BGEA: Oral History Project - Collection 141

Scope and Content

The materials in this collection consist of transcripts and/or audio tapes of oral history interviews with over 1,500 people, correspondence regarding the interviews, newspaper clippings, articles and other printed materials related to the individuals interviewed. Electronic versions of transcripts are also available on a compact disk for many interviews conducted from 1990 to 2003. These transcripts are identified with the text (transcript in folder and on CD) that appears in their biographical sketch that follows below, and the text (transcript also on CD) in the corresponding Container List entry. The version on the CD may not be the edited and revised version that appears in a folder as the Final Copy.

The materials in this collection were received over a period of years in the form of numerous accessions. A detailed outline of this is noted in the Provenance section at the conclusion of the Scope and Content section of this guide. The initial arrangement of the collection has remained in its basic form (i.e., Manuscripts Search, Oral History Project - Interviewee Files and Transcripts.) However, the decision to integrate subsequent folders alphabetically was made by the archivist.

As originally received, two copies (Final Copy and identical photocopies in the Working Copy) were sent to the Archives and incorporated into the collection, with the collection consisting of sixty-two boxes totaling 40.14 cubic feet of material. Until 2004 only the Working Copy was available for researcher use, even though the contents of the Working and Final Copies for any interview were identical. In 2004, however, in consultation with and with the approval of the BGEA, the Working Copies were deaccessioned in order to free up the space occupied by the duplicates of almost half of the collection. This left only the Final Copies in the collection. Researchers may find that published references to Collection 141 point to Working Copy folders, creating an apparent discrepancy with those now available. The corresponding Final Copy file can be identified by the name of the person interviewed. The folder numbers for Working Copies that were deaccessioned will not be reused.

In the course of integrating the various accessions, several files were identified as duplicates and were therefore deaccessioned and discarded at the request of the donor. These folders that appear in the container list below with a bolded D were:

folder# Name

11-17 Haraszti, Alexander S. (See folder 45-1)
11-29 Lott, H. Alvin (See folder 46-4)
13-9 Greever, Jack (See folder 28-24)
25-26 Mustapha, Jabiri (See folder 11-37)
38-18 Burgos, V. () (See folder 23-10)

This guide provides four paths to the collection materials:

1. Alphabetically arranged Biographies of the interviewees, which note their vocations and the crusades or congresses that they were involved in, highlighting in boldface print those meetings they discuss in the interview.

2. The narrative notes in the Scope and Content that follow on subjects of particular interest in the files; these reflect the content of the interviews rather than the individual featured or the meeting that provided the primary occasion for the interview.

3. The Location Record for audio tapes that lists tapes in numerical order and the persons interviewed; also included is the BGEA's interview number.

4. The Container List, providing an alphabetically arranged list of all the interview transcripts; also included is the BGEA's interview number.

Box 1 of the collection contains the records of the search for manuscripts. There is no material per se in Collection 141 as a result of that search -- only correspondence about it. Folders 1-1 and 1-2 are card files of contacts and prospective contacts. The correspondence (folders 1-3 through 10) consists of the form letters sent in 1970 requesting of recipients materials in their possession concerning Billy Graham and his crusades. These were followed up, along with fresh contacts, in 1972. Incoming correspondence is divided into the following categories: materials promised but not received (folder 1-4), materials received (folder 1-5), and negative replies (folders 1-6 and 7). Folder 1-5 also contains a checklist of the contents of seventy-seven boxes of materials acquired via this search. The remainder of the correspondence is carbons of form letters, which elicited no response or those which were undeliverable (folders 1-8 through 10). The manuscripts search files conclude with a small folder noting Crusade Committee Donations, a recapitulation of the project (folder 1-11), and a fresh research of names done in 1975 (folder 1-12), which was not acted upon further. Folders 66-5,6,7,8,9,10 consist of administrative materials used or created in the process of the Oral History Project, including interview lists (arranged alphabetically by crusade in folder 66-7, crusade position of the interviewee in folder 66-8, and by interviewee in folder 66-9). Also included are two master accession lists (folder 66-10), ordering the lists alphabetically by name and numerically by interview number.

The remainder and vast majority of the collection concerns the Oral History Project, which consists of audio tapes and transcripts from interviews conducted primarily by Lois Ferm. The audio tapes are listed by tape number on the Location Record of this guide.

Researchers should note that there are also about one hundred transcripts for which there are no corresponding tapes, as follows:

Transcript with no corresponding tape
Name	folder #
Accad, Fouad	folder 2-3
Boring, Erwin	folder 9-16
Buckley, Timothy J.	folder 2-45
Carlson, Carl A.	folder 2-52
Cho, David	folder 2-56
Cousins, Tom	folder 3-6
Dain, Arthur John	folder 3-12
De Rennerfeldt, Marichal	folder 3-18
Easterly, Embree K	folder 3-30
Foster, David John	folder 3-46
Grogan, Nancy	folder 13-10
Hawkins, O.S.	folder 40-11
Hicks, John	folder 11-19
Houghton, Alfred Thomas	folder 4-33
Jesberg, John H.	folder 4-42
Johnson, Torrey	folder 24-23
Langmade, Wallace S.	folder 13-26
Marti, Jean	folder 25-15
McCollister, Rolfe H.	folder 13-32
Mhasi, L. Suohie	folder 41-12
Mitchell, Hubert C	folder 13-35
Munoz, Lucas	folder 41-19
Myers, William K.	folder 14-2
Nasir, Eric Samuel	folder 41-22
Nielson, Karl Viktor	folder 41-23
Nijman, Leedert	folder 26-1
Nkulila, Samuel Samson	folder 26-2
Oake, Robin Edgar Norman	folder 26-5
Ogilvie, Lloyd	folder 26-6
Paine, Stephen W	folder 11-39
Palau, Luis	folder 10-94, 26-9
Patterson, H. Leroy	folder 26-11
Percy, Douglas C	folder 26-13
Pina, Hector	folder 14-6
Pollock, John C.	folder 26-19
Poole, Frank Jr.	folder 29-4
Pretorius, Johannes L.	folder 26-20
Rayne, Dona	folder 42-1
Redding, James	folder 26-24
Rennie, David C.	folder 29-6
Richardson, Harry	folder 14-13
Riggs, Charlie	folder 29-7
Rios, T. Asdrubal	folder 29-8
Roberts, Tammy	folder 65-29
Rookmaker, Hendrik	folder 29-9
Rose, J. Calvin	folder 29-10
Ross, Richard	folder 29-11
Rowlandson, Maurice	folder 29-12
Ruhindi, Yustasi	folder 42-7
Ruivivar, Faustino Cruz Jr.	folder 29-13
Savage, James A.	folder 29-14
Scott, George A.	folder 14-16
Scott, Jack	folder 27-7
Shaw, Ellis R.	folder 27-8
Shedd, Russell	folder 27-9
Shepersky, David	folder 27-11
Shephard, David	folder 27-12
Siodora, Evangelista	folder 27-14
Smyth, Walter H.	folder 14-20
Sonneveldt, Harry	folder 27-19
Sonneveldt, Jack	folder 27-20
Sparks, Douglas	folder 42-17
Spillards, Ronald C.	folder 27-21
Stedelbauer, J. Elliot	folder 27-23
Stott, Oliver	folder 42-24
Strong, Gary F.	folder 28-5
Stroup, Betsy Graham	folder 28-6
Stroup, Holcomb M.	folder 28-6
Summers, Donald P.	folder 42-28
Sunmanu, David O.	folder 28-8
Swanson, Hjalmar G.	folder 29-15
Swart, Trevor M.	folder 28-10
Tabb, Don	folder 29-16
Thomas, George W.	folder 29-21
Thomas, Harvey	folder 43-2
Thomas, James	folder 29-22
Thomas, Ruth R.	folder 29-22
Tingson, Gregorio	folder 14-22
Vaipuna, Tevita F.	folder 14-24
Van Cappelleveen, Jan J.	folder 29-24
Vihienuo, Deo	folder 29-25
Walker, Robert	folder 43-20
Ward, Charles	folder 28-13
Weisiger, Cary	folder 43-23
White, John Wesley	folder 43-27
Whittinton, Earle	folder 28-15
Wiesma, Harry	folder 43-28
Williams, Theodore	folder 43-33
Wyse, Robert W.	folder 14-35
Yu, Timothy	folder 14-36
Zondervan, Pat	folder 14-37

Researchers should also note that there is one interview for which there is a tapes but no complete transcript as follows:

There is internal evidence that interviews were recorded with George Wilson (BGEA #1052 and #1070, but these have not been received by the Archives.

While all the interview folders contain a transcript, they may contain other materials as well, including:

1. Biographical sketch, often in the form of a completed questionnaire by the person interviewed, used to suggest potential interview subjects
2. Deed of gift
3. List of Billy Graham Crusades and Congresses on Evangelism
4. Biography and profile of the interviewer

It should be noted that the transcripts are not direct, verbatim or unedited accounts of the interviews. The brochure circulated by the BGEA's Minneapolis Team Office describing the Oral History Project provides this explanation: "...there is the dedicated and careful secretary who types, edits, retypes your interview many times until it meets the demands of Lois who will make sure it's finally just right." The office afterward modified this statement to indicate that copies were edited only with respect to grammatical construction, but not content, unless otherwise noted in the transcript.

All of the sixteen recorded interviews conducted at the time of the 1989 Arkansas Crusade in Little Rock were erased by airport security equipment. The interviewees subsequently submitted recorded responses to a written list of questions, and these responses make up the transcript which appears in the files listed below. Most of these file include a note indicating this.

A few folders contain correspondence concerning the interview or its participants. Some photographs have been removed from folders and so noted on the appropriate Location Record record of this guide; other photographs have been left in the folder they were received in.

Card index files (box 61, peviously folders 1-1, 1-2, 9-2, 10-65 and 12-47) were initially set up to provide data on the interviewees and identify their connection to Graham and/or his ministry. As this practice was discontinued, indexes are unavailable for later accessions. Researchers are nonetheless encouraged to browse through these files as to get an excellent overview of the interviewees of the earlier sessions.

The interviewees reflect a wide selection of individuals that together attempt to describe the multi-faceted workings of a Billy Graham crusade (evangelistic event) and provide personal glimpses of Graham himself. Each interview sheds some unique light on the work of Billy Graham and the BGEA. The interviews and accompanying documents also deal with evangelism in general, evangelistic work in particular countries but especially in the United States, accounts of conversions, accounts of the sense of God's call to ministry, the place of both the clergy's contribution to the BGEA's evangelistic meetings and lay ministry by businessmen and women, professionals and others, descriptions of local congregations and their emphasis on evangelism, impressions of BGEA staff, and with political and social events of the 20th and early 21^st centuries. Many of the interviews might be characterized as a debriefing on what did and did not work according to plan or expectation in an evangelistic event. Interviews conducted during one of the three international conferences for itinerant evangelists (Amsterdam '83, Amsterdam '86 or Amsterdam 2000) tend to document ministry and evangelism in the interviewee's country rather than the conference they attended.

A number of individuals were interviewed because of their long association with Billy Graham and the BGEA. They cover topics ranging from Billy Graham's grandparents to Graham in his youth and Youth for Christ days to the founding of the BGEA and its development since the early-1950s. A number of these stand out and are noted below, but many other individuals relate similar recollections. The researcher should refer to the brief biographies at the beginning of this guide to identify these others; often, the entries will indicate the individual's relation to Graham, whether as a family member or long-time friend, or member of the BGEA staff.

Numerous subjects touched on in one or many interviews or materials which accompany the transcripts are worthy of mention. The following list of topics is not exhaustive but rather a very selective sampling of the subject content of the interviews.

Many of the interviews were conducted with participants at congresses of evangelism. While the interviewees' comments tend to be short in length, some describe evangelistic activity in their countries while others discuss the influence of Billy Graham, the BGEA and other evangelism congresses on their own lives.

Ferm conducted an extensive series of interviews (folders 45-1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6; T244-T266) with Alexander Haraszti who moved to the US from Hungary in 1956. In folder 45-1 (T244-T248) is Haraszti's discussion of his translation of Billy Graham's Peace With God into Hungarian; the Hungarian community in the US; the Hungarian Baptist Union of America. The majority of the interview deals with Haraszti's role in coordinating the invitation for Graham's visit to Hungary in 1977, including negotiations with the Hungarian government. The interview also touches on negotiations for a Graham visit to Poland, which Graham made in 1978; negotiating with the Soviet Union for a Graham visit, which he made in 1982.

The transcript in folder 45-2 (T254-T257) continues Haraszti's description of ventures to obtain invitations from Eastern European countries, including Poland, East Germany, Romania, Czechoslovakia, and the Soviet Union; also of developing a strategy of gaining access to other socialist countries. Haraszti also describes his departure from Hungary in 1956 to become a medical missionary, a departure viewed by his government as a defection, as well as his eventual return visits to Hungary; and mistrust between American and Hungarian Baptists.

The folder 45-3 (T258-T259) transcript describes the negotiations leading up to Graham's visit to the Soviet Union in 1982.

The transcript in folder 45-4 (T260-T261) continues the description of negotiations with religious and state leaders for Graham's visit to the Soviet Union; included are impressions of the attitudes of various representatives of the US government and former leaders; complications with the American press and public; further discussion of negotiations to visit East Germany.

In folder 45-5 (T249-T252) the transcript continues a description of Graham's visit to the Soviet Union; his visit with the Soviet Pentecostals at the US embassy in Moscow; the filming of Graham's visit by a Soviet film company; a description of the dynamics of the Peace Conference. Researchers should also consult folder 41-32 which consists of the comments of several individuals who were participants in that conference.

The transcript in folder 45-6 (T253, T262-T266) continues a description of Graham's meeting with the Pentecostal dissidents. Haraszti also describes meetings with Ambassador Arthur Hartman, the US ambassador in the Soviet Union; advance work being done for Graham to return to the Soviet Union in 1984; an invitation to Graham to visit Romania; and the controversy which developed following his Soviet Union visit and his comments about it.

Additional files, entitled "Interviewee Files" and described near the beginning of the Container List, offer more material, most of it apparently the gift of the interviewees, about themselves or their areas of ministry. Irene Croxton (folder 9-5) provided material from the 1953 Detroit Crusade -- a songbook, correspondence concerning her role as a counselor, follow-up correspondence with new Christians, and crusade mementos. John Bolten (folder 9-3) contributed several articles and tracts which he authored, his notes about his accompanying Billy Graham on the 1956 Asian tour, and correspondence with Bela Kornitzer in 1962 concerning Graham's suitability for the U.S. Presidency. Sherwood Wirt (folder 9-12) donated manuscript material concerning the 1958 San Francisco Crusade, and correspondence about and with Graham. The Al Metsker file (folder 9-10) contains Kansas City Youth for Christ materials. Mary Jane Hartley's file (folder 9-6) contains excerpts from Hour of Decision television program fan mail. And Herbert Jenkins' file (folder 9-8) includes a copy of his book, Forty Years on the Force 1932-1972 and a copy of Report of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, 1968. (Jenkins was a member of the Commission which considered the racial riots in American cities in the 1960's.) Folders 12-48 and 12-49 contain extensive clippings and articles about Northwestern College in Minneapolis (which Graham led as President, 1947-1949) and its presidents William Bell Riley and Billy Graham. Folder 12-50 has information about Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Folder 12-51 contains several articles about Graham's tour of Hungary in 1977 as well as biographical information about his interpreter on the tour, Alexander Haraszti. Folder 12-52 includes about an inch of correspondence and evaluations of the 1966 Berlin Congress on World Evangelism, valuable reflections by the participants themselves. Folder 12-53 documents the 1950 Atlanta Crusade and contains the script for the first Hour of Decision radio broadcast in 1950. Folder 12-54 has correspondence about the 1976 Southeastern Michigan Crusade. Folder 12-55 documents the life of Harold Ockenga. Folder 43-7 contains the transcript of Gregorio Tingson's morning message to the BGEA staff at the Atlanta Team Office in 1974; Ferm's interview of Tingson in folder 14-22 was recorded later the same day.

Folder 30-2 contains several anthologies of Donald Ewing's essays along with several tracts, all published by his church. Folder 30-3 contains a Luis Palau Evangelistic Team media information kit, documenting his ministry, particularly among Hispanic people. Folder 44-14 includes promotional material from evangelistic work Billy Graham was involved with in Great Britain in the 1940s and '50s, a 1947 Youth for Christ rally in Aberdeen, a 1948 YFC rally in London, and the BGEA's 1954 Harringay Crusade in London. Folder 44-15 contains material related to more recent outreach in England, questionnaires completed by regional committee members and local church representatives on the BGEA's 1984 Mission England.

Ronnie Metsker’s interview (folder 66-4) recounts his father’s participation in early Youth for Christ activities, and recollections of Billy Graham, Cliff Barrows and Torrey Johnson.

The following are brief biographical sketches of the individuals interviewed. Entries are alphabetically arranged by last name and give the following information if known or pertinent: full name, title, profession, geographical location, BGEA crusades participated in and BGEA crusade(s) discussed, evangelism congresses participated in, and evangelism congresses discussed. Crusades and congresses discussed are noted in bold type. The following is a list of abbreviations frequently used throughout this section for international meetings on evangelism.

Amsterdam '83 International Conference for Itinerant Evangelists, 1983, or ICIE '83
Amsterdam '86 International Conference for Itinerant Evangelists, 1986, or ICIE '86
ICOWE = International Congress on World Evangelization, 1974, Lausanne
WCOE = World Congress of Evangelism, 1966, Berlin