1883
Mar 25Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, son of Rev.
Maurice and Annie Edwards.1904B.A., cum
laude, Princeton University.1905M.A., in
mathematics, Princeton University.19051906Teacher
in Japan under YMCA auspices.19061946Served
YMCA in China.19061924Associate general secretary of Peking YMCA. Peking YMCA was sponsored by
Princeton-in-Peking, which later became the Princeton-Yenching
Foundation1915Married Mary E. Vanderslice, ABCFM missionary serving as
Director of Kindergarten Training in the North China College for Women.
Children: Dwight W. , Jr. and Anne.19201922Executive secretary of Peking United International Famine Relief
Committee. This relief operation resulted in the formation of the China
International Famine Relief Commission, which functioned from 1922 to 1946 in
relief and prevention of famine in China.19201922Executive secretary of Finance Commission of the Government Relief
Bureau administering the Surtax on the Maritime Customs for Relief.19221950Executive field
secretary of Princeton-Yenching Foundation.19251927General secretary of Peking YMCA following retirement of Robert Gailey,
until Chinese General secretary was appointed.19271938YMCA Regional secretary for North China, based in Peking.1931Six months service with
Chinese Government Yangtze flood relief work.19321948Member of the Board of Managers of Yenching University.19381946YMCA Senior secretary
in China, based first in Shanghai and from 1941 to 1946 in Chungking.19421946Field Director and
Vice-president of United China Relief (later known as United Service to China),
on loan from YMCA.19431946Received Chinese government awards for relief and educational
work.19461949Full
time work for United Service to China following retirement from YMCA.1948Executive secretary of the
Administrative Committee of Yenching University.1949Honorary Doctorate of Philanthropy, Princeton
University.1949Returned from
China to the U.S., continued to serve as consultant in relief field for several
years.1959DWE's
monograph, Yenching
University, published by United Board for Christian Higher Education in
Asia.1967 Oct 4Died in
Princeton, New Jersey.From the guide to the Dwight W. Edwards Papers, 1905-1982, (Yale University Divinity School Library)