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This collection is open for research.
The following boxes are located offsite: Box 1. Please note that requests for use of boxes held in offsite storage must be made three business days in advance.
This collection was donated to the UTS Archives at the Burke Library by Olive Dutcher-Doggett after Brunner's death in 1966.
Heinrich Emil Brunner, born in 1889, studied at the University of Zürich from 1908 to 1913, receiving a doctorate in theology. Ordained in the Swiss Reform Church in 1912, he subsequently served as pastor at a small church in Obstalden, Switzerland from 1916 to 1924. A recipient of the Hines fellowship, Brunner also studied at Union Theological Seminary in New York from 1919 to 1920. Brunner went on to teach systematics and practical theology at the University of Zürich from 1924 to 1953. He was a central figure in the neo-orthodox theological movement, publishing several volumes on the dogmatics of the Christian church. Brunner died in 1966.
Olive Dutcher-Doggett first met Brunner in 1921 while he was serving as pastor at the Obstalden church. Dutcher-Doggett attended Union from 1901-1903, and again from 1912 to 1913 when she received her diploma. After attending Union she was Professor of Biblical History at Vassar College from 1914 to 1917, and then at Wellesley College from 1917 to 1934.
Union Theological Seminary Archives: UTS 1, papers of faculty and students
Item Description, UTS1: Heinrich Emil brunner papers, 1923-1966, box #, folder #, The Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University in the City of New York.
Letters were cataloged by Lynn A. Grove on 1988-07-07. The Brunner papers were processed and the finding aid was created by Benjamin Perry in 2012. In 2015, the collection was updated by Brigette Kamsler with the support of the Henry Luce Foundation; metal clips were removed, folded items were flattened, materials were placed in new acid-free folders and boxes, and the name of the collection was changed from "H. Emil Brunner Correspondence" or "H. Emil Brunner Letters" to the Heinrich Emil Brunner papers. The finding aid was edited by Leah Edelman in 2020.
This collection contains 97 letters written by Brunner to Olive Dutcher-Doggett. The letters are largely written from Switzerland, where Brunner was teaching, to Wellesley, Massachusetts where Dutcher-Doggett was a professor. The bulk of the correspondence is written in German, although 13 letters are in English. The letters indicate that the scholars had a personal friendship centered on their shared academic interests; on several occasions, Brunner asks for Dutcher-Doggett's evaluation of his work. The letters also cover personal matters, including Brunner's feelings about God, and his hopes, joys, and anxieties.
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This collection is arranged in chronological order.