Waitstill Sharp

Waitstill Hastings Sharp (1 May 1902– 25 February 1983) was a Unitarian minister who was involved in humanitarian and relief work in Czechoslovakia and Southern Europe during World War II. In 2005, Sharp and his first wife Martha were named by Yad Vashem as Righteous among the Nations, the second and third of five Americans to receive this honor. Early life and education Sharp was born in Boston on May 1, 1902, son of Grace Hastings and naturalist, author, and professor Dallas Lore Sharp. Through his mother, he is a descendant of Thomas Hastings, who came from the East Anglia region of England to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1634. Sharp graduated from Boston University with an undergraduate degree in Economics and English in 1924, from Harvard Law School with an LL.B. in 1926, and with an M.A. from Harvard University in 1931. On June 13, 1928, he married Martha Ingham Dickie in Rye, New Hampshire, the daughter of James Ingham and Alice Whalen, both immigrants from England who settled in Rhode Island. The ceremony was presided over by his father. A social worker involved with local internationalist and peace groups, Dickie remained his ministry partner throughout his outreach and rescue work in Europe during the Second World War.