From the Archives: 50 years in the past
By Ed Busch
In line with our recent celebration of 175 years in Lansing, I thought I’d take a look in our archives at the church newsletter from 50 years ago, March 29, 1974. At that time, we were in the building on Grove Street in East Lansing and Reverend Bob Green was the minister. In the national news that month seven former high-ranking aides to President Richard M. Nixon were indicted by a federal jury and the five-month-old Arab oil embargo ended.
In our newsletter, the headline is about the RE youth beginning a study of our UU heritage with the first focus on Thomas Starr King. Thomas Starr King (1824-1864) was arguably the first Unitarian Universalist, being both a Universalist and Unitarian minister. He is credited with describing the difference between Unitarians and Universalists this way: “Universalists believe that God is too good to damn people, and the Unitarians believe that people are too good to be damned by God.”
Other events highlighted included a recycling drive and bake sale planned for the weekend, a Circle Dinner referred to as an “Old Fashioned Pot Luck Dinner” at the church followed by a Movie Lovers showing of “Tramp, Tramp, Tramp” starring Harry Langdon with a young Joan Crawford. There was also a reminder to committee heads to submit their inputs in to the office for the annual report and congratulations to Alice Erickson who received her M.A. in Elementary Education from MSU. A final notice was from the Lamplighters group taking reservations for dinner at the Old Ice Box and followed by a performance of “Mrs. Warren’s Profession” by George Bernard Shaw at the Boarshead Theatre in Lansing. Total cost $8.
The bulk of the newsletter was a message from the minister, Rev. Bob Green focusing on the recent announcement by President Nixon that no gas rationing would be needed since the oil embargo had ended. Rev. Green argues that rationing will effectively occur through higher price. (In 1974 the average price per gallon was $0.53 which would be about $3.19 in 2022 dollars.) He accuses the Administration and the oil industry of cooperating to keep these high prices and exorbitant profits rather than letting prices fall with increased supply. He also claims this policy benefits the wealthy and oil companies at the expense of the poor and middle class who cannot pass on higher costs. Rev. Green further argues that the administration has deceived the public to benefit oil company profits including limiting cheaper foreign imports. He finishes with “In a democracy, the people get the kind of government they deserve, or so it has been said. If we take this lying down, then the increased cost of gasoline will be what we deserve!”
Do you have a burning question about our church history? Send in your questions and/or blog ideas to uucgl.archives@gmail.com.
Image citations:
1. Thomas Starr King https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.2011.110 by James Wallace Black ca. 1860. Public Domain CC0 1.0.
2. Tramp, tramp, Tramp ad Picture-Play Magazine https://picryl.com/media/tramp-tramp-tramp-ad-picture-play-magazine-march-1926-to-august-1926-page-477-4e0dfb 1926. Public Domain.
3. Rev. Robert Green, UUCGL Archives, 1973 Photo Directory.
