Learn More: Grace Holdrege

Engraved and etched bronze plaque

Created in consultation with Dave Richardson. Purchased by First Unitarian Church and dedicated on March 17, 2024 (watch the dedication here)

Grace Holdrege, born Frances Rogers Kimball, arrived in Omaha shortly before the city’s founding. Her parents were founding members of the congregation and Holdrege’s childhood diaries tell of the creation of the Omaha and the church.

Holdrege continued at First Unitarian as an adults and served as the secretary of the Women’s Alliance in the 1910s, when the church was in the midst of dwindling membership and a financial crisis. In her own words:

It was decided to keep together and do whatever the [Women’s] Alliance could do to hold the scattered remnants of the church together. There were 19 names on the membership roll, but even so small a beginning might prove the nucleus of the church of the future. If we could do nothing more, we could set ourselves the task of seeking out Unitarians and asking them to join us in the search for others.

Holdrege, and the Women’s Alliance as a whole, are credited as the reason First Unitarian Church of Omaha is still here today. From 1912 to 1917, the church grew from 19 members to over 100.

Sources: Pillars & Dreams: A History of First Unitarian Church of Omaha by Dave Richardson

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