Henry Whitney Bellows
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Henry Whitney Bellows (June 11, 1814 – January 30, 1882) was an American clergyman, and the planner and president of the
United States Sanitary Commission The United States Sanitary Commission (USSC) was a private relief agency created by federal legislation on June 18, 1861, to support sick and wounded soldiers of the United States Army (Federal / Northern / Union Army) during the American Civil W ...
, the leading soldiers' aid society, during the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
. Under his leadership, the USSC became the largest and most effective organization dedicated to supporting the health and efficiency of the
Union army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...
.


Life

Bellows was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He graduated at
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 1832, and at the
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 ...
in 1837, held a brief pastorate (1837–1838) at
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, and in 1839 became pastor of the First Congregational (Unitarian) church in New York City (afterwards All Souls church), in charge of which he remained until his death. Here Bellows acquired a high reputation as a pulpit orator and lyceum lecturer, and was a recognized leader in the Unitarian Church in America. For many years after 1846 he edited ''The Christian Inquirer'', a Unitarian weekly paper, and he was also for some time an editor of ''The Christian Examiner''. In 1849, he was elected into the
National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the fin ...
as an Honorary member. In 1857 he delivered a series of lectures in the
Lowell Institute The Lowell Institute is a United States educational foundation located in Boston, Massachusetts, providing both free public lectures, and also advanced lectures. It was endowed by a bequest of $250,000 left by John Lowell Jr., who died in 1836. ...
course, on The Treatment of Social Diseases. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he planned the
United States Sanitary Commission The United States Sanitary Commission (USSC) was a private relief agency created by federal legislation on June 18, 1861, to support sick and wounded soldiers of the United States Army (Federal / Northern / Union Army) during the American Civil W ...
, of which he was the only president (1861 to 1878). He inspired the organization of chapters of the USSC in cities across the country, and the recruiting of thousands of volunteers to help Union soldiers. The organization raised millions of dollars for the war effort and to support soldiers and veterans. He was the first president of the first Civil Service Reform Association organized in the United States (1877), and was an organizer of the
Union League Club of New York The Union League Club is a private social club in New York City that was founded in 1863 in affiliation with the Union League. Its fourth and current clubhouse is located at 38 East 37th Street on the corner of Park Avenue, in the Murray Hill ...
and of the
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in New York City. Together with his parishioner and friend, Peter Cooper, he established
Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (Cooper Union) is a private college at Cooper Square in New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-supported École Polytechnique in ...
, the design school that was free for students until the 21st century. In 1865 he proposed and organized the National Conference of Unitarian and other Christian churches, and from 1865 to 1880 was chairman of its council. He died in New York City on 30 January 1882. A bronze memorial tablet by
Augustus Saint-Gaudens Augustus Saint-Gaudens (; March 1, 1848 – August 3, 1907) was an American sculptor of the Beaux-Arts generation who embodied the ideals of the American Renaissance. From a French-Irish family, Saint-Gaudens was raised in New York City, he trave ...
was unveiled in All Souls church in 1886.


Works

His published writings include: *''Restatements of Christian Doctrine in Twenty-Five Sermons'' (1860) *''Unconditioned Loyalty'' (1863), a strong pro-Union sermon, which was widely circulated during the Civil War *''The Old World in its New Face: Impressions of Europe in 1867-1868'' (2 vols, 1868-1869) *''Historical Sketch of the Union League Club'' (1879) *''Twenty-Four Sermons in All Souls Church, New York, 1865-1881'' (1886)


Notes


References

* Endnotes: ** — a biographical sketch reprinted from T. B. Peck's ''Bellows Family Genealogy' ** — a memorial address **


Further reading

* Frederickson, George M. (1965) ''The Inner Civil War'', 1993 reprint, Champaign, IL: Illinois, .


External links

* * *
presentation photo album
given to Bellows in August 1868 by English Unitarian ministers is in the Harvard Divinity School Library 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 ...
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, ...
. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bellows, Henry Whitney 1814 births 1882 deaths People of Massachusetts in the American Civil War Harvard Divinity School alumni Harvard College alumni United States Sanitary Commission people