From John Haynes Holmes, Minister

From John Haynes Holmes, Minister

Item Information

Title:
From John Haynes Holmes, Minister
Description:
Dear Miss Keller: I have read this morning with a deep sense of grief the news of the death of Mrs. Macy, and my heart goes out to you in profound sympathy and compassion. Your companionship with Mrs. Macy through the years of your life constitutes one of the immortal friendships of history. I know nothing quite to compare with the beauty and nobility of its spirit. This has made glorious a relationship which in itself has been the very essence of all that we mean by love, the heart of religion. Now that Mrs. Macy is gone, it must seem to you as though a very part of your own life had died, and as though you were divided, so to speak, between this present world and the world to come. Your own sense of loss must be so poignant that I hardly dare to think of it. Just for this reason, however, I find myself moved almost beyond expression by the exalted words which you spoke in farewell to your immortal teacher and friend. That your own spirit could thus be lifted up in the hour of your greatest grief, is an inspiration to us all. I never had the pleasure and honor of knowing Mrs. Macy, but I feel as though I knew her through you. She was a great woman in the truest and highest sense of the word, one of the greatest women of our time. If I had the power of the Pope, I would canonize her, that she might be known forever as the second Saint Anne. Very sincerely yours, John Haynes Holmes
Creator:
Holmes, John Haynes, 1879-1964
Name on Item:
John Haynes Holmes
Date:
1936
Format:
Letters/Correspondence
Manuscripts
Genre:
letter
Location:
Perkins School for the Blind
Samuel P. Hayes Research Library
Collection (local):
Condolence Letters and Clippings
Subjects:
Blind
Perkins School for the Blind
Permalink:
https://ark.digitalcommonwealth.org/ark:/50959/q237j3022
Terms of Use:
Samuel P. Hayes Research Library, Perkins School for the Blind, Watertown, MA
Contact host institution for more information.
Notes:
Typewritten letter from John Haynes Holmes of the Community Church of New York, on October 21, 1936. Holmes was a Unitarian minister and pacifist, who helped to found the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
Accession #:
AG88-5