Donald Szantho Harrington (July 11, 1914 in
Newton
Newton most commonly refers to:
* Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist
* Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton
Newton may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Newton'' (film), a 2017 Indian film
* Newton ( ...
,
Middlesex County, Massachusetts
Middlesex County is located in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,632,002, making it the most populous county in both Massachusetts and New England and ...
– September 16, 2005 in
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
) was an
American
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* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
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** American ancestry, pe ...
politician and religious leader.
Education
Harrington graduated from the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
in 1939, and began preaching at the
People's Liberal Church on
Chicago's South Side
The South Side is an area of Chicago, Illinois, U.S. It lies south of the city's Loop area in the downtown. Geographically, it is the largest of the three sides of the city that radiate from downtown, with the other two being the north and we ...
.
Career
Harrington became a socialist while at
Antioch College
Antioch College is a private liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Founded in 1850 by the Christian Connection, the college began operating in 1852 as a non-sectarian institution; politician and education reformer Horace Mann was its f ...
and joined the
Socialist Party of America
The Socialist Party of America (SPA) was a socialist political party in the United States formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party of Ameri ...
in 1934. He was a member of the
American Peace Mobilization
The American Peace Mobilization (APM) was a peace group established in 1940 to oppose American aid to the Allies in World War II before the United States entered the war. It was officially cited in 1947 by United States Attorney General Tom C. Cla ...
and opposed the United States joining
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. He became an anti-communist after the APM became interventionist after
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...
.
Harrington was inspired by
John Haynes Holmes
John Haynes Holmes (November 29, 1879 – April 3, 1964) was an American Unitarian minister, pacifist, and co-founder of the NAACP and the ACLU. He is noted for his anti-war activism.
Early life
Holmes was born in Philadelphia on November 2 ...
and became a minister of the Community Church of the New York
Unitarian Universalist
Unitarian or Unitarianism may refer to:
Christian and Christian-derived theologies
A Unitarian is a follower of, or a member of an organisation that follows, any of several theologies referred to as Unitarianism:
* Unitarianism (1565–present) ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
in 1944. He replaced Holmes as senior minister in 1949. Harrington retired as senior minister in 1982.
Harrington became the chair of the
Liberal Party of New York
The Liberal Party of New York is a political party in New York. Its platform supports a standard set of socially liberal policies, including abortion rights, increased spending on education, and universal health care.
History
The Liberal Party wa ...
in 1965, being the "face" of the party which was ruled with an iron fist by
Alex Rose until 1976.
In the
New York state election, 1966
The 1966 New York state election was held on November 8, 1966, to elect the governor, the lieutenant governor, the state comptroller, the attorney general and the Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals, as well as all members of the New Y ...
, Harrington ran for
Lieutenant Governor of New York
The lieutenant governor of New York is a constitutional office in the executive branch of the Government of the State of New York. It is the second highest-ranking official in state government. The lieutenant governor is elected on a ticket wit ...
on the Liberal ticket with
Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jr. They were defeated by the incumbent Republicans
Nelson Rockefeller
Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979), sometimes referred to by his nickname Rocky, was an American businessman and politician who served as the 41st vice president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. A member of t ...
and
Malcolm Wilson, but Harrington was elected a delegate to the
New York State Constitutional Convention
The Constitution of the State of New York establishes the structure of the government of the State of New York, and enumerates the basic rights of the citizens of New York. Like most state constitutions in the United States, New York's constituti ...
of 1967. A past president of
United World Federalists
Citizens for Global Solutions is a grassroots membership organization in the United States.
History
Five world federalist organizations merged in 1947 to form the United World Federalists, Inc., later renamed World Federalists-USA. In 1975, ...
, Harrington wrote ''Religion in an Age of Science'' in 1965.
Personal life
In 1939, Harrington married fellow seminary student Vilma Szantho (d. 1982). They had two children:
Loni Hancock
Loni Hancock (born Ilona Harrington; April 10, 1940) is an Americans, American politician and a former member of the California State Senate. A California Democratic Party, Democrat, she represented the California's 9th State Senate district, 9 ...
and David Harrington. In 1984, he married his first wife's niece, Anika Szantho, who was ordained a Unitarian minister in 1990. They lived in
Transylvania
Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...
where Harrington was active in economic development and his wife served several village congregations.
He made his wife's maiden name his middle name.
Harrington died from complications of a gall bladder surgery, done in spring 2005, from which he never fully recovered.
References
Works cited
*
External links
Donald S. Harrington talks to Richard D. Heffner about contemporary events and his friend and colleague Norman Cousins; Open Mind, 1991The Community Church of New York Unitarian UniversalistLiberal Party of New York
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrington, Donald Szantho
1914 births
2005 deaths
American Christian clergy
American Unitarians
Politicians from Newton, Massachusetts
Politicians from New York City
University of Chicago alumni
World federalist activists
20th-century American clergy
Clergy from Newton, Massachusetts