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Collection 109 Ephemera of Gipsy Smith

 Collection
Identifier: CN 109

Scope and Contents

Newspaper clippings, audio tapes and phonograph records of Smith singing hymns, and photographs. Newspaper clippings are about meetings held by Smith in Denver, Colorado (1909) and with Billy Sunday in Boston, Massachusetts (1935); included are extended excerpts from both men's sermons.

This collection consists of newspaper clipping of Smith's 1909 evangelistic meetings in Denver (folder 1-16), scrapbook pages (folders 1-1 through 1-13) containing newspaper reports about Smith's 1935 meetings in Boston, phonograph records of Smith singing, and a tape of Smith singing. A complete list of the songs sung by Smith can be found in the location records which follow. A scrapbook of newspaper clippings from 1929 recounts Smith's Boston campaign in March (folder 1-15); a few clippings are from meetings held by Billy Sunday in Boston during 1931. Two 1947 clippings (folder 1-17) contain articles about Smith's death and the ministry of Gipsy Smith, Jr. A postcard photograph of Gipsy and Annie Smith is also included, as well as one of Smith with three unidentified people, and Smith's meeting of the First Congregational Church at the Uline Arena in Washington, D.C.

Dates

  • Created: 1909-1935

Conditions Governing Access

There are no restrictions on the use of this collection.

Biographical Information

Full Name: Rodney "Gipsy" Smith

Birth: March 31, 1860, near London, England

Death: August 4, 1947, aboard the ship Queen Mary while traveling from England to New York

Family:

Parents: Cornelius Smith and Mary Welch

Siblings: Four sisters and one brother

Marital Status: Married Annie Pennock, December 17, 1879 (d. 1937); Married Mary Alice Shaw, June 2, 1938

Children: Albany Rodney (b.1880), Alfred Hanley (b.1882), Rhoda Zillah (b.1884)

Conversion: At the age of sixteen

Career:

1877 Joined the Salvation Army as an evangelist at William Booth's invitation

1880-1883 Preaching assignments in Chathan, Hull, and Hanley (England)

1882 Dismissed from the Salvation Army for accepting a gold watch and money from friends

1889 First evangelistic trip to America preaching in New York City, Philadelphia, Denver, Washington, Nashville, Atlanta, Los Angeles, San Antonio, Winston-Salem, Dallas, and other smaller cities.

1892 Founded the Gipsy Gospel Wagon Mission

Preached in Edinburgh and Glasgow, Scotland

1894 Held evangelistic meetings in Adelaide, Melbourne, and Sydney, Australia

1904 Meetings in Cape Town and Johannesburg, South Africa and Boston, Massachusetts

1914-1918 Ministered to the British troops in France

1939-1945 Toured the United States and Canada with his second wife

Other significant information:

1917 Made a member of the Order of the British Empire by King George V

Authored: As Jesus Passed By (1905), Gipsy Smith: His Work and Life (1906), Evangelistic Talks (1922), Real Religion (1929), The Beauty of Jesus (1932), The Lost Christ.

Extent

0.60 Cubic Feet

1 Box

1 Audio Tape

3 Phonograph Records

1 Photograph File

Language of Materials

English

Accruals and Additions

The materials for this collection were received by the Billy Graham Center Archives in July, October, and November 1979, May 1980, February, April, and September 1984, November 1986, June and August 1999, and September 2009 (Elisabeth Mason).

Accession 79-80, 79-118, 79-133, 80-31, 80-71, 84-27, 84-56, 84-115, 86-127, 88-35, 09-52

April 7, 1980

Robert Shuster

M. Hilton

S. Kouns

June 23, 1980, revised

M. Buffington

S. Kouns

September 28, 1984, revised

J. Nasgowitz

November 25, 1986, revised

J. Nasgowitz

Accession 99-40, 99-56

June 3, 2002, updated

Wayne D. Weber

Accession 09-52

September 18, 2009

Bob Shuster

Title
Collection 109 Ephemera of Gipsy Smith
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Roman Script

Repository Details

Part of the Evangelism & Missions Archives Repository

Contact:
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