This collection of approximately 700 items came to STH via Southern Methodist University. It was compiled by Rev. Stephen E. Ayers, who received a MRE from BU School of Religious Education in 1932. The hymnal portion of this collection spans from the late 1830’s to the early 1950’s and includes many multiple copies. The second section of the collection consists of 84 looseleaf notebooks with alphabetized examples of hymns cut from many hymnals. A similar collection of gospel songs attached to notebook paper is contained in covers harvested from the books used to supply these examples. Despite many overlaps, preliminary review shows that this collection will fill many gaps in the STH collection of early 20th-century evangelistic song materials and will possibly be helpful to scholars studying fundamentalism.
The Reverend Dr. Carl P. Daw Jr. is an Episcopal priest and writer who served as the Executive Director of The Hymn Society in the United States and Canada from 1996 to 2009, while this ecumenical and international organization had its headquarters at Boston University School of Theology.
Dr. Daw retired his post as an Adjunct Professor of Hymnology in the Master of Sacred Music program in 2019. He also acted as the Curator of the Hymnological Collections in the School of Theology Library.
Rev. Dr. Daw was a key advocate in the transfer of the collection of The Hymn Society in the United States and Canada to Boston University School of Theology Library in 2005. He continues to advise the library on its hymnological collections even in retirement.