{"id":37,"date":"2016-08-09T20:43:10","date_gmt":"2016-08-09T20:43:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/sharpswar\/?page_id=37"},"modified":"2026-03-24T20:02:44","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T20:02:44","slug":"sharps","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/sharpswar\/sharps\/","title":{"rendered":"The Sharps"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Martha Ingham Dickie (1905-1999) <\/strong>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) <\/strong>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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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LISTEN!<\/a> Brown University Library’s Digital Repository includes an oral history interview with Martha Sharp (Cogan), 1985. This resource is provided by “Brown Women Speak<\/a>,” an ongoing alumnae oral history project from the Pembroke Center<\/a> at Brown University, initiated in 1982.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Exhibited items:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Martha Ingham Dickie (1905-1999)<\/strong>
\nPhotograph for Brun Mael<\/span><\/i>, 1926
\nMartha and Waitstill Sharp Collection<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Waitstill Hastings Sharp (1902-1984)<\/strong>
\nPhotograph, circa 1930
\nUnitarian Universalist Association. Minister files, 1825-2010<\/a>, bMS 1446
\nReproduction Courtesy of Andover-Harvard Theological Library, Harvard Divinity School, Cambridge, Massachusetts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOrdination and Installation of Waitstill Hastings Sharp, A. B., A. M., LL.B. as Minister of the Independent Congregational Church\u201d<\/strong>
\nIndependent Congregational Church, Meadville, Pennsylvania, 9 October 1933
\nProgram from ordination ceremony for Waitstill Hastings Sharp
\nMartha and Waitstill Sharp Collection<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStatement of Call and Acceptance\u201d<\/strong>
\nCongregation of the Independent Congregational Church, 9 October 1933
\nOfficial certificate of ordination for Waitstill Hastings Sharp
\nMartha and Waitstill Sharp Collection<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Snapshots of the Sharp family<\/strong>
\nFour photographs, circa 1930s-1940s
\nMartha and Waitstill Sharp; Hastings (b. 1931) and friends at his birthday party; Martha Content (b. 1936) and friends; Waitstill, Hastings, and Martha Content
\nMartha and Waitstill Sharp Collection<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Wellesley Unitarian\u201d<\/strong>
\nUnitarian Society of Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts, 9 November 1944
\nWeekly pamphlet noting Martha Sharp\u2019s appointment as Director of Spain and Portugal
\nGift of Martha Sharp Joukowsky<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPudding to Politics\u201d<\/strong>
\nNewspaper clipping with AP Wirephoto, 1946
\nColumn discussing Martha Sharp\u2019s campaign for public office
\nMartha and Waitstill Sharp Collection<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Martha Sharp and unidentified factory worker<\/strong>
\nPhotograph by Joe Rothberg, 1946
\nPublicity image for Martha Sharp\u2019s campaign, 4th Congressional District, Massachusetts
\nMartha and Waitstill Sharp Collection<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Martha Sharp reviewing a district map<\/strong>
\nPhotograph by International News Photo, 1946
\nPublicity image for Martha Sharp\u2019s campaign, 4th Congressional District, Massachusetts
\nMartha and Waitstill Sharp Collection<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 … The Sharps<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":63,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"template-full-width.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-37","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/sharpswar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/37","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/sharpswar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/sharpswar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/sharpswar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/63"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/sharpswar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37"}],"version-history":[{"count":65,"href":"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/sharpswar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/37\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":698,"href":"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/sharpswar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/37\/revisions\/698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/sharpswar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}