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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 9 Collections and/or Records:

Collection 260 Oral History Interviews with Jeannette Thiessen

 Collection
Identifier: CN 260
Scope and Contents Oral history interviews with Jeannette Louise Martig Thiessen (1927-2014) in which she discusses her family life in Illinois, favorite professors and her education at Wheaton College, nurses' training, and years in India (1952-1974) working with her husband under the sponsorship of the Mennonite Mission to the Lepers and American Leprosy Mission. Other topics discussed include: the Indian caste system, Indian politics, economics, literacy, hospital work with lepers, the Indian church,...
Dates: Created: 1983

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

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 326 Papers of James Edwin Wright

 Collection
Identifier: CN 326
Scope and Contents Oral history interviews and personal notebook relating to the ministry of James E. Wright with Youth for Christ in India, Mexico, and the United States.Series 1: Audio TapesOral history interviews with James E. Wright in which he describes his youth, conversion and spiritual growth, education at Wheaton College and Multnomah School of the Bible, involvement with Youth For Christ in Portland, Oregon, India and Mexico, counseling and follow-up...
Dates: Created: 1950-1986

Collection 344 Oral History Interview with Paul B. Long

 Collection
Identifier: CN 344
Scope and Contents Oral history interviews with Paul Brown Long in which he discusses his childhood, attendance at Wheaton Academy and Wheaton College (including individuals Hudson, Taylor Armerding, Edward A. Coray, V. Raymond Edman, Billy Graham, Ruth Bell Graham, Clarence Jaarsma, Clarence Simpson, C. Gregg Singer), missionary work in education, evangelism, and church planting in the former Belgian Congo and in Brazil. Other topics include animism, church discipline, Christianity and culture, rearing a...
Dates: Created: 1986

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

Collection 658 Papers of Samuel D. Faircloth

 Collection
Identifier: CN 658
Scope and Contents

Prayer letters and an oral history interviews which document Samuel Douglas Faircloth’s childhood, conversion, education at Wheaton College and elsewhere, and his work as a United States Army chaplain in Italy immediately after World War II, as a church planter in Portugal, and a seminary professor at the Tyndale Theological Seminary in the Netherlands.

Dates: Created: 1949-2011

David M. Howard, Sr., Papers

 Collection
Identifier: CN 484
Scope and Contents Four oral history interviews, paper records, and photographs documenting David Howard's life and work with Latin American Mission, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, and World Evangelical Fellowship. Topics covered in the interviews include Howard's childhood, Christian faith, education at Wheaton College, work as a missionary and administrator with Latin America Mission; missions director for Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship, director of the 1980 Consultation on World Evangelization; and...
Dates: Created: 1968-1993

Wheaton College Revivals Collection

 Collection
Identifier: CN 514
Scope and Contents

Oral history interviews, questionnaires, reports, videos, and other materials relating to spontaneous revivals on Wheaton College campus in the twentieth century. There are restrictions on some material in this collection. The collection primarily documents the March 1995 revival at the College, largely through oral history interviews conducted during or shortly after the event; also included are thirteen follow-up interviews conducted two years after the revival.

Dates: Created: 1936-1997; Other: Majority of material found in 1994-1995

Filtered By

  • Subject: Evangelistic work X
  • Subject: Wheaton College (Ill.) -- Faculty. X

Additional filters:

Subject
Evangelistic work. 8
Conversion. 7
Wheaton College (Ill.) -- Religious life and customs. 6
College students in missionary work. 5
Evangelistic work -- United States. 5
∨ more
Missionaries -- Appointment, call, and election. 5
Missionaries. 5
Wheaton College (Ill.) -- Alumni. 5
Christianity and culture. 4
College students -- United States 4
College students -- United States -- Religious life. 4
College students. 4
Evangelicalism. 4
Revivals. 4
Church work with students. 3
Evangelicalism -- United States. 3
Family. 3
Language in missionary work. 3
Missionaries -- Training of. 3
Revivals -- Wheaton. 3
Wheaton College (Ill.) -- Athletics. 3
Wheaton College (Ill.) -- Social life and customs. 3
World War, 1939-1945. 3
Animism. 2
Bible colleges 2
Bible. 2
Caste -- India. 2
Caste. 2
Children -- United States 2
Children -- United States -- Religious life. 2
Children. 2
Christian education -- United States. 2
Christian education. 2
Christian leadership. 2
Christian life. 2
Christianity and culture -- United States. 2
Church and state. 2
Church development, New. 2
Church growth. 2
Church work with prisoners. 2
Church work with students -- United States. 2
Church work with youth -- United States. 2
Church work with youth. 2
College students in missionary work -- United States. 2
Depressions 2
Depressions -- 1929 2
Depressions -- 1929 -- United States. 2
Ecumenical movement. 2
Education 2
Evangelistic invitations. 2
Evangelistic work -- India. 2
Evangelistic work -- Philosophy. 2
Fund raising. 2
Holy Spirit. 2
India -- Social life and customs. 2
Indigenous church administration 2
Indigenous church administration -- India. 2
Marriage. 2
Mass media in missionary work. 2
Mass media in religion. 2
Missionaries -- Training of -- United States. 2
Missions -- Congo (Democratic Republic). 2
Missions -- Educational work. 2
Missions -- Finance. 2
Missions -- India. 2
Missions. 2
Prayer groups -- United States. 2
Prayer groups. 2
Religious institutions. 2
Revivals -- United States. 2
Salvation. 2
Women 2
Women -- Religious life. 2
Women missionaries. 2
Worship. 2
Youth 2
Youth -- United States 2
Youth -- United States -- Religious life. 2
AIDS (Disease) 1
African Americans -- Missions. 1
African Americans. 1
Animism -- Bolivia. 1
Animism -- Brazil. 1
Animism -- Congo (Democratic Republic) 1
Athletes 1
Athletes -- United States 1
Athletes -- United States -- Religious life. 1
Bible -- Publication and distribution. 1
Bible -- Translating. 1
Bible colleges -- India. 1
Bible colleges -- United States. 1
Boca Raton (Fla.) 1
Bolivia -- Religion. 1
Bolivia. 1
Bolivia. -- Politics and government. 1
Brazil -- Religion. 1
Brazil. 1
Brazil. -- Social conditions. 1
Catholic Church -- Bolivia. 1
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