Amos Niven Wilder was an American poet

Poet

A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...

, minister, and theology

Theology

Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...

 professor.

Life

He studied two years at Oberlin College

Oberlin College

Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...

 (1913–1915), but volunteered in the Ambulance Field Service

AFS Intercultural Programs

AFS Intercultural Programs was established in 1915 by A. Piatt Andrew, a onetime economics professor at Harvard University and former U.S. Assistant Secretary of the Treasury...

; he was awarded the Croix de Guerre. In November 1917, he enlisted in the U.S. Field Artillery as a corporal.

In 1920, he graduated from Yale University

Yale University

Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...

. In college, he was an inter-collegiate doubles champion tennis player, and he played at Wimbledon

The Championships, Wimbledon

The Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon , is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, considered by many to be the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London since 1877. It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the other three Majors...

 in 1922, with his partner, Lee Wiley. He served as secretary to Albert Schweitzer

Albert Schweitzer

Albert Schweitzer OM was a German theologian, organist, philosopher, physician, and medical missionary. He was born in Kaysersberg in the province of Alsace-Lorraine, at that time part of the German Empire...

 lecturing at Oxford University, where he was studying at Mansfield College, (1921–1923). He completed his study for the ministry at Yale in 1924.

Ministry

He was ordained in 1926, and served in a Congregationalist church in North Conway, New Hampshire

North Conway, New Hampshire

North Conway is a census-designated place in eastern Carroll County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,349 at the 2010 census. A year-round resort area, North Conway is the largest village within the town of Conway, which is bounded on the east by the Maine state line. The White...

 He received his doctorate from Yale in 1933.
He taught for 11 years at the Chicago Theological Seminary

Chicago Theological Seminary

The Chicago Theological Seminary is a seminary of the United Church of Christ. It prepares women and men for leadership in the church and society through Master of Divinity , Master of Arts in Religious Studies , Master of Sacred Theology , Doctor of Ministry , and Doctor of Philosophy programs...

 and University of Chicago

University of Chicago

The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...

 before joining Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

 in 1954, as Hollis Professor of Divinity. In 1963, Wilder was named emeritus faculty. His papers are held at Harvard.

Literature

Battle Retrospect, was a volume of verse he wrote about his experiences in World War I; it was reprinted in 1971 by AMS Press.

Family

His father was a journalist with a doctorate from Yale, worked at the U.S. consulate in China. His mother was the daughter of a Presbyterian minister. His brother was Thornton Wilder

Thornton Wilder

Thornton Niven Wilder was an American playwright and novelist. He received three Pulitzer Prizes, one for his novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey and two for his plays Our Town and The Skin of Our Teeth, and a National Book Award for his novel The Eighth Day.-Early years:Wilder was born in Madison,...

, and sisters, were Charlotte Wilder

Charlotte Wilder

Charlotte Wilder was an American poet and the eldest sister of author Thornton Wilder, Janet Wilder Dakin, and Amos Wilder.-Life:...

 and Janet Wilder Dakin

Janet Wilder Dakin

Janet Wilder Dakin , was a philanthropist, zoologist and a younger sister of author Thornton Wilder and poet Charlotte Wilder....

.

He married Catharine Kerlin in 1935. They had a daughter, Catharine Wilder Guiles, and a son, Amos Tappan Wilder.