Collection 486
[December 13, 2005]
Jongewaard, Helen Ruth Supplee; 1922-2005
Interview; 1993
Restrictions: None
Biography
Full name: Helen Ruth Supplee Jongewaard
Birth date: May 10, 1922
Family:
Parents: George W and Ruth Lamberton Supplee, missionaries to India
Siblings: G. William, Jean, Robert
Marital Status: Married to Robert E Jongewaard by Billy Graham and V. Raymond Edman in 1943
Conversion: About nine years old
Denomination: American Baptist
Education:
1939-1943 BA, Wheaton College
Other significant information: A significant event in her life was hearing an address by Mrs. J.
W. Guilding, a survivor of the sinking of the Zam Zam, an Egyptian cargo ship transporting
missionaries across the Atlantic to Africa, when it was attacked by the German naval vessel Atlantis during
World War II.
Scope and Content
Helen Ruth Supplee Jongewaard was interviewed by Robert Shuster on May 7, 1993, at the Billy Graham Center Archives. The events described in the interview cover the time period 1920-1943.
T1 ( 65 minutes). Describes her parents, who were missionaries in Nagaland, India; the important of the "Elsie Books" to her, fictional stories about Elsie Dimsmore, a Christian girl; her conversion at about nine years of age as a result of seeing others saved and the changes that were made in their lives; being home-schooled; selection of Wheaton College by her parents; first impressions of Wheaton; meeting her future husband at freshman orientation; the strengths and weaknesses of education at Wheaton; influential professors: Russell Mixter, Merrill C. Tenney, H. William (Bill) Nordin (taught voice), Carl Henry, and Henry C. Thiessen; story about the first wedding performed by Billy Graham; V. Raymond Edman's gift for expression, especially in chapel services; marriage to Robert E. Jongewaard while separated from her parents and brother by the war; the Foreign Mission Fellowship on campus; Graham's preaching at the Union Gospel Tabernacle in Wheaton; memories of Billy Graham; Mortimer Lane and family; attending the Billy Graham meetings in Des Moines, Iowa in 1949; the effect of World War II on the students on campus; hearing about the attack on Pearl Harbor; the 1943 revival on campus; social activities and literary societies at Wheaton; teaching Bible classes at Moosehart Children's Facility and her difficult reaching the children; the Beltonian Literary Society; fashion shows on campus; the character of the different literary societies; Jim Graham's Bible classes
Provenance
The materials in this collection were given to the Archives of the Billy Graham Center by Helen Jongewaard in May 1993.
Accession: 93-60
July 21, 2000
Janyce H. Nasgowitz
R. Shuster
T1 - Reel-to-reel, 3-3/4 ips, 65 minutes, one side only. Interview of Helen Ruth Supplee Jongewaard
by Robert Shuster on May 7, 1993, at the Billy Graham Center Archives.