Robert Whitaker (minister)


Robert Whitaker was a Baptist minister and political activist born in 1863 in Padiham, Lancashire, England. He died in Los Gatos, CA in 1944. In 1869 he moved with his family to the United States. After attending Andover Newton Theological School he went on to hold several pastorates in the western United States including Oakland, CA, Los Gatos, CA., and Seattle, WA.
Whitaker was heavily involved involved in Socialist and Labor organizations in California. He was acquainted with other activists such as Eugene Debs, Upton Sinclair, Jack London, and Fanny Bixby Spencer and spent considerable energy agitating for Socialist causes. To this end, he lectured frequently around California and founded several presses such as The Progressive Publishing Company, U.F.I. Press, and Whitaker and Ray, Co. He was also a progressive reformer of the church. By 1912, he along with members of the Los Gatos Baptist Church, decided to cancel all "ritualistic ceremonies" and make baptism optional.

Ministry

Whitaker served as a missionary in Mexico from 1887-1888. In 1898, he was appointed Superintendent of State Missions for Northern and Central California and gave sermons in various churches on the west coast. From 1903 through 1908 he was pastor of the in Oakland, CA. He was also editor of the journal Pacific Baptist. He served as pastor at the Los Gatos Baptist Church in the 1910s. In 1920 he and his family sailed to China to do missionary work.

Activism and socialism

In 1906 Whitaker was accused of Slander for speaking out against Oakland city officials. Whitaker supported various causes, like suffrage and labor. In 1912 Whitaker ran as a Socialist candidate for California's 8th District. In 1917, Whitaker was charged with treason for agitating against the draft and conscription laws. He was jailed along with Reverend Floyd Hardin and Harold Storey, and spent three months in jail.

Works

Nonfiction