UUCB: An Anecdotal History

2011 is a Triple Anniversary year for the Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley: 120 years as a congregation, 50 years at the Kensington location, and 50 years since the merger of Unitarians and Universalists. The theme of our year-long celebration is “Looking Back, Looking Forward: Honoring a Proud Tradition.”

As part of our “Looking Back,” members Grace Ulp and Kay Fairwell asked present and former members for help in telling UUCB stories. We asked for memories, anecdotes, and reminiscences about events and activities over the past 120 years. Keep in mind that the history you see here is a collection of memories; the definitive history is yet to be written.

We hope that you will view this as a living collection. As you read through the many entries, may the fire of your memory be stoked and you be inspired to add to this collection. If so, please send your memories to Kay Fairwell or Grace Ulp. We will be periodically updating the anecdotal history page.

In some places you may note that dates are missing or noted with question marks. If you can fill in any such information, we’d love to have it. If there are any specific areas that you feel have been overlooked or neglected, please also let us know about those, especially if you have such information or know who might.

If you are looking for mention of specific groups, programs, individuals, or events (or to find your own entries!), you can use the search button to locate this information.

The chapter on “Personal Stories and Miscellaneous Musings” holds those entries that seemed to be more reminiscences than reporting—and those entries that fit into more than one category. We have made every attempt to include all submissions; if yours was inadvertently overlooked, please let us know this also.

The history is broken up into the following categories:

These sections will be added periodically through the month of September 2011. After that, we will be glad to accept additional stories, descriptions, and historical text.