Charles Conrad Wright (February 9, 1917 – February 17, 2011) was an American religious historian and scholar of American

Unitarianism Unitarianism (from Latin ''unitas'' "unity, oneness", from ''unus'' "one") is a nontrinitarian branch of Christian theology. Most other branches of Christianity and the major Churches accept the doctrine of the Trinity which states that there ...

and

congregational polity Congregationalist polity, or congregational polity, often known as congregationalism, is a system of ecclesiastical polity in which every local church (congregation) is independent, ecclesiastically sovereign, or " autonomous". Its first articula ...

. He served on the faculty of

Harvard Divinity School Harvard Divinity School (HDS) is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school's mission is to educate its students either in the academic study of religion or for leadership roles in religion, go ...

from 1954 to 1987 and continued to write for another decade. During his life, Wright was considered the authority on Unitarian church history and polity as well as the history of the Divinity School. Born in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most ...

, Wright was the son of

Charles Henry Conrad Wright Charles Henry Conrad Wright (1869–1957) was a professor of French language and literature and author of several books, notably his 990-page ''A History of French Literature'' (1912). He specialized in French literature of the 16th and 17th centu ...

, a professor of French at Harvard. A Unitarian himself, he was a member of First Parish in Cambridge, the

Unitarian Universalist Unitarian or Unitarianism may refer to: Christian and Christian-derived theologies A Unitarian is a follower of, or a member of an organisation that follows, any of several theologies referred to as Unitarianism: * Unitarianism (1565–present) ...

congregation associated with Harvard. His son, Conrad Edick Wright, is a historian of New England. He attended Browne and Nichols School, then was graduated from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher ...

in 1937 before receiving an MA in 1942 and a PhD in 1946 from Harvard.C. Conrad Wright obituary
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Bibliography

Books

*''The Beginnings of Unitarianism in America'' (1955) *''The Liberal Christians'' (1970) *''Three Prophets of Religious Liberalism: Channing, Emerson, Parker'' (1986) *''A Stream of Light: A Sesquicentennial History of American Unitarianism'' (1975) (re-issued in 1989 with the subtitle "A Short History of American Unitarianism") *''Walking Together: Polity and Participation in Unitarian Universalist Churches'' (1989) *''Congregational Polity: A Historical Survey of Unitarian Universalist Practice'' (1997)

Essay collections

*''Walking Together: Polity and Participation in Unitarian Universalist Churches'' (1989) *''The Unitarian Controversy: Essays in American Unitarian History'' (1994)

Edited volumes

*''Religion in American Life: Selected Readings'' (1972)

Essays

*in ''The Harvard Divinity School: Its Place in Harvard University and in American Culture.'' (1954). Ed. George H. Williams.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, C Conrad American Unitarian Universalists American historians of religion American male non-fiction writers Harvard Divinity School faculty Writers from Cambridge, Massachusetts 1917 births 2011 deaths Harvard College alumni Buckingham Browne & Nichols School alumni Historians from Massachusetts