by Douglas H. Parkhurst

Continued from September 2024…

In mid-November 1957 a fire, likely electrical in origin, damaged First Universalist’s church building at 347 Main Street. The quick and efficient response of the Danbury Fire Department, then headquartered a few blocks away on Ives Street, prevented fire from spreading beyond the area of the sanctuary on the first floor. For insurance purposes the cost to repair the damage, including carpentry work, electrical repairs, new fixtures, repainting, and labor was approximately $2,100 (in excess of $20,000 today). Ironically, church trustees had recently discussed the possibility of upgrading wiring in the building. The board now took immediate action, voting to rewire the entire building as necessary, with installation of new lighting and outlets in areas where the same were lacking or needed. A space included in this plan was a room in the lower part of the tower, in the southwest corner of the building, then being used by the Sunday school.

Despite the fire damage and start of repairs, usual activities at the church hardly skipped a beat during the rest of 1957. The annual turkey supper, an ever-popular event for church members, friends, and the public, was held on Saturday evening, November 24. The next day was Thanksgiving Sunday and the theme of Rev. Gaston Carrier’s sermon was the spiritual necessity of giving thanks and of giving. The “ingathering of pledges” during this service would close out First Universalist’s 1957 every member canvass. That evening, a newly formed Great Books Discussion Group was scheduled to meet for the first time. Participants would complete a reading assignment before the meeting and then exchange ideas with other participants at a Great Books round-table. It was noted there was no tuition and no educational requirement to attend.

December followed with Christmastime doings and services. Sixty children attended a holiday party and the youth group went caroling and planned a skating party. The church board met on December 12 and addressed budget concerns and the continuing building improvements and repairs. Near the end of the year Rev. Carrier, wife Mary and their daughters, and with the assistance of eight parishioners, held an open house at the church parsonage at 37 Pleasant Street. About 100 visitors dropped by!

The beginning of 1958 saw growing interest in the programs and mission of First Universalist Church [note – at this time the church year and calendar year coincided]. The annual meeting was held in January and new faces appeared in First Universalist leadership. These included board chair Joseph Farris; Louise Mazur, clerk; Irene Gilbert, treasurer; Herbert Bartram; David Pascal; Nathaniel Gifford; Clesson Allen; Ines Rosser; and Herbert Becker. The nagging problem of the church budget continued. The finance committee announced receipt of fifty-seven pledges totaling $9,045; these to fund the 1958 budget of just under $10,000 (equal to approximately $109,000 today), a shortfall of 10 percent. Under consideration was replacing some of First Universalist’s government bond holdings with reputable mutual funds, then paying much higher returns than the bonds. Additional fundraising activities could also be considered.

Another challenge, a more positive one, was how to address increasing enrollment in the First Universalist Sunday school. The church building was large but classroom and activity space was full to overflowing on Sunday mornings. Attendance in the religious education program now exceeded seventy children and at one point enrollments were put on hold. Additional teachers were recruited. The senior high youth group, numbering seven, reported a joint meeting and “splash party” with Unitarian youth from Westport; a study and discussion of world religions; and the sending of a representative to a Liberal Religious Youth (LRY) conference in New Hampshire. Construction of new space, either a classroom building in the lot behind the church or creation of religious education space in the mostly unfinished church basement, were possibilities. 

Francis “Spike” Albert, chair of the religious education committee, had been doing double duty as director of the RE program. Early in 1958, upon joining the Danbury church, Mary Carrier assumed the role of director. Mrs. Carrier, a Massachusetts native, was a graduate of Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, and studied at Simmons College School of Social Work in Boston. In February she joined the staff of Fairfield State Hospital in Newtown as a psychiatric social worker. Always active in the life of the church, Mary Carrier was described as “a true ministerial partner, [who] supported her husband’s ministry in extraordinary ways throughout his career and their lives together.” [See note below]

A formal installation service for Rev. Carrier was conducted at First Universalist Church on Sunday, March 16. Board member Wallace Parkhurst, then president of the Connecticut Universalist Convention, chaired the installation committee. Invitations were sent to Universalist ministers in Connecticut, clergy in the Danbury ministerial association, and Unitarian ministers in Westport, New Haven, and Hartford. Rev. Philip Giles, general superintendent of the Universalist Church of America, spoke on “Which Way Universalism?” Also participating in the installation ceremony were Rev. Frederick Harrison, state superintendent for Connecticut and Massachusetts and previously minister in Danbury; Rabbi Jerome Malino of the United Jewish Center, who offered the greetings of Danbury clergy; and First Universalist moderator Frank Keaney.

The Association of Universalist Women (AUW) was a national organization founded in 1869, and with state and local affiliates did work in charitable, church extension, missionary, and philanthropic areas [see note below]. The Danbury AUW held its annual meeting in early April. Louise Parkhurst [see note below] was elected president. Other officers chosen were Elsie Ahlgrim, vice president; Helen Wood secretary; and Bessie Jackson, treasurer. Women otherwise active in the group included Pauline Olmstead; Augusta Murphy; Edith Ritton; Viola Voegele; Mary Carrier; Edith Taylor; Helen Scott; Ruth Genest; Jane Bjelko; Sallie Rollins; and Catherine Wilson. Members were engaged in support activities and fundraising for residents of Southbury Training School and for the Clara Barton and Elliott P. Joslin summer camps (in Massachusetts) which served children with diabetes. The women organized the church’s annual turkey supper in November; raised money with rummage sales, bake and craft sales, and enjoyed social events; and generally worked to further the goals and community outreach of First Universalist Church. In September, Danbury members sponsored a party for residents of Canaan House, a residence treatment facility at Fairfield State Hospital. Church trustee Nathaniel Gifford presented travel slides and a short lecture to the party-goers.

[Note – This writer acknowledges with thanks the thoughtfulness and generosity of Jill Carrier, daughter of Gaston and Mary Carrier, for sharing insights, photos, and memories of her parents and her family’s four years in Danbury. Jill and this writer lived in the same neighborhood, attended Sunday school and Park Avenue School, and some years later were classmates at Tufts University.]

[Note – In 1963 the Association of Universalist Women consolidated with the Alliance of Unitarian Women to form the Unitarian Universalist Women’s Federation.]

[Note – Louise Parkhurst was this writer’s mother.]

To be continued in November 2024…