Collections : [Yale University -Divinity School Library]

This collection documents the life of D.T. Niles (1908-1970) who was a Sri Lankan Methodist minister, ecumenical leader, and evangelist. Niles held several positions in ecumenical leadership including Chairman of the Youth Department of the World Council of Churches, Chairman of the World Student Christian Federation, and General Secretary for the East Asia Christian Conference. The collection include correspondence and collected materials relating to Niles' work and personal life.

Journals, correspondence, and mission station "diaries" provide thorough and detailed documentation of work at the Chilesso Station of the ABCFM in Angola from 1905 to 1962. Also of interest in the collection are Duane Waln's papers on the Ovimbundu people and their customs, Umbundu language grammars and dictionaries, writings of the Walns relating to life on Chilesso Station and biographies of the native Christians. Duane and Marian ("Peggy") Waln were American missionaries in Angola from 1929 to 1962, serving primarily at the Chilesso Station of the West Central Africa Mission of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Duane Waln was involved in mission administrative work and evangelism. Peggy Waln's major project at Chilesso Station was founding and running a school for women, which had a home economics program.

The collection is valuable for the documentation it provides concerning a New Haven area clergy family during the period 1800 to 1880. Daily events and family relationships are revealed in substantive family correspondence. Of particular interest are Samuel Dutton's notebooks from his student days at Yale. The bulk of the collection is comprised of manuscript sermons written by Aaron and Samuel Dutton during their pastorates in Guilford and New Haven. These sermons touch on topics such as slavery, the Civil War, "Millerism", temperance and immigration. The sermons span the careers of both Duttons, who were known for their abolitionist stances, and thus provide an opportunity for tracing the development of their thought over a number of years. Aaron Dutton was born in Watertown, Connecticut on May 21, 1780. He served as minister of the First Congregational Church in Guilford, Connecticut from 1806 until 1842, at which time he resigned due to the dissension in the congregation regarding his abolitionist stance. In 1843, he went to Iowa in service of the American Home Missionary Society. He died in New Haven in 1849. His son, Samuel William Southmayd Dutton was born in Guilford, Connecticut on March 14, 1814. After receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale in 1833, he held positions as teacher, tutor, rector, minister (North Church, New Haven, Connecticut), publisher and editor. He was a noted champion of the antislavery cause. He died in Millbury, Massachusetts in 1866.

The collection provides valuable biographical information about Dwight Lyman Moody. Correspondence includes family letters, letters of condolence on the occasions of Moody's illness and death in 1899 and the death of his wife in 1903, letters regarding anecdotes of Moody's life, and memoirs, memos and letters compiled by his granddaughter. Sermons contain notes, transcripts and published compilations of sermons. Journals, clippings and articles consist of material describing Moody and his career. Dwight Lyman Moody was born in Northfield, Massachusetts in 1837. After organizing his own mission Sunday School in 1859, he devoted his life to evangelism, leading campaigns across the United States and Great Britain. He established two schools in Northfield: Northfield Seminary for young women and Northfield Mount Hermon School for older boys. In 1887, he founded the Chigcago Evangelization Society, which operated the Bible Training School later known as the Moody Bible Institute. Moody died on December 22, 1899 in Northfield Massachusetts.

The papers document Dwight W. Edwards' work in China, particularly with the YMCA in Beijing (Peking), which was sponsored by the Princeton University Student Christian Association. The famine relief work of various organizations in China is also well documented. Edwards was a missionary in China from 1906 to 1949. He was active in YMCA work, particularly in Beijing (Peking), and in famine relief work throughout China from 1920 to 1949. Edwards held leadership positions with the China International Famine Relief Commission, United China Relief, and United Service to China, and was also associated with Yenching University in Beijing (Peking).

Substantive correspondence, photographs, and slides document the Ballous' life and work in China. Earle and Thelma Ballou were missionaries in Tianjin (Tientsin), North China, serving under the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) from 1916 to 1948.

The E.C. Dahl Papers provided documentation of the life and work of a YDS graduate who was a Congregational minister. They contain correspondence, biographical materials, sermons, publications, and pastoral materials. Edward C. Dahl was ordained by the Congregational Church in 1941, and served churches in Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut, Wisconsin, New York, and New Hampshire. He authored numerous articles and sermons in various ministry publications, including Pulpit, Pulpit Digest, Church Educatorand Advance. He died in 1993, survived by his wife, daughter Mary and sons Christopher and Edward.

Looseleaf notebooks of sermons, prayers, and programs document Vorba's work as a Congregational minister. Edward James Vorba, a 1947 graduate of the Yale Divinity School, was a pastor at churches in Iowa, Vermont, Florida, Connecticut, New York, and Pennsylvania from 1947 to 1985.

The collection documents Robie's professional work at Andover Theological Seminary and as a Congregational minister in Greenland, New Hampshire from 1852 to 1917.

The papers primarily document Park's work as Professor of Sacred Rhetoric (1836-1847) and Professor of Christian Theology (1847 to 1881) at Andover Theological Seminary, and as editor of Bibliotheca Sacra from 1844 to 1884.