Channing, William Ellery, 1780-1842. Papers, 1803-1980.
Overview
Papers of American theologian, author, Unitarian minister, and Harvard graduate William Ellery Channing including sermons, lectures, and addresses by Channing, sixty-six letters by Channing (1803-1839), thirteen letters to Channing (1828-1839), sixteen manuscripts by Channing (1814-1837), including two drafts on Unitarian Christianity (1819), photographs of Channing and his wife, and a few secondary manuscripts and letters.
Dates
- Creation: 1803-1980.
- Creation: (1803-1839),
- Creation: (1828-1839),
- Creation: (1814-1837),
- Creation: (1819),
Extent
3 boxesCollection includes sermons, lectures, and addresses by Channing, sixty-six letters by Channing (1803-1839), thirteen letters to Channing (1828-1839), sixteen manuscripts by Channing (1814-1837), including two drafts on Unitarian Christianity (1819), photographs of Channing and his wife, and a few secondary manuscripts and letters.
Biographical / Historical
William Ellery Channing (1780-1842) graduated from Harvard College in 1798. He served on the board of the Harvard Corporation from 1813 to 1826, where he worked for the establishment of the Divinity School, which occurred in 1816. A Unitarian minister, Channing served as the pastor of the Federal Street Church in Boston from 1803 until his death in 1842. In 1819 he gave the landmark Unitarian sermon, Unitarian Christianity, which upon publication sold thousands of copies. A believer in the abolitionist movement, he penned The Duty of the Free States in 1842, which was a rebuttal to Daniel Webster's teachings concerning the national slave laws.
Arrangement
Organized into the following series:
- Series I. Sermons, lectures, and addresses
- Series II. Letters written by Channing
- Series III. Letters written to Channing
- Series IV. Secondary Channing manuscripts
- Series V. Secondary Channing letters
- Series VI. Photographs
- Series VII. Miscellaneous
Acquisition Information
Gift of the Unitarian Universalist Association.
- Title
- Channing, William Ellery, 1780-1842. Papers, 1803-1980: A Finding Aid.
- Author
- Andover-Harvard Theological Library
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- div00100
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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