Volumes of Onward, The Journal of the Universalist Young People

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The Jan 15 1914 issue of Onward relates in a rather stacatto fashion that it began as the Universalist Union, published by Jas. D. Tillinghast, first National Secretary. "Union took charge and named [sic] changed to Onward, March 1, 1894."

The Universalist Union is mentioned in the 1890 Universalist Register as being a monthly folio, published out of Tufts College, with Mrs. M. R. Smith and Miss N. Jenison as associate editors to Tillinghast. The Columbian Congress of the Universalist Church, published 1893, relates that Rev. L. B. Fisher, of Rochester, N.Y., began publication of the Universalist Union in Nov 1887 as a parish paper for western New York. After several issues, Rev. J. F. Leland took over, being followed by Tillinghast, of Buffalo, in August 1889. The Universalist Union became the organ of the freshly minted YPCU (Young People's Christian Union) but its publication remained the responsibility of Tillinghast's until 1893 when the Union took control and thenceforth managed it.

Onward was published until 1945.

Below are full volumes of Onward that have been thus far digitized by Google. Next to the link to the volume I give number of issues it contains, how Google has divded them into chapters (which can be confusing, when they do so, as it has nothing to do with number of issues), and the number pages of the volume. I also present when the masthead is changed, the editor (one isn't always given), how many times published a year and from where, and other certain aspects of presentation that change over the years.

To the eyes of those who grew up with People Soup or Synapse, the YPCU's Onward will likely seem alien, perhaps even disconcertingly so. The Golden Age of Freethought was in full swing during the late 19th century, with numerous publications weekly firing away at religious authoritarianism and even each other as definitions of and expectations of Freethought clashed. If one is familiar with any of these publications, Onward appears conventional.

"Power and Progress of Universalism", published in 1881 in The Univeralist Quarterly, admonishes:

Limitation is as much needed as freedom. We are not Liberals, but liberal Christians. Our movement is not a movement of free thought, but of a free Christianity.

It is this sensibility that may be viewed in Onward, and a want of the vivid voice of genuine youth and turbulent, energetic, exploratory adolescence, that divides the generations of Onward from those which followed. But the impulse toward those later generations was at work.

Onward, Volume 2, 1895
Feb 1 1895 thru Jan 31 1896. 53 issues. Divided into 22 sections by Google. 212 pages. 3 column format. Editor, Harry L. Canfield. Associate Editor, Mary Grace Canfield. Issued every Friday by the Universalist Publishing House, 30 West St., Boston, MA.

The Young People's Christian Union was initially for people 35 years and below. Mary Grace Canfield was born 1864 and so was about 31 years of age when she and her husband began editing Onward. Harry Canfield , a Universalist minister, was born in 1860 so was 35. They would edit the publication until 1898.

Onward, Volume 3, 1896
Feb 7 1896 thru Jan 29 1897. 52 issues divided into 21 sections by Google. 208 pages. 3 column format. Editor, Harry L. Canfield. Associate Editor, Mary Grace Canfield. Issued every Friday by the Universalist Publishing House, 30 West St., Boston, MA.

Onward, Volume 4, 1897
Feb 5 1897 thru Jan 28 1898. 52 issues. 206 pages. 3 column format. Editor, Harry L. Canfield. Associate Editor, Mary Grace Canfield. Issued every Friday by the Universalist Publishing House, 30 West St., Boston, MA.

Wayne Arnason, in We Would be One, states that it was in 1898 that the Massachusetts State Union, wanting to "reduce the cost and influence of the national union", at the YPCU convention of that year proposed discontinuing "the positions of salaried editor and secretary for Onward. The proposal passed.

Onward, Volume 7, 1900
Jan 6 1900 thru Dec 25 1900. 52 issues. 416 pages. 2 and 3 column layout. Divided into 30 sections by Google. Editor, Grace F. White. Issued every Saturday by the Universalist Publishing House, 30 West St., Boston, MA.

Grace F. White continued as editor for a few years. I have been unable to locate any info on her online other than the song book she published for the youth.

Onward, Volume 8, 1901
Jan 1 1901 thru Dec 28 1901. 52 issues. 416 pages. 2 and 3 column layout. Editor, Grace F. White. It vacillates this year between being issued every Tuesday or Saturday by the Universalist Publishing House, 30 West St., Boston, MA.

Onward, Volume 9, 1902
Jan 4 1902 thru Dec 27 1902. 52 issues. 416 pages. 2 and 3 column layout. Divided into 30 sections by Google. Editor, Grace F. White. Issued every Saturday by the Universalist Publishing House, 30 West St., Boston, MA.

Onward, Volume 10, 1903
Jan 3 1903 thru Dec 26 1903. 52 issues. 416 pages. 2 and 3 column layout. No editor is given. Issued every Saturday by the Universalist Publishing House, 30 West St., Boston, MA.

Onward, Volume 11, 1904
Jan 2 1904 thru Dec 27 1904. 53 issues. 438 pages. 2 and 3 column layout. There are two mastheads in 1904. Feb 6 1904 the banner changes to the below, which is when an editor begins to be listed again, Harry Adams Hersey. This year publication is at first given as being every Saturday until issue 14, March 29, when it changes to every Tuesday.

Harry Adams Hersey, born 1870, attended Tufts College and Tufts' Crane Theological School. He received his BA in 1903, before beginning his time of editing Onward, then was awarded his BD in 1906 while he was still serving as editor.

Onward, Volume 12, 1905
Jan 3 1905 thru Dec 26 1905. 51 issues. 428 pages. 2 and 3 column layout. Editor, Harry Adams Hersey. Issued every Tuesday by the Universalist Publishing House, 30 West St., Boston, MA.

Onward, Volume 13, 1906
Jan 1 1906 thru Dec 25 1906. 50 issues. 428 pages. 2 and 3 column layout. Editor, Harry Adams Hersey. Issued every Tuesday by the Universalist Publishing House, 30 West St., Boston, MA.

Onward, Volume 14, 1907
Jan 1 1907 thru Dec 31 1907. 53 issues. 436 pages. 2 and 3 column layout. Editor, Harry Adams Hersey. Issued every Tuesday by the Universalist Publishing House, 30 West St., Boston, MA.

Onward, Volume 15, 1908
Jan 7 1908 thru Dec 29 1908. 52 issues. 416 pages. 2 and 3 column layout. Editor, Harry Adams Hersey. Issued every Tuesday by the Universalist Publishing House, 30 West St., Boston, MA.

The beginning of the year shows the banner changed so the motto "For Christ and his Church" is no longer included, and the editorials section is immediately underneath, almost a part of it now. On Jan 14 1908, this changes to include Harry Adams Hersey's name below the editorial graphics and typeface. If we look back at the December 1907 issue we see the note, "We desire a design for a new heading for ONWARD. The Executive Board has decreed that the motto 'For Christ and His Church' shall not appear. Will some reader who has the ability to do so, kindly contribute a new design for the new heading, containing the words, 'ONWARD, The Journal of the Universalist Young People.' The design should be executed in very black ink. Simplicity rather than ornateness is desired..."

March 24, 1908, the banner changes yet again to replace the editorials typeface with the motto, and the size of Hersey's name beneath is reduced.

Why the reappearance of the motto? In the March 18th issue we see "In response to a request from Unioners the Board voted that the motto of our Union 'For Christ and His Church' shall be printed at the head of the first column of the first page of ONWARD."

Leela Sinha,in her paper Unitarian Universalist Youth History, states that it was in 1931 that the reference to Christ was removed from the masthead.

Onward, Volume 17, 1910
Jan 4 1910 thru Dec 27 1910. 42 issues divided into 25 sections by Google. 388 pages. On Jan 1910 a change of address for the editor is given to 22 Kidder Ave., West Somerville, Massachusetts, then on March 2 the banner is altered so the address appears under Hersey's name. The appearance remains pretty much like this, with the exception of a couple of issues where suddenly we have rather large photos appearing in the publication directly under the Vol and issue, then returns to this format. On August 2, the banner is slightly altered only in that the name of the editor and address is changed to Roger F. Etz, editor, 359 Boylston Street, Boston, Mass. Then on August 23, 1910 we get a new banner and a shift is made from 2 and 3 column layouts to only 2 column layouts in larger print. Throughout, the publication is given as issued every Tuesday at the Universalist Publishing House, 359 Boylston Street, Boston, Mass., until Nov 15, 1910 when it changes to bi-weekly.

Roger Frederick Etz was born in 1886 so was about 24 yoa when became editor. He had just graduated from Tufts College with a degree in Philosophy in 1909 and in 1910 received his S.T. B. from the Crane Theological School.

Onward, Volume 18, 1911
Jan 10 1911 thru Dec 26, 1911. 26 issues. 332 pages. 2 column layout. Roger F. Etz, Editor. Issued bi-weekly at the Universalist Publishing House, 359 Boylston Street, Boston, Mass.

Onward, Volume 19, 1912
Jan 9 1912 thru Dec 24 1912. 26 issues divided into 15 sections by Google. 324 pages. 2 column layout. Roger F. Etz, editor. Issued bi-weekly at the Universalist Publishing House, 359 Boylston Street, Boston, Mass.

Onward, Volume 20, 1913
Jan 14 1913 thru Dec 1 1913. 23 issues divided into 23 sections by Google. 300 pages. 2 column layout. Roger F. Etz, editor. Issued bi-weekly at the Universalist Publishing House, 359 Boylston Street, Boston, Mass.

Onward, Volume 21, 1914
Jan 1 1914 thru Dec. 16 1914. 24 issues. 292 pages. 2 column layout. The August 1 issue states, "Up to the last issue of December, 1913, Onward was issued as a bi-weekly as in former years under the present editorship. By the decision of the National Board at that time to change it to semi-monthly, it was thought wise to drop out the issue of Dec. 30, 1913 and date the next one Jan. 1 1914, thus giving us only twenty-five issues during 1913. Since Jan. 1. 1914, the paper has been issued as a semi-monthly, dated the first and the fifteenth of each month." Sep. 15, issue 18, now shows the issues as being edited by the National Executive Board. Throughout the year they are given as being issued semi-monthly at Universalist Publishing House, 359 Boylston Street, Boston, Mass. but on September 15 this changes to having beneath it Managing Editor, Carl F. Elsner, Associate Editors: Stanley Manning, Stanley S. Staring, Mary L. Ballou, Stanley C. Stall, George A. Gay, Samuel T. Cushing, Hazel I. Kirl. Circulation Manage, Samuel T. Cushing.

Roger F. Etz, who had edited for several years prior this change, in Feb 1913 was called to his first ministry at the White Memorial Universalist Church in Concord, New Hampshire.

Onward, Volume 24, 1917
Jan 1 1917 thru Dec. 15 1917. 24 issues. 284 pages. 2 column layout. Edited by the National Executive Board. Issued semi-monthly at 333 Union Street, Lynn, Mass. Managing editor, Carl F. Elsner.

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