Many past May Memorial heroes have been mentioned in this newsletter, but many have been missed. This month and next month, that will be somewhat rectified. If you know of others who should be mentioned, please let me know. Many of the names contained in these two articles also have important historical connections to the Syracuse community.
- Right from our beginning in the 1830s, we were persecuted because of the beliefs by many that Unitarians were non-Christians or even heathens. This meant our forbearers had to be strong, courageous, and quiet heroes, such as our church initiators Stephen Abbott, Dr. Hiram Hoyt, Joel Owen, and Elisha Walter.
- Many know of the Jerry Rescue history in 1871, when Sam May helped break out of the Syracuse jail a former slave who was illegally placed there. However, there were many Unitarians also involved in various ways, including George Barnes, Oliver Burt, Dr. Lyman Clary, Captain Hiram Putnam, and Charles B. Sedgwick.
- Our church finances were finally put into the plus column in the late 1890s through the ability of Amos Padgham, long-time clerk and treasurer, and father of Elizabeth Padgham who became a well-know Unitarian minister and then a long time supporter of May Memorial after her retirement. About this same time Mary Redfield Bagg created a graded course of religious study for youth that was introduced at May Memorial and eventually adopted by many other Unitarian churches.
- In the 1920s, Dora Sedgwick Hazard and her sister Kitty Burlingame worked with Black community leaders to organize a youth recreation program at the AME Zion Church (this eventually because the Dunbar Society.
- A few years later in the early 1930′s when the unemployed men of the Syracuse had no place to go for recreation of any kind, reading and social rooms were provided for them at our church, with Mrs. Frederick R. Hazard taking the lead to supply them with refreshments, games, and reading material. Give a passing thanks and hearty congratulations to these wonderful people.
Rog Hiemstra, Chair, History Committee
Written October 15, 2008
