30 Universalist Schools of Higher Education Operating in the United States in the 19th Century

. . . As long as I'm dispelling myths of Universalist history, I might as well post this list.

I hear now and again from my fellow UUs that the Universalist side of our denomination was small and rural and never amounted to all that much until they merged with the Unitarians (1961). Well, I'm not one for lying down when I hear such a myth being perpetuated. Universalists accomplished many things and this list merely recites the vast number of schools of higher education they founded during the period of their greatest activity and influence.

(Apart from these higher institutions of learning, Universalists also opened countless "lower" schools. The list below is in chronological order.)


1. 1819. Nichols Academy, Dudley, Massachusetts, operated under Universalist auspices 1819–1823, closed in 1911, reopened later as a four year college

2. 1831. Clinton Liberal Institute, Clinton, New York, 1831–1900

3. 1831. Westbrook Seminary, Westbrook, Maine, operated by Universalists 1831–1925, then became non-sectarian

4. 1832. Western Union Seminary, Philomath, Indiana, 1832–1841

5. 1833. American Literary, Scientific, and Military Academy, Norwich, Vermont, supported by many Universalists 1833–1847

6. 1835. Waterville Liberal Institute, Waterville, Maine, 1835–1857

7. 1835. Unity Scientific and Military Academy, Unity, New Hampshire, 1835–1840

8. 1835. Lebanon Liberal Institute, Lebanon, New Hampshire, 1835–1850

9. 1838. Methuen Liberal Institute, a.k.a. Murray Institute, Methuen, Massachusetts, 1838–1839

10. 1843. Reading Academy, also known as Reading Seminary, Reading, Massachusetts, 1843–1868, joint effort of Universalist and Unitarians, later called Melrose Academy, Wakefield, Massachusetts, then Greenwood Seminary

11. 1843. Mount Caesar Seminary–Swanzey Academy, Swanzey, New Hampshire, 1843–1859

12. 1844. Southold Academy, Long Island, New York, founded 1834, operated by Universalists from 1844, became Southold Collegiate Institute 1858, operated by St. Patrick's Catholic Church from 1863

13. 1847. Melrose Academy, West Brattleboro, Vermont, 1847–1852

14. 1848. Green Mountain Liberal Institute, then Green Mountain Perkins Institute, South Woodstock, Vermont, 1848–1893

15. 1849. Western Liberal Institute, Marietta, Ohio, 1849–1853

16. 1852. Tufts College, Boston, Massachusetts, 1852–1955, became Tufts University, 1955–present

17. 1865. Dean Academy, Franklin, Massachusetts, 1865–1957

18. 1851. Illinois Liberal Institute, Galesburg IL, 1851–1857, became Lombard University 1857–1900, prep school called Lombard College added in 1900. Taken over by Unitarians in 1928 as part of a proposed merger of denominations. Merged with Knox College in 1930 and Lombard College as a separate institution came to an end (see number 28). Was the first college or university to admit women to all its departments and all its degree programs equally with men.

19. 1852. Divinity School, then Crane Theological School, part of Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts

20. 1852. Orleans Liberal Institute, Glover, Vermont, 1852–1872

21. 1856. St. Lawrence University, Canton, New York, 1856–1910, ceased to be run by Universalists 1910 http://www.stlawu.edu/

22. 1858. Canton Theological School, part of St. Lawrence University

23. 1866. Jefferson Liberal Institute, Jefferson, Wisconsin, 1866–1877, became public school 1877

24. 1867. Smithson College, Logansport, Indiana, 1867–1878, sexes were equal in rules, salaries, classes, etc.

25. 1868. Goddard Seminary, Barre, Vermont, 1868–1938, became Goddard College, Plainfield, Vermont, 1938–present http://www.goddard.edu/

26. 1872. Mitchell Seminary, Mitchellville, Iowa, 1872–1879

27. 1872. Buchtel College, Akron, Ohio, 1872–1907, ceased to be run by Universalists in 1907, evolved into University of Akron. In 1875, the college had two professorships for women endowed by contributions of Universalist women.

28. 1881. Ryder Divinity School, theological school attached to Lombard University, Galesburg, Illinois, 1881–1912. The school was transferred to Chicago and affiliated with the University of Chicago Divinity Schools 1912–1928, then transferred to Meadville Theological School (opened by Unitarians in Meadville, Pennsylvania, later moved to Illinois) in 1928. Today the school is known as Meadville/Lombard.

29. 1891. Throop Polytechnic Institute, Pasadena, California, 1891–1894, Universalists ceased to control it in 1894, it evolved into the California Institute of Technology in 1920

30. 1899. Southern Industrial College, Camp Hill, Alabama, 1899–1942, passed out of Universalist hands about 1942, named changed to Lyman Ward Military Academy 1955

(The vast majority of these data were extracted from The Larger Hope, Volume 1: The First Century of the Universalist Church in America, 1770–1870, by Russell E. Miller, published by Boston: Unitarian Universalist Association, 1979)

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12 Problems with Public Education

. . . What's wrong with public education? Nothing, except the schools!

First thing, I do fully support the notion of public schools for all, but I do not necessarily support the way public schools operate. The following issues and opinions are based solely on my experience as a student in the public schools of Livonia, Michigan, from 1970 to 1982. I have no knowledge as to how things are being done today, but I expect that a lot of these issues are ongoing, and that a lot of other school systems have these issues as well.

(Aside: I've often thought about collecting a book full of "teacher screws" -- that's what I call any true event in which a school official screws an innocent student in some way or other. Every person I have ever mentioned this idea to has had at least one "teacher screw" story to tell. I have dozens of 'em. This list includes three as representative samples.)

1. Exams.

Exams prove only what you can memorize and have nothing to do with learning. Yet everyone worries themselves to death over them. What a big waste of time and effort.

2. Honors.

Back when I was in school this was always a big deal but I did not understand what it meant and no one ever explained it satisfactorily. (Wikipedia has finally solved this problem.) But seriously, education should not be confused with competition.

3. Grade levels based on age.

Completely stupid.

4. Bullying.

Twelve years of being merciless bullied in public school and never once did I see a grown-up interfere with a bastard who was bullying me. Sometimes a teacher or administrator was right there and saw it all but seemed to pretend it wasn't happening. Several times I got in trouble for defending myself (not with violence). On only one occasion a creep who had been bullying me actually got in trouble, but this was 1) only after I had absolutely refused to go to school, and 2) only after my mom complained to the school. I could write reams on this topic.

5. Arbitrary rules.

Found out about a lot of their stupid rules only after I had broken them. Ask yourself if that's fair.

6. Bells.

Can't think of a worse thing to do to innocent school children then to make them jump when you ring a bell. All day. Like living in a prison.

7. Time increments.

Each class is 54 minutes long. Then you have six minutes to get to the next class. Six minutes of extra hell, five times a day. And the bells.

8. Regimentation.

Same stupid routine, every day. Who thinks this is good for learning?

9. The food.

I was lucky and did not have to rely on the school food, because given my difficulties with most food, I would have starved.

10. Freedom of speech, not.

One story of many on this topic: Wore a t-shirt to school once that said "They must think I'm a mushroom cause they keep me in the dark and feed me on bull crap." I was called to the office and told to put on a shirt from my gym locker, or, if I didn't have a shirt in my gym locker, to turn the shirt inside out. I was not allowed to wear the shirt in a way that people could actually read it.

11. Enforced nudity.

Yup. Eighth grade gym class. Teacher required you to shower at the end of class, and to be seen showering, and to be completely naked, and for you to present yourself to the student aide who would make sure you were completely naked before you started your shower. Needless to say I never once took a shower in that class. This was to avoid public humiliation from the nudity. At the end of the semester I was publicly humiliated anyway by the same accursed teacher who announced I was "most likely to never take a shower."

12. Pay phone.

There was a pay phone in my high school. It was in the hallway where anyone could use it. On a few occasions I escaped from the bullies and bastards for a few minutes by pretending to be on the phone during lunch hour or in between classes. I promptly got in trouble for "using the phone too much." Hunh?? What is the phone doing there in the first place? What is "too much?" And who the hell was watching me use the phone?

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