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 285 Papers of Torrey Maynard Johnson Sr.

Collection

Identifier: CN 285

Scope and Contents Correspondence, oral history interviews, scrapbooks, sermons, minutes, reports, photos, posters, newspaper and magazine clippings, brochures, audio recordings, video recordings reflecting Johnson’s life as an influential American Protestant from the 1930s through the 1990s. Besides documenting Johnson’s pastorates of Midwest Bible Church (Illinois) and Bibletown Community Church (Florida), his leadership of Youth for Christ International, and his activities as an independent evangelist, the...

Dates: Created: 1919 -2001

Found in: Evangelism & Missions Archives / Collection 285 Papers of Torrey Maynard Johnson Sr.

Herbert J. Taylor Papers

Collection

Identifier: CN 020

Brief Description Correspondence, photographs, reports, publications, posters, minutes of meetings, and other documentation of Herbert J. Taylor's long involvement in the leadership of such organizations as Child Evangelism, Youth for Christ, Christian Service Brigade, Pioneer Girls, Young Life, National Association of Evangelicals, Fuller Seminary, Christian Workers Foundation, and Inter-Varsity as well as his role in the planning and development of Billy Graham's Chicago crusades and of Key '73. Other...

Dates: Created: Ca. 1916-1979

Found in: Evangelism & Missions Archives / Herbert J. Taylor Papers

Filtered By

Subject: Evangelistic work X
Subject: College students -- United States -- Religious life. X
Subject: Chicago (Ill.) X

Archives of Wheaton College