2025 Annual Lecture

What is it like to do historical research in the Archives? How do researchers use scrapbooks, newspaper clippings, oral history interviews, and other materials to construct an historical narrative? What are the benefits of using these physical fragments to understand the past? Every year, the Archival Research Lecture features a scholar whose research in Archives & Special Collections addresses these questions.

For the 2025 Archival Research Lecture, Dr. Paul Putz reflects on the historical significance of sports as a source of religious identity and considers how Christians can engage with the past in a way that provides a deeper sense of purpose and mission for communities in the present. Following the lecture is a response from Wheaton’s Athletic Director Mike Schauer and a discussion with Dr. Putz and Mike Schauer led by Dr. Karen Johnson, chair of the Wheaton College History Department.

Paul Putz (PhD, Baylor University) is Director of the Faith & Sports Institute and Program Director for the M.A. in Theology and Sports Studies at Truett Seminary. His first book, The Spirit of the Game: American Christianity and Big‑Time Sports, was published in 2024.

Co-sponsored by Wheaton Archives & Special Collections and the Wheaton College History Department through funding from the Harold C. Smith Foundation.

Watch the video recording for the October 30, 2025 lecture here.