In addition to all the advance planning, counseling those who "hit the sawdust trail" after a Sunday meeting was also planned. An accompanying pamphlet was prepared for the New York campaign in 1917 to outline how a prayer network would be developed to support the revival meetings. A similar publication was written to guide volunteer counselors who would talk with those who came forward, suggesting appropriate attitudes, points of emphasis and behavior. Click here to read a full-text transcript of the prayer pamphlet.
A scrapbook, compiled around 1921, contains newspaper clippings, including columns by Sunday such as "Sunday Says"and 'Today's Best Story," but primarily of transcripts of Sunday's sermons
Billy Sunday during the height of his fame had about two dozen associates who helped him organize and lead his city-wide meetings. Photographs of Sunday's primary colleagues are available, including:
New converts were not simply numbers to talley. Recordkeeping was nonetheless an important element of Sunday's campaigns and instead ensured that the contact with an inquirer or new believer was sustained. Reports and statistics were kept to create a trail by which to maintain contact and evaluate the impact of the meetings. Personal contact began at the evangelistic meeting: everyone who "hit the sawdust trail" shook Sunday's hand and then met with a counselor. The counselor asked the inquirer his/her church preference and jotted down other basic information on a standard card. They then talked about what it meant to give one's life to Christ. The completed cards were later sent on to the local churches the inquirers had indicated, so that the follow-up of young converts could continue. Among the records of Moody Church is a statistical report prepared for the board of elders of the church in Chicago, indicating the follow-up volunteers from the church had done with inquirers who came forward during the 1918 Chicago meetings.
From about 1910 until 1920, Sunday was a national figure whose name was instantly recognizable to the average person and who received voluminous coverage from magazines and newspapers. The Archives collections include examples of favorable and negative press coverage Sunday received. Brann's Iconoclast was a newsletter printed in Chicago which generally attacked the Prohibition movement and what it felt were examples of religious intolerance. Mainstream newspapers often showed support by running special editions about Sunday when he held a campaign in their city or printed "Billy Sunday Extras," like that put out by the New York American during Sunday's 1917 meetings in New York City.
A committee of local pastors and businesspeople who had invited Sunday to their city usually paid for and built the tabernacle. When the meetings were over, they had it torn down and the lumber was sold to help meet outstanding expenses, if any. Committees often gave out acknowledgements to donors, such as an elaborate certificate. The Archives has one of these certificates from the 1915 Paterson & North Jersey Evangelistic Association,
Sunday worked from notes when he preached, the activity for which he was most widely known and the foundation of his appeal to the unconverted. The Archives collections include many of these notes, such as the one depicted in which the outline indicates the first line of his sermon points and illustrations, based on Reveation 3:20, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me."
Although film footage of Sunday is extremely limited, many photographs of Sunday exist, capturing his energetic preaching style, formal poses and down-to-earth ease. Review the item list to see a description of some of these.
A tabernacle was erected in Winona Lake, Indiana, the community Sunday used as his home base of operations. The structure, named in Sunday's honor after his death, no longer stands.