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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 4 Collections and/or Records:

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 248 Papers of William J. Barnett

 Collection
Identifier: CN 248
Scope and Contents Oral history interviews and booklet of short stories and photographs created by William John Barnett, relating to his upbringing in Kenya as the son of missionaries with Africa Inland Mission (AIM) and his own later medical missionary service in Tanzania, Kenya, and the Comoro Islands from 1950-1990.Series: Audio TapesOral history interviews with William John Barnett in which he describes his childhood in Kenya with his missionary parents;...
Dates: Created: 1983-1997

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 392 Oral History Interviews with Dorothy J. Mainhood

 Collection
Identifier: CN 392
Scope and Contents Oral history interviews with Dorothy Jane Mainhood in which she describes her childhood, conversion, spiritual growth, education at Wheaton College, call to be a missionary, and work in Thailand for Overseas Missionary Fellowship. Other topics discussed include Mainhood’s medical training, language study in Thailand, Thai people and culture, regional differences in Thailand, the Buddhist and Muslim communities in Thailand, religious syncretism, church-state relations, characteristics of...
Dates: Created: 1988

Filtered By

  • Subject: Leprosy. X

Additional filters:

Subject
Children of missionaries. 3
Church and state. 3
Conversion. 3
Evangelistic work. 3
Indigenous church administration 3
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Language in missionary work. 3
Medical care 3
Missionaries -- Training of. 3
Tribes. 3
Women missionaries. 3
Animism. 2
Children of missionaries -- Education. 2
Christianity and culture. 2
College students -- United States -- Religious life. 2
College students. 2
Culture shock. 2
Missionaries -- Training of -- United States. 2
Missions to Muslims. 2
Missions, Medical. 2
Revivals -- Wheaton. 2
Revivals. 2
Wheaton College (Ill.) -- Alumni. 2
Women 2
Women -- Religious life. 2
Amharic language. 1
Animism -- Ethiopia. 1
Animism -- Kenya. 1
Bangkok, Thailand. 1
Bible -- Study and teaching. 1
Bible colleges 1
Bible colleges -- India. 1
Bible. 1
Boarding schools -- Kenya. 1
Boarding schools. 1
Buddhists -- Thailand. 1
Buddhists. 1
Caste -- India. 1
Caste. 1
Catholic Church. 1
Catholic Church. -- Thailand. 1
Children -- Religious life. 1
Children. 1
China -- History -- 1937-1945. 1
China -- History -- Civil War, 1945-1949. 1
China -- History. 1
Chinese -- Missions. 1
Chinese. 1
Christian education -- United States. 1
Christian education. 1
Christian leadership. 1
Christian life. 1
Christianity and culture -- Thailand. 1
Christianity and other religions. 1
Church and social problems. 1
Church and state -- Ethiopia. 1
Church and state -- India. 1
Church and state -- Thailand. 1
Church growth -- India. 1
Church growth. 1
Church work with women -- Thailand. 1
Church work with women. 1
College students -- Religious life. 1
College students -- United States 1
College students in missionary work. 1
Communism -- China. 1
Communism -- Ethiopia. 1
Communism. 1
Education 1
Education -- India. 1
Education, Higher 1
Education, Higher -- United States. 1
Ethiopia 1
Ethiopia -- History 1
Ethiopia -- History -- Revolution, 1974. 1
Ethiopia -- Religion. 1
Evangelicalism. 1
Evangelistic work -- China. 1
Evangelistic work -- Ethiopia. 1
Evangelistic work -- India. 1
Evangelistic work -- Kenya. 1
Family. 1
Great Britain 1
Great Britain -- Colonies -- Africa. 1
Great Britain -- Colonies. 1
Hinduism 1
Hinduism -- Doctrines. 1
Hinduism -- India. 1
House churches. 1
India -- Description and travel. 1
India -- History -- 1947- 1
India -- History. 1
India -- Social life and customs. 1
Indigenous church administration -- Ethiopia. 1
Indigenous church administration -- India. 1
Indigenous church administration -- Thailand. 1
Intercultural communication -- India. 1
Intercultural communication. 1
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