Overview
Papers of Unitarian minister and University of Buffalo philosophy professor Richard Wilson Boynton (1870-1961) including sermons; personal journals and diaries; personal papers; lecture notes; and draft manuscripts, including multiple draft versions of Beyond Mythology: A Challenge to Dogmatism in Religion.
Dates
- Creation: 1893-1951.
Extent
6.65 cubic feet (19 boxes)This collection includes sermons, arranged chronologically; personal journals and diaries; personal papers; lecture notes; and draft manuscripts, including multiple draft versions of Beyond Mythology: A Challenge to Dogmatism in Religion.
Biographical / Historical
Richard Wilson Boynton (1870-1961) was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts. He graduated from the Meadville Theological School in 1895. He served the Unitarian congregation at Roslindale, Massachusetts, from 1895 to 1900, and spent 1898 studying at Harvard University. From 1900 to 1907 Boynton held a pastorate in St. Paul, Minnesota. In 1908 he moved to Buffalo and began his service as pastor at the First Unitarian Church there. In 1922 he earned his BA from the University of Buffalo and the following year he earned a master's degree from that same institution. In 1902 Meadville Theological School awarded Boynton a DD. Boynton was a member of the University of Buffalo's philosophy department from 1926 to 1963. During his career he published numerous articles and books, including The Vital Issues of the War and Beyond Mythology. He was married twice and had two daughters. He died in Florida on November 30, 1961.
Arrangement
Organized into the following series:
- Series I. Sermons
- Series II. Personal
- Series III. Lecture notes
- Series IV. Writings
Acquisition Information
Gift of David Parke, 1993.
- Title
- Boynton, Richard Wilson, b. 1870. Papers: A Finding Aid.
- Author
- Andover-Harvard Theological Library
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- div00625
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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