Sweet, William Warren, 1881-1959

William Warren Sweet, Professor of American Church History at the University of Chicago, was born in Baldwin, Kansas, in 1881. He attended Ohio Wesleyan University, A.B., 1902; Drew Theological Seminary, B.D., 1906; Crozer Theological Seminary, M.TH. 1907; the University of Pennsylvania, A.M., 1909; Ph.D., 1912. Ohio Wesleyan awarded Sweet a D.Litt. in 1935 and DePauw University a L.H.D. in 1956. Sweet taught at Ohio Wesleyan, 1911-1912, DePauw University, where he was professor and chairman of the Department of History, 1913-1927, and Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, 1926-1927. He was Professor of American Church History at the University of Chicago from 1927 to 1946. From 1946 to 1952, Sweet taught at Garrett Biblical Institute and Southern Methodist University, and was president of the American Society of Church History in 1932. Among his many books on church history are Story of Religion in America, Religion on the American Frontier, and American Culture and Religion. Sweet died in Texas in 1958.

American church historian, faculty member of the Divinity School, Department of Church History at the University of Chicago.

A.B., Ohio Wesleyan University, 1902. B.D. Theological Seminary, 1906. Th. M., Crozier Theological Seminary, 1907. A, M., University of Pennsylvania, 1909; Ph. D., 1912. D.D., Cornell University, 1922. Instructor, assistant professor of history, Ohio Wesleyan University, 1911-1913. Professor of history, DePauw University, 1913-1927; Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, 1926-1927. Professor of the history of American Christianity, University of Chicago, 1927-1946. Taught at Garrett Biblical Institute and Southern Methodist University, 1946-1952.

Minister and historian William Warren Sweet was born in Baldwin, Kansas on February 15, 1881 to Rev. William Henry Sweet (1843-1919) and Rose Althea Williams Sweet (1848-1919). On May 18, 1906 he married Louise M. Neill (1882-1967). They had three sons and two daughters.

Sweet earned degrees from Ohio Wesleyan University (A.B., 1902); Drew Theological Seminary (B.D., 1906); Crozer Theological Seminary (M.Th., 1907); University of Pennsylvania (A.M., 1907 and Ph.D., 1912). He also received two honorary degrees: D.Litt. (Ohio Wesleyan University, 1935) and L.H.D. (DePauw University, 1956.)

Reverend Sweet served two ministerial appointments near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Willow Grove Methodist Episcopal Church, 1906-1908, and Langhorne Methodist Episcopal Church, 1908-1911. He then held history and church history teaching positions at Ohio Wesleyan University 1911-1913, DePauw University 1913-1927, and the University of Chicago Divinity School, 1927-46. Following his retirement in 1946, Sweet taught at Garrett Biblical Institute, 1946-1947; Perkins School of Theology and Southern Methodist University, 1948-1952; the University of Texas (visiting professor), 1951; Pomona College, 1952-1953; and Mills College, 1955-1956.

William Warren Sweet was the author of twenty-seven books including The Methodist Episcopal Church and the Civil War (1912); A History of Latin America (1919); Our American Churches (1924); The Story of Religions in America (1930); Methodism in American History (1933); Makers of Christianity from John Cotton to Lyman Abbott (1937); Religion in Colonial America (1942); Revivalism in America, its Origin, Growth and Decline (1944); The American Churches: An Interpretation (1948); and Religion in the Development of American Culture (1952). Known during his generation as the “Dean of American Church Historians,” Sweet was influential in establishing American religious history as a field of academic study.

William Warren Sweet died in Dallas, Texas on January 3, 1959.

Sources:

Ash, James L. Protestantism and the American University: An Intellectual Biography of William Warren Sweet . Dallas: SMU Press, 1982.

“Dr. Sweet to Leave SMU After 4 Years on Faculty.” Dallas Morning News, April 20, 1952.

“Dr. Sweet Sr., Church Historian, Dies.” Dallas Morning News, January 4, 1959.