Florence Buck, BD 1894, DD 1920

Florence Buck was born July 19, 1860. A lifelong companion/partner of Rev. Marion Murdock, the Unitarian minister in Kalamazoo, Michigan, she eventually attended Meadville Theological School and was ordained to the Unitarian ministry. Rev. Buck and Rev. Murdock were called as co-pastors of Unity Church (First Unitarian Church) in Cleveland, Ohio, and served there for six years, 1894-1900 -- the first women to hold a joint ministry in the United States. Buck was minister of the Unitarian Church in Kenosha, Wisc., 1901-10. After Murdock retired for health reasons, Revs. Murdock and Buck moved to California seeking a healthier climate. Buck served Unitarian Churches in Palo Alto, 1910, and Alameda, 1911-12. 

Meadville Theological School conferred an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree on Buck in 1920. She was the first woman to receive this honor. In 1923 she was the first woman to preach at King's Chapel in Boston. In 1925 she was the first woman to be named Executive Secretary of the AUA Department of Religious Education.

Buck died in Boston of typhoid fever. When the AUA built a new building in 1927, one of the rooms was named the Florence Buck Memorial Room. Funds for furnishing the room came from those who loved her, including many children, as a "tribute of respect and affection."