First Unitarian Church Records

The collection goes into detail about the formation of the First Unitarian Church in Dayton in 1910 with administrative records as well as scrapbooks and written histories. It also goes into the activities of the inter-church organizations and affiliated organizations since the church was involved in a variety of causes and issues both local and international.

Series I, Administration, contains administrative records, like annual reports and committee reports and minutes, that date back to the church’s formation in 1910. This series also includes constitutions, annual reports, and the work of the Board of Trustees.

Series II, Financial, contains financial information of the church. This includes budgets, treasurers’ reports, bank statements, insurance information, and receipts. This series is sorted by file subject and then by date.

Series III, Building, contains information as to the First Unitarian Church’s building itself. It includes such things as blueprints, building committee reports, and maintenance agreements. This series is sorted chronologically and by subject.

Series IV, Members, contains information on members of the First Unitarian Church. It contains Directories, membership listings, and brief biographies on some of the members.

Series V, Services, contains information about the services at First Unitarian Church. It is divided into three subseries. Subseries VA, Programs and Special Services, contains mainly Orders of Service, which tell what will happen during the service and the music selection. Subseries VB, Sermons, is a collection of the sermons given at services from various reverends and other speakers. Subseries VC, Music, contains some music that was performed at the services.

Series VI, Publications, contains the publications of the First Unitarian Church from 1928-1997. Also included are some newsletters from the Miami Valley Unitarian Fellowship from the time that the First Unitarian Church merged with them in 1997.

Series VII, Organizations and Activities, contains information on the activities and organizations of the First Unitarian Church. It is divided into three subseries. Subseries VIIA, Inter-Church Organizations, encompasses the clubs and committees inside the First Church itself. Subseries VIIB, Church Affiliated Organizations, encompasses Unitarian groups such as the American Unitarian Association (AUA), the Ohio Valley Unitarian-Universalist District (OVUUD), and the Unitarian-Universalist Association (UUA) and their publications. Subseries VIIC, Public Outreach, contains some of the social issues which the First Church espoused, like the ACLU and discrimination issues.

Series VIII, Correspondence, contains correspondence to and from the church over the years. Most of it is label as General Correspondence, and is arranged chronologically, but there are some files that are arranged by subject at the end of the file.

Series IX, History, contains general histories of both the First Unitarian Church and also of the Unitarian movement in general. This is an excellent section to introduce both the beliefs of the Unitarians and the First Church itself.

Series X, Scrapbooks, contains Scrapbooks compiled by the members of the First Unitarian Church and tells about the Church through newspaper articles and photographs.

Series XI, Photographs, contains photographs of the Church and its members over the years.

Series XII, Audio Visual, contains both audio and video tapes of the church, which contain sermons, music, and guest speakers. This series contains two subseries. Subseries XIIA, Audio Tapes, holds audio tapes of sermons and other speeches and music. Subseries XIIB, Video Tapes, contains various videos of sermons, conferences and music performances.

Series XIII, Oversized Collection, contains the Oversized Collection which consists of Newspapers, photos, and scrapbooks that are too large to fit in a Hollinger box.