Bob Harrison Oral History Interview
Scope and Contents
Oral history interview with Bob Harrison (1928-2012) in which he describes his family, grandmother's (Cornelia Jones Robertson) involvement in original Azusa Street church in Los Angeles and association with Aimee Semple Mc Pherson, racial conditions in America and the church, influence of his mother and grandmother, his musical development and experience as a jazz vocalist, conversion, writing When God Was Black; high receptivity of Third World people to black missionaries contrasted with minimal number throughout the world, exposing black churches to missions and igniting their enthusiasm, his experience as a missionary in the Philippines, assessment of white missionaries who didn't embrace native cultural features which could have enriched the indigenous Christianity, American Christians' need to learn from Third World Christians' worship, the influence of Billy Graham, and emphasis on giving all glory to God. The time period covered by the interviews is 1906 to 1998.
Bob Harrison was interviewed by Paul A. Ericksen on August 14, 1998, during Summit '98 at the Renaissance Center in Detroit, Michigan.
Dates
- Created: 1998
Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions on the use of this collection.
Biographical Information
Full Name: Robert Emmanuel Harrison
Birth: January 23, 1928, in San Francisco
Death: March 4, 2012
Family:
Parents: Emmanuel Augustus and Leona Schaeffer Harrison
Siblings: Younger sister
Marital Status: Married to Marilyn Miller Harrison, July 6, 1952
Children: Robert Keith (b. 1953), Carol Denese (b. 1955), Adrienne Michelle (b. 1959), David Emmanuel (b. 1960), Steven
Conversion: At an evangelistic service while a student at San Francisco State College
Education:
1951 - San Francisco State College, B.A. in music
1954 - Bethany Bible College
Career:
1955-1962 - Pastor of Emmanuel Assembly Church, San Francisco
1959 - Led evangelistic meetings in Germany
1961-1962 - Joined Howard Jones under BGEA auspices in evangelistic tour to Africa (Liberia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Ghana, Nigeria)
1962-1965 - Worked with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association as an associate evangelist
1965-1966 - Evangelistic ministry in Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore
1966 - Evangelistic crusade in Barbados
1967-1969 - Short-term missionary assignment for Overseas Crusades in the Philippines (including eight-day crusade in Bacolod, eight-day crusade in Davao, and four five-day crusades in smaller Mindanao cities; also included ministry in Okinawa, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Ceylon, Democratic Republic of Congo
1970s - Did inner-city evangelism in the United States, working through the Home division of the Assemblies of God
1973-? - Pastor of the Maranatha Evangelistic Center of Portland, Oregon
1990-? - National Representative pf Black Ministries in the Assemblies of God
Other significant information: Joined the army, where he completed his high school education Participated as a BGEA associate evangelist in Billy Graham's 1958 San Francisco Crusade, 1962 Chicago Crusade, 1962 Fresno Crusade, 1963 Los Angeles Crusade, 1964 Omaha Crusade, 1964 Boston Crusade, and 1965 Denver Crusade Attended World Congress on Evangelism in Berlin, 1966 Grandmother, Cornelia Jones Robertson, was actively involved in the original Azusa Street Church ministry in Los Angeles Authored When God Was Black and Salvaging Leftovers.
Extent
1.00 Audio Tape
65 Minutes
Language of Materials
English
Accruals and Additions
The materials in this collection were given to the Billy Graham Center Archivesby Bob Harrison in August 1998.
Accession: 98-58
September 12, 1998
Paul A. Ericksen
- African American missionaries.
- African Americans -- Education.
- African Americans -- Families.
- African Americans -- Missions.
- African Americans -- Religious life.
- African Americans -- Social conditions.
- African Americans.
- Assemblies of God.
- Bob Jones University.
- Christian life.
- Conversion -- Christianity.
- Discrimination -- United States.
- Discrimination.
- Evangelistic work -- United States.
- Evangelistic work.
- Graham, Billy, 1918-2018.
- Harrison, Bob.
- Missions -- Philippines.
- Racism -- United States.
- Racism.
- Robertson, Cornelia Jones.
- United States -- Race relations.
- When God was black.
- Worship.
- Title
- Collection 557 Oral History Interview with Bob Harrison
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- English
Repository Details
Part of the Evangelism & Missions Archives Repository