Waitstill Sharp
| Waitstill Sharp | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Waitstill Hastings Sharp 1 May 1902 Boston, Massachusetts[1] |
| Died | 1983 |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater |
Boston University (B.A., 1923) [1] Harvard Law School (J.D, 1926)[1][2] Harvard University (M.A., 1931)[1] |
| Occupation | Unitarian minister |
| Known for | humanitarian rescue work before and during World War II |
| Spouse(s) |
Martha Sharp (1927-1954) Monica Allard Clark (m. 1955)[3] |
| Children |
Hastings Sharp (b. 1932) Martha Content Sharp Joukowsky (b. 1937) |
Waitstill Hastings Sharp (1 May 1902–1983) was a Unitarian minister who was involved in humanitarian work and social justice.[2][4]
Early life and education
Sharp was born in Boston in May 1902, son of Grace Hastings and naturalist, author, and professor Dallas Lore Sharp. Through his mother, he is a descendant of Thomas Hastings, who came from the East Anglia region of England to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1634.
Sharp graduated from Boston University with an undergraduate degree in 1923,[1] from Harvard Law School with a J.D. in 1926, and with an M.A. from Harvard University in 1931.[2]
Career
While in his third year of law school he got to know Eugene Shippen, National Director of Religious Education for the American Unitarian Association (AUA), and minister of Second Church in Boston, and later became part-time director of religious education at Second Church. A social worker involved with local internationalist and peace groups, Martha Ingham Dickie, would become his spouse in 1927,[2] and remain his strong ministry partner in his outreach and rescue work in Europe during the Second World War.
Several years later, he was ordained a Unitarian minister, and he took the pulpit of a small church in Meadville, Pennsylvania, in 1933.[2] In April 1936, he was appointed pastor at the Unitarian Church of Wellesley Hills in Wellesley, Massachusetts.[2]
World War II rescue work
The Sharps were recruited by Reverend Everett Baker of the American Unitarian Association to accept a posting in Czechoslovakia, as representatives of a new program, initiated by Robert Dexter, to help endangered refugees. He administered relief to hundreds of endangered Jews and other refugees in Prague, with his wife Martha, beginning in 1939.
In the following year, Waitstill and Martha traveled to southern Europe to continue a relief and rescue program for endangered refugees as representatives of the newly formed Unitarian Service Committee. While visiting southern France, Waitstill worked closely with the World YMCA to help Czech servicemen to escape from Vichy France. He also forged a collaboration with Varian Fry to look after Fry's refugee clients in Lisbon. In this capacity, Martha and Waitstill personally escorted the novelist Lion Feuchtwanger from Marseille, France, on his journey to America.[5]
Honors
On 9 September 2005, Martha and Waitstill Sharp were named by Yad Vashem as Righteous among the Nations, the second and third Americans so honored (the first being Varian Fry).[6]
Legacy
An educational curriculum including the Sharps is featured at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.[7]
The only scholarly book to describe the World War II work of the Sharps, which includes significant information of the context of their work among other relief workers, is a work by Susan Elisabeth Subak, Rescue and Flight, published in 2010.[5]
In popular culture
A Ken Burns documentary film, Defying the Nazis: The Sharps' War, that chronicled the efforts of Waitstill and Martha Sharp, was co-directed by Burns and their grandson, Artemis A.W. Joukowsky, III, of Sherborn, Massachusetts, and co-produced by Burns, Joukowsky, and Matthew Justus, with the support of PBS (including the WETA station), the Unitarian Universalist community, several well-known foundations, and many individuals.[8][9]
Personal life
Sharp married Martha Ingham Dickie in 1927,[2] and they had two children, Hastings (b. 1932) and Martha (b. 1937). The couple separated after World War II, and were divorced in 1954.
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Martha and Waitstill Sharp: A Timeline of their Lives", Two Who Dared, film website
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Di Figlia, Ghanda. "Martha Sharp Cogan (1905-1999) and Waitstill Sharp (1902-1983): Unitarian Service Committee Pioneers". Harvard Square Library. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
- ↑ "Martha and Waitstill Sharp Collection, ca. 1905-2005", United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
- ↑ Joukowsky, Artemis (6 September 2016). Defying the Nazis: The Sharps' War. Boston: Beacon Press. ISBN 9780807071823. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
- 1 2 Subak, Susan Elisabeth (2010). Rescue and Flight: American Relief Workers who Defied the Nazis. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0803230176. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
- ↑ Yad Vashem Staff (June 13, 2006). "Waitstill and Martha Sharp". Yad Vashem [The Righteous Among The Nations, yadvashem.org ]. Jerusalem: The World Holocaust Remembrance Center. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
- ↑ "Martha and Waitstill Sharp". Holocaust Encyclopedia. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
- ↑ "Defying the Nazis: The Sharps' War". PBS. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
- ↑ Cooper, Clint (16 February 2013). "Unitarian Church to screen couple's heroics". Chattanooga Times Free Press. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
Further reading
- Marino, Andy (2000). A Quiet American: The Secret War of Varian Fry. New York: St. Martin's Griffin. ISBN 9780312267674. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
- Kahn, Joseph P. (12 December 2005). "Deeds Earn Place Among the Righteous". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
- Lantos, Tom; et al. (January 22, 2007). "Paying Tribute To Reverend Waitstill Sharp And Martha Sharp For Their Heroic Efforts To Save Jews During The Holocaust [comments made with respect to a resolution in the House of Representatives]". Capitol Words. 153 (12): h801–h805. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 52) paying tribute to Reverend Waitstill Sharp and Martha Sharp for their recognition by the Yad Vashem Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority as Righteous Among the Nations for their heroic efforts to save Jews during the Holocaust. [Rep. Tom Lantos]
- Subak, Susan Elisabeth (2010). Rescue and Flight: American Relief Workers who Defied the Nazis. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0803230176. Retrieved 21 September 2016.