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COLLECTION Identifier: bMS 518

Dewey, Orville, 1794-1882. Papers, 1819-1882.

Overview

Biographical information, lectures, and correspondence of Unitarian minister Orville Dewey.

Dates

  • Creation: 1819-1882.

Access

There are no restrictions on access to this collection.

Extent

1 boxes

This collection contains biographical information, lectures, and correspondence of minister Orville Dewey.

Biographical / Historical

Orville Dewey (1794-1882) was born in Sheffield, Massachusetts, and graduated from Williams College in 1814, Andover Seminary in 1819, and was awarded a DD from Harvard Divinity School in 1839. He served as the pastor of the Congregational Church in Gloucester, Massachusetts, for one year before becoming a Unitarian. He then went on to serve as the minister of the Federal Street Church in Boston (1821-23), the First Church in New Bedford Massachusetts (1823-33), the Second Congregational Church (later Church of the Messiah) in New York City (1835-48), and the New South Church in Boston (1857-61). Dewey was one of the founders of the Employment Society, which was the first organized attempt to help the city's poor. He also served as the fourth president of the American Unitarian Association from 1845 to 1847. His publications include a series of lectures given at the Lowell Institute, which included The Problem of Human Destiny (1864), Discourses on Various Subjects (1835), and The Old World and The New (1836).

Arrangement

Organized into the following series:

  1. Series I. Biographical information
  2. Series II. Lectures
  3. Series III. Correspondence

Acquisition Information

Gift of William F. Dewey, 1983.

Title
Dewey, Orville, 1794-1882. Papers, 1819-1882: A Finding Aid.
Author
Andover-Harvard Theological Library
Language of description
und
EAD ID
div00518

Repository Details

Part of the Harvard Divinity School Library, Harvard University Repository

Special Collections at Harvard Divinity School Library preserves and makes accessible primary source materials documenting the history of religion and theology, with particular historical emphasis on American liberal religious traditions. Though the historical strengths of the collections have been in the field of Christianity, other religious traditions are increasingly reflected, in step with Harvard Divinity School's evolving focus on global religious studies. Known as Andover-Harvard Theological Library since 1911, it was renamed the Harvard Divinity School Library in 2021.

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