Do you have a poster hanging in your congregation titled 100 Unitarian and Universalists who Made a Difference? Have you every really taken a good look at it? The UU Church of Akron 8th Principle Transformation Committee did and realized that there were a lot of white men represented and not many others. So they started a project to update the poster to reflect a more representative history of Unitarianism, Universalism and Unitarian Universalism.

We asked the congregation representatives about the process and why they undertook this project - their answers are very interesting!

Why did you decide to do this project? Why update this poster?

The old poster, “100 Unitarians and Universalists who Made a Difference” had hung in our lobby here at the UU Church of Akron since 2001. It was a gift made to the church purchased at General Assembly that year.

The poster tells a story of who, in our faith’s history, has influenced and helped shape our denomination. The question then becomes, who is telling that story? What lens is that story being told through? And is that the same lens we are looking through now?

In 2017 we hung Black Lives Matter banners and began to explore the 8th Principle as interest was growing throughout the denomination.

Starting the examination that comes with contemplating the 8th Principle, looking through this different lens, led us to consider many things. This poster, identifying mostly white men as those that “made a difference” in our denomination’s history, was one of those things.

Along with the poster we developed a supplemental document that summarizes our process and provides links to biographical data on those identified throughout.

How did you decide who to list and who to remove?

As we started research, it became clear that the first thing we needed to do was decide whether or not we stop at 100 names. There are so many people of color and women and LGBTQ+ folks that are integral to our history, along with the white folks we already recognize, how do we decide how big to make this.

So the first decision was…. we stick with 100 names. The second step was to confirm that all those on the original poster were actually, officially, U/Us. The research is not always consistent. As UU’s we claim many that are “close enough.” We did our best to find at least two sources to support the U/U claim if it was not clear otherwise.

Quite a significant number on the poster we could not confirm actually “signed the book” so to speak, or we could not find a strong connection to U/U membership. These are listed in the supplement as “cannot confirm.” However, many had had tremendous influence on the denomination then and even now, still. Transcendentalists, transformational social justice reformers and humanitarians among them. So even though we took them off the final poster, in the supplement, they are listed as “adjacent.”

Easiest to remove were those that were slave owners or exploitative of marginalized groups, even if they had served as President of the United States.

What was your research process like?

In addition to deciding to stick to 100 names, we wanted to make this first poster (more on that later) a solid reflection of our history as a denomination. You will only find five people pictured that are still alive at this printing.

While some decisions on whether a name stayed or was removed were straightforward, the decision on others was more complex. The best example I can give you is Susan B Anthony. She was on the original poster and when considering her place on the new - one minute she was on, the next she was off. Several times. While we owe a tremendous debt to the suffragettes who paved the way for women to vote, we recognize it was paved for white women only. And they were very clear about that at the time. Ultimately, we decided Anthony could stay because the work done remained a sturdy foundation for obtaining the right to vote for others, black men and women. I am not sure I would keep her in the next round.

You said you did this through an 8th Principle lens, how does this update tie into the work around the 8th Principle the congregation is doing?

One of the important pieces of living the 8th Principle is the willingness to take a look at how things are, how they “always have been” and seeing if that truly still works in the building of Beloved Community, in the quest for spiritual wholeness. Do we continue to uphold racism and oppression or are we dismantling it? Is the status quo still how we want things to be? This work is challenging for a primarily white denomination. As they say, white supremacy is the water we swim in, so when you ask the fish about the water, they don’t even know what that looks like.

Our congregation is making slow progress. Two steps forward, one step back, as is expected when making foundational changes. Being in an interim period during a pandemic, well let’s just say not everyone could or was willing to come to the table. We are hopeful we will make more significant progress as we come out of both the pandemic and interim period.

With regard to the poster update specifically, I can only imagine if we were a school we would be accused of teaching critical race theory. Fortunately, regardless of where we may disagree among ourselves, I believe we all agree, history should be a reflection of the truth of our past. Mourned when we discover it does not live up to what we had thought and hoped; and celebrated when we find those new places we can be grateful for and find joy in.

Was there one particularly surprising or fun discovery you made in doing this project?

One of the surprises was Yvonne Seon. We added her to the poster. She is a pioneer in African American Studies curriculum development, the first African American woman to be ordained as a Minister in the Unitarian Church, a scholar, and served as secretary of the Inga Dam project under Patrice Lumumba, then leader of the newly independent Congo; certainly, solidifying her place on the poster. She is also Dave Chappelle’s mother. I will just leave that there. LOL

I think the best answer though, is we discovered there are many, many more posters to be put together. We could easily fill 100 names of BIPOC folks, LGBTQ+ folks, folks sorted by gender, contribution, cultural identity, immigration status, etc. There were many we thought belonged on a poster recognizing how they are shaping our denomination. But it’s just that, they are still shaping it! So, we will save them a space on a future iteration.

UUism is this living tradition that grows over time, over decades, over centuries, and those who “makes a difference” will cast their imprint on the faith during those eras they live in. So to identify and visualize those who are difference makers can be multitudes.

And by the way, we claim no ownership of the continued work on future posters. If another group or congregation wants to take one on, just let us know so efforts are not duplicated and we will be happy to help in any way we can.

Order your updated poster on the UU Akron Website.