Wheaton College: Buswell Library Archives & Special Collections

Special Collection 15: Hymnals

Represents nondenominational evangelical hymnals well, with a strong emphasis on gospel and revival songs. Collection began as archives of Hope Publishing. Includes four eighteenth-century hymnals, beginning with the Wesleys’ Hymns and Sacred Poems, 5th ed. (London, 1756); about 1,000 nineteenth-century volumes (about 60 volumes are 1800–1850, the rest are 1850–1900); about 1,300 twentieth-century volumes. The contents of the Hymnal Collection may be searched in the Buswell Library catalog as keyword: SC/15

Special Collection 33: Papers of Margaret Clarkson

Dates: 1960-1990

Papers of Canadian hymn writer and author.

Website: https://archives.wheaton.edu/repositories/2/resources/926

Special Collection 58: Papers of Jack C. Goode

Dates of Creation: 1921-2018

Jack C. Goode Papers are a non-manuscript collection and are composed of three series: biographical, manuscripts and secondary. The bulk of the collection focuses on sheet music compositions of hymns, organ, collaborative, and commissioned works.

Website: https://archives.wheaton.edu/repositories/2/resources/913

Collection 35: Papers of Frances Jane (Fanny) Crosby Van Alstyne.

Dates of coverage: 1862–1915.

Thousands of manuscripts of lyrics dictated by Crosby. Most of the manuscripts are numbered and dated. This collection is also on microfilm. There are restrictions on the use of this collection.

Volume: two boxes.

Website: https://archives.wheaton.edu/repositories/4/resources/51.

Collection 38: Ephemera of Daniel Paul Rader.

Dates of coverage: 1916–1985.

Newsletters, sermon manuscripts, scrapbooks, programs, pamphlets, photographs, negatives, brochures, a taped sermon, slides of the Chicago Gospel Tabernacle structure (now occupied by a supermarket), a videotape copy of a 1928 film, thesis materials, etc., documenting Rader’s career. The material deals mostly with his radio work and the church he founded, the Chicago Gospel Tabernacle. Additional material includes sermons of other preachers who spoke at the tabernacle, newsletters and magazines published by Rader, newspaper clippings and articles about Rader, and reports about mission activities around the world supported by the tabernacle.

Volume: three boxes (one record carton, two document cartons), audiotapes, microfilm, negatives, oversize materials, photographs, slides, videotape.

Website: https://archives.wheaton.edu/repositories/4/resources/47

Collection 130: Ephemera of Homer Alvan Rodeheaver

Dates of coverage: 1916–1937.

Several items in this collection relate to Rodeheaver’s music publishing company, Homer A. Rodeheaver Company. Also included are newspaper clippings; copies of Rodeheaver’s Musical News; an audio tape of Rodeheaver singing solos and duets with Virginia Asher, one of which was written by Fanny Crosby; and two letters sent to friends.

Volume: one document carton, one audiotape.

Website: https://archives.wheaton.edu/repositories/4/resources/625.

Collection 138: Ephemera of Hymn Writers and Composers.

Dates of coverage: 1878–1975.

Microfilmed contents of a scrapbook containing miscellaneous correspondence, photographs, and memorabilia by and about hymn writers and composers. Included are Cliff Barrows, Merrill Dunlop, Lowell Mason, Homer Rodeheaver, Ira Sankey, George Stebbins, and others.

Volume: one reel of microfilm, negatives, photographs.

Website: https://archives.wheaton.edu/repositories/4/resources/603.

Collection 194: Papers of William Howard Doane.

Dates of coverage: 1872–1915.

Letters to Doane concerning hymn publishing and writing from Ira Sankey, Fanny Crosby, Philip P. Bliss, Philip Phillips, and Dwight L. Moody’s daughter-in-law. Also includes a notebook for hymn and sermon references, Doane’s will, handwritten lyrics for hymns, and a photograph of Doane, business leader, philanthropist, and hymn writer.

Volume: one box, photographs.

Website: https://archives.wheaton.edu/repositories/4/resources/732.

Collection 322: Papers of Oswald Jeffrey Smith.

Dates of coverage: 1890–1986.

Correspondence, audiotapes, hymn and poem manuscripts, lantern slides, phonograph records, negatives, photographs, tracts, posters, clippings, scrapbooks, etc., related to Smith’s career as an evangelist, pastor, author and editor, hymn writer and poet, colporteur, and promoter of missions’ involvement. Documents span Smith’s education, colporteur work in Kentucky and Canada, and his pastoring at the Dale Presbyterian Church, Toronto Alliance Tabernacle, Gospel Tabernacle of Los Angeles, the Cosmopolitan Tabernacle (Toronto), Toronto Gospel Tabernacle, and the Peoples Church (Toronto).

Volume: twelve boxes (4.4 cubic feet), seventy-five reels, eleven cassettes of audiotape, negatives, phonograph records, photographs, lantern slides.

Website: https://archives.wheaton.edu/repositories/4/resources/738.

Collection 357: Papers of Percy Bartimus Crawford and Ruth Crawford Porter.

Dates of coverage: 1922–1989.

Films, videos, audio, correspondence, a book manuscript, sermon notes, and other materials documenting the evangelistic ministry of Percy and Ruth Crawford, particularly their radio and television work.

Volume: one document carton, audiotapes, films, phonograph records, photographs, videotapes.

Website: https://archives.wheaton.edu/repositories/4/resources/1192.

Collection 541: Papers of George Beverly Shea

Papers, sheet music, and other material related to the ministry and work of George Beverly Shea, a Canadian-born American gospel singer and hymn composer.