Henry Winn Pinkham Papers

Henry Winn Pinkham was a minister and anti-war activist. Born in Newton Centre, Massachusetts, in 1864, he was educated at Brown University and Newton Theological School. He was ordained as a Baptist minister in 1891, and served a church in Bridgeport, Connecticut, before moving to Denver in 1896. Pinkham was very outspoken about social justice issues, and because of this he and his church were excluded from the Rocky Mountain Association of Baptist Churches. In 1909, Pinkham, along with the congregation, joined the American Unitarian Association. In 1912, Pinkham moved back to Massachusetts with his wife, Wenona Osborne Pinkham. In 1915, Pinkham was appointed minister of the Melrose (Mass.) Unitarian Church. However, his outspoken opposition to American involvement in World War I forced him to resign his post in 1917. He was unable to obtain another pastorate, and so devoted himself to the anti-war movement. He was involved in the Fellowship of Reconciliation, and was secretary of the Association to Abolish War from 1920 to 1927. After 1927 he concentrated his energies on writing letters to the editor and articles, which were published in religious journals such as Unity, The Christian Leader, and The Christian Register, and in many major newspapers. Pinkham's vehemence and single-mindedness in his opposition to war also gained him rejections from such magazines as the Atlantic Monthly, and the displeasure of many in the leadership of the Unitarian Church. Reverend Pinkham died in January 1947.