All posts by Keith Call

Apostles of Reason

Books, College-related Publications, Researcher Publications, Special Collections

WorthenMolly Worthen, Assistant Professor of History at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, using the combined resources of Wheaton College’s Archives & Special Collections, Billy Graham Center Archives and the Wade Center, has released Apostles of Reason: The Crisis of Authority in American Evangelicalism (2014). Navigating the paradoxes and ideological clashes of the Christian Right with American culture, she examines the often fierce struggle between faith and reason.

Historian Mark Noll, formerly of Wheaton College, remarks: “Apostles of Reason brings a new level of sophistication, as well as sparking prose, to the study of modern American evangelicals. A combination of empathetic understanding and critical acumen makes this an unusually humane, as well as unusually insightful, book.”

From “For Christ and His Kingdom” to the Magic Kingdom

Alumni, Books

CosgroveNo common book cites among its Acknowledgements celebrities such as Walt Disney, Bob Hope, Steve Allen and Jack LaLanne along with theologian E.J. Carnell and evangelist Charles E. Fuller, but Joseph Patrick Cosgrove (’54), producer, director and broadcaster, happily thanks  these and others in his memoir, Walt Dreamers Me (2013), for contributing to the rich diversity of his life.

Originally from Boston, Cosgrove includes a few entries about his days at Wheaton College. A sampling:

Arrival – Wheaton College. With a letter of recommendation from Dr. Ockenga, I am off to Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois. I am the only one from my neighborhood seeking higher education. I am now on my journey of life and closer to my goal of going to California.

Overwhelmed College Daze. Taking a full load of classes and working full time to pay tuition overwhelms me and I withdraw from Wheaton at the end of six weeks and return to Boston. As I meet with my pastor, Dr. Harold Ockenga, I am convinced to return to Wheaton after only one missing week. Dr. Ockenga personally pays for my first semester and arranges with the college Dean for my return to college life. Dr. Ockenga has become a father figure to me. There is no going back to Boston. I am off and running and work long hours through each summer and spring break to pay my living expenses as well as my tuition and books.

The Learned Campus Lessons. Living in a college dormitory and attending college class is a challenge for me. Daily chapel is mandatory at Wheaton College in 1950. Wheaton is a well-known and conservative evangelical institution with a reputation for high scholarship. I learn as much working in factories and doing construction work as I do in the classroom. Students at Wheaton must sign a pledge not to dance, play cards, smoke, gamble or attend the theater, opera or stage plays. I sign because I do not have the time or money to do these things anyway. Because I saw firsthand what alcohol did to my father, I do not drink or smoke.

Christmas Comes in October. As Head Cheerleader I decide to celebrate Christmas in October. The City of Wheaton decides to let me borrow city Christmas decorations. Overnight the Wheaton College campus is decorated with Santa Claus and his reindeer. Music of the season, from “White Christmas” to “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” as recorded by Bing Crosby and the Andrews sisters, rocks the campus the next day. I am called to the Dean’s office to explain myself. The Dean is a bit rattled by my antics but the campus cheers me.

California: Here Comes Joe! In the fall of 1954, I began classes at Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California. Founded in 1947 by media pioneer Charles E. Fuller and Dr. Harold John Ockenga, Fuller Seminary is an innovative and inclusive graduate school situated in the heart of downtown Pasadena. Dr. Ockenga is featured speaker at my graduation at Wheaton College and afterward he enrolls me for the Fall Semester at Fuller Seminary. I find graduate school a real challenge compared to college.

Settling in California, he begins his career as a broadcaster and occasional employee of Disney, while also campaigning for Ronald Reagan and Barry Goldwater. He also directs and produces fitness guru Jack LaLanne’s first media kit and “Jack’s Big Swim for Fitness.”

Summing up his life lessons, Cosgrove writes: 1) Follow your dreams. 2) Keep focused doing it. 3) Use your imagination and fantasy to create your vision. 4) Be optimistic. 5) Keep learning something new. 6) Be open minded. 7) Team up with talented people of like minds and attitudes. 8) Engage and entertain others through storytelling and music.

 

Campus Cakewalk

Wheaton College Archives

b9071Wheaton College enjoys a tradition of self-referentially “doing up” its landmarks as tempting refreshments, usually presented at ceremonies or celebrations.

For instance, this cake, a replica of the newly constructed Memorial Student Student Center, was served at the grand opening in 1951. The ribbon was cut by Mrs. J.G. Read, mother of Gold Star son Lt. Glenn Read, a Flying Fortress Navigator reported missing over the English Channel during WWII. The first slice was extracted by Glenn Heck, Student Council Chairman. 1500 guests attended the open house.

A few years later this appealing sheet cake, shaped like an open Bible, was served at the 1965 inauguration of Dr. Hudson Armerding, fifth president of Wheaton College. The previous presidents and their administrative tenures are cited in the frosting, along with an illustration of the iconic limestone Tower from Blanchard Hall. a11336

a10621Dr. V. Raymond Edman, former president of Wheaton College, now serving as Chancellor, was treated to this birthday cake in 1966, presented by the student body. The greeting inscribed in frosting reads, “Happy Birthday, Prexy,” next to yet another representation of the Tower, a flag waving atop.

Below, this impressive gingerbread Edman Chapel was created by twins Kay and Karen Chamberlain, who displayed it in the lobby of the Memorial Student Chapel in 1992. Accompanying the display is a list of ingredients.

gingerbread

Blanchard Hall appears again as a magnificent gingerbread house in a 2013 Wheaton College promotional video, featuring Dr. Philip Ryken and family (including Miss Karoline Ryken, pictured) at Christmas. image1

 

 

 

Out with the Old

Wheaton College Archives

Natural studies had long been featured in the Wheaton College curriculum, but the ever-increasing interest in science indicated to the administration that a modern facility was needed to house the biology, physics and mathematics departments. The proposed structure would adjoin the existing Breyer chemistry building, and would include 20 faculty offices, six class rooms, 14 instructional laboratories, 15 faculty or student research labs and a reference room for housing specialized journals and handbooks representing all the sciences. It would also feature an exhibit hall for the recently acquired Perry Mastodon, displayed in a glass enclosure facing the quadrangle lawn. This plan, designed in Georgian style, was initially proposed: SB1

After further discussion, the plan was revised, prompted by economic factors, provision of additional space, the possibility of future expansion and the desire for a more contemporary motif. Like the previous plan, this design allowed for a telescope and observatory on its roof. Groundbreaking began on June 1, 1969. Armerding Science Building (below) opened in 1971 and served admirably for the next thirty-nine years until the state-of-the-art Meyer Science Center opened in 2010.SB2

 

Christmas Greetings from Prexy Edman

College-related Publications, Wheaton College Archives

PrexyXmasThe December, 1961, Wheaton Alumni magazine features on its cover a photo of President and Mrs. Edman sitting cozily before a blazing holiday hearth, probably at their home, Westgate.

(Or perhaps it is a cold fireplace with a lantern placed within, since there does not seem to be an actual fire.)

The caption reads, “We asked ‘Prexy’ and ‘Friend Wife’ to carry to you our greetings for Christmas and the New Year ‘For Christ and His kingdom.'”

The Geography of Memory

Alumni, Books, Collection-related Publications, Special Collections

JMWJeanne Murray Walker, poet and teacher, tells the tale of her mother’s slow, agonizing descent into the depths of dementia and eventual death in The Geography of Memory (2013). As her mother recedes increasingly into the past, Walker sees her own childhood illuminated. Better understanding their relationship, mother and daughter bind ever tighter as the days darken.

“Provides us with fresh glimpses into hidden joys and startling surprises.” — Richard J. Foster, author of A Celebration of Discipline

“I read it, mesmerized, wondering my way through this deeply moving portrait.” — Luci Shaw, poet

“A powerful tale of loss but also renewal, pain but also love. A treasure.” — Alan Jacobs, author of The Narnian

“This deeply humane memoir is at once a memorial to a mother whose memory failed before her body gave way, a poignant reflection on the sister who lived close by while the author flew in repeatedly from afar, and an insightful exposition on memory itself. With a poet’s eye for the apt image, The Geography of Memory is also a case book of spiritual disciplines taught by what Jeanne Murray Walker calls “the ugly twins, aging and death.”   — Mark Noll, Francis A. McAnaney Professor of History, University of Notre Dame, author of The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind

The papers of Jeanne Murray Walker (SC-72) are archived in the Wheaton College (IL) Special Collections.

Listening for Madeleine

MarcusLeonard S. Marcus, author and literary historian, has compiled Listening for Madeleine (2012), a collection of interviews by friends, family, writers and editors who knew Madeleine L’Engle, author of A Wrinkle in Time, Bright Evening Star, Certain Women and many more titles. Sections concentrating on various aspects of her life include “Madeleine in the Making,” “Writer,” “Matriarch,” “Mentor,” “Friend” and “Icon.”

In his Introduction, Marcus describes a 2002 interview with L’Engle, conducted at her home, Crosswicks.

What followed was an utterly remarkable performance, and an act of generosity that must have drawn on every ounce of her strength and determination. I recognized, from the published interviews I had prepped on, her responses to some of my questions. But much of what she said, I thought, was new. When I asked her about the mail she received from readers, L’Engle told the story of a young reader of A Wrinkle in Time who ended what had seemed a typical fan letter with the news that he was ill with cancer. “We corresponded,” she said, “until he died. It was hard and wonderful both.” Then L’Engle said, “My books are not bad books to die with.” As she uttered this extraordinary remark, a chill ran up my spine. “What do you mean?” I asked her. “What I mean,” she said, “is that when I read a book, if it makes me feel more alive, then it’s a good book to die with. That,” said L’Engle, “is why certain books last.”

The papers of Madeleine L’Engle (SC-03) are archived in the Wheaton College (IL) Special Collections.

A Haunted Memory: Charles Satchel Morris, Jr. and Wheaton College

Alumni

Morris3Charles Satchell Morris, Jr., born in West Newton, Massachusetts, on June 11, 1899, was the great-grandson of ex-slave Frederick Douglass, and the son of a renowned Harlem pastor. Morris, Jr., entered the world equipped with extraordinary talents. Known during his early years as the “boy orator,” he was recognized for his dexterity with the English language. During high school he won the state oratorical contest over 120 white contestants.

As an African American, he frequently faced with poise and fortitude the humiliating challenges of the day. First attending Wilson Academy in New York and then Wheaton Academy, he matriculated to Wheaton College in 1919, studying English, geology, math, history, philosophy and German. In addition, he participated in the Student Army Training Corps (SATC). He was a fine student in all endeavors, but his creativity naturally blossomed in oratory, which he perfected in the busy social milieu provided by the Excelsior literary society.

After Wheaton College Morris attended the University of Chicago and Columbia University, then traveled the country, spellbinding audiences with his splendidly crafted speeches and captivating preaching before securing employment at Tennessee State College as Head of the Department of Speech, then Chair of English at Virginia State College, and eventually as Dean of Baptist Seminary and College, now defunct.

In 1943 he was invited by Dr. Adam Clayton Powell, Sr., father of Representative Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., to deliver the Twentieth Anniversary Sermon of the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, where Morris’s father had served before Powell, Sr. Dr. Powell writes fondly of Morris, Jr., in his memoir, Against the Tide (1938), honoring his friend for defending him during a controversy:

The brilliant Charles Satchell Morris, Jr., then Dean of Virginia Seminary and College, dropped in at the Baptist Ministers’ Conference at Roanoke, Virginia, where I was being verbally assaulted. He got the floor and by eloquent words expressed his approval of my letter and convinced some of the brethren that my position was in harmony with the teachings of Christ and His Apostles. He told them that they were fighting God and not Dr. Powell.

Eventually Morris moved with his wife to Los Angeles. Desiring to reconnect with classmates in 1946, he requested from registrar Enoch Dyrness a list of local alumni. Dyrness, responding in an interoffice memo, writes:

…Mr. Morris is one of our few colored former students, and was quite a silver tongued orator when he was in school. My last contact with him was at the University of Chicago where he was taking some graduate work. He is quite an aristocratic negro, and I am afraid he has some rather radical leanings. I would be very hesitant about releasing any kind of a list to him, but I thought you might suggest that he get in touch with the president of the Los Angeles club. I hope he has reformed, but my guess is that he is still something of a rascal.

Dyrness does not explain in existing correspondence his perception of Morris as a “radical” or a “rascal.”

Continually in demand as a speaker, Morris preached in 1958 at North Montgomery Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, where Rev. Martin Luther King served as pastor.Morris  Opening remarks for the event were presented by King, who that evening wrote on the program: Tonight we have heard one of the greatest messages we have ever heard. It was inspirational, eloquent, profound and scholarly.

In 1987 Morris received a request from the Wheaton College Alumni Association, asking for a financial contribution to assist with the renovation of Blanchard Hall. On the back of the request he wrote:

While I do not wish to discourage your monetary efforts, my contributions to Wheaton are over as long as I maintain my sanity. I would not give 10 cents to complete Blanchard Hall. This man was responsible for a life-time insult. Please never, never, never ask me to make any further contributions to the College. As a soldier being asked out of the dining room (on the part of a so-called Christian college) which action was sustained by Blanchard, haunts my memory after 69 years. Nor do I wish any more pleas for funds. [The University of] Chicago does not even have to ask, nor does Columbia, both secular schools.

Despite ill feelings toward Wheaton College, Morris admired Edward Coray, director of athletics.  Morris wrote to Lee Pfund, then-director of the Alumni Association: “If they had about 10 persons at Wheaton like Coach Coray, then my attitude toward the College would be entirely different.” The origins of his discontent during his student career can only be surmised; nonetheless, Wheaton College is honored that this distinguished man passed through its doors.

In addition to his roles as lecturer and educator, Morris was the former National Executive Secretary for French war orphans, and a member of the National Security League. Charles Satchell Morris, Jr., died on November 20, 1999, in Santa Ana, CA.

Tradiquette

Alumni, Books

tradiquette1950 was a very good year for courtesy at Wheaton College. Concerned about campus decorum in daily routines, the Intersociety Council compiled a handy booklet for instructing the average clueless Wheaton student on the correct social behavior involved in such matters as successful interaction with the opposite sex, polite chitchat, appealing dress and proper dinnertime comportment. This instructional is titled “Tradiquette,” smashing together the words “tradition” and “etiquette.” The editors state:

No one wants to feel odd, awkward or ill-at-ease. To be known as a person of poise is very much to be desired. In order that this be true of one, he must know the answers — what the inhabitants of his particular little world considers important — “how to do what, when.” So in your hand you have, for that very purpose, a little guide book compiled by Wheatonites for Wheatonites.

The advice is sensible. For instance, “…be free with the toothbrush. After all, water doesn’t bite, and being friendly with it can take a lot of the sting out of life.” The entry called “Don’t be an iceberg” encourages smiling and friendly conversation with students, staff and campus visitors. The entry called “Don’t be a clinging vine” warns the young lady about excessive arm-in-arm strolling with her guy because “…maybe he doesn’t want the extra load.” She must be reasonable. “But very seldom,” it adds, “does a girl grab a wing without a reason.”

The entry called “Class in class” cautions students against disrespectful behavior like 1) coming in late 2) writings letters 3) looking out the window 4) chewing gum 5) combing hair 6) whispering 7) filing fingernails 8) sleeping. “If you’re guilty of this — to the doghouse, please.”

What would the editors think of cell phones and instant texting?

 

Death Takes No Holiday

College-related Publications

Men die each day. But in certain instances, an intriguing coincidence occurs. For instance, former U.S. Presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died within four hours of each other — on the 4th of July, no less. On a smaller scale within the Evangelical community, two notables passed on January 1, 1937: Dr. George H. Smith, the “Grand Old Man of Wheaton College Athletics” and Dr. J. Gresham Machen, who staunchly defended theological orthodoxy in the face of encroaching liberalism during the 1920s.

The larger world little noted their passing, but the event was splashed on the front page of the January 6, 1937, student newspaper, The Wheaton Record. Death Takes Drs. Smith, Machen over Holidays announces the headlines in large, bold lettering.

SmithSmith, “…the kindest, friendliest of men,” was Retired Head of the Classics Department. In addition, he was instrumental in founding the Athletics Department at Wheaton College, encouraging intercollegiate sports in an era when it was disparaged by educators. As professor of classical languages and head of the department of foreign languages, he was noted for “untiring zeal.” An ordained Congregational minister, he served churches in California, Hawaii, Ohio and Illinois. Dead at 89, his funeral was conducted at Gary Memorial Church in Wheaton.

J. Gresham Machen, founder of Westminster Theological Seminary, was not associated with Wheaton College, but wrote such classics as What is faith?, The Origin of Paul’s Religion and The Virgin Birth, used during theology classes. Dr. J. Oliver Buswell, President of Wheaton College and fellow Presbyterian, likened Machen to Athanasius, whose witness, if accepted by the church, would have precluded the dark ages. Machen died of pneumonia in Bismark, North Dakota.