Annual Lecture Series

Since 2008, the Archival Research Lecture has served to showcase the broad depth and variety of resources held by Wheaton Archives & Special Collections and to shed light on the process researchers use to construct historical narratives from these unique materials.

Dr. Joel Carpenter at 2008 Archival Research Lecture

This annual lecture series has traditionally been held in the fall semester before mid-term break and is sponsored by Wheaton Archives & Special Collections with support from the now defunct Institute for the Study of American Evangelicals. The lecture is open to the Wheaton College Community and the broader public and is typically followed by a reception and exhibit of archival materials related to the lecture topic.   

Explore the links below to learn more about each annual lecture and to hear an audio recording of the event. 

Past Archival Research Lectures

We on the staff have the privilege of meeting a wide range of scholars, Christian workers, and the general public engaged on many different types of research, from preparing a one-woman show, to filming a documentary, to fashioning a web site, to researching books, articles, and dissertations on a wide range of topics in Christian and secular history.... The purpose of the archival research lectures, which we hope to offer from time to time, is to give the Wheaton campus and community a chance to share in the adventure of learning about these exciting research trips and discoveries. We plan to ask people who have been digging ore from the Archives mines to talk a little about both their own experiences in the digging—the archival research experience and the ore they have found—the larger study of which the data from the Archives will be a part. And every talk will be followed by questions and general discussion. We hope this can be one way that the Archives can contribute to Wheaton's rich mix of knowledge, experiences and, above all, people.

        —From Bob Shuster's introduction to the first Archival Research Lecture in December 2008