William John Barnett - Collection 248

[Note: What follows is a description of the documents in this collection which are available for use at BGC Archives in Wheaton, Illinois, USA. The actual documents are not, in most cases, available online, only this description of them. Nor are they available for sale or rent. Some or all of this collection can be borrowed through interlibrary loan. ]

Table of Contents

Brief Description of This Collection

Title Page and Restrictions

Biography of William John Barnett

An Essay on the Contents of the Collection (Scope and Content)

List of Audio Tapes in This Collection (Location Records)


*****

Audio file and written transcript for tape T1

Audio file and written transcript for tape T2

Audio file and written transcript for tape T3

Audio file and written transcript for tape T4

Audio file and written transcript for tape T5

Audio file and written transcript for tape T6

Audio file and written transcript for tape T7

Audio file and written transcript for tape T8

Collection 248 [September 7, 2011]
Barnett, William John; 1917-
Interviews, 1983, 1995, 1998
Audio Tapes (0.16 cubic feet)

Brief Description: Oral history interviews with Barnett in which he describes his childhood in Kenya with his Africa Inland Mission parents; experiences with members of the Masai people; attendance at Rift Valley Academy in Kenya and high school in the United States; attendance at Columbia Bible College and Wheaton College; memories of a revival at Wheaton; medical training at Albany Medical College; service as an army surgeon in Korea immediately after World War II; his initial work as a missionary doctor in Tanzania in the early 1950s; the Africa Inland Mission and Africa Inland Church in Tanzania in the 1950s and 1960s, particularly at Kola Ndota; and a revival at Wheaton College in the late 1930s.

Restrictions: None

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPTS TO TAPES T1-T4 ARE AVAILABLE.

Biography

Scope and Content

William Barnett was interviewed by Robert Shuster on March 29, April 5, and May 27, 1983, at the Billy Graham Center and on May 30, 1995 at his son’s home in Peoria, Illinois, and on April 24, 1998, at his home in Laguna Hills, California. Dates covered during the interview are between the early 1920s and 1983. Cassette copies of the reel-to-reel interviews were made and the time indicated on the index is based on the length of the cassette copy. Tapes T4 through T8 were originally recorded on cassette tapes and later transferred to reels. Topics discussed are listed to the right of the time elapsed on the tape. Note sound interference during these interviews.

T1 - side 1 (95 minutes, click to link to the audio and transcript of this tape)
00:00   Beginning of tape
00:05   Typical worship service during his childhood in Africa as son of a pioneer Africa Inland Mission missionary family; construction of churches on the station and out-stations
02:36   Use of corrugated iron from Britain and India for church construction; length of Sunday services
03:49   Singing, testimonies, teaching; impressive sincerity and earnestness of prayers of African converts
05:21   Content of one elder's prayer and its beauty
06:58   Barter items brought as offerings
09:33   Mother's sorting and use of offerings primarily for orphanages; faithful recording of each gift
11:06   Father's preaching in Swahili and mother's gifts as linguist using Masai language; contents of both
12:26   Invitations and responses
13:54   Baptisms and their attraction to the people of the countryside
15:01   Curiosity of the ceremony; impact of testimonies given at baptisms
16:13   Father's baptistry in the church and its construction
17:19   Baptistry's first use [tape interference]
18:47   Differences in lives after conversion; Masai resistance because of refusal of converted girls and women to undergo circumcision customs; opposition of early missionaries to this practice
21:44   Night-time raids to capture resistant girls; major point of testing for converts; those who succumbed and resisted
24:23   Male rites and lesser pressure
25:02   Father's services at Christmas time; carbide lantern and glass slides of life of Christ; Masai warrior watching outside the church, his tears at Christ on the cross and his becoming one of first converts
30:58   End of side 1

T1 - side 2
00:00   Beginning of tape
00:05   Subsequent work of Masai convert in translation; steady church growth after this incident
01:09   Use of western tunes with translations; peoples' love of singing; four-note scale
02:44   Original translation of western lyrics; contemporary church use of indigenous lyrics, tunes, choirs
04:32   Prayer meetings, Bible studies, schools at the station; learning with Africans under his mother as teacher; searching for school supplies in the countryside
07:11   Missionaries' program for schooling and its disruptive results for colonial governors
07:52   Parents' care to follow rules of the country; the bohma (enclosure) and father's participation in official government events
09:58   Father's instigation of road and bridge building; "Barnett's bridge" and its permanence compared to others in the district; dealings with settlers
12:03   Incident of one settler, Major Smith, and his killing an African without regret or prosecution; British handling of colonials in comparison with Belgians, French; British interest in education, fundamental necessities like water
16:03   German East Africa, Tanganyika, and characteristics of government there; whip made from hide of hippopotamus used on prisoners in all colonies
17:50   Ministering to an early convert after his being whipped
19:19   Early class consciousness excluding the African in church and home contacts; wonderful change in behavior after conversion of one settler's family and their help to build a good church
21:22   Tribal antagonisms; real changes brought about by conversion to Christianity; tribal groups near Eldama Ravine and mixed congregational membership from these tribes
24:16   Church membership affected by British system of tribal reserve areas with strictly limited mobility; British system of requiring registration identification cards for each male with penalties for movement; lingering memory of this era with head taxes
27:05   Responsibilities of tribal elders and early appointments by missionaries
28:36   Instruction in moral behavior from missionaries to assist elders in their role as church nucleus
29:29   Father's pastorate of a church in 1927-28; Barnett's memories of first converts, one from Muslim faith and another from a local tribe
31:23   End of side 2

T1 - side 3
00:00   Beginning of tape
00:05   Overlap from side 2
01:28   [Tape interference renders this section mostly unintelligible]
06:26   Barnett discusses establishment of the early Bible schools, 1920s, following work of Cameron Scott, at Kijabe, Eldama Ravine and other areas
06:59   Shared room at Rift Valley Academy of four Barnett brothers; cornerstone laid by Teddy Roosevelt
07:20   Description of the eastern wall of the Rift Valley, craters [tape interference], tropical forest, animals
09:41   Playing "cops and robbers" and sister's encounter with leopard
10:46   Description of bedroom and rats' invasion after lanterns put out at night
13:35   Bucket used for trapping rats
14:26   Trapping and hunting rats and bounty
14:58   Rat-infested outdoor toilets
15:27   Lack of success in attempts to rid station of rats during his youth; comparison of students' living conditions today
15:46   Number of students during his residence about 1925
16:17   Furlough with his family; visit to Australia via Capetown and first encounter with snow, winter [tape interference]
18:28   Incident of drunken man in white suit and mud puddle; man's death by a train
19:42   Getting lost in the city when about eight years old; fear, tears, father's rescue
21:14   Experience used as example of "lost" without salvation
21:40   Time spent in Australia, California
22:25   Problem with eyes; diagnosis of cancer
23:15   Parents' prayers and new diagnosis with use of new machine
25:00   [Tape interference] Baptism in Los Angeles by Charles Hurlburt
25:19   Return to Africa, 1927, with sister and parents
26:49   Birthday gift of New Testament from brothers; impact on his conversion
28:49   Rereading the text
30:01   Decision page [tape interference]
31:07   Life changes as a result; visit of J. Edwin Orr to Rift Valley campus [tape interference]
32:49   End of tape

T2 - side 1 (100 minutes, click to link to the audio and transcript of this tape)
00:00   Beginning of tape
00:05   Introduction
00:12   Father's birth, 1876, in Australia; emigration to US; conversion from challenge given by missionary speaker from India at a city rescue mission; quitting of job next day
05:27   Study at Moody Bible Institute, 1905-07; influence of Hurlburt and joining Africa Inland Mission, 1907; party of seven who sailed to Africa
06:57   Father's high opinion of Charles Hurlburt; Hurlburt's baptism of Barnett and his sister
07:53   Hurlburt's qualities of independence and strong will, pioneer safaris with Barnett's father; AIM mission policy of allowing independence to each missionary for action and financial support
10:37   AIM's emphasis on allowing the Holy Spirit to guide its missionaries
13:09   AIM's guarding of independence; advantages and disadvantages of a strong field director; democratic representative governing policies of AIM
16:00   Barnett's lack of personal knowledge of Hurlburt's independence and others in AIM's history
16:41   Father's courses at Moody; practicality of Father's abilities; family garden; first aid in dental instruction and subsequent use of this on the mission field for family and in mission work
18:53   Father's ordination, probably in Baptist church; Moody as main supporting church; Mother's arrival in US from Sweden about same time as Father
20:15   Mother's birth in Sweden; meeting AIM couple who had worked with Peter Cameron Scott; coming to New York City and Bible school at Hepzebah House; going out to Africa from Sweden; meeting Barnett's father on the ship; Barnett's visit with his maternal grandmother, 1927, in Sweden
23:33   Reason for mother's choice of Bible school; influence AIM missionary couple on her
24:13   Mother's training as Swedish masseuse; use on cripples, Europeans living in Africa and resultant conversions
25:45   Mother's scheduling of treatments over short and long periods; grateful patients among Africans and Europeans; influence of Mother's caring on his choice of career as a doctor
27:05   No remembrance of orientation school, but strict screening of candidates; institution of orientation training within last 20 years
28:01   Brothers' and sisters' mission commitment as doctors and nurses; brother Paul and his grilling by AIM committee on general Biblical knowledge and personal convictions because of his background as a child of AIM missionaries
29:59   Paul's instruction from committee to return for one more year's training before going back to Africa and compliance
31:09   Parents' three-month shipboard romance; requirement to be on field one year before marriage; father's appointment to help station where mother sent; leeches, swamps, porters; Masai people; moving out the Masai to make way for European farmers and settlers; problems still to be solved from that decision; tree house and getting away from lions
31:22   Learning Masai and early contacts with them; marriage of Barnett's parents one year later; death of oldest brother by meningitis without doctor; birth of twin brothers
35:29   Masai fascination with birth of twins who didn't bring curse upon Barnett family; parents' move across Rift Valley; mission station outside Eldama
38:12   Safaris to remote areas near Lake Rudolph in Rift Valley opened up to missions only in past 10 years since Kenya's independence; travel with Charles Hurlburt and John Stauffacher and enduring friendship as a result
40:23   Eating berries for liquid after prayer to be saved from thirst when separated from porters
42:02   Repeat experience, about 1908, of running out of water and oasis; Hurlburt's refusal to allow overindulgence of water which might kill his men; his waiting until all others' thirst was quenched before taking his own turn
43:41   Episode of the charging rhino while Barnett's father was traveling with Stauffacher; tree and smashed umbrella handle
45:00   End of side 1

T2 - side 2
00:05   Beginning of tape
00:32   Parents' marriage at Kijabe and resettlement; his birth and others; Mary Slater's attendance at birth
01:57   Episode of Masai woman's waking in time to see Barnett hut on fire
02:38   Inflammability of houses; saving possessions; finding infant William under a mattress
04:15   Parents' retelling of this and conviction of his life's being spared for a purpose
04:28   Father's practical nature and abilities; willing listeners among Masai but few converts
05:47   Missing pots belonging to Barnett family which appeared in Masai villages; period of six-seven years without a convert
07:24   Barnett's hearing story of God's response at chapel at Columbia Bible College; discouragement and decision to give up the role of evangelist; God's message through the morning sunlight
10:07   Beginning of success with the ministry after this experience; increased interest and attendance at Sunday services
11:28   Use of carbide lantern equipment for slide shows; fascination of Masai with slides
13:17   Christmas episode with first Masai converted after seeing Christ on the cross in a slide show
14:56   Masai question about who the man was on the cross and telling him the story; concrete results of return of stolen pots after conversions began
15:17   Mother's travel before family born; her ability as a linguist; Father's effectiveness in spite of being unable to learn Masai
16:45   Methods of travel
17:07   Criticism by some for the family's purchase of a car
17:51   Little support money, difficulty of contacts with homeland; parents' teaching about God's provision and living without fear
19:14   Father's hope for a college education for each child, but lack of funds; being taught the principle of never going into debt
20:29   Strangeness of adjusting to debtor living in the States
20:54   Early memories of new home after earliest one had burned
21:38   Parents' development of an orphanage for abandoned girls; Mother's dispensary as part of care and concern for the girls
23:14   Use of the church as school during week; mother as teacher until she could train others as teachers
24:01   Teaching basics and his first reading lessons; getting supplies of chalk from the hills, slates
25:11   Need for new church as congregation outgrew it; Father's design of new building, simple rectangle, cedar shingles from the forest
25:58   Saw mill built about six miles away for supplies afterward; extension to accommodate larger congregation; crowding the benches
28:15   Baptisms in streams
28:45   Building a baptistry in the church with hinged cover; rush to view it the first time and members falling into the hole
29:50   Methods of evangelizing at first; motorcycle and sidecar; slow buildup of interest
31:42   Multiplication of small churches and their placement on farms of Europeans when allowed
32:42   Legal use of private property and gifts by farmers
33:43   Trips into reserve and primitive tribal areas
34:59   Establishing basic medical services
35:18   Story of parents' encounter with a swarm of bees dislodged by exhaust from Model-T Ford; flight of mother and prayer which saved him from jumping into river full of crocodiles
37:37   Parents' camping in area full of elephants and their safety
39:19   Story of Barnett’s protection by their "god" which preceded their travels in Masai country
40:13   Characteristics of the Masai people
41:35   Importance of cattle to them and reasons for resistance to Christianity
42:26   Simplicity of Masai life, diet; high levels of intelligence and Christian leadership
43:31   Contemporary requirement for schooling
44:10   Story of missionary who encountered Masai shepherd who had Ph.D. in philosophy
46:15   Masai belief in evil spirits and in God
46:32   Belief in a good God who made all things; fear only of evil and appeasing spirits
47:14   Masai belief in Shatoni (?) as personified evil
48:14   End of tape

T3 - side 1 (45 minutes, click to link to the audio and transcript of this tape)
00:00   Beginning of tape
00:05   Introduction
00:22   Barnett's visa problem because of parents' being one of earliest missionary family in Kenya; formation of home for children of missionaries during high school and college years by the Westervelts who had to return to the States because of Mrs. Westervelt's health
02:29   Return in 1927 with for furlough with family; Westervelt home in Siloam Springs, AK; brothers and other AIM sons who were first residents
04:16   Stay with Westervelts until 1929 until attendance at Columbia Bible College [SC]; move of Westervelt home to Columbia and opening to daughters of missionaries
06:14   Three-month stop in Sweden at this time of return on furlough and visit to grandmother
06:37   Attendance at Rift Valley Academy until 1931; fine British teacher and principal at Rift Valley; returning to the States and entry into high school of Barnett and his sister; graduation from Columbia High School
08:05   Parents' countries [Australia and Sweden] of birth and British passports and wrong papers issued Barnett in Kenya; memories of Ellis Island and a harsh judge
10:55   Bond posted by AIM home office until papers cleared
12:20   Return to Columbia and parents' attempts to contact individuals for correct data; aggressive retired Army colonel and his contact with director of AIM's home office; weekly immigration staff visits to check on his status
15:03   Contrast with personal attention to Barnett's case and contemporary immigration situation; Canada's refusal to deal with the problem; letter from Washington indicating all was corrected
17:14   Necessity for law of Congress to be passed to admit cases like his
17:52   Success of brusque Army colonel in visa problem; attendance at Columbia Bible College
18:41   Difficulties with bullying high school students; intervention of the Andersons, Paul and Earl; dealing with different standards and curriculum
21:09   Difficulty with shyness; lack of regrets about being a child of missionaries and parents' success in conveying love and closeness, practicality of Christian living
23:12   Father's desire for college education of his children; small amount of financial support available, and their awareness of the financial sacrifice this meant; successful completion of college educations for all five members of the family, including three who became doctors with no debts remaining
25:30   Trauma of seeing black people in chain gangs in southern United States
27:19   Fine pastor and Bible teacher who smoked and Barnett's difficulty with this; pastor's work in penitentiary
28:37   Bad dreams caused by common occurrence of execution by electric chair, especially of blacks accused sometimes falsely; shock of finding rough treatment, often seen in Africa, used in his own country
30:36   Influence of the group of children of missionaries with different views of black people; debates in churches and bible classes
32:06   Influence of Columbia Bible College and students from many states involved in Christian service assignments within cities; visiting and involvement with Southern blacks as an innovation in this area
34:10   End of side 1

T3 - side 2
00:00   Beginning of tape
00:05   Recapitulation of 32:06 to 34:10
02:04   Lack of black students at Columbia Bible College, 1935, and difference now; realization of his need to go out of protective environment of the Westervelt home and encouragement from older brother just starting medical school; extreme shyness and encouragement of Columbia professor, Dr. Starrett and his wife
04:56   Leaving the Home and enrolling at Columbia; God's grace in giving him abilities to relate to other people and overcome shyness; being elected president of the student body
06:52   Small number of students at Rift Valley which mitigated early shyness; vision for missionary work among students as result of leadership position at Columbia
08:11   Formation of Student Missionary Fellowship at Columbia and early leaders--Will Norton, from Wheaton College, Joe McCullough, others
10:31   Being urged to come to Wheaton College and start another group
10:49   Dr. Buswell's speeches at Columbia as his only previous contact with Wheaton; mission emphasis at low ebb on campuses at that time, and sense of need to establish these groups
12:20   Agenda for Student Missionary Fellowship meetings
13:40   [Break for glass of water because of cough]; end of tape

T4 - side 1 (78 minutes, click to link to the audio and transcript of this tape)
00:00   Start of tape
00:10   Introduction
00:45   First impressions of Wheaton in 1937; Barnett's work at Wheaton from 1937 to 1941; comparison between Wheaton and Columbia Bible School
 7:00     Reason for Barnett's decision to become a doctor; Barnett's attitude toward sports at Wheaton
11:00   The beginning of a revival on campus [Note: On the tape, Dr. Barnett’s refers to these events as happening in 1937. However, in talking with the Archives staff in 1995, he and Mrs. Barnett thought it must have happened later, perhaps in the fall of 1939. He described Dr. Buswell as involved in these events and Dr. Buswell’ presidency ended in 1940]; confession of sins; faculty involvement; theological and denominational conflicts at Wheaton at the time
18:30   Differences of theological belief among missionaries; "big bath" and "little bath" baptism; attitudes toward the charismatic movement in the AIM; connection between conflict at Wheaton and the revival
23:00   Comparison of Buswell and V. Raymond Edman; details about the revival; music program at Wheaton; the Men's Glee Club; music during the revival; James and Robert Savage; more about the music; congregational singing at the College, such as "Wonderful Grace of Jesus"
30:15   Personal influence of the revival on Barnett; anxieties about going to medical school; very little criticism of the revival; effect of the revival on campus and on sports teams; the spontaneity of the revival
36:30   Influence of the revival on the Student Foreign Mission Fellowship at Columbia; memories of the services at the Tabernacle in the town of Wheaton; Buswell's reaction to the revival
44:00   Reaction of the campus community to Buswell's replacement by V. Raymond Edman
44:45   End of side 1

T 4 - side 2
00:00   Start of tape, overlap from side 1
01:00   Arguments on Arminianism versus Calvinism at the Lane House; calming influence of Edman; description of Edman's personal qualities
08:30   Memorable Wheaton teachers; exposure to the theory of evolution; Professor Louis A. Higley; Professor Paul Wright; the Naitermian Literary Association (the Knights) and a typical club meeting
15:15   Memories of Carl F. Henry as a student; beginnings of the Student Foreign Mission Fellowship at Wheaton; influence of the revival on the SFMF; Barnett's duties as president of SFMF at Wheaton
22:15   Overcoming his shyness at Columbia; the work of the College's Gospel Teams
26:15   How Barnett got to know the Lane family at Wheaton and met his wife, Laura Lane; attending Bethany Chapel of the Plymouth Brethren; history of the Lane family
34:00   End of side 2

T5 - side 1 (79 minutes, click to link to the audio and transcript of this tape)
00:00   Overlap from the end of T4
01:30   Continuation of the history of the Lane family; description of the family; engagement to Laura and marriage in Albany, New York
08:15   Supporting himself financially while attending Wheaton and after; depending on the Lord for funds; working in Louisville 1941-42
15:30   Attending Albany Medical School starting in 1942; news of the attack on Pearl Harbor; exempted from the draft for medical school
21:45   Takeover of Albany's medical school by the military; Barnett's induction into the Army and enrollment in the Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP); continuation of his accelerated medical training at Albany; marriage to Laura; internship in 1945-46 at Ellis Hospital in Schenectady, New York; Pastor McKeel of the Presbyterian church in Schenectady; McKeel's influence on the engineers of General Electric
30:30   Support of Barnett's missionary work by the Presbyterian church in Schnectady; no need for deputation work; surgical residency at Ellis in 1946-47; called to active duty at Fort Bragg, North Carolina; work with a top orthopedic surgeon at Fort Bragg
36:30   Sent to Korea in 1949; low morale among the U.S. Army in Korea; crossing the Pacific by boat; sent to station hospital in Seoul, Korea, after a week in Japan; immediate appointment as chief of surgery; prejudice against Koreans at the hospital; low morale at the hospital; appointment as commanding officer of the hospital a month after arrival; benefits to Barnett from his service in Korea; admitting Korean patients to the hospital
44:45   End of side 1

T5 - side 2
00:00   Start of tape, overlap from side 1
01:00   First Korean emergency case at the hospital; opposition of American nurses to helping Koreans; talk to the staff about serving Korean patients
08:45   Using coal dust in the winter; discussion of religion with his roommate and the later history of the man, including a letter from forty years later
13:45   Discharge from Army and return to the United States in 1949; residency in anesthesia and ob-gyn in Schnectady; application to Africa Inland Mission to be workers
20:00   Very informal application process for admission to AIM; Ralph Davis; need for a doctor at Shinyanga Hospital in Kola Ndoto, Tanzania; Dr. Maynard and the beginning of the mission station at Kola Ndoto; Arthur Barnett's presence on the Zam Zam, military service in North Africa and postwar temporary service at Shinyanga Hospital
25:15   William and Laura Barnett's travel to Tanzania via Mobossa, Kenya, by sea in 1950 with medical equipment and vehicles for the hospital; driving to Kola Ndoto from Nairobi
31:45   First impressions of Africa upon his return; white Europeans' belief in pith helmets
34:45   End of side 2

T6 - side 1 (5 minutes, click to link to the audio and transcript of this tape)
00:00   Start of tape, overlap from the end of T5
03:45   Independence movements in east Africa after the war; development of indigenous leadership for African churches; building on the foundations of great missionaries such as William and Nina Maynard
08:45   End of tape

T7 (73 minutes, click to link to the audio and transcript of this tape) ). Drs. William and Nina Maynard and the beginnings of AIM’s work in Tanganyika, establishment of the hospital at Kolo Ndota, more on William Maynard (gentlemen, always wore long sleeve shirt and tie, regular in work, meetings), church service, importance of daily prayer, effect of Maynard’s lack of support during World War I, long term illness of Nina Maynard and miraculous provision of food, introduction of sulfa drug treatment for leprosy, problems with termites and bats in buildings, medical work, make-shift operation room, typical day in the hospital for Barnett, chapel service in the leprosarium, describes first direct blood transfusion done in the hospital, evangelistic work at the hospital, organizes and conducts medical classes for hospital staff.

T8 (58 minutes, click to link to the audio and transcript of this tape) . Josephine Downey, growth of the Africa Inland Churches, reflections on granting AIM churches independence and effect on missionaries, arrival of a female osteopathic physician and cardiac specialists, Dr. Clifton Nelson, Dr. Denis Burkitt and the Burkitt’s Tumor, strengths and weakness of the Africa Inland Church in Tanganyika, relations between the missionaries and the AIC church regarding church leadership and finances, characteristics of a person called to be a missionary, recollection of a 1930s Wheaton College revival.

Provenance

These tapes were received at the Center in March, April and May 1983, May 1995, and April 1998.

Accession 83-34, 83-37, 83-60, 95-96, 98-21
November 21, 1986
Frances L. Brocker
J. Nasgowitz

Updated January 30, 1997
Robert Shuster

May 8, 2007, Revised
Wayne D. Weber

LOCATION RECORD

Accession 83-34, 83-37, 83-60, 95-96  
Type of material: Audio Tapes
The following items are located in the AUDIO TAPE FILE. 

Item# - Reel or cassette, speed, length, number of sides, contents (title of session, participants) according to the program, date.

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