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

Person

Staff Only

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 2 Collections and/or Records:

Collection 225 Records of the Baptista Film Mission

Collection

Identifier: CN 225

Scope and Contents Correspondence, diaries, newsletters, scripts, catalogs, films, and other material related to the work of the Baptista Film Mission. This collection contains much information on the beginnings of the Protestant evangelical Christian film industry. Included are films featured are evangelical and fundamentalist figures like V. Raymond Edman, Billy Graham, Henry A. Ironside, Bob Jones Jr., Paul Rader, Oswald J. Smith, and Walter Wilson and nondenominational organizations. Subjects documented...

Dates: Created: 1908-1977; Majority of material found in 1939-1963

Found in: Evangelism & Missions Archives / Collection 225 Records of the Baptista Film Mission

Collection 567 Papers of H. Wilbert Norton

Collection

Identifier: CN 567

Scope and Contents Oral history interviews, photographs, correspondence, reports, minutes, budgets, pamphlets, and manuscripts relating to Gustav H.W. Norton's (1915-2017) work as an administrator and professor of theology and missiology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and Wheaton College, as well as his involvement with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Evangelical Literature Overseas, and Mid-American Keswick. The collection documents Norton’s childhood, education, and career as professor of missions...

Dates: Created: 1950-2000

Found in: Evangelism & Missions Archives / Collection 567 Papers of H. Wilbert Norton

Filtered By

Subject: Children. -- United States X
Subject: Missions -- Vietnam. X

Archives of Wheaton College