Collection 693 Papers of Jim Vaus
Scope and Contents
Newsletters, oral history transcripts, manuscripts, correspondence, slides, photographs, audio recordings, and films relating to Jim Vaus’ youth ministry work in East Harlem, NY and later youth camp ministries in New York and California and internationally with the Missionary Communication Service. The collection also contains material on Jim Vaus’ work as a wiretapper for the Los Angeles mob prior to his conversion to Christianity at the 1949 Los Angeles Billy Graham Crusade, and the 1955 film Wiretapper produced by Great Commission Films that tells the story of Vaus’ conversion
Arrangement of material and folder titles are roughly chronological by material type. The arrangement is provided by Archives staff.
Note: The bulk of this collection is audio/visual material created by Youth Development International and other organizations, relating to Jim Vaus’ conversion to Christianity after attending the 1949 Los Angeles Crusade in the Canvas Cathedral where he heard Billy Graham preach, and Vaus’ later ministry among at-risk youth in East Harlem, NY.
Folders 1-2 to 2-6 contain YDI promotional material and administrative records. Folder 1-1 contains YDI-related correspondence, including letters from probation officers regarding YDI club members, and letters from school and government authorities commending Vaus’ work in East Harlem.
Folders 2-7 and 2-8 contain transcripts to an interview series with Jim Vaus conducted by Bob Crossley. Topics covered in the interviews include: Vaus’ inspiration for starting YDI; first impressions of East Harlem; collaborating with Manhattan police Captain, Conrad Jensen; demographics of East Harlem and gang culture; administration of YDI; fundraising; launching Camp Champion; creating educational opportunities for YRI members; gang violence and prosecution; Vaus’ work with Missionary Communication Service; descriptions of Conrad Jensen and Petey Thomas.
Folder 2-9 contains an unfinished autobiographical manuscript, consisting of eight chapters. Some chapters have both a clean and an annotated copy. The manuscript covers the years 1945-1960, beginning with Vaus’ second incarceration and ending with the purchase of land in Glen Spey, NY that became Camp Champion.
Dates
- Created: 1950-2001
Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions on the use of this collection.
Biographical or Historical Information
Full Name: James Arthur Vaus, Jr. Birth: February 17, 1919 in Los Angeles, CA
Family:
Parents: James Arthur, Sr. and Lillian Vaus
Siblings: Virginia and Betty
Marital Status: Married Alice Park on October 23, 1947
Children: Madeleine, Dennis, Steve, Will, and Roger
Conversion: November 6, 1949 at the Billy Graham Greater Los Angeles Crusade
Ordination: Ordained by Torrey Johnson
Death: December 1, 1997
Education:
1937 - Belmont High School
1937-1938 - BIOLA, attended three semesters
1938 - Los Angeles Junior College, attended one semester (fall)
1939 - Wheaton College, IL, attended one semester (spring) where Vaus roomed with Carl H. Henry and Richard C. Halverson
1939-1940 - BIOLA, expelled after year semester for stealing school funds
Career:
1941-42 - Served 1 year at the Los Angeles County Jail for armed robbery
1942-1945 - Drafted into the United States Army in January
14942 where he worked as a Cryptography Security Officer and as a Signal Officer in Charge of Tactical Communication and Radar Defensive Network in the southern California area
1945-1946 - Sentenced to 10 years at McNeil Island Federal Penitentiary for misuse and misappropriation of government property while an officer. Pardoned by President Truman and honorably discharged from the Army in December 1946 after serving 6 months
1946-1949 - Opened an electronic consulting service in Hollywood with a storefront on Sunset Boulevard and began providing electronic surveillance services to the Los Angeles Police Department. Also recruited to work as a wiretapper for LA mobster Mickey Cohen. Vaus simultaneously worked for both Cohen’s crime syndicate and the LAPD
1949 - Converted during the Billy Graham Greater Los Angeles Crusade and subsequently retired from criminal activity. Shortly after his conversion, Vaus began holding his own evangelistic meetings, including Youth for Christ rallies and Navigator meetings.
1951 - Gave evidence at the trial of Mickey Cohen who was charged with tax evasion and sentenced to five years in prison.
1955 - Wiretapper is released, produced by Great Commission Films
1955-1957 - Established the Jim Vaus Evangelistic Association, which evolved into the Missionary Communication Service, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing electronic communication support to missionaries in remote areas. Due to financial instability, MCS was absorbed into Missionary Aviation Fellowship in 1957.
1958 - Relocated to East Harlem in 1958 to set up YDI headquarters
1959 - Started Youth Development, Inc. (YDI) in East Harlem to work with at-risk youth.
1960 - Launched plans for YDI summer camp for teens. Purchased 360-acre tract of land near Glen Spey, NY through the support of George Champion of Chase Bank.
1961 - Camp Champion welcomed its first campers
1970 - Purchased the former Manhattan School of Music building on 105th Street and launched Crossroads High School in September to a private school to provide education to YDI troubled youth. First semester began in September 1970, but the school was forced to close after one academic year due to financial instability. Opened Crossroads House, a federally funded drug prevention center, and Crossroads Center, a community center which offered a variety of programs to at-risk youth.
1971 - Relocated to a warmer climate after being diagnosed with Parkinson=s disease; launched Summit Expedition, a wilderness adventure program for at-risk youth in the Sierra Mountains in northern California.
1972 - Camp Champion is sold to Teen Challenge
1973 - Launched YDI-sponsored hotline for runaway kids called National Youth Crisis Hotline and established Samaritan’s Ranch in El Cajon, CA, a home for runaway children.
1978 - Opened Green Valley Ranch outside Ramona, CA as another residential treatment home to at-risk, runaway teenage boys.
1980 - Opened Paradise Creek Ranch in Valley Center, CA as another residential treatment home to at-risk, runaway teenage boys.
1983 - Launched YDI-sponsored hotline for runaway kids called National Youth Crisis Hotline
1986 - Launched telephone ministry to latchkey kids called Tele-Pal in San Diego that connected troubled and unsupervised latchkey kids to trained listening partners.
1990 - Mike MacIntosh assumed presidency of Youth Development International.
1995 - Relocated to Head Waters, VA to open a YDI youth camp, Head Waters Lodge.
Other Significant Information: Jim Vaus credits his childhood interest in electronics to the influence of Atwood Chambers, a boarder in his family home and a Los Angeles streetcar conductor who taught Jim Vaus to build radios. Vaus published several books relating to his conversion and later ministry. Those titles include: The Inside Story of Narcotics (1953); Why I Quit Syndicated Crime (1954); Teenage Rampage (1956); The Devil Loves a Shining Mark (1974)
Extent
3.92 Cubic Feet (Audio Tapes, Films, Negatives, Phonograph Records, Photo Albums, Photographs, Slides, Videos)
Language of Materials
English
Accruals and Additions
The materials in this collection were given to the Billy Graham Center Archives by Will Vaus in August 2009.
Accession 09-46
June 2, 2017
Katherine J. Graber
K. Jennings
- Africa Inland Mission.
- Barrows, Cliff.
- Becker, Carl K., Jr.
- Camp Champion.
- Cash, Johnny.
- Christian education, Outdoor.
- Church work with minorities
- Church work with teenagers.
- Church work with youth.
- Cohen, Mickey, 1914-1976.
- Conversion -- Personal narratives.
- Conversion.
- Crawford, Percy B. (Percy Bartimus)
- Criminals
- Debrine, John.
- Downing, Kenneth L., 1908-1989.
- Evangelistic work -- New York -- Harlem
- Evangelistic work -- New York.
- Frost, David, 1939-2013.
- Gangs.
- Graham, Billy, 1918-2018.
- Graham, Franklin, 1952-
- Graham, Ruth Bell.
- Great Commission Films.
- Green Valley Ranch (Ramona, Calif.)
- Hamblen, Stuart, 1908-1989.
- Harlem (New York, N.Y.)
- Harlem (New York, N.Y.) -- Social conditions
- Harrington, Bob, 1927-
- Hatfield, Mark O., 1922-2011.
- Head Waters Lodge.
- It's Cool, Man (Motion Picture)
- Johnson, Joyce E.
- Johnson, Torrey Maynard, 1909-
- Kikuyu (African people)
- MacIntosh, Mike
- Mafia
- Mafia -- 20th century
- None Ran Last (Motion Picture)
- Paradise Creek Ranch
- Petey and Johnny (Motion Picture)
- Pierce, Bob,
- Romney, George W.
- Samaritan's Ranch
- Shea, George Beverly, 1909-2013.
- Spanish Harlem
- Summit Expedition
- Trotman, Dawson E.
- Vaus, Alice
- Vaus, Jim.
- Vaus, Steve
- Waters, Ethel, 1896-1977.
- Wilderness survival
- Wilson, Grady, 1919-1987.
- Wiretapper (Motion Picture)
- Wiretapping
- Wiretapping -- United States
- Youth Development International
- Title
- Collection 693 Papers of Jim Vaus
- Author
- Katherine Graber
- 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