(The documents and images featured here are for the personal use of students, scholars and the public. Any commercial use or publication of them is strictly prohibited.)
Billy
Sunday is still one of the twentieth century's best known evangelists.
By the time of his death in 1935, he had preached to millions, and it is
estimated that three hundred thousand men and women were led to faith in
Christ at his over two hundred campaigns. He was also recognized for his
determined contribution to passing the Prohibition Amendment, and promoting
the sale of war bonds during World War I. None of the recognition, however,
replaces the impact Sunday had on the lives of those who hit the sawdust
trail at one of his meetings.
Sunday himself was converted at the Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago (1886) while playing professional baseball for the Chicago White Stockings. In 1891, he left baseball to enter full-time Christian work, first at Chicago's
YMCA, and then working for itinerant evangelists. He held his first independent
evangelistic crusade in Garner, Iowa, in 1896, beginning a career which
spanned five decades.
In his heyday, Sunday's campaigns were held in temporary wooden structures
or tabernacles, built for the event. Sawdust covered the tabernacle floor.
Those who responded to Sunday's appeal to trust Christ walked up the sawdust
covered aisles to shake the evangelist's hand. These campaigns, however,
were preceded by extensive planning and prayer, and there was usually a
follow-up program.
A Sunday campaign was the product of the contributions of many people.
Sunday developed a team of co-workers which traveled with him and handled
various duties, including administration and music. Key figures on this
team were his wife Helen (or Ma), musicians Homer Rodeheaver and B.D. Ackley,
and businesswoman Virginia Asher. Local clergy and lay volunteers were
also instrumental in planning and running a Sunday evangelistic campaign.
...or order reels of microfilm of the Sunday Papers by inter-library loan. The originals which comprise the microfilm edition of the Sundays' papers (Collection 61) are held by:
Grace College and Theological Seminary
Morgan Library
200 Seminary Drive
Winona Lake, Indiana 46590
574-372-5177
Click to see a list of other institutions which also have the microfilm edition of the Sundays' Papers.
If you would like more information on how to order a video copy of The Billy Sunday Storyfrom several commercial vendors, visit the Archives FAQ page with contact details.