Oral History Interview with Ann Ulinski

Partial Transcript: "I'll be talking to Ann, and so Ann would you please...may we begin by your telling me a little about your background."

Segment Synopsis: Ulinski describes her family's history in the Unitarian church and her experiences at First Unitarian Church in her youth. She says the church closed during the summer.

Keywords: Catechism; Catholicism; Choir; Dedication; Membership; Sunday School; World War II

Partial Transcript: "We had a Woman's Alliance and a Layman's League."

Segment Synopsis: Ulinski describes various groups for adult church members.

Keywords: Cooking; Kitchen; Volunteer organizations

Subjects: Women--Societies and clubs

Partial Transcript: "There's a picture in, I've seen a photograph of two Women's Alliance members and they are sewing and it was in the newspaper."

Segment Synopsis: Ulinski describes a neighborhood house, or community center, on First Street established by a family of Unitarians who had moved to Louisville from Massachusetts.

Keywords: Children; Preschool; Sewing; Volunteers; Working mothers; Working parents

Subjects: Community centers; Social settlements

Partial Transcript: "Can you recall any of the other activities?"

Segment Synopsis: Ulinski tells of women's contributions to the church including cooking, providing flowers, housekeeping, and organizing fundraisers. She describes how she and other women balanced motherhood, church work and paid employment. She also recalls the work of the full-time caretaker or janitor at the church.

Keywords: Babysitting; Child care; Cleanliness; Decorations; Flower Fund; Neatness; School; Teaching; Women's Alliance

Subjects: Janitors; Women--Societies and clubs

Partial Transcript: "Would you say that you and your family were involved in the church?"

Segment Synopsis: Ulinski describes the work she, her grandparents, aunts and uncles, and her parents did at First Unitarian and in the national Unitarian church.

Keywords: Layman's League; Tuberculosis Association; Women's Alliance

Partial Transcript: "What would you say your first memory of the church is?"

Segment Synopsis: Ulinski remembers the choir director telling her that she needed to learn to read because she was singing incorrectly. She describes her later participation in the choir from the age of 13 to the present day.



Ulinski describes the various choir directors and the changes they made. One was a student at the Baptist seminary who changed the traditional time of the Christmas Eve service. During the 1960s, a new director introduced contemporary musical influences such as piano and guitar. She also recalls directors Crystal Black, B.T. Kimbrough III, who was blind, and Terry Borney.



Ulinski discusses controversy over changes to hymns and worship music that was not Unitarian or out of line with Unitarian teaching. She also describes Christmas services and why they are acceptable.



Ulinski recalls various instrumentalists, both paid and unpaid, playing at the church. She says the church was known for their Christmas Eve music and for concerts on Sundays.



Ulinski shares a humorous anecdote about singers not wearing clothes under their robes during warm weather.

Keywords: "Free will offering"; Acoustics; Black, Crystal; Borney, Terry; Gene Miller; Heat; Hymnbooks; Hymns; Kimbrough, B.T. III; May; Musical instruments; Musicians; Onwood, Susannah Smith; Organ; Organist; Prelude; Reading; Rehearsal; Slips; Soloists; Summer; Traditional music; Underwear; Unitarian Universalist Association

Subjects: Choirs (Music)

Partial Transcript: "Can we move on a little bit?"

Segment Synopsis: Ulinski speaks briefly about Rev. Philip Smith. She discusses the vespers service introduced by Rev. Richard Seebodie in 1937. Ulinski then discusses Rev. Brown and how he incorporated jazz music into the church. She also describes the work of religious educator Ann Miller.

Keywords: "River of My People"; Brown, William David; Curtains; Decor; Miller, Ann; Religious education; Seebodie, Richard; Smith, Phillp

Partial Transcript: "Now let's see, that was David Brown we talked about."

Segment Synopsis: Ulinski describes events in the church and community during Rev. Reed's tenure from 1968 to 1985.

Keywords: African American Populations; Civil Rights Movement; Migrants; Sanctuary movement; Vietnam War

Partial Transcript: "What were you doing in those days - during Bob Reed's time from '68 to '85?"

Segment Synopsis: Ulinski describes the tasks of various organizations and a variety of sources of funding for the church. She also describes how members have left the church due to conflicting political and social beliefs.

Keywords: Council; Disaster fund; Finances; Long-range planning; Members; Memorial fund; Parking lots; Pledging units; Renovations; Women's Alliance

Partial Transcript: "And now that we're talking about Richard Beal, I want to give you the opportunity to say anything you would like to say about the fire in December 13, 1985."

Segment Synopsis: Ulinski describes Beal coming to the church, his civil rights activism, and his public-speaking skills. She also describes the fire and temporary church facilities in the West End of Louisville during repairs to the church.

Keywords: Activism; Choir robes; Politics

Partial Transcript: "I'll tell you the one thing that I heard that I couldn't believe but my aunt said it was true. The national organization encouraged us not to have the doors on Fourth Street."

Segment Synopsis: Ulinski and Kremer discuss theories as to why the doors of the new church building were placed on Library Lane rather than Fourth Street. Ulinski says that it was for safety from people who objected to the church's civil rights stance, while Kremer suggests that it was a habit started by construction workers.

Keywords: Protests; Vandalism

Partial Transcript: "Is there anything that you feel like you would like to mention about the church ever that we haven't covered."

Segment Synopsis: Ulinski describes how changes in the layout and schedule at the church has negatively impacted social interaction at the church.

Keywords: Children; Reception; Sanctuary; Young couples; Young families

Partial Transcript: "I should have asked you about Bob Weston, is there anything you would like to say about him?"

Segment Synopsis: Ulinski talks about former ministers Bob Weston and Richard Beal, and current minister Dawn Cooley. She discusses the minister's role in relation to the church members.

Keywords: "Aloneness"; Activism; Aging; Board of directors; Community; Loneliness; Polyamory; Voting

Subjects: Civil rights movements

Partial Transcript: "There's a whole other group I forgot to ask you about and I'm really sorry. I forgot to ask you about the spouses of the ministers."

Segment Synopsis: Ulinski describes the activities of the spouses of various ministers and the role of intern ministers over the years.

Keywords: Beal, Joan; Brown, David; Children; Knowles, Virginia Perin; Reed, Jeanne; Smith, Phillip; Weston, Bob; Wives; Working women

Partial Transcript: "The church is full of personalities and interests and it's so involved with everything that goes inside, in the church, and then outside in the community and the world."

Segment Synopsis: Ulinski describes the social and economic background of the First Unitarian church membership in her youth, how the church has changed, and the decline in church attendance and membership.

Keywords: Catholicism; Catholics; Church attendance; Leaving the church; Marijuana

Partial Transcript: "One thing I've noticed in the music in the past couple years, it seems like that Christy is drawing more on, she's bring up more traditional, some traditional hymns that I haven't heard for a long time."

Segment Synopsis: Ulinski discusses changes in the choir and music over the years including video screens for projecting song lyrics.

Keywords: Choir directors; Hymn books; Instrumentalists; Musicians