William Dwight Porter Bliss

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William Dwight Porter Bliss (20 August 1856 to 8 October 1926) was a U.S. Christian Socialist.

[edit] Early life

Bliss was son of U.S. missionaries in Turkey and was born in Constantinople. He was educated at Phillips Academy, Andover and the Hartford Theological Seminary in Hartford, Connecticut.

He acted as pastor following his graduation in 1882. He first served Congregationalist communities and then Episcopalian churches.

[edit] Christian Socialism

In the 1880s Bliss became interested in Christian Socialism. This movement sought to apply the teachings of Christ to modern social difficulties, caused, they believed, by industrialisation and urbanisation. In 1889 Bliss organised the first Christian Socialist Society in the U.S.A. He was also the editor of The Dawn, its magazine. He lectured extensively on labour and social reform. He edited and compiled many publications, including the Encyclopædia of Social Reform in 1897.

[edit] Political career

In 1887 Bliss attempted to become the Lieutenant-Governor of Massachusetts but lost the election. He had stood on the Labor Party ticket. He served as an investigator for the Bureau of Labor.

In World War I, he did educational work among French and Belgian soldiers interned in Switzerland. After the War, he returned to the United States and preached in New York City until his death in that city.