Biography
William Whiting Borden was a Yale student from a wealthy Chicago family. His Christian commitment led him toward service among people whose circumstances differed sharply from his own. At Yale he became involved in the creation of the Yale Hope Mission.[1]
John Magee proposed the mission in 1906, and Borden helped put it into practice. It opened in 1907, offering meetings and practical assistance to homeless men in New Haven. Borden bought the building and participated personally in the work rather than contributing money alone.[1]
The mission also brought student volunteers into contact with poverty and the responsibilities of Christian service. This documented work is a firmer basis for understanding Borden than slogans sometimes repeated about him without a traceable original record.[1]
After graduating in 1909, he studied at Princeton Theological Seminary and became an ordained minister. He died of meningitis in Cairo in 1913 while preparing for missionary work.[1]
His overseas purpose was interrupted before it reached its intended field, but his earlier work was already concrete. The Yale Hope Mission continued after his death, preserving a local expression of the service to which he had committed himself.[1]