Unitarian Universalist Resources: Service Committees
In
May 1940, the American Unitarian Association announced the formation of the
Unitarian Service Committee of the United States and Canada "to investigate
opportunities for humanitarian service both in America and abroad and to take
action to perform such humanitarian service as may in its judgment seem
desirable and to raise funds to carry out its objectives." The initial
nature of that service in the 1940s was to assist the many thousands of
refugees fleeing the Nazis in war-torn Europe. Some of the earliest pioneers
associated with the work of the Unitarian Service Committee were Robert Dexter,
Martha and Waitstill Sharp, Charles Joy, Noel and Herta Field, Howard Brooks, and
Helen Fogg. In 1940, the Universalist Board of Trustees appointed an emergency
War Relief Committee to organize support for its Universalist War Relief Fund.
Out of this effort came the Universalist Service Committee, which was officially
formed in 1945. Both Service Committees became involved in other humanitarian
efforts in Europe and other parts of the world. (see the UUSC's timeline).
In 1963, the Unitarian Service Committee and the Universalist Service Committee
merged to form the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee. The UU Service
Committee is currently an associate member of the Unitarian Universalist
Association.
Records of the Unitarian Service Committee, the Universalist Service Committee, and the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee are found in the Manuscripts and Archives Department, as are the papers of Charles Joy (bMS 347). See How to Use the Manuscripts and Archives Collections for detailed instructions on searching the collections for information about these committees.
For a history of the Service Committees, see:
- Ghanda DiFiglia, Roots and Visions: The First Fifty Years of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee. Boston: Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, 1990.
- Timothy Driscoll, "Unitarian Universalist Service Committee Archives at the Harvard Divinity School: A Brief History and Collection Guide." The Journal of Unitarian Universalist History, v. 25 (1998), pp. 41-57.
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