Collection 038 Ephemera of Paul Rader

Collection

Identifier: CN 038

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Newsletters, sermon manuscripts, scrapbooks, programs, pamphlets, photographs, negatives, brochures, a taped sermon, slides, thesis materials, and more, documenting Paul Rader's life and ministry. The material deals mainly with his radio work and the organizations he founded, including the Chicago Gospel Tabernacle. Additional material includes items about Rader gathered for a planned biography, sermons of other preachers who spoke at the Tabernacle, newsletters and magazines published by Rader, newspaper clippings and articles about Rader, reports about mission activities around the world supported by the Tabernacle.

Dates

Created: 1899-1996

Conditions Governing Access

The materials in Folders 3-1 through 3-4 may not be copied without the written permission of the Director of Scotty's Castle, Death Valley National Monument, Death Valley, CA.

The materials in Folder 3-5 may not be copied without the written permission of the Federal Archives and Record Center, Chicago, IL

The materials in Folder 3-6 may not be copied without the written permission of the Federal Radio Commission Records, Record Group 173, National Records Center, Suitland, MD.

Biographical Information

Full Name: Daniel Paul Rader, commonly called Paul

Birth: August 24, 1879, in Denver, Colorado, USA

Death: On his way home to California from a preaching tour in England, he became ill and died July 19, 1938, of carcinoma. He was buried in Glendale, California.

Family:

Parents: His father, Daniel L. Rader, was a minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church, as had been his grandfather and great-grandfather. Later he became editor of the Pacific Coast Advocate. His mother, Laura Eugenia Marmaduke Rader, was from Shelbyville, Missouri.

Siblings: Fourth of ten children, including brothers Lyell, Ralph and Luke and sisters Eugenia (later Eugenia Sanderson) Mary and Kathryn (later Kathryn Hawthorne).

Marital Status: Married Mary Caughran on June 21, 1906

Children: Pauline C. (later Mrs. Pauline Griffin and still later Mrs. Pauline Noll), born 1907; Willamine M. (later Mrs. C. O. Miller), born 1908; and Harriet E. (later Mrs. Steen Carlson, later Mrs. Joseph Kisler), born 1916.

Conversion: In 1888 while talking with his father after attending a revival meeting in Cheyenne, Colorado. He suffered a crisis of faith in college when he began to doubt the literal truth of the Bible and eventually resigned from the pastorate in 1909 because of a lack of faith. He experienced a recommitment to the Christian faith while on a business trip in New York City, ca. 1912.

Ordination: September 21, 1904 in the Congregational Church

Education:

ca. 1897-1899 Attended University of Denver

1899-1900 Attended University of Colorado, earning a reputation as a football player and boxer.

1900-1901 Attended Central College in Fayetteville, Missouri, USA, where he also coached and played football

1901-1902 Student, football player, director of athletics at Hamline University, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA

1901 Was an original founder of the Beta Kappa fraternity at Hamline University

Career:

As a boy would often accompany his father on preaching tours, singing hymns before the sermon began.

ca. 1895 Went on his first preaching tour of small towns in Wyoming

1900-1901 Attended Central College, Fayetteville, Missouri, USA, where he also coached and played football

1901-1902 Student, football player, director of athletics at Hamline University, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA

1902-1904 Taught and coached at the University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, Washington, USA

1904-1906 Pastor of Maverick Congregational Church, East Boston, Massachusetts, USA

1907-1909 Pastor of the Holladay Congregational Church, Portland, Oregon. Resigned because of a growing lack of conviction in his faith and preaching

1909-1912 Worked as a boxing promoter and then started an oil service company

1912-1914 Caretaker and eventually assistant pastor at the Christian and Missionary Alliance (CMA) Tabernacle under E. D. Whitside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.

Ca. 1913 Served as song leader and assistant at several evangelistic meetings around the United States led by A. B. Simpson, founder of the CMA.

1914 Became full-time itinerant evangelist. Led a campaign in Toledo, Ohio.

February 3, 1915 Accepted a call to become pastor of the Moody Memorial Church in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He continued to hold evangelistic campaigns in other cities around the United States. His energy, vivid preaching style, and unorthodox ways of bringing people into the church began to bring him nationwide attention.

November 7, 1915 The Moody Tabernacle was opened to serve as the site of the church's evangelistic program in the city.

1919-1924 Upon A. B. Simpson's death, Rader becomes the second president of the CMA.

1920 Toured CMA missions in Asia.

1921 Rader left Moody Church in September, partly because he was unable to convince the leaders of the church that they should devote more energy and resources to evangelism. There was also a feeling on the part of the executive committee of the church that he spent too much time on other projects, such as CMA work. There was also some fear that he might change Moody from an independent church to a CMA church.

1921-1922 Rader led various campaigns in southeastern United States

Spring 1922 Founded World Wide Christian Couriers to serve as the corporate base of his ministry. Albert Johnson, a Chicago businessman, was Rader's major financial supporter and continued to be so for the next decade.

June 3, 1922 Broadcast from the Chicago municipal radio station from city hall for two weeks and broadcast over other stations at irregular intervals for the next three years.

June 18, 1922 Steel Tent Evangelistic Campaign began in Chicago at the corner of Barry, Clark and Halsted. It was intended to run until Labor Day, but Rader decided to continue it permanently as the Chicago Gospel Tabernacle. The Tabernacle was not a church as such, there was no membership. Rader was the predominant influence, although he recruited a talented staff including Merrill Dunlop, Lance Latham, R. O. Oliver, Clarence W. Jones, and others. It was intended to be primarily a preaching center, with services scheduled, at least in the early years, so as to allow people to go to their own church and then attend the Tabernacle. For many of the thousands who attended, though, the Tabernacle was their only church. Rader himself continued to hold evangelistic campaigns in many cities around the United States.

September 17, 1922 First missionary rally at the CGT. By 1932, the Tabernacle would be supporting 192 missionaries around the world.

April 26, 1925 Rader began regular radio broadcasts over station WHT (owned by Chicago mayor, William Henry Thompson). Rader agreed to provide fifteen hours of programing ever Sunday, including preaching by himself and other and music from the CGT staff.

December 1925 First issue of the National Radio Chapel Announcer appeared, a glossy magazine that focused on the ministry of the CGT and work it supported. The title was soon changed to World Wide Christian Courier.

January-March 1926 Rader filled the pulpit of Angelus Temple in Los Angeles, California, USA during the absence of Aimee Semple Mc Pherson.

May 1926 CGT bought land at Lake Harbor, Michigan, for a summer camp ground. The camp opened in June and then each following year there were a series of summer events that drew large numbers of people from Chicago and the surrounding area. After this camp was sold, it became Maranatha Bible Camp.

September 1927 Rader reached agreement to broadcast over WJBT on Sundays, using the WBBM transmitter.

1928 Tabernacles started with assistance from Rader in Toronto, Canada, (Oswald J. Smith) and Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA (Luke Rader)

August-December 1929 Rader traveled around the world to preach in twenty-two cities and visit missionaries supported by the CGT. He visited to China, Japan, India, Palestine, France, and England.

April 28, 1930 The Tabernacle Breakfast Brigade radio program carried by twenty-six stations for seven days a week. The arrangement proved too expensive and was canceled by summer.

August 17, 1930 The Tabernacle ended its arrangement with WJBT, but continues to broadcast a few hours each week over a variety of stations until 1933

November 2, 1930 Rader began a second world trip for preaching and visiting missionaries. Stops included Canada, Ireland, Scotland, England, Italy, Greece, Egypt, Palestine, India, Singapore, Java, Bali, Borneo, the Philippines, China, and Japan.

May 4, 1931 World tour ended in Chicago.

1932 World Wide Christian Couriers established as a network of small Bible study clubs across the country that train people in grass roots evangelism. By the end of the year, there were fifty clubs in Chicago and sixteen tabernacles in other cities (which Rader had helped start and were associated with the CGT) were also starting clubs.

Ca. June 1932 Paul Rader's Pantry formed to gather surplus food from farmers who could not sell it elsewhere and can it for needy families. By the end of the year, the CGT claimed that the Pantry has fed 41,000 families, including 100,000 children.

October 8, 1932 The Courier, an eight-page newspaper, began publication. It replaced the much more elaborate World Wide Christian Courier. Because of declining funds, the Tabernacle's publications became smaller and cruder over the next two years until they altogether.

October 1932 Albert M. Johnson, who had bought the land the Tabernacle stood on in 1927, had lost his fortune at the beginning of the Great Depression and could not longer make the payments. Rader signed a note taking over the payments. Programs at the Tabernacle had to be curtailed and several staff left go.

February 12, 1933 Rader traveled to Los Angeles to preach at the affiliated tabernacle there and to deal with the financial debts of that organization. Rev. Clarence Ericksen was to preach at the CGT in his absence. Because the creditors of the Los Angeles tabernacle were suing it, a California judge forbade Rader from leaving the state until a satisfactory solution had been found.

April, 1933 Because of the debts of the World Wide Christian Couriers, Rader decided the organization had to declare bankruptcy and the Tabernacle was severed from it. Rader resigned as pastor of CGT and was succeeded by Ericksen.

Summer, 1933 and 1934 Rader led evangelistic meetings at the Chicago World's Fair.

May 1935 Bankruptcy of World Wide Christian Couriers resolved in court and assets divided among creditors

1935-1936 Rader became pastor of the Fort Wayne Gospel Tabernacle in Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA. He continued to hold evangelistic meetings in various cities.

1937 Rader went on a preaching tour of Great Britain which was cut short by the illness that ended in his death

Other significant information

Rader himself was an enormous personal influence on many Evangelical leaders of the next generation. His style, his aggressiveness, his charisma, his entrepreneurship, his eager use of all the newest means of communications remained vividly impressed in the memory of such people as Percy Crawford, Peter Deyneka, Merrill Dunlop, Howard Ferrin, Charles Fuller, Torrey Johnson, Clarence Jones, Howard Jones, Lance Latham, and Oswald Smith, among others.

Rader was the author of numerous pamphlets and tracts, as well as God's Blessed Man: Soul Stirring Sermons (1922), 'Round the Round World : Some Impressions of a World Tour (1922), Harnessing God : Messages with a Method, the Way to "Abounding Life" for Spirit, Soul and Body, the novel Big Bug (1932) and Life's Greatest Adventure (1939, posthumously)

Rader also was the author of several popular hymns, including Alive Again,” Old Time Power,” Jesus Satisfies,” I've Found the Way,” Only Believe,” Whosoever Will May Come”

Extent

6.22 Cubic Feet (10 Boxes (1 RC, 9 DC), Audio Tapes, Microfilm, Negatives, Oversize Materials, Photographs, Slides, Video Tapes)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Arrangement of Material

The material in this collection, consolidated by the Archives, was gathered from several different sources, including Rader's family members and co-workers, and therefore has no organic organization as a whole. Such form as exists was imposed by the processor. The files are arranged alphabetically by title and the material within each folder is arranged chronologically, wherever possible. Included in the collection are scrapbooks, sermon manuscripts, copies of Chicago Gospel Tabernacle publications, Moody Church and Fort Wayne Gospel Temple newsletters, photos, audio tapes, a video tape, and miscellaneous items relating to Rader's career and to attempts to write a biography of him after his death.

Note: Bound copies of the following periodicals, of which Paul Rader served as the editor, can be found in the BGC Archives’ Reading Room:

GOOD NEWS; March 1916-December 1919

THE WEEKLY COURIER; January-April 1932

THE WORLD-WIDE TEMPLE EVANGELIST; August 1934-July 1936

Paper Records (Box List)

Arrangement: Alphabetical

Date Range: 1899-1988

Volume: 5.4 Cubic Feet

Boxes: 1-10

Geographic coverage: United States, China, India, Ireland, England, Palestine

Subjects: American Protestant Fundamentalism, Evangelicalism, and Pentecostalism; methods of mass evangelism; use of current technology in evangelism; American Protestant foreign missions in the 20th century; (Daniel) Paul Rader's life, ministry and influence; the Chicago Gospel Tabernacle; Chicago in the 1920s and 1930s; American sermons

Notes: As can be seen, the archivist has divided the documents into this collection into two groups: those which more or less date from the time of Rader's ministry and those which were gathered together after his death. Sometimes this was done to create scrapbooks about his life, sometimes it was done to gather sources for a biography about him. Or about the Chicago Gospel Tabernacle.

Subseries: I. Material from Rader's lifetime

Arrangement: Alphabetical

Date Range: 1899-1938

Volume: 3.6 Cubic Feet

Boxes: 1,2,8,9,10

Type of documents: Sermon transcripts, handbills, magazines, newsletters, correspondence, pamphlets, hymnals

Correspondents: J. Oliver Buswell, Clarence Jones, Floyd Johnson, Moody Church executive committee, Paul Rader

Notes: There are only a few pieces of correspondence in folder 1-1 and a few more in folder 9-2. However, they cover many events in Rader's life. Among the subjects covered are his health as a young man; his part in founding the Beta Kappa fraternity; the resignation of his associate pastor at Moody, E. Y. Woolley; his relationship with his friend and principal financial supporter Albert M. Johnson; Rader's leaving Moody Church and the growth of ill feeling between him and the leaders of that church; Rader's presidency of the CMA; his service as a trustee of Wheaton College during the presidency of Charles Blanchard; and the resignation of C.L. Eicher as missions secretary of the World Wide Christian Couriers.

The collection contains many, many manuscripts of sermons. Only a portion were given by Rader, although all were given at CGT or had some connection with the Tabernacle. Among the topics covered are:

Folder, Topic, Speaker(s)

1-30, African Missions, Norman Davis Kopp

1-31, African Missions, Roadhouse

1-35, Apostasy, Luke Rader

1-18, The Bible School, E. Joseph Evans

1-37, Born Again, E. J. Richards

10-1, Breeding a New Species, Paul Rader

1-42, Brotherhood, T. T. Shields

1-51, Canada Missions, J. H. Woodward

1-31, China Missions, Martin Ekvall Stuart

1-32, China Missions, Tom? Moseley

1-30, China Missions, Stewart, Howard Van Dyck, Rudy

1-29, The Church, Mark Matthews

1-33, The Church, R. E. Neighbor

1-28, Compromise, Gregory Mantle

1-35, Cults, Luke Rader

1-43, Book of Daniel, Oswald J. Smith

1-50, Demons, Gerald Winrod

1-36, Easter, Paul Rader

1-33, Ecclesiastes, R. E. Neighbor

1-19, Evangelism, Howard Ferrin

1-20, Evangelism, R. H. Forrest

1-21,Evangelism, Margaret Houser

1-28, Evangelism, Gregory Mantle

1-41, Evangelism, William Shannon

1-24, Faith, Bessie Johnson

1-35, Faith, Luke Rader

1-36, Freedom, Paul Rader

1-33, Glory of God, R. E. Neighbor

1-19, God and Science, Howard Ferrin

1-37, Good Samaritan, E. J. Richards

1-35, Heaven, Luke Rader

1-35, Holy Spirit, uke Rader

1-15, The Home, William Biederwolf

1-30, India Missions, Andrews, Lapp, Peter

1-31, India Missions, Cox

1-22, Israel in God's Plan, F. E. Howitt

1-34, Israel in God's Plan, Henry Ostrom

1-38, Israel in God's Plan, William Bell Riley

1-31, Japan Missions, Wood

1-50, Book of Jonah, Gerald Windrod

1-31, Korea Missions, Wood

1-35, Labor Movement, Luke Rader

10-1, The Laugh in Life, Paul Rader

1-37, Lazarus, E. J. Richards

1-36, Legalism, Paul Rader

1-35, Love, Luke Rader

1-36, Love, Paul Rader

1-38, Micah, William Bell Riley

1-50, Miracles, Gerald Winrod

1-30, Missions, Chrisitan Eicher

1-30, Missions, (South China) Galbraith

1-30, Missions, (India) Peter

1-31, Missions, Paul Rader

1-43, Missions, Oswald J. Smith

1-47, Missions, Walter Turnbull

1-49, Missions, J. D. Williams

1-33, First Book of Peter, R. E. Neighbor

1-16, Prayer, E. M. Bounds

1-26, Prayer, John Wesley Lee

1-29, Prayer, Mark Matthews

1-35, Prayer, Luke Rader

1-33, Prophecy, R. E. Neighbor

1-35, Prophecy, Luke Rader

1-38, Prophecy, William Bell Riley

1-43, Prophecy, Oswald J. Smith

1-41, Repentance, William Shannon

1-39, Bookd of Ruth, Margaret T. Russell

1-27, Salvation, Harry Lindblom

1-28, Salvation, Gregory Mantle

1-35, Salvation, Luke Rader

1-36, Salvation, Paul Rader

1-37, Salvation, E. J. Richards

1-35, Sanctification, Luke Rader

1-50, Satan, Gerald Winrod

1-27, Sin, Harry Lindblom

10-1, Sin and Victory, Paul Rader

1-24, Twenty-Third Psalm, Bessie Johnson

1-44, Value of Men, George Soerheide

10-1, Wearing Shoes, Paul Rader

1-45, World War I, John Sproul

Several of the sermons deal with the mission work of the CMA or with memories of the CMA's founder, A. B. Simpson (folders 1-30, 1-32, 1-40, 1-45, 1-47, 1-51).

There are also the sermons in folders 1-23 and 1-41, among others, which include biographical information on Paul Rader. Rader's own "sermons" in folder 1-36 do not appear to be sermons at all, for the most part, but rather very short messages he wrote either as editorials for his newsletter or for delivery over the radio.

The newsletters and magazines in OS 10 and folders 1-10 to 1-12, as well as the bound copies of Good News, World Wide Christian Courier, and The World-Wide Temple Evangelist on the shelves of the Manuscript Reading Room on the third floor of the Billy Graham Center contain an extremely rich and varied amount of information on Rader's career from his pastorate of Moody Church (including Moody tabernacle) in the mid 1910s to shortly before his death in 1938. These publications include samples of his preaching and writing style; the work of Tabernacle staff including Richard Oliver, Clarence Jones, Merrill Dunlop, and others as well as associated Christian workers such as Peter Deyneka, Oswald Smith, and Luke Rader; CGT activities, the early days of radio evangelism, Protestant missions in various parts of the world, the Fundamentalist movement, and the work of other evangelists. Other topics covered, briefly or in detail, include such subjects as the speeches of William Jennings Bryan, Peter Deyneka and others' work in Russia, Christmas at the Tabernacle, city missions run by the Tabernacle, Courier services in Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Toronto, and other cities, missions in Borneo, Jewish evangelism, Oswald Smith's work in Canada, and speeches of William Bell Riley. There is other also information in the articles and about local, national, and international events. For example, the February 1926 magazine contains an article by Eugene Taylor about the Chicago Plan of municipal development. The advertisements are very informative as well. They offer everything from Tabernacle hymn books to devices for making radioactive water ("When a family drinks Radio-Active Water, 89% of all disease lessens its hold upon the body").

Rader also made heavy use of the written word, especially pamphlet, through out his ministry, printing some of his popular sermons and radio message. Folders 8-4 through 9-1 contain dozens of these tracts, most from his time at CGT, but also many from the Moody Church period and a few from his time at the Fort Wayne Gospel Tabernacle. What is probably his first published work, a collection of poems called Variae Lectiones (Various Readings), is in folder 8-3. Folder 8-1 contains a copy of Rader's novel, Big Bug, autographed by him for his wife.

A few cards and advertising items from his years at Moody, particularly the summer conferences of the church, are in folder 9-6.

Besides the publications described above, a description of Tabernacle activities can be found in the brochure Every Day of the Week at the Chicago Gospel Tabernacle (folder 1-7) and the stationery (folder 1-54). A miscellaneous collection of handbills and other materials are in folder 9-2.

Some memorabilia from Rader's radio work are contained in folder 1-13, which contains program schedules, gifts given to listeners, and messages he delivered over the radio. See also folder 8-8 for some of his radio messages published as pamphlets.

Folders 1-3 and 1-8 contain reports from Rader's frequent missionary trips to Asia and Europe. One report contains an interesting description of Mussolini. Folder 9-8 contain lengthy reports on meetings he in China (with Leland Wang); Belfast, North Ireland; and London, England. Writers of the report include Arie Kok, Henry Montgomery (ex-moderator of the Irish Presbyterian Church), and Thomas Cochrane of World Dominion. The passports of Paul and Mary Rader in folder 9-7 reflect his wide ranging travels.

World Wide Christian Couriers was the corporation that Rader founded in the early 1920s to serve as base for his various ministry activities. By the early 1930s, the Couriers had become a kind of cross between a fraternal society and a Bible study/Christian training group. Incorporation certificates, minutes and other legal documents are in folder 10-2. Samples of the manuals and course work of the Couriers can be found in folders 1-6 and OS 10. Each Courier received a small medallion, know as the Courier Coin or Pocket Piece. It was stamped with the individual’s member number and has an esoteric symbol, the parts of which represented salvation through Christ. The idea was that Couriers would show it to people as a curiosity and in explaining it, would tell people the way of salvation. A sample of the Pocket Piece is in folder 10-3 . The magazines in folders 1-10 and 1-11 as well as the sermons also contain frequent references to the Couriers.

Other Courier publications are in folder 8-8.

Folders 2-1 through 2-3 contain material received from William Dillon, who was director of music at the Fort Wayne Gospel Temple and who accompanied Paul Rader on an evangelistic trip to England and Scotland in 1938. In folder 2-3 is a printed pamphlet titled Three Vital Messages by Rader. These messages were delivered at the Alliance Temple in Toronto, Canada, in 1925.

Folders 1-4 and 9-3 contains material about Rader's death and funeral. (See also boxes 5 and 6, described below.) Also of interest are the materials in folders 1-24 and 1-25, which are concerned with the death and funeral of Laura Eugenia Rader, Paul Rader's mother.

Subseries: 2. Material about Rader compiled after his death

Arrangement: Alphabetical

Date Range: 1905-1988

Volume: 2.925 Cubic Feet

Boxes: 2, 3-7

Type of documents: Scrapbooks, chapter outlines and drafts of chapters, correspondence, reminiscences, a wide variety of documents from Rader's ministry

Correspondents: C. L. Eicher, Albert M. Johnson, Paul Rader, Susannah Spurgeon, E. Y. Woolley

Notes: Boxes 4, 5 and 6 contain three scrapbooks kept by Rader's daughter Harriet. The substantial portions of these books have been microfilmed and can be found on microfilm reels 3 and 4. For portions of the scrapbooks which were totally repetitive, only samples were filmed. The books are a treasure trove of information about his career. The material in the three scrapbooks is not arranged in any particular order, although II and III contain mostly Rader's obituaries and information about his funeral. Besides clippings, these scrapbooks include photos, brochures, letters, handbills, and programs from all aspects of Rader's career. Materials which would need to be unfolded to be read or which for some other reason could not be read while in the scrapbook and were put in a folder in the same box as the scrapbook. A page was put in the scrapbook which said what folder the removed material was in.

Here is some of the information of particular interest in each book: Book I - Manuscript of an article by Rader of his interview of actor Harry Lauder (folder 4-2), article from the Christian and Missionary Alliance magazine about the Rader's 1920 trip to visit C&MA missionaries in India, Indochina, China, Japan and the Philippines (folder 4-4), brochures about Homer Rodeheaver's evangelistic activities (folder 4-5), clippings about Rader's 1926 Philadelphia meetings (folders 4-1, 4-6, and 4-7), handbill about healing evangelist F. F. Bosworth (folder 4-9), newsletters published by the Fort Wayne Gospel Temple (folder 4-12), clippings from Rader's 1938 evangelistic tour of England (folder 4-13 and 4-14). Book II - Articles about Rader's Belfast meetings, telegrams from friends and colleagues sent to Rader's family after his death (folders 5-1, 5-2, 5-4), material about Rader as a founder of the Beta Kappa fraternity (folder 5-3), list of major events at the Tabernacle during its first ten years (folder 5-5), speech apparently given by Rader shortly before his resignation as president of the Christian and Missionary Alliance in which he discusses problems caused by its increasingly denomination-like structure, a manuscript copy of the sermon preached at Rader's funeral, a time line of the first 10 years of the CGT (folder 5-5), copies of several brief sermons by Rader (folder 5-6). Book III - Newsletter about the purchase of the CGT property in 1937 (folder 6-2), obituaries for Rader (folders 6-1 and 6-4), brochures about World Wide Couriers, several telegrams sent to Rader by various celebrities and Christian leaders on the occasion of the Chicago Gospel Tabernacle's tenth anniversary (folders 6-1 and 6-3), newsletters put out by the Tabernacle after Rader left (folder 6-5), material relating to Rader's leadership of a movement to have the president of the United States proclaim a national day of prayer (folder 6-5), a copy of a letter from Rader's daughter Willamine to Arthur Mc Gee discussing her father's theology (folder 6-6), honorary degrees Rader received from Bob Jones College (folder 6-7), brochures about North Side Gospel Center (folders 6-11, 6-14), information on the Christian Broadcasters Fellowship and early radio preachers, an article by Rader giving his reaction to Billy Sunday's death (folder 6-10), material about Rader's 1935 meetings in Detroit.

Another of Rader's daughter, Willamine Rader Miller, compiled some of materials in this collection and at one point apparently had an idea of writing a biography of her father or having one written. The materials she gathered and drafts (and transcripts of those drafts) made at various times between the late 1930s and early 1970s about her memories of her father and her memories of his own descriptions of his life, can be found in folder 7-4. This material was passed on to another would-be Rader biographer, her cousin.

This cousin was a later Paul Rader (some times called Paul Rader II ), son of Luke Rader and nephew of Daniel Paul Rader, was also an evangelist. In the late 1960s and early 1970s he spent a good deal of time gathering material for a biography of his uncle. box 7 contains the letters of reminiscences he gathered from people who remembered his uncle (folder 7-1); a variety of source documents, mainly notes, reminisces and articles from later magazines that touch on some aspect of his uncle's life and ministry (folder 7-3); and his own notes, outlines, and drafts for the book (folder 7-2). The biography was never completed.

Rader, the man, is described in some reminiscences from Charles Fuller, J. Fletcher Agnew, and Clarence Jones contained in folder 1-14. The Agnew materials include information on assistance Rader gave the Salvation Army.

The materials in box 3 were gathered by Larry Eskridge for a master's thesis for the University of Maryland. Included are photocopies made of (1) records of the Chicago Gospel Tabernacle, Albert M. Johnson, and Gospel Foundation between 1927-1933 (folder 3-1); (2) the Rader, Johnson, and Westerfield Candy Company legal agreements, 1925, (folder 3-2); (3)correspondence of Albert M. Johnson, 1915-1921 (folder 3-3); (4) minutes and dissolution of the Gospel Foundation and the sale of Tabernacle Publishing Company to Hope Publishing Company, 1921-1948 (folder 3-4); and (5) World Wide Christian Couriers bankruptcy records, 1933-1935 (folder 3-5). Folder 3-6 contains radio station WJBT applications and forms, 1927-28. Additional materials on the history of the Chicago Gospel Tabernacle, dissolution of the Gospel Missionary Association and Tabernacle Publishing Company may be found in folder 3-7. Folder 3-8 contains photocopies of a letter and advertisements of Rader's Pantry. The original is in the folder in Oversize Drawer 10. Copies of a publication started by Rader, Beta Kappa Journal, are in folder 3-9 and a genealogical book on the Rader family is in folder 3-10. A copy of Eskridge's thesis is contained in folder 3-11. Folder 3-12 holds the lists of questions for interviews of Virginia Latham, Pauline Rader Noll, and Harriet Rader Kisler. The interviews themselves may be found on T 4 through T 10.

Series: II. Audio Visual Materials

Arrangement: Chronological by date

Date Range: 1928-1996

Volume: .824 Cubic Feet

Geographic coverage: Chicago, Illinois; Los Angeles California; Fort Wayne, Indiana; England

Type of documents: Films, audio tapes, video tapes, photographs

Subjects: Paul Rader's life, ministry, and impact, the Chicago Gospel Tabernacle

Notes: This series contains all the audio and video tapes and photographs in the collection. For more detailed descriptions, see the location records for the different types of items.

Exceptional Items:

There is a sample of his preaching style contained on the brief recordings of Rader's voice in tapes T 1 and T 2.

The video tape V 1 is a copy of a silent film, probably made in the late 1920s. It includes shots of the adult and children's choirs, the band, Merrill Dunlop and Lance Latham playing the organ and piano, broadcasting over the radio, the missionary activity of the Tabernacle, etc. The video tape also contains a film of Rader in bed in the hospital at the time of his final illness (including a visit by Homer Rodeheaver) and his funeral in California.

Accruals and Additions

The material in this collection has been gathered from a variety of sources in the years between 1978 and 2006. Contribution of materials were made by John Bauerlein, William Bickett, Lloyd Cory, Barbara Jones Cowan. William Dillon, Merrill Dunlop, Larry Eskridge, Jean Hibben, Mrs. Harriet Kisler, Mrs. Frank Longino, Walter Osborn, Paul Rader, Ray Schulenberg, Eunice Mae Schultz, Paul Smith, Grace Van Deraa, Andrew Wyzenbeek, and Wheaton College Special Collections. Special mention should be made of materials donated by Daniel Paul Rader's daughter and nephew, Harriet E. Kisler and Paul Rader.

Accessions: 78-13, 78-31, 78-45, 79-101, 79-103, 80-51, 80-81, 81-145, 83-118, 84-7, 84-21, 84-29, 84-30, 84-38, 84-80, 84-130, 85-15, 85-85, 85-145, 85-150

June 19, 1978

Revised: 11/27/78, 4/18/79, 1/22/80, 7/1/80, 10/15/82, 3/6/85, 6/11/86

Robert Shuster

J. Nasgowitz

Accessions: 84-110, 85-15, 85-47, 85-83, 85-139, 86-26, 86-135, 87-59

July 26, 1995, updated

Janyce H. Nasgowitz

Accession: 04-20

April 28, 2004

Bob Shuster

Accession 97-59, 00-15

July 18, 2007

Accessions: 87-62, 96-11, 97-59, 99-37, 99-48, 99-67, 00-27, 00-44, 00-15, 00-56, 01-21, 05-43, 03-80, 06-04

Bob Shuster, K. Hayward

January 19, 2010

Bob Shuster

January 18, 2013

Acc 12-48

Bob Shuster