Samuel Atkins Eliot II (August 24, 1862 – October 15, 1950) was an American Unitarian minister. In 1898 the

American Unitarian Association The American Unitarian Association (AUA) was a religious denomination in the United States and Canada, formed by associated Unitarian congregations in 1825. In 1961, it consolidated with the Universalist Church of America to form the Unitarian Uni ...

elected him secretary (a position effectively the chief executive officer) but in 1900 the position was redesignated as president and Eliot served in that office from inception to 1927, significantly expanding the association's activities and consolidating denominational power in its administration. A member of the wealthy Eliot family, he was the son of Harvard President

Charles W. Eliot Charles William Eliot (March 20, 1834 – August 22, 1926) was an American academic who was president of Harvard University from 1869 to 1909the longest term of any Harvard president. A member of the prominent Eliot family of Boston, he transfo ...

and grandson of Boston politician Samuel Atkins Eliot. His fourth cousin, Frederick May Eliot, also served as President of the American Unitarian Association (1937–1958).

Biography

Early life and education

Samuel Atkins Eliot was born in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

in 1862. His father, Charles W. Eliot, a chemist, became

President of Harvard University The president of Harvard University is the chief academic administration, administrator of Harvard University and the ''Ex officio member, ex officio'' president of the President and Fellows of Harvard College, Harvard Corporation. Each is appoi ...

when his son was four. His mother, Ellen Derby Peabody, daughter of Unitarian minister Ephraim Peabody, died the same year. Samuel graduated from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

in 1884. He enrolled at

Harvard Divinity School Harvard Divinity School (HDS) is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school's mission is to educate its students either in the academic study of religion or for leadership roles in religion, gov ...

the following year, and after briefly serving as a missionary in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

, graduated in 1889. He held pastorates at Unity Church in

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

(1889–92) and the Church of the Saviour in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

(1892–98).

AUA Presidency

Eliot left congregational ministry to serve as Secretary of the American Unitarian Association (AUA) in 1898. At Eliot's urging, his position was re-titled President in 1900, a title which he retained until 1927 and transformed from a presiding to an executive office. Eliot's efforts to consolidate the National Council of Unitarian Churches under the American Unitarian Association established the denomination's modern associational governance. Where the pre-Eliot AUA had been an organization for individual membership, the merger created a structure of congregational membership and governance, an early incarnation of the

Unitarian Universalist Association Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) is a liberal religious association of Unitarian Universalist congregations. It was formed in 1961 by the consolidation of the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of America, both P ...

's General Assembly. Eliot also attracted wealth Unitarians to serve on the AUA's board, who presided over a major expansion of the AUA's operations into public advocacy, Sunday School curriculum, and ministerial credentialing. Eliot was sympathetic to mid-20th century social reforms and established the first Department of Social Justice with the AUA. Responding to declining wealth in American central cities in the early twentieth century, Eliot encouraged the growth of suburban Unitarian churches. He was also active in shaping the political commitments and demographics of Unitarian clergy by using his office to de-fellowship ministers who objected to American involvement in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, discouraging women from seeking Unitarian ordination, and excluding women ministers from associational leadership. While commemorating the American Unitarian Association's centennial in 1925, one of Eliot's final acts as President was to move the association to a new headquarters on

Beacon Street Beacon Street is a major thoroughfare in Boston, Massachusetts and its western suburbs Brookline and Newton. It passes through many of Boston's central and western neighborhoods, including Beacon Hill, Back Bay, Fenway–Kenmore, the Boston Uni ...

. The new building, completed in 1927, retained the AUA's historic address (25 Beacon Street), but moved the Association from the east side of

Massachusetts State House The Massachusetts State House, also known as the Massachusetts Statehouse or the New State House, is the List of state capitols in the United States, state capitol and seat of government for the Massachusetts, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, lo ...

to its west side. In the following decades, the denomination purchased several more properties on Beacon Hill. The Unitarian Universalist Association, successor to the AUA after its 1961 merger with the Universalist Church of America, occupied the building until 2014, when it moved to Boston's

Seaport District The Seaport District, or simply the Seaport, is a neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts. It is part of the larger neighborhood of South Boston, and is also sometimes called the Innovation District. The Seaport is a formerly industrial area that ...

. During and after his tenure as American Unitarian Association president, Eliot wrote and edited books on Unitarian and Massachusetts history, including two large biographical dictionaries, the ''Biographical History of Massachusetts'' (1906) and ''Heralds of a Liberal Faith'' (1910). The latter volume constituted his efforts to catalog Unitarian history and articulate Unitarianism as a discrete American tradition. Eliot also chaired an editorial committee and edited several volumes for the Centennial Edition of the works of

Theodore Parker Theodore Parker (August 24, 1810 – May 10, 1860) was an American transcendentalist and reforming minister of the Unitarian church. A reformer and abolitionist, his words and popular quotations would later inspire speeches by Abraham Lincol ...

and completed a ''A History of Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1630-1913'' in 1913.

Later life

After twenty-nine years at the helm of the American Unitarian Association, Eliot retired to become senior minister of the

Arlington Street Church The Arlington Street Church is a Unitarian Universalist church across from the Public Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. Because of its geographic prominence and the notable ministers who have served the congregation, the church is considered to b ...

, the largest Unitarian congregation in Boston, where he remained until 1935. Eliot died on October 15, 1950, and was buried at

Mount Auburn Cemetery Mount Auburn Cemetery is the first rural cemetery, rural, or garden, cemetery in the United States, located on the line between Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge and Watertown, Massachusetts, Watertown in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middl ...

Bibliography

Authored

* ''Phillips Brooks and the Unity of the Spirit'' (1903) * ''A History of Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1630-1913'' (1913) * ''Society for Propagating the Gospel among the Indians and Others in North America ounded 1787 an Historical Sketch'' (1942) * ''Some Musical Memories of Cambridge'' (1949)

Edited volumes

* ''Biographical History of Massachusetts: Biographies and Autobiographies of the Leading Men in the State'' (Ed. Samuel Atkins Eliot) (1906) * ''Heralds of a Liberal Faith'' (4 vol.) : Vol. 1: The Prophets (1910) : Vol. 2: The Pioneers (1910) : Vol. 3: The Preachers (1910) : Vol. 4: The Pilots (1952)

Critical editions

* Street, George E. ''Mount Desert: A History'' (1905) *Centennial Edition of the Works of Theodore Parker : Parker, Theodore. ''Social Classes in a Republic'' (1907) : ——. ''Historic Americans'' (1908) : ——. ''Sermons of Religion'' (1908)

References

* Signature from; ''Biographical History of Massachusetts: Biographies and Autobiographies of the Leading Men in the State'' (Edited by Samuel Atkins Eliot, A.M., D.D.) (1906).

External links

* Collections on Samuel Atkins Eliot are held at Harvard Divinity School Library at

.
Photograph and awards

Sermons, papers, correspondence, and photographs

Papers, sermons, worship materials, scrapbooks, and letters

Correspondence and reports
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eliot, Samuel Atkins American historians Harvard College alumni American Unitarians American theologians 1862 births 1950 deaths Eliot family (America) Harvard Divinity School alumni