In Boston's West Roxbury neighborhood is the Theodore Parker Unitarian-Universalist Church, with a green plaque posted by the Bostonian Society.
The church is located at the intersection of Centre Street and Corey Street on the northwest corner. The church is a stone structure with a bell tower at the corner toward the intersection. The plaque is located on the wall of the tower facing Corey Street. It has the following text:
"The Theodore Parker Church
The Theodore Parker Church features seven stained glass windows made by the Tiffany Studios between 1894 and 1927. The original church, designed in 1890 by A. W. Longfellow, is now a parish hall. Henry Seaver designed the current church in 1900.
Theodor Parker (1810-1860), and advocate of progressive religious ideas, abolitionism, and women's suffrage, was minister of this Unitarian congregation from 1837 to 1846.
A Dedicated Boston Landmark The Bostonian Society
The Boston
Landmark Commission
City of Boston"
The current church (built in 1900) is the one that the plaque is set on. The older church is a few feet away, and connected to the current church by a roofed walkway. Neither structure was around when Parker was minister.
Theodore Parker (1810-1860) was a man who is a well-known religious person and abolitionist. He was born in Lexington and graduated from Harvard College in 1831 and from Harvard Divinity School in 1836. He decided to enter ministry. He became involved in the Transcendental movement with Ralph Waldo Emerson, Amos Bronson Alcott (father of Louisa May Alcott), and several others. His conviction was that, though the Transcendental movement was moving away from religion, Parker believed that the movement should be deeply rooted in religion. His beliefs also led him to reject the rigid Calvanist ideas then common. Because of his beliefs and questioning assertions about the Bible and Jesus, though, he was isolated from the general religious community. However, later he was established as a minister of the 28th Congregational Society of Boston. He also was actively opposed to the Fugitive Slave Act, which was part of the Compromise of 1850 passed in the U.S. Congress. This act called upon citizens in all U.S. states to help in the capture of escaped slaves. He, instead, organized a group to hinder efforts to capture former slaves and help hide escapees. Mass Moments has a web page dedicated to the trial of Parker for inciting a riot. During this time to the Civil War, only two escapees were caught in Boston, and in both cases, massive protests were launched. Parker eventually suffered from tuberculosis, and died in Italy in 1860, where he is also buried.
In the lawn of the church is a statue of Parker.
Additional Reference:
The Bostonian Society (Education):
(
visit link)
Mass Moments (Boston Minister Indicted for Inciting a Riot):
(
visit link)
Wikipedia (Theodore Parker):
(
visit link)