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Robert Burdette Whitaker | |
|---|---|
&sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:Robert_Burdette_Whitaker,_1863-1944.png) Portrait of Robert Burdette Whitaker, c. 1898 | |
| Born | 1863 |
| Died | 1944 (aged 80–81) |
Robert Whitaker was a Baptist minister and political activist born in 1863 in Padiham, Lancashire, England.[1] He died in Los Gatos, California in June 1944. In 1869 he moved with his family to the United States. After attending Andover Newton Theological School he went on to hold several pastorates in the western United States including in Oakland, California, Los Gatos, California, and Seattle, Washington.
Whitaker was heavily involved in socialist and labor organizations in California. He was acquainted with other activists such as Eugene Debs, Upton Sinclair, Jack London, and Fanny Bixby Spencer and spent considerable energy agitating for socialist causes.[2] To this end, he lectured frequently around California and founded several presses such as The Progressive Publishing Company, U.F.I. Press, and Whitaker and Ray, Co. He was also a progressive reformer of the church. By 1912, he along with members of the Los Gatos Baptist Church, decided to cancel all "ritualistic ceremonies" and make baptism optional.[3]
- ^ "Inventory of the Robert W. Whitaker Collection, Graduate Theological Union". Online Archive of California. Retrieved 6 June 2024. The Graduate Theological Union is located in Berkeley, California.
- ^ "La Follette a Socialist". Lompoc Review. Lompoc, California: California Digital Newspaper Collection. 17 October 1924. p. 2. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
- ^ "Los Gatos Baptist Church to Eschew Baptism Ordinance". San Jose Mercury. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 16 January 1912. p. 1. Retrieved 2020-05-07.