Finding Aid

Billy Graham’s original sermon and speech manuscripts, the notebooks that originally held the manuscripts, a complete set of bound Hour of Decision sermons, a complete set of bound Billy Graham sermon transcripts from crusade events, and a set of high quality copies of the sermons created by Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College

Letters, photograph, notes on phone conversations, programs, and other papers that document Billy Graham’s personal relationship with every US president from Harry Truman to Donald Trump, as well as other world leaders

Personal records, correspondence with Graham family members, and documents on the Graham family history

BGEA materials transferred to the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College including correspondence, sermons, reports, transcripts, newspaper clippings, manuscripts, and other materials maintained at the Montreat Office, as well as materials gathered from non-BGEA sources concerning the Graham family, an assortment of various documents with a personal connection to Billy Graham including a scrapbook containing memorabilia from evangelistic meetings, a program from his funeral service, form letters, audio recordings, films, and video recordings which relate to Billy Graham's family history, his work as an evangelist, and his activities and influence as a public figure, an audio recording of the first Hour of Decision radio broadcast in 1950, and several oral history interviews with his college classmates about their memories

Domestic and international meeting files and correspondence from 1973 to 2018 from the home office in Montreat, North Carolina, and a card catalog for references used in Billy Graham’s sermons, compiled by personnel in his Montreat Office Administration

Sample books (also known as procedure books) compiled during Billy Graham crusades from 1951 to 2005 contains materials of the executive committees and sample forms and documents used during the crusades, correspondence, reports, meeting minutes, files, and other administrative records, along with audio recordings, photographs, and video recordings that document the activity of the BGEA's domestic and international crusade planning division (including information about planning, arrangements, scheduling special events, executive committees, follow-up, the School of Evangelism, etc.), files of crusade directors of the North America Ministries and International Ministries and crusade directors, and numerous invitations from cities asking Billy Graham to preach in their communities

Materials relating to the responsibilities of the Director of Associate Crusades, materials relating to the various duties of the joint offices of the BGEA Atlanta Office Manager and Executive Assistant to the Vice President in charge of Team activities, files of the Administrative Assistant to the Executive Assistant and Office Manager

Files of the staff who prepared for the Amsterdam ’83 conference and files of the members of the executive committee, correspondence, communication, memos, meeting minutes, reports, conference notebooks and programs, manuals, news releases, mailing lists, registration forms, newsletters, and audio and video recordings of most of the plenary sessions and workshops

Copy of the notebook given to participants, audio recordings of the plenary sessions, workshops, seminars and other events of the world conference for evangelists sponsored by the BGEA and held in Amsterdam in July 1986

Sample or procedure books, press releases, programs, reports, speech texts and audio recordings created for the Congress on World Evangelization held in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1974

Recordings and transcripts, mostly of press conferences held by Billy Graham, usually in conjunction with a crusade or event

Books of photographs prepared for the BGEA Board of Trustees depicting important events in the history of the association, yearly activities, and property owned by the association

Correspondence, memos, reports, press releases, telegrams, crusade materials, film orders and more from the BGEA office in London documenting the BGEA’s evangelistic meetings in the United Kingdom and Europe, the impact of the BGEA on British Christianity, the distribution, promotion, and showings of the World Wide Pictures films in the UK, Europe, Africa, Australia and elsewhere, production and distribution of the British edition of Decision Magazine, and interaction between the British office and BGEA headquarter office in the United States, including between Billy Graham and other senior executives of the BGEA

The original handwritten and typed drafts of the 1966 biography by John Pollock as well as the draft of the 2005 revision

Correspondence, reports, audio recordings, and other materials relating to Cliff Barrows’ activities as director of crusade programming, music, and master of ceremonies, and materials relating to his involvement in BGEA’s radio and movie programs

Correspondence, sermons, scrapbooks, meeting minutes, reports, budgets, and other documents relating to Grady Wilson's role as a friend and advisor to Billy Graham, as an officer of the BGEA and its subsidiaries, and as an evangelist who held meetings around the world

Correspondence, memos, reports and other material relating to T. W. Wilson’s work as Billy Graham’s executive assistant illustrating his involvement in the management of BGEA evangelistic campaigns, as well as his functioning as an executive assistant for Billy Graham and the leader of the BGEA’s radio stations

Film, video recordings, advertisements, and artwork produced under the direction of the advertising firm Walter F. Bennett and Company for the BGEA, including copies of the early 1950s radio program Hour of Decision as well as Billy Graham’s later television broadcasts

Correspondence, minutes, invoices, newspaper clippings, films, audio recordings, photographs, and more relating to crusades held by Leighton Ford and other associate evangelists and crusades that were directed by Norman Pell and Irv Chambers

Recordings of the BGEA’s weekly radio program (which included music, announcements about evangelistic meetings, and a sermon by Billy Graham, an associate, or a guest) and the Spanish Hour of Decision program, Momentos de Decision

Press releases, correspondence, transcripts, and other material from the public relations department of BGEA, including material on the activities of crusades, special events, and the planning of the 1974 International Congress on World Evangelism

Films and files of BGEA’s film production company, World Wide Pictures, relating to the production and distribution of evangelistic movies, television programs, and publicity for Billy Graham's crusades

Administrative and reference files of the staff of Decision Magazine including correspondence, reports, newspaper and magazine clippings, statistical reports on BGEA crusades, transcripts of sermons, newsletters, and other miscellaneous material

Audio and video recordings, transcripts, correspondence, memos, evaluations, registration forms and other documents related to the planning, content, and impact of the Schools of Evangelism to train pastors, seminary students, and interested laypeople in methods of evangelism

Correspondence, memos, meeting minutes, statistics, audio recordings, video recordings, and transparency slides documenting the early history and development of BGEA’s telephone counseling ministry, which recruited and trained volunteer counselors to answer phone calls from inquirers at several centers around the country after broadcasts of BGEA’s evangelistic programs on television

Correspondence, memos, reports, pamphlets, newsletters, photographs, and recordings detailing the day-to-day operation of the North Carolina based radio station and its participation in the work of the BGEA

Correspondence, reports, memos, minutes, address lists, photographs, scrapbooks, and other material relating to Willis Haymaker's work as an organizer of evangelistic meetings in the United States and other countries from 1950 to 1970

Correspondence, memos, newsletters, financial records, forms, meeting minutes, photographs, and posters relating to Harry Williams' activities as director of various crusades for the BGEA

A guestbook, a notebook describing the appreciation scroll, and notebooks of invitations sent to prominent politicians, educators, clergy, athletes, generals, and friends with their replies relating to the events held in Charlotte, North Carolina, on September 10, 1968, to honor its native son, Dr. Billy Graham

Correspondence, manuscripts of Robert Ferm’s books on conversion and testimonies by or about people who committed their lives to Jesus Christ during a BGEA meeting, questionnaires, photographs, meeting minutes, schedules, statistics, letters written by people reacting to the work of Billy Graham and the BGEA, and other documents relating to Robert Ferm's positions within the BGEA (research assistant to Billy Graham, coordinator of crusades, co editor of Decision Magazine, and dean of the Schools of Evangelism)

Two audio recordings of addresses given at the 1963 Southern California Crusade Seminary Program, and two booklets containing correspondence, schedules, budgets, and staff and student evaluations relating to the seminary programs held in conjunction with the 1963 Los Angeles Crusade (one of a series of trial programs which eventually resulted in the start of the School of Evangelism component of major crusades)

Audio tapes made of the lectures given in April 1968, at the Sydney School of Evangelism in conjunction with the 1968 Sydney Crusade

Recording of a breakfast meeting held in Los Angeles at the Biltmore Bowl for prominent church leaders and laymen participating in the 1963 Southern California Crusade and includes Billy Graham's talk on the need for revival in America, how a crusade is planned and executed, and comments by Walter Smyth

Correspondence, posters, and reports of the Tokyo branch of the BGEA, which was started in 1967 relating mostly to the office's involvement in the publication of Ketsudan No Toki (the Japanese edition of Decision Magazine), the production and distribution of the film Shiakari Toki, arranging for BGEA television programs to be broadcast, and correspondence from the 1967 Tokyo International Crusade

Oral history tapes and transcripts of over 1,500 persons involved with Billy Graham, the BGEA, a BGEA evangelistic meeting, or an international or regional congress on evangelism

Correspondence, promotional materials, sample books, posters, telegrams, clippings, minutes of meetings, financial reports, films, photographs, slides, video cassettes, audio tapes, phonograph recordings relating to the operations of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Ltd. and its predecessor, Hour of Decision, Ltd., spanning the entire duration of the office’s operation between 1959 and 1986

Correspondence, promotional materials, editorial guidelines, tracts, guest books, incorporation articles, stationery, official seals, audio tapes, a scrapbook, and other materials relating to the operations of the office, the principal task of which was the publication of a Chinese edition of Decision magazine

Correspondence, newspaper clippings, television programming schedules, budgets, invoices, scripts, photographs, and other materials relating to the work of the director, Charles Ward, including other aspects of his career unrelated to the television ministry, dating from 1966 to 1976

Over three hundred fifty scrapbooks of newspaper clippings, magazine clippings, and news releases about the work of Billy Graham and the BGEA mostly from United States periodicals

Correspondence, reports, and other documents relating to Lois Ferm’s work as a personal assistant to Billy Graham and particularly relating to the Billy Graham Center, Graham’s personal library, and the BGEA Oral History Project

Correspondence, clippings, and other papers relating to Donald Irvin's work as a member of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association's 1952 and 1960 evangelistic campaigns in Washington, D.C.

Correspondence and forms, relating to Langley's participation in the BGEA’s 1963 Southern California Crusade and the 1968 Hemisfair Crusade in San Antonio, Texas

Newsletters, correspondence, meeting minutes, newspaper clippings, forms and other materials documenting the Billy Graham Hawaii Crusade in 1965

Minutes, correspondence, forms, and other materials related to John W. Williams' participation in the 1967 Heart of America Crusade, his contacts with President Richard Nixon, and his hosting of the 1970 Congress of Evangelism in Kansas City, Missouri

Correspondence, clippings, and memorabilia relating to Donald Wilson-Haffenden's participation as chairman of the executive committee in 1954, 1966, and 1967 for BGEA crusades in Great Britain

Correspondence and minutes relating to Robert Birch's participation as secretary of the executive committee for the BGEA's 1965 Lower Mainland Crusade in Vancouver, B.C.

Letter from James Dracup to Billy Graham about the time when they were both on the staff of Youth for Christ

Correspondence, press releases, forms and other materials relating to Jack Dain's involvement in the planning for Billy Graham's 1956 evangelistic tour of India

Correspondence, articles, and forms relating to Hugh Gough's involvement as Bishop of Barking in the 1954 Billy Graham Greater London Crusade, the 1953 Syracuse Crusade, and the 1959 Australia Crusade

Correspondence, an audit report, newsletters, and receipts relating to Thomas Maxwell's activities as treasurer of the 1964 Billy Graham Greater Omaha-Council Bluffs Crusade

Correspondence, press releases, forms, minutes, and other materials relating to James Beam's involvement in Billy Graham's 1969 evangelistic campaign in Southern California

Photocopies of correspondence, press releases, forms, minutes, audit statements, and other materials related to J.R. White's involvement in Billy Graham's 1965 evangelistic campaign in Montgomery, Alabama

Minutes and literature of the executive committee of the crusade that, under the direction of Frank Phillips, sponsored a BGEA campaign in Portland, Oregon, in 1950

Correspondence, minutes, newspaper clippings, and other materials that document Roger Hull's participation in the BGEA's 1957, 1969, and 1970 New York evangelistic campaigns and his work on the board of directors of the BGEA

Correspondence, minutes, newspaper clippings, contracts, audit reports, and other materials that document Earl Hankamer's participation in the BGEA's 1952 and 1965 Houston evangelistic campaigns, his involvement in the BGEA's film and television ministry (including the filming of Oil Town), his friendship with Billy Graham, and his financial support of the BGEA

Newspaper clippings, handbills, newsletters, reports, and other materials that document Cyril Black's participation in the BGEA's 1955 Scotland (including his help organizing the broadcast of the Scotland meetings to locations around England via cable) and 1966 evangelistic campaigns in London

Correspondence, minutes, and forms documenting the planning of the BGEA's 1965 Vancouver Lower Mainland Crusade

Copies of BGEA’s articles of incorporation dated between 1951 and 1968 for the branches in Minneapolis, Winnipeg, London, Sydney, and Frankfurt, and the incorporation articles of its affiliations: Grason Company, the Blue Ridge Broadcasting Corporation, the Christian Broadcasting Corporation and Today Publications, Inc. (initially produced Christianity Today)

Lecture notebook belonging to Billy Graham containing copies of notes from theology lectures while Graham was a student at Florida Bible Institute

1970 financial statement and notebook containing corporate records, including the committee's meeting minutes, memos, certificate of incorporation, by-laws, and membership roll for the executive body of the 1969 and 1970 New York crusades

Program for the celebration of the BGEA’s 20th anniversary banquet in 1967 with narrative and pictures illustrating the Association's history

University proposals and preliminary public relations material for the school, and a similar proposal for the Conwell School of Theology

Publicity packet given to the press on the occasion of the ground-breaking and dedication of the Billy Graham Pavilion containing information on Billy Graham's life and ministry, press reports, photographs, biographies of the architect, Edward Durell Stone, and contractors for the pavilion

Minutes, correspondence, legal forms, and budgets documenting incorporation and dissolution of the Billy Graham Hawaii Crusade, Inc., the incorporated and policy-making committee responsible for all aspects of the 1965 Hawaii Crusade

Minute book from Billy Graham's 1950 crusade in Columbia, South Carolina documenting finances, building a tabernacle, publicity, and lists of committee members and participating pastors