The University of Chicago Library > The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center > Finding Aids > Guide to the Edward Scribner Ames Papers 1893-1958
© 2007 University of Chicago Library
| Title: | Ames, Edward Scribner. Papers |
|---|---|
| Dates: | 1893-1958 |
| Size: | 6.5 linear ft. (12 boxes) |
| Repository: |
Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center |
| Abstract: | Edward Scribner Ames (1870-1958) Professor of Philosophy. The collection contains correspondence, manuscripts, photographs, scrapbooks, and newspaper clippings. Includes correspondence with Vachel Lindsay (1904-1927). |
No restrictions.
When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: Ames, Edward Scribner. Papers and Addenda, [Box #, Folder #], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library
Edward Scribner Ames was born in Eau Claire, Wisconsin on April 21, 1870. He received his B.A. and M.A. from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, and then attended Yale University Divinity School. He received the Yale B.D. in 1892 and continued to study philosophy there for two more years. Transferring to the University of Chicago for a fellowship during 1894-1895, he earned a Ph.D. in philosophy in 1895, awarded by professors John Dewey and James Tufts. Ames first taught at Butler College, Indianapolis, for three years but soon returned to accept a philosophy position at Chicago in 1900, which he held until his retirement in 1936.
Ames’s focus was in psychology and sociology of religion. His father had been a Disciples of Christ minister in a series of Midwestern towns. Ames went on to publish several influential studies of religious experience and values, along with doctrinal studies relating to the Disciples of Christ. Influenced by his colleagues, he joined their Chicago School of Pragmatism and advanced a pragmatic understanding of God and doctrine, similar in many respects to Dewey’s religious humanism.
Ames was active in the life of Chicago; he joined the City Club and served on reform committees. Ames maintained his devotion to the Disciples of Christ and was in close association with other leading figures of the movement. He was one of the founding members, with other graduates of Yale and Chicago, of the Campbell Institute in Chicago in 1896. Ames edited The Scroll, the quarterly journal of the Campbell Institute, from 1925 to 1951. He was the minister of the Hyde Park Christian Church (renamed the University Church of Disciples of Christ) in Chicago from 1900 to 1940. He also served as the Dean of the Disciples Divinity House in Chicago from 1927 to 1945. Ames’s distinctively liberal and humanistic approach to both theology and ministerial leadership brought him into repeated conflicts with more conservative elements of the denomination. Among the specific doctrinal questions for which Ames is remembered is the humanity of Jesus, the denial of an afterlife, the diminished role of baptism, and open membership.
Ames died in Chicago on 29 June 1958 and his ashes were spread behind the family cottage on Lake Michigan in Pentwater, Michigan.
The collection contains family and professional correspondence, manuscripts, photographs, scrapbooks, and newspaper clippings. Includes correspondence with Vachel Lindsay (1904-1927).
The following related resources are located in the Department of Special Collections:
| Box 1 Folder 1 | Vachel Lindsey, correspondence, 1904-1906 |
| Box 1 Folder 2 | Vachel Lindsey, correspondence, 1909 |
| Box 1 Folder 3 | Vachel Lindsey, correspondence, 1910-1911 |
| Box 1 Folder 4 | Vachel Lindsey, correspondence, 1914-1915 |
| Box 1 Folder 5 | Vachel Lindsey
|
| Box 1 Folder 6 | Vachel Lindsey, correspondence, 1917-1918 |
| Box 1 Folder 7 | Vachel Lindsey, correspondence, June 20, 1921 |
| Box 1 Folder 8 | Vachel Lindsey, correspondence, 1922 |
| Box 1 Folder 9 | Vachel Lindsey, correspondence, 1924-1927 |
| Box 1 Folder 10 | Vachel Lindsey, "The Ezekiel Chant,'' Vachel Lindsay |
| Box 1 Folder 11 | Grade Books, 1896-1900, 1920 |
| Box 1 Folder 12 | Grade Books, Vol. 1-25 |
| Box 1 Folder 13 | Grade Books, Vol. 26-46 |
| Box 1 Folder 14 | Correspondence, Alphabetical, chronological, 1910-1950 |
| Box 1 Folder 15 | Correspondence, University of Chicago, 1894-1931 |
| Box 2 Folder 1 | Sermons, 1925-1948 |
| Box 2 Folder 2 | Atomic bomb, papers and clippings, 1945 |
| Box 2 Folder 3 | John Dewey, 1931-1950 |
| Box 2 Folder 4 | Reprints, 1902-1944 |
| Box 2 Folder 5 | Letter from Lorado Taft, 1923 |
| Box 2 Folder 6 | Clippings |
| Box 2 Folder 7 | Reviews |
| Box 2 Folder 8 | Yale Divinity School Portraits, Class of 1892 |
| Box 2 Folder 9 | Nicholson |
| Box 3 Folder 1 | C.F. Ames, Correspondence |
| Box 3 Folder 2 | C.F. Ames, Correspondence |
| Box 3 Folder 3 | Letters of congratulations, 80th birthday, 1950 |
| Box 3 Folder 4 | Letters of congratulations, 80th birthday, 1950 |
| Box 3 Folder 5 | Letters of congratulations, 80th birthday, 1950 |
| Box 3 Folder 6 | Departmental Correspondence, 1900-1932, misc |
| Box 3 Folder 7 | Departmental Correspondence, 1900-1932, misc |
| Box 3 Folder 8 | Departmental Correspondence, 1900-1932, A |
| Box 4 Folder 1 | Departmental Correspondence, 1900-1932, C |
| Box 4 Folder 2 | Departmental Correspondence, 1900-1932, D-F |
| Box 4 Folder 3 | Departmental Correspondence, 1900-1932, G |
| Box 4 Folder 4 | Departmental Correspondence, 1900-1932, H-J |
| Box 4 Folder 5 | Departmental Correspondence, 1900-1932, K |
| Box 4 Folder 6 | Departmental Correspondence, 1900-1932, M |
| Box 4 Folder 7 | Departmental Correspondence, 1900-1932, N-R |
| Box 4 Folder 8 | Departmental Correspondence, 1900-1932, S-Z |
| Box 4 Folder 9 | Correspondence, 1950's |
| Box 4 Folder 10 | Correspondence, 1950's |
| Box 4 Folder 11 | Correspondence, 1950's |
| Box 4 Folder 12 | Correspondence, 1950's |
| Box 4 Folder 13 | Correspondence, 1950's |
| Box 4 Folder 14 | Correspondence, 1950's |
| Box 4 Folder 15 | Correspondence, Edward S. Ames and Mabel Van Meter Ames, with their children Adelaide, Polly, Van Meter and Damaris |
| Box 4 Folder 16 | Correspondence, brother Charles Ames |
| Box 4 Folder 17 | Family correspondence |
| Box 5 Folder 1 | Family correspondence |
| Box 5 Folder 2 | Family correspondence |
| Box 5 Folder 3 | Family correspondence |
| Box 5 Folder 4 | Guest Book |
| Box 5 Folder 5 | Memorial Service for Edward Scribner Ames, program and guest list, July 3, 1958 |
| Box 5 Folder 6 | Mrs. Ames' Autograph Book, Mrs. Ames' |
| Box 6 Folder 1 | "Our Wedding Anniversary," guest book, fiftieth wedding anniversary, July 6, 1943 |
| Box 6 Folder 2 | Scrapbook of handwritten letters from the women of the University Church of the Disciples of Christ, celebrating the birthday of Mrs. Edward S. Ames, April 20, 1940 |
| Box 6 Folder 3 | Will and testament |
| Box 6 Folder 4 | Portraits |
| Box 6 Folder 5 | Pentwater Heights Assoc. |
| Box 6 Folder 6 | Pentwater, 1941-1942 |
| Box 6 Folder 7 | Pentwater, 1946 |
| Box 6 Folder 8 | Arthur W. Neilson, M.D. |
| Box 7 Folder 1 | Golden Wedding Anniversary greeting cards, July 6, 1943 |
| Box 7 Folder 2 | Golden Wedding Anniversary greeting cards, July 6, 1943 |
| Box 7 Folder 3 | Adelaide Ames |
| Box 7 Folder 4 | Van Meter family genealogy |
| Box 7 Folder 5 | Van Meter family genealogy, family tree |
| Box 7 Folder 6 | Poetry, etc. |
| Box 7 Folder 7 | Personal, Reviews, etc. |
| Box 8 Folder 1 | Reviews, press clippings |
| Box 8 Folder 2 | Letters |
| Box 8 Folder 3 | Letters |
| Box 8 Folder 4 | Correspondence, Charles Ames |
| Box 8 Folder 5 | Correspondence, birthday letters |
| Box 8 Folder 6 | Correspondence, birthday letters |
| Box 8 Folder 7 | Correspondence, birthday letters |
| Box 8 Folder 8 | Correspondence, Church |
| Box 8 Folder 9 | Correspondence, Disciples Divinity House and Campbell Institute |
| Box 8 Folder 10 | Correspondence, Rayna and Rebecca |
| Box 8 Folder 11 | Correspondence, retirement, 1940 |
| Box 9 Folder 1 | Correspondence, Harold Swift |
| Box 9 Folder 2 | Correspondence, Henry C. Taylor |
| Box 9 Folder 3 | Church Finances |
| Box 9 Folder 4 | Funeral services and letters |
| Box 9 Folder 5 | Meland pamphlets, "God," misc. |
| Box 9 Folder 6 | Health |
| Box 9 Folder 7 | Lerch Elevator Co. |
| Box 9 Folder 8 | Star Map |
| Box 9 Folder 9 | Wedding invitations |
| Box 9 Folder 10 | "One Day in Athens,'' manuscript of travel memoir by Edward Scribner Ames Services and Christmas Programs |
| Box 9 Folder 11 | Anniversary, Christmas materials
|
| Box 10 Folder 1 | Scrapbook of letters celebrating Ames's thirtieth anniversary as pastor of University Church |
| Box 10 Folder 2 | Memorials |
| Box 10 Folder 3 | Newsletters |
| Box 10 Folder 4 | Portrait cards |
| Box 10 Folder 5 | Edward Scribner Ames, memorial service bulletins |
| Box 10 Folder 6 | Mabel Van Meter Ames, memorial materials |
| Box 10 Folder 7 | 1958 "The Scroll: In Memorandum of Edward Scribner Ames" |
| Box 10 Folder 8 | Ames notes for sermons
|
| Box 11 Folder 1 | Obituaries |
| Box 11 Folder 2 | Miscellaneous service bulletins and publications |
| Box 11 Folder 3 | Pamphlets |
| Box 11 Folder 4 | Pamphlets
|
| Box 11 Folder 5 | New Testament |
| Box 11 Folder 6 | Misc. Clippings and Correspondence |
| Box 12 Folder 1 | Vachel Lindsey, correspondence |
| Box 12 Folder 2 |
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