Dispensations

This collection contains the accumulated papers, photographs, and sound recordings of Dr. William Young (1918-2015), who was a conservative Presbyterian pastor, and philosophy professor.

Dr. William Young must have been what is known as a “hoarder,” meaning that he discarded almost nothing. At the time that Westminster Theological Seminary acquired this collection, it consisted of approximately fifty cubic feet of papers of all sorts. In addition to his handwritten manuscripts, this collection contained all manner of papers documenting what organizations and associations that he was a member of, or was interested in. In addition to all of that, Young retained such miscellaneous papers as grocery store coupons, train ticket stubs, bus route maps, cancelled checks, utility bills and almost any other shred of cellulose that came his way. Even though this collection contains a wide array of Young’s papers, there are gaps and documentary short-falls. Though Young spent years at Oxford University, the series in this collection dedicated to his studies there is very small. Also, another series—which contains his calendars, planners and pocket diaries have significant gaps. Those who took care of Dr. Young late in life may not have been as dedicated to saving his papers as he was.

Of those papers of substance found in this collection are those that Young generated during his education (Columbia University, Westminster Theological Seminary, Union Theological Seminary, and Oxford University), as well as his career as a philosophy professor (at Butler University, Belhaven College and the University of Rhode Island), and his divine calling as a pastor at Presbyterian churches. Lastly, this collection contains a large assortment of his writings in the form of manuscripts for books, articles, book reviews, sermons, presentations, lecture notes, and all kinds of miscellany. Apparently, Dr. Young never learned to type, as so much of his written work remains in the form of his hand-written manuscripts. In some cases, his philosophy exams and quizzes that he drafted while at URI contain notes to his typist indicating the number of copies he would need for the number of students in his classes.

One series in this collection contains papers that Young acquired from a variety of different colleges, universities and seminaries—not those where he matriculated, or where he taught, but these were institutions with which he had some other sort of connection and from which he acquired papers.

Dr. Young was someone who was constantly writing notes on one or another aspect of theology or philosophy, and this collection contains file after file of papers in his handwriting on these matters. His mind must have been perpetually ruminating on matters philosophy and theology. Some of his monographs indicate that he was writing late at night or during the very early morning hours.