Despite the lack of encouragement, at the end of the 19th century a group of women claimed their role as ordained ministers.
[4] Other members included Eleanor Gordon,[5] Florence Buck, Mary Collson, Eliza Tupper Wilkes, Mila Tupper Maynard, Adele Fuchs, Martha Chapman Aitken, Mary Leggett Cooke, Caroline Julia Bartlett Crane, Rowena Morse Mann, Amelia Murdoch Wing, Mary Graves, Marie Jenney Howe, Ida Hultin, Marion Murdoch, Anna Jane Norris, Margaret Titus Olmstead, Elizabeth Padgham, Gertrude von Petzold, Helen Wilson, Celia Parker Woolley, and Helen Grace Putnam.
It was a place where women were accepted for their willingness to step in and serve, for their tenacity in the face of hardship, and for their ministry.
The Sisterhood brought family matters into the church ... seven days a week, with social events and classes on domestic arts.
Unitarianism's leaders began a concerted return to a more manly ministry in order to revitalize the denomination.