Prominent Local UUs
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| Florence Fifer-Bohrer (24 January 1877 – 20 July 1960) was “A Woman Before Her Time”. She lived at 909 N. McLean Street in Bloomington, Illinois, where she was an active member of the Unitarian Church (now the Unitarian Universalist Church of Bloomington-Normal). Her father was Governor Joseph W. Fifer and her mother was Gertrude Lewis Fifer. When she was a little girl, Florence listened to her father talk to other important people like David Davis, Jesse Fell, Carl Sandburg, and Theodore Roosevelt. She also lived next door to the Adlai Stevenson family. In 1924, four years after women won the right to vote, Florence was elected state senator and again in 1928. Florence Fifer-Bohrer died at the age of eighty-three. She had contributed much to Illinois as the state's first woman senator. She was a humanitarian, someone who was concerned with the welfare of those who are underprivileged in society. Fifer-Bohrer lived by a strong motto, "I saw a thing to do and I did it." |
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| John W. Cook (1861 - 1926) followed the Herbartian education philosophy as a faculty member at Illinois State Normal University (later Illinois State University) and served as President (1890-1899). Cook greatly influenced the faculty. Cook Hall on the Illinois State University campus is named for John Cook. In 1899, Cook, who had long advocated an expansion of the normal schools, became the first president of the newly established Northern Illinois State Normal School in DeKalb. He was an active member of the Unitarian Church, now the Unitarian Universalist Church of Bloomington-Normal. |
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| Jesse W. Fell (10 November 1808 – 25 February 1887), a Bloomington, Illinois businessman, founded Illinois State University, originally Illinois State Normal University. He called upon his attorney friend Abraham Lincoln to draw up the bond of guarantee for the Board of Education on May 5, 1857. Fell would later nominate Lincoln for the United States Senate. In 1851 Fell founded a newspaper that became the Pantagraph. The Fell Arboretum, Fell Memorial Gateway, and Fell Hall on the Illinois State University campus are named for Jesse Fell. He was also a founding member of the Free Congregational Society (1859), later the Unitarian Church (1885), and now the Unitarian Universalist Church of Bloomington-Normal (2002). |
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| David Felmley (24 April 1857 – 24 January 1930) was President of Illinois State Normal University who successfully fought for the right to offer bachelor degrees; the first was conferred in 1908. Felmley Hall on the present day Illinois State University campus is named for David Felmley. He was an active member of the Unitarian Church, now the Unitarian Universalist Church of Bloomington-Normal |
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| Private Joseph (Joe) Fifer (28 October 1840 – 6 August 1938) was born at Staunton, Virginia, and moved with his family to McLean County, Illinois in 1857 and worked in his father’s brickyard for several years. Fifer enlisted as a Private in the 33rd Illinois Infantry at the start of the Civil War and was wounded at Jackson, Mississippi during General Grant’s Vicksburg campaign. After the war he studied law at Illinois Wesleyan and became the tax collector at Danvers Township. He served as Bloomington city attorney and as a state’s attorney and was elected Governor in 1889. Fifer was a founding member of the Free Congregational Society (1859), later the Unitarian Church (1885), and now the Unitarian Universalist Church of Bloomington-Normal (2002). |
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| Herman Henry Schroeder (31 Oct 1933 - 4 May 1989) was a long-time faculty member in educational psychology (1913-1943) and dean (1928-1943) of Illinois State Normal University. Schroeder twice served as acting president of the University. Schroeder Hall on the present day Illinois State University campus is named for H. H. Schroeder. He was an active member of the now Unitarian Universalist Church of Bloomington-Normal |
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| Adlai Ewing Stevenson II (5 February 1900 – July 14, 1965) was an American politician, noted for his intellectual demeanor and advocacy of liberal causes in the Democratic party. He served one term as governor of Illinois and ran, unsuccessfully, for president against Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952 and 1956. He served as Ambassador to the United Nations from 1961 to 1965. Stevenson Hall on the Illinois State University campus is named for Adlai Stevenson II. Stevenson’s funeral service was held in the Unitarian Church of Bloomington (now The Unitarian Universalist Church of Bloomington-Normal) and was attended by many notable people, including then President Lyndon B. Johnson and wife Lady Bird. |
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| Jennie Whitten (3 January 1894 – 26 April 1989) was on the faculty at Illinois State Normal University and served as head of the Foreign Language Department. Working with another faculty member, Whitten wrote the University’s alma mater in 1926. The University Hymn is still sung at formal campus events today. Whitten Hall on the present day Illinois State University campus is named for Jennie Whitten. Whitten also wrote short histories of the Unitarian Church in 1960 and 1974 and was an active member of the now Unitarian Universalist Church of Bloomington-Normal. |
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| Francis Henry Irvin (22 September 1920 - 5 August 2008) received a bachelor’s degree in education from ISNU in 1942. He served in the U.S. Army Air Force Medical Corps from 1942 to 1946 and received his master’s degree from the Teachers College at Columbia University in 1947 where he wrote his thesis on gangs in the lower east side of Manhattan. Francis taught elementary education at Heyworth Elementary School for over 30 years. Irvin was a member of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Bloomington-Normal for 30 years and was a prominant advocate for social justice. He received numerous awards over the years including the Martin Luther King Award in 1980, Illinois Community Action Association’s Volunteer of the Year in 1996, Cultural Festival Service Award in 1995, Midwest Region Boys and Girls Club Service Award in 1994, Baha’i Light of Unity Award in 1993, the McLean County Democratic Party’s Franklin D. Roosevelt Award in 2004, given for outstanding lifetime service and the Unsung UU in 2006 given by the Central Midwest District of the Uniterian Universalist Association. |
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