one, for ease of research.

Whenever possible original file names were retained in rehousing. The correspondence files were originally arranged in various ways, depending on who was keeping the records. Some of the earlier files are basically chronological and then alphabetical, and some of the subsequent files were arranged by year and then by month. Because of the variety of filing systems the researcher may want to look in files other than the logical place. Some folders have a range of dates that goes beyond the box dates. Further organizing can be done.

Some of the later records had the staples removed and Plastiklips were used instead. Because of the bulk created in doing so, these could be removed and archival paper used to keep items together (some of this has been done).

Title
Guide to the Northeast District Unitarian Universalist Association records
Status
In Progress
Author
Nancy Noble, MHS Archivist, August 2023-April 2024
Date
April 4, 2024
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Maine Historical Society Repository