Those who attended our Sam May Day service on March 26 heard a wonderful presentation by David Kaczynski. You also heard how fervently Rev. May expressed his own views against the death penalty, with the six reasons why capital punishment should be abolished from his July 25, 1851, New York Daily Tribune article. The more you learn about Sam, the more you realize how fortunate we were to have his heritage as such an important part of our church history.
Thus, in the Sam May web page are three new items for your reading pleasure. One is a wonderful thesis written in 1964 by Catherine Covert Stepanek entitled, Saint Before His Time: Samuel J. May and American Educational Reform, showing another important aspect of Sam’s many contributions to Syracuse. Another is a paper also written by Catherine, entitled, Heretic in Syracuse: Samuel Joseph May, 1845-1871. The third is an address by Catherine given in this church on February 13, 1972, entitled, The Remarkable Mr. May. Dr. Stepanek’s executrix, her daughter Carolyn Holmes, has kindly given us permission to include these three documents on our web page.
Carolyn also loaned me a copy of the Memoir of Samuel Joseph May that her mother owned. This book, a memoir, was published in 1873 and is online. It makes for great reading and although I have only read parts of it, I have already learned so much new about the amazing Sam May. I will share some excerpts at a later date.
Rog Hiemstra, Archivist (written on April 4, 2006)
