Martha Ingham Dickie (1905-1999) was raised in Providence and graduated from the Women’s College in Brown University in 1926. She studied social work at Northwestern University, starting her career as Director of Girls Work at Hull House in Chicago. After Harvard Law School, Waitstill Hastings Sharp (1902-1984) met Dr. Eugene Shippen, minister of Second Church (Unitarian) in Boston and became part-time director of religious education. Martha and Waitstill were introduced in 1927, married one year later, and they soon started a family. In 1933, Waitstill was ordained and assigned to a church in Pennsylvania. The couple moved to Wellesley, Massachusetts in 1937, where they were recruited to serve in Europe. After the war, Martha unsuccessfully ran for Congress in Massachusetts. Her opposition flagged her as a Communist due to her work in Europe. Undeterred, Martha stayed involved with world affairs for the rest of her life.
LISTEN! Brown University Library’s Digital Repository includes an oral history interview with Martha Sharp (Cogan), 1985. This resource is provided by “Brown Women Speak,” an ongoing alumnae oral history project from the Pembroke Center at Brown University, initiated in 1982.
Exhibited items :
Martha Ingham Dickie (1905-1999)
Photograph for Brun Mael, 1926
Martha and Waitstill Sharp Collection
Waitstill Hastings Sharp (1902-1984)
Photograph, circa 1930
Unitarian Universalist Association. Minister files, 1825-2010, bMS 1446
Reproduction Courtesy of Andover-Harvard Theological Library, Harvard Divinity School, Cambridge, Massachusetts
“Ordination and Installation of Waitstill Hastings Sharp, A. B., A. M., LL.B. as Minister of the Independent Congregational Church”
Independent Congregational Church, Meadville, Pennsylvania, 9 October 1933
Program from ordination ceremony for Waitstill Hastings Sharp
Martha and Waitstill Sharp Collection
“Statement of Call and Acceptance”
Congregation of the Independent Congregational Church, 9 October 1933
Official certificate of ordination for Waitstill Hastings Sharp
Martha and Waitstill Sharp Collection
Snapshots of the Sharp family
Four photographs, circa 1930s-1940s
Martha and Waitstill Sharp; Hastings (b. 1931) and friends at his birthday party; Martha Content (b. 1936) and friends; Waitstill, Hastings, and Martha Content
Martha and Waitstill Sharp Collection
“The Wellesley Unitarian”
Unitarian Society of Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts, 9 November 1944
Weekly pamphlet noting Martha Sharp’s appointment as Director of Spain and Portugal
Gift of Martha Sharp Joukowsky
“Pudding to Politics”
Newspaper clipping with AP Wirephoto, 1946
Column discussing Martha Sharp’s campaign for public office
Martha and Waitstill Sharp Collection
Martha Sharp and unidentified factory worker
Photograph by Joe Rothberg, 1946
Publicity image for Martha Sharp’s campaign, 4th Congressional District, Massachusetts
Martha and Waitstill Sharp Collection
Martha Sharp reviewing a district map
Photograph by International News Photo, 1946
Publicity image for Martha Sharp’s campaign, 4th Congressional District, Massachusetts
Martha and Waitstill Sharp Collection