William Lee Bradley
Encyclopedia
The Reverend Doctor William Lee Bradley (September 6, 1918-April 29, 2007, born in Oakland, California
), was a scholar of comparative religion, ethics, and theology, as well as a philanthropist.
leader. He was raised in El Paso, Texas
, Webster Groves, Missouri
, and Newton Centre, Massachusetts
. In 1947, he married Paula Anne Elliott, later a New Hampshire State Representative (1992–98; 2000–02). He received his B.A. from Oberlin College
(1941), B.D. from Andover Newton Theological School
(1950), and Ph.D. from University of Edinburgh
, Scotland (1949). He was a Sergeant in the United States Army Air Corps
in World War II
(1942–45), serving in the South Pacific
.
A fifth-generation ordained minister in the Congregational Christian Churches
(later merging to become the United Church of Christ
), he served as a Professor at Hartford Seminary
from 1950-1966. He was a visiting Professor at Thammasat University
in Bangkok, Thailand for the last three years of his tenure at Hartford. In Bangkok, he served on the field staff of The Rockefeller Foundation and researched his ancestor, the Dr. Dan Beach Bradley
, the first medical missionary to Siam and court physician to Siam's King Mongkut
and his son, King Chulalongkorn
.
After his time at Hartford, Bradley took a position at the Rockefeller Foundation as Associate Director for the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, from 1966–1971, and was then President of the Edward W. Hazen Foundation in New Haven, Connecticut
from 1971-1984. At The Rockefeller Foundation, he was particularly proud of his work assisting emerging playwrights and theatres in the heydey of the Off-Off-Broadway
theatre movement in New York City
in the late 1960s and early 1970s, assisting such emerging talents as playwrights Julie Bovasso
, Maria Irene Fornes
, John Guare
, Sam Shepard
, Ron Whyte, and Lanford Wilson
, as well as theatres such as the artistic leadership of producers such as Ellen Stewart (La MaMa
Experimental Theatre Company or LaMaMa, E.T.C.), Joseph Papp
(New York Shakespeare Festival
- The Public Theatre), Wyn Handman (The American Place Theatre
), Joe Cino
(Caffe Cino), and the theatre at St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery. His theatre involvement continued in the 1980s when he served as Chair of the Board of Circle Repertory Company
in New York City. As President of the Hazen Foundation, he was known for taking creative philanthropic risks by providing crucial seed funding for innovative programs and organizations that often later attracted substantial funding from larger foundations. The reach and influence of the Hazen Foundation under his leadership therefore was amplified well beyond the value of the grants awarded.
While in Connecticut, Bradley also served on the Governor's Commissions on Human Services; Libraries; and Equity and Excellence in Education. Following his retirement from the Hazen Foundation, which he continued to serve as President Emeritus, William and Paula moved to Randolph, New Hampshire
, where both became active in that community. Bradley co-founded and served as the first editor of the Mountain View, a quarterly news magazine in Randolph, served as President of the Randolph Foundation
from 1991–1996, and continued his lifelong activity in Democratic Party
politics on the local and statewide level.
Bradley was the author of many articles and several books, including P.T. Forsyth: The Man and His Work, The Meaning of Christian Values Today, Introduction to Comparative Religion, and Siam Then: The Foreign Colony in Bangkok Before and After Anna. He was the coauthor of Thailand: Domino By Default? He remained active in ministry throughout his career, performing weddings and funerals for several generations of friends and family in the several communities he and Paula called home.
Bradley died in Concord, New Hampshire
at Havenwood-Heritage Heights Health Services Center on April 29, 2007, of complications from Alzheimer's Disease
.
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
), was a scholar of comparative religion, ethics, and theology, as well as a philanthropist.
Biography
Bradley was born in Oakland to Kathryn Lee Culver, an author and artist, and Dwight Jaques Bradley, author and Congregational ChurchCongregational church
Congregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing Congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs....
leader. He was raised in El Paso, Texas
El Paso, Texas
El Paso, is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, and lies in far West Texas. In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 649,121. It is the sixth largest city in Texas and the 19th largest city in the United States...
, Webster Groves, Missouri
Webster Groves, Missouri
Webster Groves is an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis, located in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 22,995 at the 2010 census. The city is named after New England politician Daniel Webster....
, and Newton Centre, Massachusetts
Newton Centre, Massachusetts
Newton Centre is a borough of Newton, Massachusetts. The main commercial center of Newton Centre is a triangular area surrounding the intersections of Beacon Street, Centre Street and Langley Road. It is the largest downtown area among all the villages of Newton, and serves as a large upscale...
. In 1947, he married Paula Anne Elliott, later a New Hampshire State Representative (1992–98; 2000–02). He received his B.A. from Oberlin College
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...
(1941), B.D. from Andover Newton Theological School
Andover Newton Theological School
Andover Newton Theological School is a graduate school and seminary located in Newton, Massachusetts. It is America's oldest graduate seminary and the nation's first graduate institution of any kind...
(1950), and Ph.D. from University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
, Scotland (1949). He was a Sergeant in the United States Army Air Corps
United States Army Air Corps
The United States Army Air Corps was a forerunner of the United States Air Force. Renamed from the Air Service on 2 July 1926, it was part of the United States Army and the predecessor of the United States Army Air Forces , established in 1941...
in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
(1942–45), serving in the South Pacific
Pacific Ocean theater of World War II
The Pacific Ocean theatre was one of four major naval theatres of war of World War II, which pitted the forces of Japan against those of the United States, the British Commonwealth, the Netherlands and France....
.
A fifth-generation ordained minister in the Congregational Christian Churches
Congregational Christian Churches
The Congregational Christian Churches were a Protestant Christian denomination that operated in the U.S. from 1931 through 1957. On the latter date, most of its churches joined the Evangelical and Reformed Church in a merger to become the United Church of Christ. Others created the National...
(later merging to become the United Church of Christ
United Church of Christ
The United Church of Christ is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination primarily in the Reformed tradition but also historically influenced by Lutheranism. The Evangelical and Reformed Church and the Congregational Christian Churches united in 1957 to form the UCC...
), he served as a Professor at Hartford Seminary
Hartford Seminary
Hartford Seminary is a theological college in Hartford, Connecticut, USA.-History:Seminaries in the city of Hartford date back to 1833. In 1913, the current Hartford Seminary came into existence through the combination of three Hartford-based schools affiliated with the city's Congregationalist...
from 1950-1966. He was a visiting Professor at Thammasat University
Thammasat University
Thammasat University , or in brief TU , is Thailand's second oldest university. Officially established on 27 June 1934, the university was originally named by founder Pridi Banomyong, University of Moral Science and Politics , reflecting the political fervor of the time...
in Bangkok, Thailand for the last three years of his tenure at Hartford. In Bangkok, he served on the field staff of The Rockefeller Foundation and researched his ancestor, the Dr. Dan Beach Bradley
Dan Beach Bradley
Dan Beach Bradley M.D. was an American Protestant missionary to Siam from 1835 until his death. He is credited with numerous firsts, including bringing the first Thai-script printing press to Siam, publishing the first Thai newspaper and monolingual Thai dictionary, and introducing Western...
, the first medical missionary to Siam and court physician to Siam's King Mongkut
Mongkut
Phra Bat Somdet Phra Poramenthramaha Mongkut Phra Chom Klao Chao Yu Hua , or Rama IV, known in foreign countries as King Mongkut , was the fourth monarch of Siam under the House of Chakri, ruling from 1851-1868...
and his son, King Chulalongkorn
Chulalongkorn
Phra Bat Somdet Phra Poramintharamaha Chulalongkorn Phra Chunla Chom Klao Chao Yu Hua , or Rama V was the fifth monarch of Siam under the House of Chakri. He was known to the Siamese of his time as Phra Phuttha Chao Luang . He is considered one of the greatest kings of Siam...
.
After his time at Hartford, Bradley took a position at the Rockefeller Foundation as Associate Director for the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, from 1966–1971, and was then President of the Edward W. Hazen Foundation in New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
from 1971-1984. At The Rockefeller Foundation, he was particularly proud of his work assisting emerging playwrights and theatres in the heydey of the Off-Off-Broadway
Off-Off-Broadway
Off-Off-Broadway theatrical productions in New York City are those in theatres that are smaller than Broadway and Off-Broadway theatres. Off-Off-Broadway theaters are often defined as theaters that have fewer than 100 seats, though the term can be used for any show in the New York City area that...
theatre movement in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in the late 1960s and early 1970s, assisting such emerging talents as playwrights Julie Bovasso
Julie Bovasso
Julie Bovasso was an American actress of stage, screen and television. She was born in Brooklyn, New York to an Italian-American family.-Career:Bovasso appeared in many films, including Saturday Night Fever and...
, Maria Irene Fornes
María Irene Fornés
María Irene Fornés is a Cuban-American avant garde playwright and director who is associated with the establishment of the Off-off-Broadway movement in the 1960s. Fornes themes focused on poverty and feminism. In 1965, she won her first Obie Award for Promenade and her second for The Successful...
, John Guare
John Guare
John Guare is an American playwright. He is best known as the author of The House of Blue Leaves, Six Degrees of Separation, and Landscape of the Body...
, Sam Shepard
Sam Shepard
Sam Shepard is an American playwright, actor, and television and film director. He is the author of several books of short stories, essays, and memoirs, and received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979 for his play Buried Child...
, Ron Whyte, and Lanford Wilson
Lanford Wilson
Lanford Wilson was an American playwright who helped to advance the Off-Off-Broadway theater movement. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1980, was elected in 2001 to the Theater Hall of Fame, and in 2004 was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters...
, as well as theatres such as the artistic leadership of producers such as Ellen Stewart (La MaMa
La Mama
La Mama may refer to:* La Mama - a German disco group* La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in East Village, Manhattan, New York City, founded 1961* La Mama Theatre in Carlton, Victoria, Australia, founded 1967...
Experimental Theatre Company or LaMaMa, E.T.C.), Joseph Papp
Joseph Papp
Joseph Papp was an American theatrical producer and director. Papp established The Public Theater in what had been the Astor Library Building in downtown New York . "The Public," as it is known, has many small theatres within it...
(New York Shakespeare Festival
New York Shakespeare Festival
New York Shakespeare Festival is the previous name of the New York City theatrical producing organization now known as the Public Theater. The Festival produced shows at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, as part of its free Shakespeare in the Park series, at the Public Theatre near Astor Place...
- The Public Theatre), Wyn Handman (The American Place Theatre
The American Place Theatre
The American Place Theatre was founded in 1963 by Wynn Handman, Sidney Lanier, and Michael Tolan at St. Clement's Church, far west on 46th Street in New York City and was incorporated as a not-for-profit theatre in that year. Tennessee Williams and Myrna Loy were two of the original Board members...
), Joe Cino
Joe Cino
Joseph Cino , was an Italian-American theatrical producer and café-owner. The beginning of the Off-Off-Broadway theatre movement is generally credited to have begun at Cino’s Caffe Cino...
(Caffe Cino), and the theatre at St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery. His theatre involvement continued in the 1980s when he served as Chair of the Board of Circle Repertory Company
Circle Repertory Company
The Circle Repertory Company, originally named the Circle Theater Company, was a theatre company in New York City that ran from 1969 to 1996. It was founded on July 14, 1969, in Manhattan, in a second floor loft at Broadway and 83rd Street by director Marshall W...
in New York City. As President of the Hazen Foundation, he was known for taking creative philanthropic risks by providing crucial seed funding for innovative programs and organizations that often later attracted substantial funding from larger foundations. The reach and influence of the Hazen Foundation under his leadership therefore was amplified well beyond the value of the grants awarded.
While in Connecticut, Bradley also served on the Governor's Commissions on Human Services; Libraries; and Equity and Excellence in Education. Following his retirement from the Hazen Foundation, which he continued to serve as President Emeritus, William and Paula moved to Randolph, New Hampshire
Randolph, New Hampshire
Randolph is a heavily forested town in Coos County, New Hampshire, U.S., extending from the northern slopes of the White Mountains of the Presidential Range to Berlin , with U.S. Route 2 cutting through the middle...
, where both became active in that community. Bradley co-founded and served as the first editor of the Mountain View, a quarterly news magazine in Randolph, served as President of the Randolph Foundation
Randolph Foundation
The Randolph Foundation is a New York-based charitable foundation that first operated in 1972 as the H. Smith Richardson Charitable Trust. It transitioned to independence from the Smith Richardson Foundation, assuming the name of The Randolph Foundation from 1991–1993, and was reconstituted as a...
from 1991–1996, and continued his lifelong activity in Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
politics on the local and statewide level.
Bradley was the author of many articles and several books, including P.T. Forsyth: The Man and His Work, The Meaning of Christian Values Today, Introduction to Comparative Religion, and Siam Then: The Foreign Colony in Bangkok Before and After Anna. He was the coauthor of Thailand: Domino By Default? He remained active in ministry throughout his career, performing weddings and funerals for several generations of friends and family in the several communities he and Paula called home.
Bradley died in Concord, New Hampshire
Concord, New Hampshire
The city of Concord is the capital of the state of New Hampshire in the United States. It is also the county seat of Merrimack County. As of the 2010 census, its population was 42,695....
at Havenwood-Heritage Heights Health Services Center on April 29, 2007, of complications from Alzheimer's Disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
.