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2. Women’s History
In 1863, when the first female UU minister, Olympia Brown, was ordained, she also became the first female minister ordained in any denomination in the country. When women in the United States earned the right to vote in 1920, the women’s group at the First Universalist Church had already been meeting for fifteen years. With such milestones set back in history now, it is easy to forget what a long struggle it has been for women to attain basic rights—in our Unitarian Universalist churches, where women now make up half of our ministers and are easily elected as presidents.
The evolution of the Association of Universalist Women (AUW) has been dramatic. It has been touched by momentous social changes including Women’s Suffrage, the Civil Rights Movement, Roe versus Wade, and the movement for passage of the Equal Rights Amendment.
In the early years of the AUW, women’s group members were the keepers of the kitchen. They also rode the bus downtown together in the 1960’s to find out how African Americans were being treated in Dayton’s Department Store. They put on the Christmas tea each December, marking the beginning of the holiday season, and using the traditional Moody china (Moody was the name of a family in the church in the early years). They also collected used nylons to send to Japan for a women’s textile industry. It was also during the 1960’s that the First Universalist Church of Minneapolis elected its first female president of the congregation, Myrna Hansen. In 1970, our denomination passed a resolution at General Assembly, in Ithaca, calling for inclusive language in our hymnals and other materials and calling for equality for women in all the affairs of our congregations.
Women have long sensed their deep connection to the larger struggle for social justice. Dr. Martin Luther King explained it this way, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” During the women’s movement, when women’s work began to be undervalued, member of the AUW refused to be the keepers of the kitchen any longer. They provided funds for the renovation of the nursery, and in the 1980’s, when the number of young children was growing quickly, bought an indoor climber to help mothers enjoy the coffee hour at church. They paid for child care for evening church meetings when it was cut out of the larger church budget, struggled to figure out how to attract younger women to their meetings, and said “yes” to a women’s ritual group and to the idea of a Solstice Service. They said “yes” to an evening subgroup of the women’s group when attendance in the daytime group began to falter due to women working outside the home. They faithfully sent money to Pro-choice Resources, Clara Barton Camp, and other activist/advocacy groups. Their members escorted patients into abortion clinics, participated in anti-war demonstrations, supported a girls’ school in India, and sent books to a women’s library in India.
If larger movements like suffrage and reproductive rights affected women’s lives deeply, the movement of women into gainful employment influenced attendance of women’s group meetings. Daytime meetings were no longer possible. A second “unit” of the AUW was formed and offered evening meetings. Some women still could not, or did not, maintain membership in the organization. Many had thought of gainful employment as a panacea, but it was proving to be an obstacle to women’s participation in some of the very organizations that had been catalysts for change.
In the year 2000, the AUW is stronger than it has been in many years. With a membership of approximately one hundred women, the organization offers a variety of programming, usually at least two offerings a month of the main organization. In addition, there are numerous small circle groups for women, both for ritual and support. Some do not fall under the umbrella of the AUW. The board of the organization continues to look at new ways to meet the needs of pre-retirement age women and to search for alternative ways for women of all ages to be together. In addition, the board is considering how to continue providing what women need, while lightening its administrative load to prevent burnout of its board members. The structural model of Lincoln, Nebraska, has provided fuel for discussion related to these issues.
The sociological changes, largely inspired by the women’s movement, have solved some of women’s problems, but they have also created new conundrums. We have become a culture dominated by paid employment—one that undervalues homemaking and child raising. Now we struggle with how to balance our lives to include more time for family and community.
Sharon Bishop framed the problem this way: “What women used to do was so devalued that no one does it now. Instead of discussing how work consumed men’s lives, women began to work like men and now work consumes everyone.” It is true that we struggle now, with giving traditional women’s work—caring for children, cooking and homemaking—the importance it deserves. As Reverend Carol Hepokoski put it, “We struggle with how to find more time for living.”
In addition to addressing the similar needs of AUW members, the organization strives to give each woman the message that it cares about her growth and particular dilemmas. For young women, it frequently offers childcare during church events. The AUW has also sponsored or stimulated special programming for mothers and clusters of women. The AUW started the Parents Morning Out group, which has been meeting for several years and now offers two mornings from which parents can choose. Some parents and children in PMO establish continuing friendships. And, in addition to simply supporting “younger” women, these efforts eventually bring in new members. Newly retired women have been a fresh source of energy at First Universalist Church. Still, the women’s group, like so many, continues to help women grapple with the problem of how to find more time for living.