Overview of the Collection |
|
| Creator: | May, Samuel J. (Samuel Joseph), 1797-1871. |
| Title: | Samuel J. May Correspondence |
| Inclusive Dates: | 1832-1899 |
| Quantity: | 1 folder (SC) |
| Abstract: | 19th century Unitarian minister, social and educational reformer. Correspondence, clipping, printed photograph |
| Language: | English |
| Repository: |
Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Library 222 Waverly Avenue Syracuse, NY 13244-2010 http://scrc.syr.edu |
Samuel Joseph May (1797-1871) was a Unitarian minister, pacifist, abolitionist, and social and educational reformer. He graduated from Harvard University in 1817 and then attended divinity school in Cambridge, Massachusetts. After a brief stint in Boston, he accepted the invitation of the Brooklyn, Connecticut Congregational church (the only Congregational body in Connecticut to embrace liberal theology). He later ministered for many years in Syracuse, New York, at what is now known as May Memorial Unitarian Universalist Society. He advocated and organized on behalf of freedom and civil rights for blacks, emancipation and voting rights for women, and just rights for workers. His progressive and liberal beliefs meant that he was often at odds with ministerial colleagues, church members, and the public at large.
When he died, Andrew D. White, then president of Cornell University, spoke of him as "the best man, the most truly Christian man, I have ever known."
[Portions of this biographical sketch adapted from the Dictionary of Unitarian and Universalist Biography and from the Harvard Square Library's online article, "Unitarianism in America." ]
The Samuel J. May Correspondence consists of correspondence and a few miscellaneous items.
Correspondence is both incoming and outgoing. Of the four incoming letters, one (1832) is from American theologian Noah Worcester to May, in his hand and signed, concerning the return of some articles lent to Worcester by May for his work. The other three (1861) are from an O. Johnson at the "Anti-Slavery Office" in New York. Of the outgoing letters, one (1851) is to "Dear Brother" concerning clothes for fugitive slaves in Canada, one (1858) is to a Hannah Fuller of Skaneateles, and the third (1856) is unaddressed. All are in May's hand and signed by him. The 1851 letter is accompanied by a typed transcription.
Miscellaneous material includes a clipping (1876) from an unidentified publication containing a transcript of an 1870 letter of recommendation from May regarding Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Cardozo, directors of a Normal School in Elizabeth, New Jersey; a clipping (25 Nov 1899) of May's obituary, and a photograph of him, apparently clipped from a book.
Correspondence is divided into incoming and outgoing; within that they are arranged in chronological order. Miscellaneous material is placed at the end.
There are no access restrictions on this material.
Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.
For additional letters from May, see the Ebenezer Meriam Letters on Onondaga Indian Education
Preferred citation for this material is as follows:
Samuel J. May Correspondence,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Library
Various.
Created by: MRC
Date: 1 Nov 2007
Revision history: 17 Jun 2011 - adds (MRC)
| Correspondence | |||||||||||
| SC 216, Folder 1 | Incoming 1832, 1861 | ||||||||||
| SC 216, Folder 1 | Outgoing 1851, 1856, 1858 - also includes 2 clippings (1876, 1899) and a copy of an undated photograph | ||||||||||
