Fritchman, Stephen H. (Stephen Hole), 1902-1981. Addresses and sermons, 1938-1981.

Stephen Fritchman (1902-1981) was born in Cleveland, Ohio. He received an AB degree from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1924, a BD from Union Theological Seminary in 1927, and an MA from New York University in 1929. He was ordained in the Methodist Church in 1929 but left that denomination and was ordained as a Unitarian minister in 1930 in Petersham, Massachusetts. He held ministerial settlements in Massachusetts, Maine, and California. He was executive director of the Unitarian Youth Commission from 1938 to 1947. In 1942 he became the editor of the American Unitarian Association journal, The Christian Register. He became the focus of a controversy concerning his editorial policies; his detractors accused him of having Communist leanings and his supporters applauded his efforts for bringing a fresh perspective to The Christian Register. This controversy continued for about 18 months, and he left this position in 1947. He then became the minister of the First Unitarian Church in Los Angeles, California, where he addressed racism and supported peace movements, civil liberties, and disarmament. He retired in 1969, and in 1976 he received the Annual Award of the UUA for Distinguished Service to the Cause of Liberal Religion and received the special honor of having the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee name their annual award after him. His published works include Men of Liberty, "Unitarianism Today," Young People in the Liberal Church, and Heretic: A Partisan Autobiography.