The UUA President invites a distinguished guest each year to address the General Assembly as the Ware Lecturer. Please join us Saturday, June 26.
Stacey Abrams is the New York Times bestselling author of Our Time Is Now and Lead from the Outside, an entrepreneur and a political leader. She served as Democratic Leader of the Georgia House of Representatives for 7 years prior to running for Governor of Georgia, where she won more votes than any other Democrat in the state’s history. She launched Fair Fight Action after the 2018 gubernatorial election to ensure every American has a voice in our election system, Fair Count to ensure accuracy in the 2020 Census and the Southern Economic Advancement Project, a public policy initiative to broaden economic power and build equity in the South. Abrams received degrees from Spelman College, the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, and Yale Law School. Born in Madison, Wisconsin, she and her five siblings grew up in Gulfport, Mississippi and were raised in Georgia.
Desmond Meade is a formerly homeless returning citizen who overcame many obstacles to eventually become the President of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition (FRRC), Chair of Floridians for a Fair Democracy, a graduate of Florida International University College of Law, and a Ford Global Fellow. He is the author of Let My People Vote: My Battle to Restore the Rights of Returning Citizens, published by Beacon Press in October of 2020. Recognized by Time Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2019, Desmond presently leads efforts to empower and civically re-engage local communities across the state, and to reshape local, state, and national criminal justice policies.
His work has resulted in being named Floridian and Central Floridian of the Year 2019. President and Executive Director of FRRC, which is recognized for its work on voting and criminal justice reform issues, Desmond led the FRRC to a historic victory in 2018 with the successful passage of Amendment 4, a grassroots citizen’s initiative which restored voting rights to over 1.4 million Floridians with past felony convictions. Amendment 4 represented the single largest expansion of voting rights in the United States in half a century and brought an end to 150 years of a Jim Crow-era law in Florida.
History of the Ware Lecture
The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) President, in consultation with the General Assembly Planning Committee, invites a distinguished guest each year to address the General Assembly as the Ware Lecturer.
In 1920, Harriet E. Ware of Milton, MA, bequeathed $5,000 to the American Unitarian Association (AUA) for its unrestricted use. Two years later, on the evening of May 24, 1922, the first Ware Lecture was given by the Rev. Frederick W. Norwood, pastor of the City Temple in London, England. The lecture had been "established in honor of the distinguished services of three generations of the Ware family to the cause of Pure Christianity."
The lecture has been given every year at the former May Meetings of the AUA and since 1961 at the General Assembly. No lecture was scheduled for 1945 due to World War II, although Morris S. Lazaron delivered an address on May 23, 1945 at All Souls Church in Washington, DC, which is referred to as a Ware lecture. There was no lecture in 1950 when the Unitarians celebrated their 125th anniversary.
The Harvard Square Library maintains a history of the Ware Lecture, including illustrated biographical notes.
Previous Ware Lecturers
Previous Ware Lecturers have included the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., Kurt Vonnegut, and poet Mary Oliver.
2020 Naomi Klein (Vimeo 63 minutes)
2019 Richard Blanco
2018 Brittany Packnett
2017 Bryan Stevenson
2016 Krista Tippett
2015 Cornel West
2014 Sister Simone Campbell
2013 Eboo Patel
2012 Maria Hinojosa
2011 Karen Armstrong
2010 Winona LaDuke
2009 Melissa Harris-Lacewell
2008 Van Jones
2007 Rashid Khalidi
2006 Mary Oliver
2005 Dr. Elaine Pagels
2004 Holly Near
2003 Julian Bond
2002 Stephen Lewis
2001 Rev. Dr. James A. Forbes
2000 Morris Dees
1999 Mary Pipher
1998 Amitai Etzioni
1997 Rev. Joan Brown Campbell
1996 Sylvia Ann Hewlett
1995 Norman Lear
1994 Dr. Holland Hendrix
1993 Marian Wright Edelman
1992 Mel Hurtig
1991 Elizabeth Dodson Gray
1990 Schuyler Chapin
1989 Sissela Bok
1988 Robert Coles
1987 Anthony Lewis
1986 Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
1985 Shirley Chisholm
1984 Dr. Helen Caldicott
1983 Thomas R. Berger
1982 May Sarton
1981 Vernon Jordan, Jr.
1980 LaDonna Harris
1979 Jesse Jackson
1978 Jean Mayer
1977 Milton R. Konvitze
1976 Bruce Murray
1975 John Beecher
1974 Elliot Richardson
1973 John Coleman
1972 Malvina Reynolds
1971 Alvin Toffler
1970 Rollo May
1969 Martin E. Marty, Bernard Delfgaauw, R.J. Werblowsky
1968 Carl B. Stokes
1967 Saul Alinsky
1966 Martin Luther King, Jr.
1965 Harry D. Gideonse
1964 Linus Pauling
1963 F.S.C. Northrop
1962 Walter Kaufmann
1961 Abram Sachar
1960 Harold Taylor
1959 George Wald
1958 Edward A. Weeks, Jr.
1957 Charles Frankel
1956 Howard Thurman
1955 Henry DeWolf Smyth
1954 Agnes Ernst Meyer
1953 Howard Mumford Jones
1952 Henry Steele Commager
1951 T.V. Smith
1950 No lecture due to 125th Anniversary of Unitarians
1949 Erwin D. Canham
1948 Henry J. Cadbury
1947 Brock Chisholm
1946 George D. Stoddard
1945 No lecture due to World War II
1944 Max Lerner
1943 Walter Francis White
1942 Alfred M. Bingham
1941 Harry D. Gideonse
1940 Adolph Agustus Berle, Jr.
1939 Eduard C. Lindeman
1938 John Haynes Holmes
1937 Michael Williams
1936 James G. McDonald
1935 Frederick B. Fisher
1934 Reinhold Niebuhr
1933 Jesse H. Holmes
1932 Aurelia Henry Reinhardt
1931 Jane Addams
1930 William L. Sullivan
1929 Francis J. McConnell
1928 Frank Oliver Hall
1927 William Ellery Sweet
1926 James Smyth
1925 Ambrose W. Vernon
1924 John H. Finley
1923 K.H. Roessingh
1922 Rev. Frederick W. Norwood
Stacey Abrams is the New York Times bestselling author of Our Time Is Now and Lead from the Outside, an entrepreneur and a political leader. She served as Democratic Leader of the Georgia House of Representatives for 7 years prior to running for Governor of Georgia, where she won more votes than any other Democrat in the state’s history. She launched Fair Fight Action after the 2018 gubernatorial election to ensure every American has a voice in our election system, Fair Count to ensure accuracy in the 2020 Census and the Southern Economic Advancement Project, a public policy initiative to broaden economic power and build equity in the South. Abrams received degrees from Spelman College, the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, and Yale Law School. Born in Madison, Wisconsin, she and her five siblings grew up in Gulfport, Mississippi and were raised in Georgia.
Desmond Meade is a formerly homeless returning citizen who overcame many obstacles to eventually become the President of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition (FRRC), Chair of Floridians for a Fair Democracy, a graduate of Florida International University College of Law, and a Ford Global Fellow. He is the author of Let My People Vote: My Battle to Restore the Rights of Returning Citizens, published by Beacon Press in October of 2020. Recognized by Time Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2019, Desmond presently leads efforts to empower and civically re-engage local communities across the state, and to reshape local, state, and national criminal justice policies.
His work has resulted in being named Floridian and Central Floridian of the Year 2019. President and Executive Director of FRRC, which is recognized for its work on voting and criminal justice reform issues, Desmond led the FRRC to a historic victory in 2018 with the successful passage of Amendment 4, a grassroots citizen’s initiative which restored voting rights to over 1.4 million Floridians with past felony convictions. Amendment 4 represented the single largest expansion of voting rights in the United States in half a century and brought an end to 150 years of a Jim Crow-era law in Florida.
History of the Ware Lecture
The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) President, in consultation with the General Assembly Planning Committee, invites a distinguished guest each year to address the General Assembly as the Ware Lecturer.
In 1920, Harriet E. Ware of Milton, MA, bequeathed $5,000 to the American Unitarian Association (AUA) for its unrestricted use. Two years later, on the evening of May 24, 1922, the first Ware Lecture was given by the Rev. Frederick W. Norwood, pastor of the City Temple in London, England. The lecture had been "established in honor of the distinguished services of three generations of the Ware family to the cause of Pure Christianity."
The lecture has been given every year at the former May Meetings of the AUA and since 1961 at the General Assembly. No lecture was scheduled for 1945 due to World War II, although Morris S. Lazaron delivered an address on May 23, 1945 at All Souls Church in Washington, DC, which is referred to as a Ware lecture. There was no lecture in 1950 when the Unitarians celebrated their 125th anniversary.
The Harvard Square Library maintains a history of the Ware Lecture, including illustrated biographical notes.
Previous Ware Lecturers
Previous Ware Lecturers have included the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., Kurt Vonnegut, and poet Mary Oliver.
2020 Naomi Klein (Vimeo 63 minutes)
2019 Richard Blanco
2018 Brittany Packnett
2017 Bryan Stevenson
2016 Krista Tippett
2015 Cornel West
2014 Sister Simone Campbell
2013 Eboo Patel
2012 Maria Hinojosa
2011 Karen Armstrong
2010 Winona LaDuke
2009 Melissa Harris-Lacewell
2008 Van Jones
2007 Rashid Khalidi
2006 Mary Oliver
2005 Dr. Elaine Pagels
2004 Holly Near
2003 Julian Bond
2002 Stephen Lewis
2001 Rev. Dr. James A. Forbes
2000 Morris Dees
1999 Mary Pipher
1998 Amitai Etzioni
1997 Rev. Joan Brown Campbell
1996 Sylvia Ann Hewlett
1995 Norman Lear
1994 Dr. Holland Hendrix
1993 Marian Wright Edelman
1992 Mel Hurtig
1991 Elizabeth Dodson Gray
1990 Schuyler Chapin
1989 Sissela Bok
1988 Robert Coles
1987 Anthony Lewis
1986 Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
1985 Shirley Chisholm
1984 Dr. Helen Caldicott
1983 Thomas R. Berger
1982 May Sarton
1981 Vernon Jordan, Jr.
1980 LaDonna Harris
1979 Jesse Jackson
1978 Jean Mayer
1977 Milton R. Konvitze
1976 Bruce Murray
1975 John Beecher
1974 Elliot Richardson
1973 John Coleman
1972 Malvina Reynolds
1971 Alvin Toffler
1970 Rollo May
1969 Martin E. Marty, Bernard Delfgaauw, R.J. Werblowsky
1968 Carl B. Stokes
1967 Saul Alinsky
1966 Martin Luther King, Jr.
1965 Harry D. Gideonse
1964 Linus Pauling
1963 F.S.C. Northrop
1962 Walter Kaufmann
1961 Abram Sachar
1960 Harold Taylor
1959 George Wald
1958 Edward A. Weeks, Jr.
1957 Charles Frankel
1956 Howard Thurman
1955 Henry DeWolf Smyth
1954 Agnes Ernst Meyer
1953 Howard Mumford Jones
1952 Henry Steele Commager
1951 T.V. Smith
1950 No lecture due to 125th Anniversary of Unitarians
1949 Erwin D. Canham
1948 Henry J. Cadbury
1947 Brock Chisholm
1946 George D. Stoddard
1945 No lecture due to World War II
1944 Max Lerner
1943 Walter Francis White
1942 Alfred M. Bingham
1941 Harry D. Gideonse
1940 Adolph Agustus Berle, Jr.
1939 Eduard C. Lindeman
1938 John Haynes Holmes
1937 Michael Williams
1936 James G. McDonald
1935 Frederick B. Fisher
1934 Reinhold Niebuhr
1933 Jesse H. Holmes
1932 Aurelia Henry Reinhardt
1931 Jane Addams
1930 William L. Sullivan
1929 Francis J. McConnell
1928 Frank Oliver Hall
1927 William Ellery Sweet
1926 James Smyth
1925 Ambrose W. Vernon
1924 John H. Finley
1923 K.H. Roessingh
1922 Rev. Frederick W. Norwood