Dwight L. Moody Papers

Boxes 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13 of this collection have been digitized and are available through the D.L. Moody Digital Archives, https://archives.moodycenter.org/. Consult with the Special Collections Librarian for more information.

The first series, Correspondence, can be divided into four categories:

A considerable portion of the correspondence in Series I is that of Moody's family and his secretary, Arthur Percy Fitt. The letters of his wife, Emma C. Moody (1843-1903), are a valuable source of information about Moody's home life and travels, particularly those written to her daughter and to Mrs. Jane MacKinnon, a friend in Scotland. A. Percy Fitt who eventually married Moody's daughter, was his secretary for many years and took charge of his business affairs. After Moody's death, Fitt continued to take a leadership role in the projects which Moody had begun and also collected biographical information about Moody. His correspondence includes letters to and from evangelists Billy Sunday and Gypsy Smith as well as former associates Moody such as C.I. Scofield and G. Campbell Morgan. Some of the correspondence of family members and associates included in this series is from a time considerably after Moody's death and is not directly related to his life and activities.

The letters in Series I illustrate the wide range of associations and activities which Moody pursued throughout his life. His letters to his children and grandchildren provide a vivid insight into his personal life and family relationships. His sense of humor is particularly evident in a letter to A. Percy Fitt which he finished for his daughter, having distracted her attention from it. The correspondence also includes letters from such influential men as J. E. Kynaston Studd, Lord Cairns and the Duke of Sutherland in England and Cyrus McCormick and John Wanamaker in the United States, though the letters of these men included in this collection are not substantive in content. The collection would be most useful for biographical research about Moody, rather than research into social issues of the time.

The second series, Sermons, contains valuable original material in the form of sermon notes, as well as typed transcripts of several sermons and compilations of sermons published by the Moody Centenary Committee. Moody prepared for his many speaking engagements by labeling 5" by 8" envelopes with various subject headings and filling the envelopes with applicable material and thoughts which came to him while he studied. The contents of fifty-two such envelopes are included in this collection. Also included are fifty envelopes which were labeled with subject headings but contained no notes. Additional information about Moody's sermons is located in Series I in the material compiled by Emma Moody Powell, and in the newspaper clippings describing his evangelistic campaigns located in Series III.

The last series, Journals, Clippings, Articles, contains material describing Moody and his career. Journals by Emma C. Moody and Mrs. Jane MacKinnon shed light on Moody's 1873-1875 Great Britain campaign as well as providing information about family activities. Newspaper clipping collections are nearly complete for two campaigns, New York in 1876 and New Haven in 1878, and other clippings contained in two large scrapbooks provide a wealth of similar material. Many of the articles written in praise of Moody appeared either following his death or on the occasion of centenary celebrations in 1937.

The material compiled by Mrs. Emma Moody Powell and the Moody sermon outlines were given to the Yale Divinity School Library in 1962 by Mrs. Powell, granddaughter of Dwight L. Moody. The balance of the Moody Papers were donated to the Library in 1975 by Mrs. Powell's children: Virginia Moody Powell McDonald, Edward M. Powell Jr., John Douglas Powell and David Stephen Powell. Other Moody papers are located in the following places: