Billy Graham Evangelistic Association to Open Research Center and Archives at Billy Graham Library Nov. 8
A 30,000-square-foot, $12 million archive and research center will open at the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte, N.C. on Nov. 8, a day after what would have been the 104th birthday of America’s most famous evangelist.
The facility will house all of Billy Graham’s papers and artifacts in one location for the first time, consolidating artifacts that were loaned to the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College, items from Graham’s home office in Montreat, N.C., and materials from his ministry’s former offices in Minneapolis, per Christianity Today.
The archive and research center will be adjacent to the property housing the Billy Graham Library, Graham’s boyhood home and gravesite, and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association headquarters.
Researchers will be required to make an appointment at least 14 days in advance to access the archives.
Franklin Graham, president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, said the purpose of the new facility is to not only preserve his father’s records but also to give future generations a place where they can study the work of evangelism.
“There is a generation that doesn’t know Billy Graham, they don’t know Jesus Christ or anything about God,” Franklin Graham said. “We want to inspire and equip future leaders to carry out the Great Commission as they study my father’s written, audio, and video materials from decades of ministry to learn what God did through Billy Graham and how God did it.”
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Some of the items catalogued and preserved at the center will include personal memorabilia, press and media reports, and corporate Billy Graham Evangelistic Association historical documents.
The collection also features private records which have never before been available for public viewing, including Graham’s correspondence with 13 U.S. Presidents, international heads of state and celebrities, and keepsakes from his world ministry travels.
Scholars also will be able to study Graham’s preaching notes.
“Mr. Graham wouldn’t have approved of any of this unless it could be used to further the gospel,” David Bruce, Billy Graham’s former executive assistant, told Christianity Today. “I hope that people see the work of God in his life, and then all the history he touched, and it can encourage people to reflect on the living, breathing Word of God.”
