Orville Dewey was a cousin by marriage to Ralph Waldo Emerson, and was one of the few individuals privileged to call him "Waldo." He also was a friend of William Cullen Bryant and shared a pulpit with William Ellery Channing. He held one of the most influential Unitarian pulpits in the mid-19th Century. He was in favor of gradual emancipation, and incurred the wrath of Abolitionists. His correspondence with Emerson, Channing, Bryant, and others is not well known or appreciated, since his autobiography and letters are not readily available. Having his autobiography on the web is an important addition to his collected works which are already available through the "Making of America" series at the University of Michigan site.

This is an important Unitarian milestone in which John Haynes Holmes, a pacifist Unitarian clergyman, first announced from the pulpit his intention to leave the Unitarian denomination. This action related in part to the American Unitarian Association's support for US involvement in World War I, and in part to his evolving vision of a single "Community Church" that he hoped would replace separate denominations in each geographic locality, with all working together for the common good of their community. Here he lays out his vision for the "Community Church" concept. Holmes was a co-founder of the NAACP and the ACLU, and a friend and early supporter of Gandhi.