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The Telegram recently ran a brief article on the life and career of Thomas Wentworth Higginson (1823-1911), the radical Worcester Unitarian minister of 150 years ago. The article was all right, as far as it went, but it left out some important features of Rev. Higginson's astonishing life story. Worcester has had its share of striking personalities and careers, but nothing to equal the Higginson saga.
Just a brief summary: He was a teacher, a preacher, a radical reformer, a gunrunner, a dedicated abolitionist, an apostle of physical fitness, a writer, an editor, a military leader, a prominent intellectual and a strong supporter of John Brown, the terrorist who massacred pro-slavery settlers in Kansas in 1856 and later led the ill-fated 1859 raid at Harper's Ferry that was aimed at setting off a slave rebellion.
When he was minister of the Worcester Free Church in 1855, he sponsored Worcester's first Christmas party for children, black and white, with a Christmas tree and gifts. It may have been the city's first Christmas tree publicly displayed.
As a member of the Worcester School Committee in 1854, he supported Catholic parents who did not want the King James Version of the Bible read in class. He was ousted from the School Committee when the anti-Catholic Know-Nothing Party swept state and local elections in 1855.
He presided over the unconventional wedding of feminist Lucy...