Nina Sankovitch: Universal Friend, Forgotten Hero of the American Revolution

In 1776 someone woke from a long illness and announced they had been sent by God to save the world. What they built next is the part history forgot.

Author Nina Sankovitch presents the story of Universal Friend, a self-proclaimed genderless minister whose communities, founded in the years after independence from England, offered anyone — regardless of gender or race — the chance to enjoy the unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness that the Declaration had promised to all Americans.

Universal Friend, in other words, did what other early American leaders had only promised: created a society that strove to uphold equality and opportunity, and succeeded beyond all expectations. But into every Eden comes a snake.

Sankovitch is the author of five nonfiction books, including American Rebels: How the Hancock, Adams, and Quincy Families Fanned the Flames of Revolution.

Books available on the night. Books on the Common will have copies for sale at the event.

Good to know. 7 p.m. in the Garden House. Tickets are $20, or $12 for members, and are on sale now.