Billy Graham Center Archives Annual Report - 2001 Annual Report - The Reading Room

The Reading Room


Wheaton students from Dr. Charles Weber's Asian History Class attending a session in the Archives on editing documents.

* * * * *

Thanks for all of your assistance with my research the other week. Wheaton's Billy Graham Center Archives provided a stimulating research environment and a solid collection of valuable documents. I quite enjoyed my time...thanks in no small part to your attention and interest in my project. You fellows run a good operation, and I hope our paths will cross again. E-mail from a a doctoral candidate in history at Yale University.


* * * * *

Selected Reading Room Statistics 1980-2001

Note: Starting in 1990, a new system of categorizing researchers and types of researchers began to be used. Starting in mid-1993, a different system was used to calculate the number of researchers. Therefore, the figures before 1993 for type of researchers and research and numbers of researchers are not compatible with those of later years, but they are included because they give a rough idea of how the Archives was used.

80 81 83 85 87 89 91 93 95 97 99 00 01
Researchers 85 159 601 747 809 738 822 693 558 510 508 465 398
Research Visits 1058 1287 1443 1447 1420 1293 977 1141 1109 809 778
Research Hours 260 544 1627 1729 2238 2261 2304 1778 1456 2065 2300 1417 1203
Visits per Researcher 1.76 1.72 1.78 1.96 1.73 1.86 1.77 2.24 2.18 1.74 1.96
Hours per Researcher 3.06 1.64 2.70 2.31 2.77 3.06 2.80 2.56 2.61 4.05 4.53 3.05 3.03
Wheaton College users 316 398 480 440 546 413 303 316 345 246 236
Non Wheaton College Users 285 349 329 298 276 280 255 194 163 219 162
Types of Users
A/V workers 2 4 3 2 3 3 4
BGC Staff 4 15 27 20 12 8 6 7 0 0
Christian Workers 86 33 39 47 65 46 21 40 33 20 20
General Public 73 116 103 77 67 31 51 54
High School Students 4 34
Home Schooled Students 42 18 7 61 24
Non Wheaton College Faculty 18 15 18 18 12 15 26 15
Non Wheaton College Grad Students 5 6 8 27 35 29 37 44 51 27 32
Non Wheaton College Undergrads 88 127 80 15 52 25 22 18 32 5
Pastors 30 12 18 13 12 5 4 6 3
Secondary School 3 1 3 1
Wheaton Faculty/Staff 16 10 13 17 12 21 15 13 13
Wheaton College Grad Students 84 146 98 86 107 93 77 83 101 59 72
Wheaton College Undergrads 188 196 325 293 107 263 206 182 216 156 149
Writers/Journalists 28 12 12 5 5 6 8 6
Types of Research
Articles 11 15 10 16 9 14 5 13 6
A/V Productions 4 15 5 9 5 5 6
Books 11 18 25 19 19 16 26 33 21
Class 532 415 352 341 371 296 270
Equipment Use 10 3 3 1 2 3
Evangelistic Projects 18 14 15 11 8 7 9
Genealogy 1 2 3 6 0 2 7
Miscellaneous 5 9 10 8 35 13 3 2 2 3
Personal Interest 115 176 104 178 138 102 74 46 66 47
Photo Searches 9 12 14 13 10 8 6
Theses 25 28 28 24 26 20 34 31 20


* * * * *


John Perry using materials from the Papers of Charles Wendell Colson for a biography of Colson he is planning to write.

* * * * *

Classes in the Archives

I enjoyed asking questions of Robert Carlson [visiting missionary] and learning from him, as well as being able to look at many interesting documents. Note from a student who came to the Archives in October for an Archives Treasure Hunt.




The Archives held many classes in 2001 for Wheaton College students and others. Sessions covered the following areas of study: African History, Asian History, Cross-Cultural Research, Evangelism and Renewal, Historical Inquiry, History of South & Southeast Asia, Mission History, Social Psychology, and Women in Missions. There were also sessions for the College's Media Resources department, students from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and local home school groups. Below are scenes from some of these classes.

Students at the Archives Treasure Hunt answering questions about archival documents.


Students from an Asian History class working on an assignment.


Bob teaching students from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.


* * * * *

Topics Researched in the Archives Reading Room

BGEA-related:
Billy Graham and the Cold War
Billy Graham's evangelistic style of preaching
Billy Graham's ministry in the early 1950s
BGEA Alabama Crusade, Birmingham, 1972
BGEA Miami Crusade, 1961

Evangelism:
William Blackstone & Protestant Zionism
William Borden, founded Yale Hope Mission
Impact of Christian radio in China
Primer Congreso Latinoamericano de Evangelizacion (CLADE)
Sermon topics of Amzi Clarence Dixon, pastor of Moody Church
Frederick Franson, evangelist and founder of Swedish Alliance Mission
Kathryn Kuhlman's ministry
Aimee Semple McPherson, Church of the Foursquare Gospel
Watchman Nee
Paul Rader & evangelism
Billy Sunday
History of TEAM and the Domi Church in Japan
Life of Corrie ten Boom
Women evangelists
YFC Poland

Missions:
Africa Inland Mission history
American Women Missionaries
Robert Brain and missions to Angola
John Cennick and Moravian Missions
Margaret Clapper, missionary to Congo, & women in missions
Sadie Custer and missions to China
Jim Elliot and other martyred missionaries
FEBIAS & SEND International
Jonathan & Rosalind Goforth, missionaries to China
Isobel Kuhn, missionary to China
Donald McGavran, missionary to India and founder of the school of church growth theory
John & Elizabeth Stam, missionaries to China
Life of Florence Stauffacher, missionary to Africa
Elizabeth Stevenson of Africa Inland Mission
Women in Missions

Other:
History of the Africa Inland Church in Tanzania
African-Americans in cross cultural ministries
Charles Colson
Christianity and American foreign policy, 1945-1960
Evangelicals and ‘Cult' designation
Evangelical Revivals & Anti-communist Movement
Fundamentalism, 1917-1925
Life and ministry of Korean pastor Kyung Chik Han
Italian Pentecostals in Chicago
Karen communities in 19th century Burma
Moody Memorial Church outreach activities from 1900-1920
Photographs of American religion
Pioneer Clubs
George Beverly Shea
Samuel Shoemaker, Episcopalian preacher
Southern Pentecostalism
Wheaton College revival of 1995

* * * * *

Published Works, Dissertations, Videos, and Other Products Based on 2000 Research in the Archives


David Howard's book on the history of student involvement in missions at Wheaton College was based largely on the Wheaton College Archives and Special Collections, but also drew upon the BGC Archives


Alsdurf, Phyllis. "The Ideological Function of the Religious Press: An Analysis of the Impact of Christianity Today Magazine on the Modern Evangelical Movement" [Dissertation] University of Minnesota, School of Journalism and Mass Communication, anticipated date: 2001

Brannon, Rebecca. "The Dutartre Affair: Religion and Politics in Colonial South Carolina, 1700-1725." Conference paper delivered at the Graduate Student Conference on Southern History at the University of Mississippi, Oxford, March 2001.

Coming Home! Self-Taught Artists, the Bible, and the American South. Museum exhibit at the University of Memphis, scheduled to open March 2003 and based on the research of Dr. Carol Crown..

DePriest, Jon. "Send the Light: TEAM and the Evangelical Mission, 1890-1975." [Dissertation] Spring 2001

Drummond, Lewis A, The Evangelist. (Nashville: Word Publishing, 2001). The Archives provided material for the book and for the CD that accompanies it.

Eitzen, Hartwig. "Dependence, Independence, Interdependence: Toward Genuine Models of Partnership in Missions." [Dissertation] Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, anticipated date: 2003

Famicola, Jo Reese and Morker, Hubert, ed. Religious Leaders and Political Causes. (Rowman and Littlefield, 2001) Chapter by Gretchen Carnes and Joel S. Fetzer about Ronald K. Sider, based in part on materials in the Archives.

Fisher, Nevan. "Chinese Protestantism: A Local Case Study of the Church in Anqing, Anhui Province" [Dissertation] University of Virginia, anticipated date: 2003.

Fowler, Amy M. Expose Reporting on the Belgian Congo: Prints, Drawing and Photographs from the Congo Reform Movement. (University of Kansas Press, anticipated publication date: August 2002)

Furness, Janet and Teng, Timothy. "The Reawakening of Evangelical Social Consciousness" in The Social Gospel Today, edited by Christopher Evans. (Westminster/John Knox Press, anticipated publication date: April 2002)

Gjengedal, Asbjøn. Abraham Vereide. Lunde Forlag (Oslo, Norway: 2001)

Hamilton, Michael S. "Willow Creek's Place in History" Christianity Today, November 13, 2000. Article was illustrated by photographs from the Archives.

Hindmarsh, Bruce. "Basic Christianity - with an Oxbridge Accent" Books & Culture, September/October 2000. Article was illustrated with a photo from the Archives.

Howard, David. From Wheaton to the Nations. (Wheaton: Tyndale House, 2001)

May, Grace. "Watchman Nee and The breaking of Bread: The Missiological and Spiritual Forces That Contributed to an Indigenous Church Ecclesiology" [Dissertation] Boston University School of Theology, 2000.

Mildford, Douglas. Article on the "World Evangelical Fellowship" for Brenda Brasher, ed. Encyclopedia of Fundamentalism, (New York: Routledge, 2001)

Morier-Genoud , Eric. "Archives, historiographie et Églises évangéliques au Mozambique," Lusotopie, 2000 [An online journal] This article can be found on the Web at this address: http://www.cean.u-bordeaux.fr/lusotopie/somma2000.html

Motter, Jeffrey B. "Inward Christian Soldiers: American Protestant Fundamentalist Rhetoric from the Great War to the Scope Trial" [Dissertation] Ohio State University, 2001

Rhodes, Ken. "Chester E. Tulga and the Shape of Mid-Century Fundamentalism" [Dissertation] University of Akron, anticipated date: Fall 2001

Sharing Eternity. Video training program in evangelism prepared by the Caleb Project. Scheduled to be ready in Spring 2002.

Smith, Randal D. "Rethinking the Latin America Mission: Utilizing Organizational History to Inform the Future." [Dissertation] Asbury Theological Seminary, May 2001.

Spink, Christina D. "An Oral History Case Study on C0-Construction of Schooling at the Cheifoo School and in Weihsien Internment Camp" [Dissertation] Widener, 2000.

* * * * *

Most Frequently Used Collections, 2001
Collection # Collection Name # of Times Used
* indicates collection consists entirely of or includes microfilm
81* Africa Inland Mission International -- Records 25
212 Kathryn Kuhlman Foundation -- Records 22
379* Woman's Union Missionary Society -- Records 17
215 Overseas Missionary Fellowship: Home Council -- Records 16
165 Evangelical Fellowship of Mission Sending Agencies (EFMA) -- Records 13
232 Esther Marguerite Nowack Hess -- Papers 12
360* BGEA: Newspaper and Magazine Clippings -- Records 11
459 Fellowship Foundation -- Records 10
514 Wheaton College Revivals -- Ephemera 10
74 Billy Graham -- Ephemera 9
275 Charles Wendell Colson -- Papers 9
318 Lemuel Nelson Bell -- Papers 9
187 Eleanor Ruth Elliott -- Papers 8
61* Billy and Helen Sunday -- Papers 7
191 BGEA: Hour of Decision Radio Program -- Records 7
231 Ian Rankin and Helen Mount Anderson -- Papers 7
278 Elisabeth Howard Elliot -- Papers 7
281 John W. & Florence Stauffacher -- Papers 7
38* Daniel Paul Rader -- Ephemera 6
113 BGEA: Films and Video Tapes -- Records 6

* * * * *

Most Frequently Used Collections, 1984-2001
(to see the complete usage list, click here)
Collection # Collection Name # of Times Used
* indicates collection includes microfilm
81* Africa Inland Mission International -- Papers 1119
212 Kathryn Kuhlman Foundation -- Records 736
215 Overseas Missionary Fellowship: Home Council -- Records 514
188* Jonathan & Rosalind Bell-Smith Goforth -- Papers 385
182 James Herbert & Winnifred Mary (Shepard) Kane -- Papers 320
165 Evangelical Foreign Mission Sending Agencies (EFMA) -- Records 267
187 Eleanor Ruth Elliott -- Papers 257
246 Jessie McDonald -- Papers 251
74* Billy Graham -- Ephemera 247
20 Herbert John Taylor -- Papers 222
48 Youth for Christ, International -- Records 214
104 Bruce F. Hunt -- Oral History 210
46 Lausanne Committee on World Evangelism -- Records 206
280 Petra Malena "Malla" Moe -- Papers 199
8 Christianity Today International -- Records 184
113 Bgea: Films and Videos Tapes -- Records 182
123 William Marrion Branham -- Ephemera 179
330* Moody Memorial Church -- Records 174
111 Charles Henry Troutman -- Papers 171
29* Billy Sunday -- Ephemera 169

Previous Section Table of Contents Next Section