[NOTE: In the Arrangement description, the notation Folder 2-5 means Box 2, Folder 5.]

This collection consists mainly of ephemera from J. Stratton Shufelt's many evangelistic rallies. He was best known as a soloist, musician, and song leader, but he also spoke in church as an evangelist and was a teacher of the use of music in evangelism and in church life. The collection contains newspaper clippings, handbills, programs and posters from evangelistic rallies, church services, Bible and missionary conferences, and other special events covering a period of about fifty years. These materials are illustrative not only of Shufelt’s life and ministry but also of Fundamentalist and Evangelical culture in United States in the early and mid-twentieth century. There is also correspondence, mainly from other Christian workers and material from his association with Wheaton College, Moody Church in Chicago, and Maranatha Bible Conference in Michigan. The folders listed in the Box List are arranged alphabetically according to title. As much as possible, the material inside each folder was arranged chronologically, with the undated materials toward the back of the folder. Some of the pieces were dated through internal evidence; these are dated in pencil in the upper right-hand corner. The original order of materials within the folders was for the most part maintained, as well as many of the original folder titles.

Some of Shufelt’s early public performance as a child and a young man with other family members are documented in folder 2-27.

Shufelt valued his days as a student at Wheaton College, for he kept handbills from many of his performances with the Wheaton College Quintet as well as other mementos of his association with the College, such as his certificate of membership in the Aristonian Society, the programs from Shufelt’s senior recital and graduation in 1934, his diplomas, booklets that the alumni office printed containing letters from alumni of his class (’34) and the program from the 1982 funeral service of Wheaton College art professor W. Karl Steele. He also sang at several alumni functions in later years. This material is in folder 1-15. Newspaper clipping about the Quintet are also in folder 2-24 and several complete issues of the college newspaper with articles about Shufelt are in the newspapers folder in the Oversize materials. Folder 1-4 contains College’s and outside newspaper clippings from the revival that occurred at Wheaton in 1950, nearly twenty years after he graduated.

Immediately after graduating from Wheaton, Shufelt became director of music for A. W. Tozer’s Christian and Missionary Alliance Tabernacle in Chicago (folder 2-5). He remained involved with the C&MA all his life. Folder 2-3 contains his certificates as an unordained minister of the denomination. Other C&MA material can be found in folder 2-7. He then performed the same function at the Moody Church in Chicago under Pastor H. A. Ironside, as well as often serving as Ironsides’ song leader in his evangelistic meetings (folders 1-11, 2-18, 2-20, 2-23). Folder 2-20 contains copies of the newsletter he edited for members of the Moody Church choir.

In Shufelt's early days of evangelistic work, he was associated closely with Youth for Christ. In folders 1-16 through 1-18 we find information regarding Shufelt's trip with the first YFC team to Europe, as well as a later trip with YFC leaders to Holland and Germany, and various other items regarding YFC and its beginnings. Wes Hartzell's fairly detailed account of the first trip and Spencer DeJong's letters and reports of the Holland-Germany trip are included in folder 1-17 and in folder 2-11]. Folders 1-16 and 2-26 contain the ephemera of two trips, including interesting European newspaper coverage of the trips. In folder 1-18 we find several publications of YFC and other Christian writers describing the nature and origins of the organization, as well as an article by Wes Hartzell about Billy Graham.

Throughout his career, Shufelt was involved in many rallies with the national spiritual awakening movement called Christ for America. The group began in the early 1940's with city-wide, country-wide, and even state-wide efforts to spread the Gospel. The ephemera from the rallies in which Shufelt was involved are found in the folders entitled "Evangelistic Rallies," followed by the name of the evangelist. Those which could not be classified in this manner are included in folder 2-19 and folder 1-1. Some of his yearlong itineraries from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s can be found in folder 2-27 Folder 2-19 contain brief biographic sketches of him, probably given out as publicity material. Folder 2-18 also contains a series of columns on church music which he wrote for the newsletter Council Fires, a Christian weekly for young people. Magazine and newspaper articles about his appearances covering most of his life can be found in folders 2-18 and 2-21 to 2-25.

Folder 1-2 through 1-10, 2-6 through 2-10, 2-14, 2-19, 2-22 contain materials from Shufelt's many appearances at conventions and evangelistic rallies. He worked with evangelists Hyman Appelman, Myron Augsberger, Fred Brown, Eddie Martin, Jesse Hendley, Torrey Johnson, John R. Rice, Jack Shuler, and Bob Wells. Especially interesting are materials regarding a rally at Folsom Prison in California and a poem called "Memories" by Robert Richter, written about evangelistic rallies with Shufelt.

Folder 1-12 contains materials which Shufelt had marked as miscellaneous that could not be classified under any of the other groupings. One interesting piece is a program from the Ninth Annual Easter Sunrise Service at Soldier Field in Chicago. There is also an advertisement for a jet cruise tour called "Missionary Journey of Paul" led by Shufelt and his wife. Information on other tours he led in the eastern Mediterranean is in folder 2-25. Folder 1-13 contains pamphlets from rescue missions from 1953 to 1979, including the Evansville (Indiana) Rescue Mission, and the Haven of Rest Rescue Mission, Akron, Ohio, and the Mel Trotter Mission, Grand Rapids, Michigan, where Bob Jones, Jr. was to begin a week of meetings. In each of the events advertised by the pamphlets, Shufelt was the soloist and choir director.

His appearance at church services as a speaker, teacher or soloist are documented in folders 2-4. He was also a very popular performer at Bible and Missionary Conference s (folder 2-6 and 2-7), especially the annual Seminary Bible Conference of the Grand Rapids Baptist Seminary (folders 2-8 and 2-11), Maranatha (folder 2-9), and Winona Lake Bible Conference (folder 2-10).

There are also a few folders of correspondence in the collection. The contents of the main correspondence folder (2-12) consists largely brief letters to Shufelt, although there are a couple of carbons of letters from him and one to people attending his church music seminar at Maranatha. Folder 2-26 contains some of the teaching materials he used in his church music seminars.) Also of interest is a 1931 postcard he sent his parents about touring with Wheaton College Men’s Glee Club and the front of the card is a picture of Club. There are also a series of letters by a YFC team of which he was a part about their 1947 tour of Holland. The rest of the letters in the folder. But most of the letters in the folder are brief notes of appreciation from evangelists, musicians, and ministers, including Hyman Appelman, William War Ayer, Nathan Bailey, George Bernnard, John E. Brown, Jr., Earle Cairns, Merrill Dunlop, V. R. Edman, Jesse Hendley, Paul S. Rees, Tom Rees, George Sweeting, Warren Wiersbe, and P. J. Zondervan. Of special interest is a letter from Bo Jones Jr. thanking Shufelt for his condolences on the death of Bob Jones Sr. Also of interest is a note from evangelist Helen Cree remembering had Shufelt had been her counselor when she gave her life to Christ as a girl. Folder 2-13 contains appreciation letters from Billy Graham, Cliff Barrow and George Beverly Shea often in these letters reminiscing about previous associations with Shufelt.

Folder 2-13 contains a number of letters from Ironside, many brief friendly message describing his activities. The letter dated November 27, 1946 gives Ironside’s view on the controversy between J. Frank Norris and Lewis Chafer of Dallas Theological Seminary about the proper work of an evangelist. The folder also has a small Atlantic Ocean map on which Shufelt had plotted his and Ironside’s voyage across that ocean to Great Britain in 1938.

The collection contains many photographs of Shufelt and the people he worked with. Most of them are identified and have Shufelt’s comments on the reverse, although many are not dated. The photos are mostly action shots from evangelistic meetings and give us a good idea of what they were like. Some of the photos are portraits or publicity shots, and there are several that are amusing and personal. The photos are described in detail in the collection inventory for photos.

Through the generosity of The Torrey Johnson Evangelistic Crusade and Mr. and Mrs. Torrey M. Johnson, Jr., in 2003 all of Collection 224, box1 put on 35mm microfilm for purposes of preservation and access. This did not include photographs and oversize materials. In 2021, additional material was added to this collection, therefore some of the material the folders 1-3, 1-10, 1-11, 1-15, and all of box 2 are not on the microfilm, which is available for interlibrary loan.