History
Between 1949 and 1951, the American Unitarian Youth and the Universalist Youth Fellowship published joint material on an experimental basis: a Youth Sunday guide, a songbook, The Youth Leader, The Liberal's Challenge, as well as material explaining the issues around merger. At their annual meetings in the summer of 1949, the two groups each passed a resolution to hold their 1951 conference and annual meeting together. A Joint Relations Committee was formed and charged with planning the Joint Convention of 1951, which was held at Camp Idlewild on an island in Lake Winnepesaukee, New Hampshire. The two groups endorsed a two-year plan for merger, to culminate in 1953, with the Joint Relations Committee and the two Executive Boards handling the transition. In 1952 the A.U.Y.-U.Y.F. Joint Convention tentatively approved a constitution for the merged organization. In 1953, the Joint Convention was held at Hanover College, Hanover, Indiana.
The final formal merger votes were held in separate business sessions. The name for the newly merged organization was Liberal Religious Youth, which held its first continental convention in 1954 at Chesire Academy, Chesire, Connecticut.
Liberal Religious Youth was disbanded in 1982 and replaced by the group Young Religious Unitarian Universalists. (From Follow the Gleam: A History of the Liberal Religious Youth Movements, by Wayne B. Arnason. Boston: Skinner House, 1980)
Using the Collections
Because many collections are stored offsite, please place requests at least two business days in advance of your intended visit. (See Visit Special Collections.) Every collection is identified with a bMS number. In most of the finding aids, the bMS number is followed by a slash and a box number. Please note the bMS number and box number of the collection you are interested in, and contact Research Services to inquire about the collection or to make an appointment.
Collections
| Collection Number | Liberal Religious Youth |
|---|---|
| bms 11142 | Liberal Religious Youth. Administrative Correspondence Files: Delaware Valley Federation, 1961-1963 |
| bms 01405 | Liberal Religious Youth. Administrative Records Re: Abortion and LRY Administration, 1972; 1978; n.d. |
| bms 01450 | Liberal Religious Youth. Administrative Records, 1947-1981 |
| bms 01374 | Liberal Religious Youth. Administrative Records, 1960-1961 |
| bms 10006 | Liberal Religious Youth. Administrative Subject Files, 1929-1979 |
| bms 01380 | Liberal Religious Youth. Audit Reports, 1955-1962 |
| bms 01406 | Liberal Religious Youth. Committee, Publication Records, 1961-1962 |
| bms 01156 | Liberal Religious Youth. Director Records, 1959-1970 |
| bms 01155 | Liberal Religious Youth. Director Records, 1960-1967 |
| bms 10035 | Liberal Religious Youth. Director/Executive Director, Administrative Records, AUY and UYF |
| bms 10010 | Liberal Religious Youth. Director/Executive Director, 1929-1979 |
| bms 01157 | Liberal Religious Youth. Executive Committee Records, 1953-1968 |
| bms 10007 | Liberal Religious Youth. Financial Ledgers and Reports, 1957-1961 |
| bms 10029 | Liberal Religious Youth. General Mailings, 1948-1961 |
| bms 11122 | Liberal Religious Youth. Mailings, 1950-1960 |
| bms 10008 | Liberal Religious Youth. Meeting Records, 1929-1961 |
| bms 01160 | Liberal Religious Youth. Records, 1928-1979 |
| bms 01386 | Liberal Religious Youth. Records, 1947-1963 |
| bms 01149 | Liberal Religious Youth. Records, 1955-1981 |
| bms 01153 | Liberal Religious Youth. Records, 1956-1966 |
| bms 01287 | Liberal Religious Youth. Records, 1958-1968 |
| bms 01151 | Liberal Religious Youth. Records, 1959-1966 |
| bms 01159 | Liberal Religious Youth. Records, 1961-1968 |
| bms 01154 | Liberal Religious Youth. Records, 1963-1968 |
| bms 01150 | Liberal Religious Youth. Records, 1963-1968 |
| bms 01291 | Liberal Religious Youth. Records, 1966 |
| bms 01152 | Liberal Religious Youth. Records, 1967-1976 |
| bms 14002 | Liberal Religious Youth. Records-in-Print, 1922-1945 |
| bms 10009 | Liberal Religious Youth. Regional Committee Records, 1929-1979 |
| bms 01158 | Liberal Religious Youth. Special Committee on Youth Programs Records, 1961-1968 |
| bms 01325 | Liberal Religious Youth. Theater Workshop Packet, 1972 |
| bms 10041 | Liberal Religious Youth. Youth Group Records (AUA and UCA), 1934-1957 |