First Untarian Church

Building Map (not to scale)

The James Reeb Room

James Reeb (January 1, 1927 — March 11, 1965) was an American white Unitarian Universalist minister from Boston, Massachusetts who, while marching for civil rights in Selma, Alabama, was beaten to death by segregationists. He was 38 years old. A member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), Reeb took part in the Selma to Montgomery protest march in 1965. While in Selma on March 9, Reeb was attacked by a white mob armed with clubs, which inflicted massive head injuries. He died in a Birmingham hospital two days later. His death resulted in a national outcry against the activities of white racists in the Deep South, although some expressed indignation that it took the death of a white man to incite such a national outcry. More information.

Sarah H. Joslyn (1851–1940)  Sarah and her husband, George, loved Omaha  and actively supported community projects, toward which it is estimated they gave more than $7 million. They gave generously to the University of Omaha, the Humane Society, the Old People’s Home, and the Child Saving Institute. They often opened their home, Lynhurst (dubbed “Joslyn Castle” by Omahans because of its grand, baronial style), to parties of underprivileged and orphaned children. Their only child died in infancy, so they raised a foster daughter, Violet, as their own. They were members of First Unitarian Church and the organ presently installed in this church was a gift from Sarah Joslyn.  See also Sarah Joslyn Society.

The Robert Weston Room

Kindergarten through 3rd Grade Classroom Located on the Upper Level

Robert Weston was a long-time UU Minister and minister of First Unitarian Church of Omaha from 1960-1964. He is most noted for his poem, “Out of the Stars.”

Out of the stars in their flight, out of the dust of eternity,
here have we come,
Stardust and sunlight,
mingling through time and through space.

Out of the stars have we come,
up from time.
Out of the stars have we come.

Time out of time before time
in the vastness of space,
earth spun to orbit the sun,
Earth with the thunder of mountains newborn,
the boiling of seas.

Earth warmed by sun, lit by sunlight;
This is our home;
Out of the stars have we come.

Mystery hidden in mystery,
back through all time;
Mystery rising from rocks
in the storm and the sea.

Out of the stars, rising from rocks
and the sea,
kindled by sunlight on earth,
arose life.

Ponder this thing in your heart,
life up from sea:
Eyes to behold, throats to sing,
mates to love.

Life from the sea, warmed by sun,
washed by rain,
life from within, giving birth,
rose to love.

This is the wonder of time;
this is the marvel of space;
out of the stars swung the earth;
life upon earth rose to love.

This is the marvel of life,
rising to see and to know;
Out of your heart, cry wonder:
sing that we live.

The Whitney Young Room

Fourth through Sixth Grade Classroom Located on the Lower Level               

Whitney Moore Young, Jr. (1921-1971), black American civil rights leader and social work administrator, was one of America's most influential civil rights   leaders during the 1960s. He and his wife, Margaret, were active in First Unitarian Church in the early 1950s. While in Omaha, Young was on the faculty of the School of Social Work at the University of Nebraska and also became president of the Urban League's Omaha, Nebraska, branch. There he helped get black workers into jobs previously reserved for whites.  In the process, he more than tripled the organization's paid membership. More information.