Box 1

The Unitarian Fellowship of DeKalb Collection documents the history of a liberal religious society from 1961-1971. Unfortunately, records providing information on the society’s first months of existence in 1960 are missing from the collection. Nevertheless, a complete set of minutes (1961-1971) comprehensively details the concern of the Unitarians with educating the community about their beliefs and promoting a strong, dedicated membership. Newsletters, correspondence, treasurer’s reports, and religious education reports relate supplementary data about Unitarian programs dealing with social problems and juvenile religious instruction (1961-1971). Informative sets of committee lists and building records document the construction of the new society meeting hall in the 1960’s. Several fellowship papers dealing with contemporary issues such as militarism and racism are included in the collection along with national universalist publications on the aims of liberal religious organizations in North America. The records are of extraordinary quality for research on the beliefs and functions of liberal religious societies.