This finding aid is made available for public use following the Universal 1.0 Public Domain Dedication Creative Commons designation.
This collection is open for research.
Onsite storage.
The exact provenance of this collection is unknown.
The William Adams Brown Ecumenical Library (WAB) was founded by the Union Theological Seminary (UTS) Board of Directors as a response to the increasing demand for materials in the field of ecumenicity. The Library was named after William Adams Brown, who was very active in the field of Christian Unity and was Roosevelt Professor of Systematic Theology at UTS. Upon his death, he left his sizeable collection of papers documenting his activities with ecumenical conferences and committees, which served as the basis for the Library. In November 1944, the Library was opened, and was directed by a committee of faculty in collaboration with the Missionary Research Library (MRL). The funding for WAB, as well as for part-time staff, was from UTS. The official opening of the Library occurred on March 13, 1945. The general policy of the Library was to acquire and make available printed and unprinted material documenting the ecumenical effort, including records connected to church union, federation and cooperation projects, and the development of the World Council of Churches. WAB, as well as MRL, later became part of the UTS library.
Henry Pitney Van Dusen was a faculty member of UTS, as well as Union's president from 1945-1963. Van Dusen was very supportive of the library and did all possible in order to keep it functioning. He was also one of the main architects of the World Council of Churches, and is among the most important ecumenists of the twentieth century.
The papers are part of the William Adams Brown Ecumenical Library Archives, which was founded in 1945 by the Union Theological Seminary Board of Directors. The items were pulled from unknown locations and have no relationship to one another other than they contain information that is generally related. The materials in this collection were part of a large group of unprocessed material that was organized in 2014.
William Adams Brown Ecumenical Library Archives
Item description, WAB: William Adams Brown Ecumenical Library general records, 1944-1972, box #, folder #, The Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University in the City of New York.
Some material cataloged by Lynn A. Grove on 1988-08-05. Materials were placed in new acid-free folders and boxes. The finding aid was created by Brigette C. Kamsler in 2014 with the support of the Henry Luce Foundation, and edited by Leah Edelman in 2021.
UTS1:Henry Pitney Van Dusen Papers, 1878-1975, The Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University in the City of New York.
This collection contains general information and material relating to ecumenism, Henry Pitney Van Dusen, and the William Adams Brown Ecumenical Library, including papers, notes, clippings, and correspondence, as well as a writing by Henry Pitney Van Dusen with the full title, "Chronicle of Christian unity in the mission and younger churches and Christian unity events 1795-1960" and prepatory materials for the same, compiled by Barbara A. Griffis and the wife of Paul F. Meyer.
Some material in this collection may be protected by copyright and other rights. Information concerning copyright, fair use, and reproduction requests can be consulted at Columbia's Copyright Advisory Office.
This collection is unarranged.
This file contains a writing by Henry Pitney Van Dusen with the full title, "Chronicle of Christian unity in the mission and younger churches and Christian unity events 1795-1960," as well as prepatory materials compiled by Barbara A. Griffis and the wife of Paul F. Meyer.