Skip to main content

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 3 Collections and/or Records:

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 169 Oral History Interviews with Harold P. Adolph

 Collection
Identifier: CN 169
Scope and Contents Oral History Interview with Harold Paul Adolph, in which he discusses his boyhood in China as the son of missionaries with China Inland Mission, conditions in China, his education at Wheaton College, medical education at the University of Pennsylvania, decision to become a missionary, and his ministry in Ethiopia as a medical missionary in African with Sudan Interior Mission; American missions in Ethiopia; family life on the mission field, and work with the Christian Medical Society. The...
Dates: Created: 1981

Collection 263 Oral History Interview with Margaret Carlson

 Collection
Identifier: CN 263
Scope and Contents Oral history interviews with Margaret Johanna (Larson) Carlson in which she describes growing up in Ecuador as the child of missionaries, her education at Westmont and Wheaton Colleges, her nursing experience, and her missionary service with her husband at the Christian and Missionary Alliance Seminary in Hong Kong. Other topics discussed include: the founding of a HCJB radio station by her father, Reuben Larson, and her involvement in Wheaton College's HNGR Program. Individuals described...
Dates: Created: 1983

Filtered By

  • Subject: Evangelistic work X
  • Subject: Missionaries -- Appointment, call, and election. X
  • Subject: Persecution. X

Additional filters:

Subject
Catholic Church. 2
Children -- Religious life. 2
Children of missionaries. 2
Children. 2
China -- History. 2
∨ more
Chinese -- Missions. 2
Chinese. 2
Church and social problems. 2
Communism -- China. 2
Communism. 2
Conversion. 2
Culture shock. 2
Evangelicalism. 2
Indigenous church administration 2
Medical care 2
Missionaries -- Training of. 2
Missionaries -- Leaves and furloughs. 2
Missions -- China. 2
Missions -- Educational work. 2
Missions to Muslims. 2
Muslims. 2
Tribes. 2
Amharic language. 1
Animism -- Ethiopia. 1
Animism. 1
Arab-Israeli conflict. 1
Arabs. 1
Boarding schools -- Ecuador. 1
Boarding schools. 1
Catholic Church -- Protestant churches. 1
Catholic Church. -- China. 1
Catholic Church. -- Hong Kong 1
Catholic Church. -- Syria. 1
Children -- Conversion to Christianity. 1
China -- History -- 1937-1945. 1
China -- History -- Civil War, 1945-1949. 1
China -- History -- Cultural Revolution, 1966-1976. 1
China. 1
Christian education -- United States. 1
Christian education. 1
Christianity and culture. 1
Christianity and other religions. 1
Church and social problems -- Ecuador. 1
Church and social problems -- Hong Kong. 1
Church and state -- Ecuador. 1
Church and state -- Ethiopia. 1
Church and state -- Lebanon. 1
Church and state -- Syria. 1
College students -- United States 1
College students -- United States -- Religious life. 1
College students in missionary work. 1
College students. 1
Colombia 1
Colombia -- Description and travel. 1
Communism -- Ethiopia. 1
Economic and social conditions 1
Economic and social conditions -- Hong Kong 1
Ecuador 1
Ecuador -- Description and travel. 1
Ecumenical movement. 1
Education 1
Education -- Israel. 1
Education -- Lebanon. 1
Education -- Syria. 1
Education, Higher 1
Education, Higher -- United States. 1
English language 1
English language -- Foreign speakers. 1
Ethiopia 1
Ethiopia -- History 1
Ethiopia -- History -- Revolution, 1974. 1
Ethiopia -- Religion. 1
Evangelicalism -- United States. 1
Evangelistic work -- China. 1
Evangelistic work -- Ethiopia. 1
Evangelistic work -- Hong Kong. 1
Evangelistic work -- Lebanon. 1
Evangelistic work -- South America. 1
Evangelistic work -- Syria. 1
Evangelistic work -- United States. 1
Funeral rites and ceremonies -- Hong Kong 1
Funeral rites and ceremonies. 1
Guatemala 1
Guatemala -- Description and travel. 1
Huao Indians. 1
Indians of South America -- Missions. 1
Indians of South America. 1
Indigenous church administration -- Ethiopia. 1
Indigenous church administration -- Hong Kong. 1
Intercultural communication -- China. 1
Intercultural communication. 1
International relief. 1
Islam -- Relations -- Christianity. 1
Jewish-Arab relations. 1
Language in missionary work. 1
∧ less