Judith Sargent Murray: Forming a New Era in Female History - 1
People ask me all the time why I am so invested in telling JudithSargent Murray's story. Aside from the fact that this early women'srights advocate has essentially been lost to the historical recorduntil recently, for me she is a source of inspiration. She determinedfor herself why it was that she was "here," what she was meant to dowith her life, and she did it — despite incredible eighteenth-centuryobstacles and with a determined and entrepreneurial spirit.
I have given this sermon at several Unitarian Universalist churches inNew England. It really gets to the heart of her purpose in life and herlegacy. Here is Part 1 — I hope you enjoy it!
Judith Sargent Murray:
Forming a New Era in Female History
A Unitarian Universalist sermon by Bonnie Hurd Smith
Part 1
She was an independent thinker. An engaged citizen. A leader. And a Universalist. She was someone who chose to act despite considerable obstacles because she had the ability to improve the lives of future generations of girls and women, and to spread the “good news” of Universalism. How she did this, and why she did this, as a woman in the earliest days of our Universalist heritage and the emerging American nation, place Judith Sargent Murray among those of whom we can be most proud.
Where did her self-confidence come from? Her drive? Her motivation to make a difference in political discourse, in the status of women, and religion? What was in her that made her want to connect with her present in ways that would influence progressive change, draw strength from her past, and leave a legacy for the future?
After all, when Judith grew up, in Gloucester, Massachusetts, where she was born in 1751, Massachusetts was still an English colony. There was one church and one theology. Religious and civic life were dictated by the ruling Calvinist Congregational minister. Church and state were intertwined.
Religion was a central part of everyone's life. God was to be feared. He had chosen only a few, privileged people to enjoy eternity in heaven. Prosperity was a sure sign that you were favored. You were expected to do good works nonetheless so as not to incur God’s wrath, but even so, Calvinist doctrine instilled a hopeless sense that we were all sinners in the hands of an angry God. There was no room for freedom of thought on any of these matters. Fear, unquestioning loyalty, and in many cases illiteracy, enabled ministers to maintain control over their flocks.
But Enlightenment thinking was permeating Europe, and, increasingly, here, across the Atlantic. The concepts of individual liberty and educated independent thought would soon revolutionize American government, and these ideas applied to religion as well. Progressive thinking took root in Judith's family of literate, intellectual, and politically active citizens — and it took root in Judith.
We know from Judith’s personal letters that, along with religious texts, as a girl she read history, philosophy, geography, and literature. This was her own idea. Even in her forward-thinking family, she was not given the same educational advantages her brother Winthrop enjoyed. He had private tutors to prepare him for Harvard; she was taught basic reading, writing and domestic skills. But there was a family library, an encouraging father, and a very strong will to learn and improve herself.
Judith’s favorite book when she was 16 years old was a volume of ancient Brahmin Indian moral lessons. I have held this little book in my hand and seen its worn pages with comments in the margins. She even wrote on the flyleaf, "the best book that ever was written."*
So we know that as a teenager, as a young woman, Judith was engaged in determining her own moral compass — an internal truth for herself — what was right, and virtuous. How she should act during the brief time she would occupy “this world,” as she would say. Luckily, the culture of her family home allowed intellectual exploration and challenges to established ideas.
In addition, Judith’s father, Winthrop Sargent, had always encouraged her early attempts to write poetry and essays. Her desire to understand her world and participate in it would become a life-long quest. She would not be content to sit on the sidelines!
*This book, The Oeconomy of Human Life, is owned by the Sargent House Museum in Gloucester, Mass., Judith's former home. I served as president of the museum in the late '90s, and used to love showing this book to visitors!
To be continued...
_______________
You can buy my books on Judith Sargent Murray at my Judith Sargent Murray Society website.
I have given this sermon at several Unitarian Universalist churches inNew England. It really gets to the heart of her purpose in life and herlegacy. Here is Part 1 — I hope you enjoy it!
Judith Sargent Murray:
Forming a New Era in Female History
A Unitarian Universalist sermon by Bonnie Hurd Smith
Part 1
She was an independent thinker. An engaged citizen. A leader. And a Universalist. She was someone who chose to act despite considerable obstacles because she had the ability to improve the lives of future generations of girls and women, and to spread the “good news” of Universalism. How she did this, and why she did this, as a woman in the earliest days of our Universalist heritage and the emerging American nation, place Judith Sargent Murray among those of whom we can be most proud.
Where did her self-confidence come from? Her drive? Her motivation to make a difference in political discourse, in the status of women, and religion? What was in her that made her want to connect with her present in ways that would influence progressive change, draw strength from her past, and leave a legacy for the future?
After all, when Judith grew up, in Gloucester, Massachusetts, where she was born in 1751, Massachusetts was still an English colony. There was one church and one theology. Religious and civic life were dictated by the ruling Calvinist Congregational minister. Church and state were intertwined.
Religion was a central part of everyone's life. God was to be feared. He had chosen only a few, privileged people to enjoy eternity in heaven. Prosperity was a sure sign that you were favored. You were expected to do good works nonetheless so as not to incur God’s wrath, but even so, Calvinist doctrine instilled a hopeless sense that we were all sinners in the hands of an angry God. There was no room for freedom of thought on any of these matters. Fear, unquestioning loyalty, and in many cases illiteracy, enabled ministers to maintain control over their flocks.
But Enlightenment thinking was permeating Europe, and, increasingly, here, across the Atlantic. The concepts of individual liberty and educated independent thought would soon revolutionize American government, and these ideas applied to religion as well. Progressive thinking took root in Judith's family of literate, intellectual, and politically active citizens — and it took root in Judith.
We know from Judith’s personal letters that, along with religious texts, as a girl she read history, philosophy, geography, and literature. This was her own idea. Even in her forward-thinking family, she was not given the same educational advantages her brother Winthrop enjoyed. He had private tutors to prepare him for Harvard; she was taught basic reading, writing and domestic skills. But there was a family library, an encouraging father, and a very strong will to learn and improve herself.
Judith’s favorite book when she was 16 years old was a volume of ancient Brahmin Indian moral lessons. I have held this little book in my hand and seen its worn pages with comments in the margins. She even wrote on the flyleaf, "the best book that ever was written."*
So we know that as a teenager, as a young woman, Judith was engaged in determining her own moral compass — an internal truth for herself — what was right, and virtuous. How she should act during the brief time she would occupy “this world,” as she would say. Luckily, the culture of her family home allowed intellectual exploration and challenges to established ideas.
In addition, Judith’s father, Winthrop Sargent, had always encouraged her early attempts to write poetry and essays. Her desire to understand her world and participate in it would become a life-long quest. She would not be content to sit on the sidelines!
*This book, The Oeconomy of Human Life, is owned by the Sargent House Museum in Gloucester, Mass., Judith's former home. I served as president of the museum in the late '90s, and used to love showing this book to visitors!
To be continued...
_______________
You can buy my books on Judith Sargent Murray at my Judith Sargent Murray Society website.
Comments