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 Dwight Woodbridge Edwards
Dwight Woodbridge Edwards was born on March 25, 1883, in St Paul, Minnesota, to Anne Louise Deane, age 29, and Maurice Dwight Edwards, age 35. Dwight and his siblings were raised in Minnesota. His brother was Rev. Deane Edwards of the Rye Presbyterian Church who lived in Loudon Woods. His nephew Richard served during WW II in the American Field Service.
Dwight received bachelors and master's degrees at Princeton before going to Japan in 1906. He would spend the next 43 years overseas as senior secretary in China of the International Committee of YMCA's and field director United China Relief. United China Relief (U.C.R.) was an organization that raised money and sent aid to China during and after World War II. See Collection: Dwight W. Edwards papers | Archives at Yale
Dwight married Mary Estelle Vanderslice on May 19, 1915, in Beijing, China and they would have three children during their marriage.
In 1937, a dispute broke out between Japanese and Chinese troops near Peking, China. This dispute escalated into a military conflict and marked the beginning of the second-Sino Japanese War. The war destroyed and displaced many Chinese citizens. Most of the displaced had nowhere to go or no way of supporting themselves. As a result, several organizations popped up in the United States led by Americans sympathetic to the plight of the Chinese.
 In the 1940s, seven of these organizations joined forces to establish the United China Relief. The organization sent aid workers to China and aimed to raise $5,000,000 to help the Chinese affected by the war. Almost half of the funds would go directly to medical aid while the rest would be divided into quality of life improvements like training new leaders and taking care of war orphaned children.
When Japan attacked and bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the United States entered World War II. As a result, Dwight's wife was taken prisoner by the Japanese.
Mrs. D. Edwards Home from Internment in Jap Prison Camp
Mrs. Dwight Edwards arrived in New York, Wednesday, aboard the Gripsholm. She had been in a prison camp in China. She is a sister-in-law of the Rev. Deane Edwards of Loudon Woods, and mother of Miss Anne Edwards, who has made her home with the Rev. and Mrs. Edwards since coming from China some years ago. Mrs. Edwards was interned on December 7, 1941. Mr. Edwards is in Chungking, Free China, and head of the United China Relief. The mother and daughter, who have not seen each other in four years, will stay in New York before visiting the Rev. and Mrs. Edwards.
PAGE TWO THE RYE CHRONICLE Friday, December 3, 1943
Dwight would return to the US in 1949. He was awarded the Decoration of the Bountiful Harvest by the Emperor of China for his part in the International Relief Commission program in North China in 1920. Since his return to the United States in 1949, he had been a member of the Princeton Rotary and received an honorary Doctorate in Philanthropy from Princeton.
Dwight Woodbridge Edwards, a former YMCA director in China and Japan for 43 years, died on October 15, 1967, in Princeton, New Jersey, at the age of 84. At the time of his death, he was survived by his wife, Mrs. Mary Edwards; a daughter, Mrs. Anne of Fairfield, Iowa: a brother, Rev. Deane Edwards of Rye, N.Y. and eight grandchildren.
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