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Edman, V. Raymond (Victor Raymond), 1900-1967.

 Person

Dates

  • Existence: 1900 - 1967

Biographical Statement

Victor Raymond Edman was born in 1900 to Swedish immigrant parents and one of six children. He left home in 1918 to join the army and served for one year, spending much of that time in Allied-occupied Germany. After returning home, he attended college and became a missionary to the Quichua Indians in Ecuador from 1923 to 1928. During this time he married Edith Olson, whom he had met in the United States. He came to Wheaton College in 1936 as an associate professor of history and became the college’s fourth president in 1940, a position he held until he became chancellor in 1965.

During his term as president, the College expanded its financial endowments, its enrollment, and its campus. Fourteen major buildings were erected during his twenty-five year presidency. Buildings included Centennial Gymnasium, Memorial Student Center, Old Dining Hall, Smith Hall, Breyer Science Building, McAlister Conservatory, Health Center, Nicholas Library and Edman Chapel, named by the Trustees in his honor. During this time the College also acquired land for the Black Hills Science Station in South Dakota and HoneyRock Camp in Wisconsin.

Over the years Dr. Edman had a number of serious health problems: typhoid fever (from which he nearly died while in Ecuador), cataracts, gallstones, and ever-increasing heart attacks. One of these attacks, which finally proved fatal, occurred on September 22, 1967, while he delivered a chapel message entitled, “In the Presence of the King.”

Dr. Edman had been a very active public speaker with engagements in Africa, Europe, the Far and Near East, South America, and, of course, all over the United States. He authored nineteen books and numerous articles, most of them devotional in nature. Many were translated into several foreign languages. His correspondence often gave personal counsel and advice and reached thousands. He was a personal friend of Billy Graham and often worked with him on his crusades.

Found in 8 Collections and/or Records:

Collection 052 Oral History Interview with Esther Salzman

 Collection
Identifier: CN 052
Scope and Contents

Oral history interview with Esther I. Salzman (1906-1996), a Wheaton College alumna and missionary to China in the 1940s and to the Philippines from 1950 to 1972. Topics discussed include her education at Wheaton College, medical work in China and the Philippines, and Communism in China. The time period covered by the interview is 1906 to 1978.

Esther Salzman was interviewed by Wheaton College student Fred Baker on October 28, 1978 at her home in Kankakee, IL.

Dates: Created: 1978

Collection 105 Oral History Interview with Paul D. Votaw

 Collection
Identifier: CN 105
Scope and Contents Oral history interview with Paul Dean Votaw (1917-2007) in which he describes his childhood; education at Wheaton College, Dallas Seminary, and Princeton Seminary; and missionary activities in Syria and Lebanon. The time period covered by the interview is roughly 1917-1954.Reverend Paul Votaw was interviewed by Robert Shuster on March 4, 1980, at the Graham Center offices in Wheaton. The first ten minutes of the interview are barely decipherable due to technical difficulties. The...
Dates: Created: 1980

Collection 283 Oral History Interviews with Nancy Folkerts

 Collection
Identifier: CN 283
Scope and Contents Oral history interviews with Nancy Wood Folkerts. Topics discussed include her childhood as a pastor's daughter; study at Wheaton College; her marriage; training in London; work as a missionary in British Cameroon (now Republic of Cameroon), especially Bible study and literacy programs for women and 3H clubs for girls; the political and social situation in Cameroon; Cameroon independence; medical problems in Cameroon; the work of her husband, Fred, at the Baptist Teacher Training College and...
Dates: Created: 1984

Collection 284 Oral History Interview with Gladys Wright

 Collection
Identifier: CN 284
Scope and Contents Oral history interviews with Gladys Lyle Wright (1902-1994), in which she discusses her work as a teacher in Belgian Congo (now Democratic Republic of Congo). Topics discussed include: Wright's family background, education at Wheaton College and Moody Bible Institute, her work as a missionary in the Belgian Congo for the Africa Inland Mission, memories of the Congolese people and culture, and her experiences at Wheaton when she was on the staff of the College after retriring from the mission...
Dates: Created: 1984

Collection 290 Oral History Interview with Merle A. Steely

 Collection
Identifier: CN 290
Scope and Contents Oral history interviews with Merle Ashel Steely, who worked as a missionary with Sudan Interior Mission between 1951 and 1977 in Liberia and Nigeria. Topic discussed include: Steely's conversion while in military service, education and employment at Wheaton College (including the 1950 revival there), his missionary work in Liberia at radio station ELWA and with Sudan Interior Mission in Nigeria, teaching in mission and government schools, evangelism and church planting, Billy Graham's 1960...
Dates: Created: 1984

Collection 302 Oral History Interview with David L. Farah

 Collection
Identifier: CN 302
Scope and Contents Oral history interviews with David Livingstone Farah, in which he discusses his upbringing, education at Wheaton College, work as an administrator with Wycliffe Bible Translators in Peru and Bolivia, and relationships with other religious bodies, national groups and governments. Other topics include the 1950 revival at Wheaton College; Wycliffe jungle training in Mexico; the Catholic Church in Bolivia and the prevalence of syncretism; differences between Peru and Bolivia; description of...
Dates: Created: 1985

Collection 317 Oral History Interview with Ian H. and Ruth E. Cook

 Collection
Identifier: CN 317
Scope and Contents Oral history interviews with Ian Harper Cooke and Ruth Eileen (Witmer) Cook, in which Ian describes his childhood and education in South Africa, college education at Wheaton College, training for missionary work, medical missions work in South Africa with The Evangelical Alliance Mission (TEAM), the Zulus, apartheid, and the national church; and Ruth describes her childhood, conversion, and intention to become a missionary nurse, education at West Suburban Hospital and Wheaton College,...
Dates: Created: 1985

Collection 361 Oral History Interviews with C. René Padilla

 Collection
Identifier: CN 361
Scope and Contents Oral history interview with René Padilla, in which he discusses his childhood, family, evangelism in Colombia and Ecuador, persecution by Catholics in Colombia, his education at Wheaton College, work among university students with International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES) in Latin America, evangelical theological education and liberation theology, the 1974 Lausanne Congress and covenant, the ministry of his church in Buenos Aires among drug addicts and slum dwellers, and the...
Dates: Created: 1987

Filtered By

  • Subject: Catholic Church. -- Protestant churches. X

Additional filters:

Subject
Church and state. 7
Evangelistic work. 7
Language in missionary work. 7
Missionaries. 7
Missionaries -- Training of. 6
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Missionaries -- Appointment, call, and election. 6
Wheaton College (Ill.) -- Alumni. 6
Conversion. 5
Education 5
Women missionaries. 5
Animism. 4
Boarding schools. 4
Christian education. 4
Christianity and culture. 4
College students in missionary work. 4
Culture shock. 4
Medical care 4
Missions -- Educational work. 4
Missions -- Finance. 4
Missions, Medical. 4
Tribes. 4
Women 4
Women -- Religious life. 4
Children of missionaries. 3
Church development, New. 3
Indigenous church administration 3
Missionaries -- Leaves and furloughs. 3
Missions to Muslims. 3
Bible. 2
Children of missionaries -- Education. 2
Church and social problems. 2
Church work with students. 2
Church work with women. 2
College students -- Religious life. 2
College students. 2
Communism. 2
Evangelicalism. 2
Evangelistic work -- United States. 2
Fund raising. 2
Interdenominational cooperation. 2
Marriage. 2
Missions -- Congresses. 2
Muslims. 2
Persecution. 2
Presbyterians. 2
Radio in missionary work. 2
Revivals -- Wheaton. 2
Revivals. 2
Rural missions. 2
Sex role. 2
Theological seminaries. 2
Wheaton College (Ill.) -- Employees. 2
Alcoholism -- United States 1
Alcoholism. -- United States -- Diplomatic and consular service 1
Alcoholism. -- United States -- Diplomatic and consular service -- Nigeria. 1
Animism -- Bolivia. 1
Animism -- Nigeria. 1
Animism -- South Africa. 1
Apartheid. 1
Arab-Israeli conflict. 1
Arabs. 1
BGEA: South Africa Tour -- 1960 1
Baptists -- Missions -- Cameroon. 1
Baptists -- Missions. 1
Baptists. 1
Belgium. 1
Belgium. -- Administration. 1
Belgium. -- Colonies 1
Belgium. -- Colonies -- Africa. 1
Belief and doubt. 1
Bible -- Publication and distribution. 1
Bible -- Study and teaching. 1
Bible -- Translating. 1
Bible colleges 1
Bible colleges -- Nigeria. 1
Bible colleges. 1
Boarding schools -- Africa. 1
Boarding schools -- Congo (Democratic Republic) 1
Boarding schools -- Nigeria. 1
Boarding schools -- South Africa. 1
Bolivia -- Religion. 1
Bolivia. 1
Bolivia. -- Politics and government. 1
Cameroon. 1
Cameroon. -- Politics and government. 1
Catholic Church -- Bolivia. 1
Catholic Church -- Colombia. 1
Catholic Church -- Missions. 1
Catholic Church. -- Cameroon. 1
Catholic Church. -- Congo (Democratic Republic) 1
Catholic Church. -- Missions -- South Africa. 1
Catholic Church. -- Philippines. 1
Catholic Church. -- South Africa. 1
Catholic Church. -- Syria. 1
Certeza. 1
China -- History -- 1937-1945. 1
China -- History. 1
Christian education -- Cameroon. 1
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