Billy Graham Center Archives Annual Report - 2000 Annual Report - The Reading Room

The Reading Room


Wheaton students from Dr. David Mass's historical survey course attending
a session in the Archives on the theory and practice of oral history.

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This note is to thank you for your kind assistance during my visit to the BGC Archives last week. In particular, I wanted to thank you for help that was "above and beyond" the usual duties of an archivist by contacting Mr. Otto Schoerner on my behalf. I met with him...and we had a wonderful time talking about Xinjiang [Sinkiang, in the former spelling] and his ministry there. You are quite right – he has a wonderful memory and is very sharp. We were discussing events from over half a century ago, yet he recalled a wealth of details, including his impressions of the women I am interested in – Miss Cable and the French sisters. His recollections confirmed much of what I suspected, so I was pleased to learn that my written sources have put me on the right track. He is really a treasure, and I appreciate so very much you taking the time to put us in touch. Letter from a Michigan professor of history who visited the Reading Room in July.
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Reading Room Statistics 1980-2000

Note: Starting in mid-1993, a different system was used to calculate numbers of researchers, so figures before and after that change are not totally compatible. WC = Wheaton College


80 % 85 % 89 % 93 % 97 % 98 % 99 % 00 %
Researchers 85 747 738 693 515 627 508 465
Research Visits 1287 1447 1293 1105 1080 1109 809
Research Hours 260 1729 2261 1778 2077 1882 2300 1417
Visits Per Researcher 1.72 1.96 1.87 2.24 1.72 2.18 1.74
Hours Per Researcher 3.06 2.31 3.06 2.57 4.05 3.00 4.53 3.05
Wheaton College 398 53.28% 440 59.62% 413 59.60% 318 61.75% 362 57.74% 345 67.91% 246 52.90%
NonWheaton College 349 46.72% 298 40.38% 280 40.40% 197 38.25% 265 42.26% 163 32.09% 219 47.10%
Types of Researchers
A/V workers 4 0.58% 2 0.39% 2 0.32% 3 0.59% 3 0.65%
BGC Staff 4 27 3.66% 12 1.73% 6 1.17% 2 0.32% 7 1.38% 0 0.00%
Christian Workers 33 47 6.37% 46 6.64% 42 8.16% 57 9.09% 33 6.50% 20 4.39%
General Public 73 9.89% 103 14.86% 67 13.01% 45 7.18% 31 6.10% 51 11.18%
Secondary school 34 4.91% 3 0.58% 33 5.26% 1 0.20% 3 0.65%
Home School 18 3.50% 41 6.54% 7 1.38% 61 13.12%
Non-Wheaton College Faculty 18 2.44% 18 2.60% 12 2.33% 8 1.28% 15 2.95% 26 05.59%
Non-Wheaton College Grad Students 6 27 3.66% 29 4.18% 45 8.74% 39 6.22% 51 10.04% 27 05.92%
Non-Wheaton College Undergrads 88 80 10.84% 52 7.50% 22 4.27% 22 3.51% 18 3.54% 32 07.02%
Pastors 30 25 3.39% 13 1.88% 5 0.97% 4 0.64% 4 0.79% 6 01.31%
Wheaton Faculty/Staff 16 24 3.25% 17 1.73% 22 4.27% 17 2.71% 15 2.95% 13 02.85%
Wheaton College Grads 146 86 11.65% 93 13.42% 84 16.31% 171 27.27% 101 19.88% 59 12.37%
Wheaton College Undergrads 196 293 39.70% 263 37.95% 182 35.34% 180 28.71% 216 42.52% 156 33.23%
Writers/Journalists 28 3.79% 9 1.30% 5 0.97% 6 0.96% 6 1.18% 8 01.72%
Types of Research
Articles 11 16 2.31% 14 2.72% 8 1.28% 5 0.98% 13 02.85%
A/V Productions 15 2.16% 9 1.75% 8 1.28% 5 0.98% 5 01.07%
Books 11 19 2.74% 16 3.11% 20 3.19% 26 5.12% 33 07.10%
Class 415 59.88% 340 66.02% 470 74.96% 371 73.03% 296 63.65%
Equipment Use 3 0.43% 3 0.58% 6 0.96% 1 0.20% 2 00.43%
Evangelistic 14 2.02% 11 2.14% 26 4.15% 8 1.57% 7 01.50%
Genealogy 2 0.29% 6 1.17% 1 0.16% 0 0.00% 2 00.43%
Miscellaneous 5 10 1.36% 35 5.05% 3 0.58% 1 0.16% 2 0.39% 2 00.43%
Personal Interest 176 138 19.91% 79 15.34% 51 8.13% 46 9.06% 66 14.19%
Photo Searches 12 1.73% 13 2.52% 10 1.59% 10 1.97% 8 01.72%
Theses 25 24 3.46% 21 4.08% 26 4.15% 34 6.69% 31 06.63%

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Bela Kalumbete, a researcher visiting from Tanzania, investigating
the origins of the Africa Inland Church in his country.

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On September 11, the entire campus lost electrical power for a few hours. Wayne improvised a
work station under the emergency lights for the two researchers in the Reading Room at the time.

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Classes in the Archives

To the Archives Staff: Where do I begin to say thank you for a wonderful field trip! We greatly enjoyed your presentations and having a live "model" was icing on the cake. Thank you, also, for being so flexible with us. I've heard nothing but praise for the day from the other families. Thank you so much! P.S. My son rated this in his top 5 field trips of all time. (He's been on a field trip every month since age 5 and he is 14 now!) Note from a parent of the Oak Park Christian Home Schoolers, who came to the Archives in November for an Archives Treasure Hunt.


The Archives held many classes in 2000 for Wheaton College students and others. Sessions covered the following areas of study: African History, Asian History, Cross-Cultural Research, Educational Research Methods, Historical Inquiry, Mission History, Mission Historiography, Social Psychology, and Women in Missions. There were also sessions for the Center staff, students from Indiana Christian University and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and local home school groups. Below are scenes from some of these classes.


Dr. Charles Weber and Wayne making plans for
the session to be held for Dr. Weber's Asian History class


Paul describing what an archives is to a group
of home school students attending the Treasure Hunt.


Wayne teaching students in the Cross Cultural
Research class in using the Archives' finding aids.


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Topics Researched in the Archives Reading Room

BGEA-related:
Billy Graham's 1952 visit to Korea
Billy Graham at Wheaton College
Billy Graham and US presidents
Billy Graham and John Stott
Billy Graham in France
Life and ministry of Billy Graham
Comparison of Billy Graham and Billy Sunday
BGEA Singapore Crusade

Evangelism:
Life of William E. Blackstone
Fanny Crosby hymns
Charles Fuller and religious radio ca. 1925-1965
Ministry of Kathryn Kuhlman
Aimee Semple McPherson, Church of the Foursquare Gospel
Charles Meeker, Chicago Hebrew Mission
The life and impact of Watchman Nee
Billy Sunday
Life of Corrie ten Boom, evangelist and author
Mel Trotter and the history of Gospel Rescue Mission work
Prison ministry of Consuella York
Effective models of leadership within youth ministry
Christian evangelistic campaigns in Kenya and their role in the church, the case of Nairobi
Factors of active lay ministry
The Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization's consultations on the Gospel and Culture

Missions:
History of SEND International
The work of SIM/ECWA in Nigeria
Isobel Kuhn, missionary to China
Donald McGavran, missionary to India and founder of the school of church growth theory
Life of missionary to China, Sadie Custer
Sarah Doremus, founder of the Women's Union Missionary Society
Belle Sherwood Hawkes, Presbyterian missionary to Persia
Diana Hawkins and missions to Zimbabwe
Life of David Howard, 20th century missions leader
Life of Hudson Taylor, founder of the China Inland Mission
J. Christy Wilson and missions to Afghanistan
Evangelical Foreign Mission Association and the Interdenominational Foreign Mission Association and race issues
Methods of missionary deputation work
History of the Woman's Union Missionary Society
China Inland Misson's work in Tibet
History of the emphasis missions on Wheaton's campus
Work of the American Home Missionary Society
The impact of the death of the five missionaries in Ecuador in 1956
Missionary children
Women in missions

Other:
Moody Church of Chicago, 1926-1935
The development of the Africa Inland Church in Kenya
Muslim minorities in China
The civil rights and Neo-Evangelicals in the 1950s in the United States
Restoring children's worship of God
Chinese Protestantism in Anquig, Anhui Province, 19th-20th centuries
History of the World Evangelical Fellowship
V Raymond Edman, president of Wheaton College
American Religion from 1917-1929
African colonial history
L. Nelson Bell and 20th century Southern Presbyterianism
Charles Colson and Watergate
The rise of Christian religions education as an occupation speciality
Harold Lindsell, Evangelical scholar and author
Abraham Vereide and the beginnings of the Fellowship Foundation
Wheaton College Revivals, 1936-1995
Christianity Today magazine & the development of modern Evangelicalism
Photos of Post World War II US/Latin America Evangelicalism


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Published Works, Dissertations, Videos, and Other Products Based on 1999 Research in the Archives




Becker, Carl M. "Brighten the Corner Where You Are - Homer Rodeheaver." Timeline Volume 17/ Number 3. May-June 2000, pp38-56. Timeline is the publication of the Ohio Historical Society.

Brotchie, Phil. "The Importance of the Contribution of Australians to the Penetration of China by the China Inland Mission in the Period 1888-1953, with particular reference to the Work of Australian Women Missionaries." [Dissertation] Deakin University, Australia; May 2000.

Christie, Vince. Heroes of the Faith: John & Betty Stam. Bashour Publishing (Unionsville, OH), October 2000.

Corse, Theron. “American Baptists and the Protestant Experience in Cuba, 1959- 1969.” American Baptist Quarterly . Accepted for publication in 2001.

---. “Presbyterians in the Revolution: An American Missionary Church and the Challenge of Castro’s Cuba, 1959-1970.” Cuban Studies. Accepted for publication in the 2000 volume.

Cyrier, Jeremy. "Literacy, Witchcraft, and Morality in Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Cameron." [Dissertation] University of Virginia; anticipated date: 2003.

Dobshultz, Barbara. "A History of the Moody Church: The Building of an Urban Fundamentalist Cathedral, 1864-1934." [Dissertation] University of Illinois; anticipated date Spring 2001.

Gitting, John. " Lost Souls." Weekend, August 5, 2000. pp. 24-30. Weekend is the magazine of the Guardian newspaper of England. This article, the research for which was done in 2000, is particularly interesting because Mr. Gitting is based in East Asia and never came to Wheaton. He did all his research using the on line photos, and transcripts of the letters and diaries (1895-1900) of Sarah Alice (Troyer) Young, a missionary to China.

Haas, Pamela D. "Symbolic Boundaries and the Threat of Evangelical Feminism." [Dissertation] University of Virginia; anticipated date, 2001.

Johnston, Thomas P. "Cooperation in Evangelism: An Examination of Robert O. Ferm's Cooperative Evangelism (1957)." The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Class paper written December 2000.

Lane, Kelsey, ed. Reaching Toward Tomorrow/ The Moody Church. Moody Church (Chicago, IL), 2000. A commemorative volume of 114 pages on the church's history and future plans.

Morton, Stefanii L. "Wheaton College President's Wives: Changing Times, Changing Roles." [Master's thesis] Wheaton College; August 2000.

Naaman, Samuel Ezra. "Revising Outreach to Sindhi Muslims: Proposals for Christians in Pakistan." [Dissertation] Asbury Seminary; May 1999.

Sack, Daniel. Whitebread Protestants: Food and Religion in American Culture. St. Marin's Press (New York, NY), November 2000.

Settje, David "Has the Tiger Changed Its Stripes?: Lutheran Responses to the Cold War, Fears of Internal Communist Threats, and the Vietnam War, 1964-1975." [Dissertation] Kent State University; anticipated date May 2001.

Stone, Joshua. "L. Nelson Bell and Southern Presbyterians." [Dissertation] Trinity Evangelical Divinity School; anticipated date, December 2000.

Temple, Todd and Twitchell, Kim. People Who Shaped the Church. Tyndale House Publishers (Wheaton, IL), 2000.

Wang, Ceil K. "The Influence of Ancestral Practices on the Conversion of Chinese College Students in the Urban Areas of Taiwan." [Dissertation] Trinity Evangelical Divinity school; anticipated date May 2001.

Wiersbe, Warren W. Sermons of the Century/Inspiration from 100 Years of Influential Preaching. Baker Books (Grand Rapids, MI); 2000.

Xiyi Yao. "Fundamentalist Movement Among Protestant Missionaries in China, 1920-1937." [Dissertation] Boston University, School of Theology; anticipated date September 2000.

"You Are There: How Two Journalists Reported on Billy Graham's Landmark 1949 Crusade in Los Angeles." Christian History Issue 65, Vol. XIX, No. 1 (Winter, 2000) p. 14.

Youth for Christ/USA. A Step Ahead of Time/ The Amazing Story of a Generation Who Stepped Out To Reach Youth for Christ. 1999. Ninety minute video on YFC history illustrated with dozens of black and white photos from the Archives.

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Aaron and Charles Ferguson study the papers of their ancestor, Clarence W. Jones, co-founder of the HCJB missionary radio station in Ecuador. Aaron is looking at the diary of Jones first trip to South America in 1928

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Most Frequently Used Collections, 2000
Collection # Collection Name # of Times Used
* indicates collection consists entirely of or includes microfilm
81* Africa Inland Mission International -- Records 28
136 Missionary Aviation Fellowship -- Records 19
215 Overseas Missionary Fellowship: Home Council -- Records 19
212 Kathryn Kuhlman Foundation -- Records 13
275 Charles Wendell Colson -- Papers 11
318 Lemuel Nelson Bell -- Papers 10
330* Moody Memorial Church -- Records 10
46 Lausanne Committee on World Evangelism -- Records 9
236* Latin American Mission -- Records 9
263 Margaret Johanna (Larson) Carlson -- Oral History 9
38 Daniel Paul Rader -- Ephemera 8
123 William Marrion Branham -- Ephemera 8
281 John W. & Florence Stauffacher -- Papers 8
78 Cornelia Arnolda Johanna ten Boom -- Papers 7
360* BGEA: Newspaper and Magazine Clippings -- Records 7
8 Christianity Today International-- Records 6
155 Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts - Records 6
188* Jonathan and Rosalind Bell-Smith Goforth -- Papers 6
379* Woman's Union Missionary Society -- Records 6
435 Isobel Miller Kuhn -- Ephemera 6
457 Evangelistic Sermons -- Ephemera 6
484 David Morris Howard Sr. -- Papers 6
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Most Frequently Used Collections, 1984-2000
(to see the complete usage list, click here)
Collection # Collection Name # of Times Used
* indicates collection includes microfilm
81* Africa Inland Mission International -- Papers 1094
212 Kathryn Kuhlman Foundation -- Records 714
215 Overseas Missionary Fellowship: Home Council -- Records 498
188* Jonathan & Rosalind Bell-Smith Goforth -- Papers 382
182 James Herbert & Winnifred Mary (Shepard) Kane -- Papers 315
165 Evangelical Foreign Mission Sending Agencies (EFMA) -- Records 254
187 Eleanor Ruth Elliott -- Papers 249
246 Jessie McDonald -- Papers 248
74* Billy Graham -- Ephemera 238
20 Herbert John Taylor -- Papers 219
48 Youth for Christ, International -- Records 213
104 Bruce F. Hunt -- Oral History 209
46 Lausanne Committee on World Evangelism -- Records 204
280 Petra Malena "Malla" Moe -- Papers 195
8 Christianity Today International -- Records 179
123 William Marrion Branham -- Ephemera 178
113 Bgea: Films and Video Tapes -- Records 176
111 Charles Henry Troutman -- Papers 172
330* Moody Memorial Church -- Records 170
29* Billy Sunday -- Ephemera 167
103* Aimee Semple McPherson -- Papers 157
281 John W. & Florence Stauffacher -- Papers 156
379* Women's Union Missionary Society -- Records 152
263 Margaret Johanna (Larson) Carlson -- Oral History 151

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