2015 ASDAH Newsletter
The Association of Seventh-day Adventist Historians
Fall 2015
[Editor: Brian E. Strayer; Assistant Editor: Carmelita Arthur; President: Edward Allen]
Letter to the Members: Scholarship Is Witnessing!
Dear ASDAH Members,
Half a century ago in the 1960s when I was a teenager at Union Springs Academy, I dedicated four summers to selling books and magazines as a student literature evangelist (LE). While many of my friends were at the beach, at camp, or at home sipping lemonade by their backyard pools, I was knocking on unfriendly doors, facing hostile dogs, and sweating profusely as I trudged down long streets on hot summer afternoons in upstate New York. Ah, but this was witnessing the HHES director, our teachers, and our parents assured us. And to be honest, we did sell hundreds of dollars of Christian literature in those family-friendly days.
Sometimes, however, our attempts to witness were misunderstood. The Finger Lakes region in the 1960s was also home to thousands of Mormons (LDS) and Jehovah’s Witnesses, and like Adventist LE’s, their boys went door to door two by two carrying briefcases and wearing white shirts, dark ties, and crisply ironed pants (or dark skirts and white blouses for the girls). Often we would be met at the door by adults who, thinking we represented one or the other sect, refused to let us into their homes. Sometimes it required skillful diplomacy to explain that SDAs were not like Mormons or Jehovah’s Witnesses when one was uncertain whether the person asking the question belonged to one or the other group! While seeking to witness for our Adventist faith, we tried not to offend the beliefs of another whose home we hoped to enter.
To a certain extent, we Adventist historians are caught in that same dilemma. As Adventists we have an obligation to witness for our faith and serve the Church that pays us to teach. But as historians we also have an obligation to engage in scholarship through research, writing, and publishing in our disparate fields. Are the two compatible? I would argue that they are. By engaging in serious scholarship (in Adventist History as well as all other fields of history), we witness to academia that Seventh-day Adventist historians do not belong to some weird sect, but instead represent a global community of thinking Christians whose advanced degrees enable them to do scholarship of as high a quality as any historian from any university in the land.
My favorite quote from Ellen White supports this idea. “The greatest work of the teacher is to lead those under his charge to be intellectual Christians.” There should be no dichotomy between being an intellectual and being an Adventist Christian. While some Fundamentalist Christians (at one end of the spectrum) and secular humanists (at the other end) may polarize these two concepts as antagonistic to each other, we Adventist historians should strive to harmonize them in our lives. True, in the conventional sense, our witnessing efforts may not always lead souls to the baptistery. But as we chair sessions and read or comment on papers at non-Adventist history conferences; as we write scholarly books and publish serious articles; and as we participate in regional, national, and international conventions and colloquiums, we testify that as historians we represent a Church that takes scholarship seriously.
Some of my most treasured witnessing moments as a historian have occurred serendipitously. Once while I was walking down Concourse C at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, a complete stranger ran up to me, greeted me by name, and proceeded to tell me how much he was enjoying my recently published book on 17th and 18th century Paris police and prisons. His further query about where I taught enabled me to share some thoughts about Andrews University and Adventist education. Another time while sitting at my office desk, the phone rang and on the other end was a distinguished French History scholar who opened the conversation by saying he had a copy of my book about the Jansenists and Convulsionnaires sitting on his desk and wondered if I would chair a session and comment on some papers at an upcoming history conference. A year ago I was contacted by a member of the Religion Department at DePaul University (the largest Roman Catholic university in America) asking me to present a paper on the Jansenists to the faculty there. This visit also provided me the opportunity to talk about Andrews University and Adventist education. I presume many of you reading this newsletter have had similar experiences.
But is that witnessing? I assert that it is. Interestingly enough, of the twelve definitions of “witness” in my Webster’s New World College Dictionary, only one—“to testify to religious beliefs or faith”—meets the traditional Adventist definition of the term. All the rest relate to secular venues. The one that I think best meets our situation as historians is #5: “Something providing or serving as evidence.” As each one of us engages in serious, scholarly activity, we provide oral and written evidence that we are neither ivory-tower eggheads devoid of religious faith, nor are we anti-intellectual sectarians who care nothing for serious research. We are, therefore, witnessing about who we are as scholars, about the serious work we publish, and perhaps more significantly, about the kind of denomination we represent.
Kudos to every one of you who sent me reports of your recent professional activity and scholarly endeavors! You are witnessing, not only to your ASDAH peers and colleagues through the pages of this newsletter, but also to a wider world of scholars who need to know who we are. May your tribe increase!
Yours for the best in history,
Brian E. Strayer, Editor
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Upcoming 2016 ASDAH Triennial Conference
The Eighth Triennial ASDAH Conference will convene on the campus of La Sierra University in Riverside, CA, from March 17 to 20, 2016. Authors are invited to submit abstracts or papers that approach the theme—“Periods of Transition”—from any perspective: historical, political, sociological, textual, or any other theoretical model. Papers may be presented from either an American or a global focus. Pre-formed panels or papers designed to be presented along with another paper are welcome, although individual papers that are accepted will be placed on panels with others that are similarly themed. In light of ASDAH’s historical focus upon denominational history, papers that focus on aspects of SDA history are particularly welcome. Academy history and social studies teachers are also invited to plan sessions dealing with challenges and pedagogical issues in secondary education. Papers should be no longer than 8-10 pages (about twenty minutes when read aloud). Please send proposals for session and/or abstracts (or completed papers) by January 4, 2016, to Dr. Andrew Howe at [email protected] or La Sierra University, Department of History, 4500 Riverwalk Pkwy., Riverside, CA 92515. Notification of your paper’s acceptance will come by February 15 and the paper must be in its final form ready to share by February 28.
The cost of registration is $80 until February 1 and $100 thereafter. Checks should be mailed to the address listed above, and made out to “La Sierra University” with “ASDAH” written on the memo line.
Although there is no lodging available on the La Sierra Campus, nearby lodging can be found at Hampton Inn & Suites-Riverside (To make reservation, visit Hampton Inn WEBSITE or call 951-352-5020). A block of rooms at the Hampton has been reserved for $92 per night + tax (normal rate: $149) and these are a 5-10-minute walk from campus on a good sidewalk. In order to get the discount, ask for “ASDAH” (not La Sierra) when making a reservation. After February 25, any rooms remaining in the block will be opened to the public, so plan on reserving them before then. The Hampton Inn has a continental breakfast, and we are exploring the possibility of having the Thursday afternoon registration and evening keynote address there.
Although not as convenient, the Ayres Inn-Corona East (Click Ayres Inn WEBSITE or call 951-734-2140) is also an option. The Ayres is a ten-minute drive from campus. Their rate is $84 per night + tax (ask for “the La Sierra discount”), although rates will most likely go up in January.
Meals at the La Sierra dining commons are all-you-can-eat: $7.00 for breakfast and $9.00 for lunch and dinner. Adjacent to the cafeteria is the Eagle’s Nest, a small café that has per item selections and is generally open when the dining commons is closed. Numerous restaurants are within easy walking distance of both the Hampton Inn and the Ayres Inn.
A campus map, driving directions to the university, parking information, and airport information are available at www.lasierra.edu/map-and-directions/. Ontario is the best airport to fly into due to its proximity and traffic, with John Wayne/Santa Ana often a good second option, and Los Angeles/LAX a distant third option. All three airports have multiple car rental agency options as well as airport shuttle services: Super Shuttle (www.supershuttle.com), Go Airport Shuttle (www.goairportshuttle.com), and Prime Time Shuttle (www.primetimeshuttle.com) and all run to/from these three airports. (Please note that neither of the hotels has a dedicated “hotel shuttle.”) A round-trip shuttle from/to Ontario should cost around $75. Those planning on driving a vehicle and who require a permit for on-campus parking should contact Andrew Howe ([email protected] or call 951-785-2341) at least a week in advance of the meetings.
The guest speaker for the Thursday night keynote session will be Martin Doblmeier, award-winning documentary filmmaker and director of Bonhoeffer (2003), The Adventists (2010), The Adventists 2 (2013), and The Blueprint: A Story of Adventist Education (2013). Mr. Doblmeier’s keynote address will feature his interest in Adventism and education, as well as his latest work. Dr. David Trim, Director of Archives, Statistics, and Research at the GC, will speak at the Friday plenary session.
Currently there are two options for the Sabbath afternoon/evening field trips:
Option 1 ($60): A visit to the Huntington Library, with its rare book collections, art collections, and gorgeous botanical grounds. Given the Huntington’s limited winter hours, this trip will be leaving prior to lunch, so those who choose this option will need to attend the early church service (8:30 a.m.) at the La Sierra University Church. The fee includes transportation, entry, and a sack lunch.
Option 2 ($20): A tour of California’s “Inland Empire” (Riverside, Redlands, Loma Linda). Stops may include some of the following: the California Citrus State Historical Park, the Mission Inn Hotel (Mission Revival architectural style), Tio’s Tacos (Mexican folk art), the Abraham Lincoln Memorial Shrine, the A. K. Smiley Public Library (Mission Revival architecture), and the Loma Linda University campus. The fee includes transportation and entry.
The Session’s Business meeting has been schedule for Saturday night at 8:00pm. This change has been made to facility the departure on Sunday morning of many participants who will need to catch early morning flights to reach their destinations at a reasonable time.
The links for submitting papers, conference registration, the conference program, and travel and accommodation logistics will soon be activated on the ASDAH website (www.sdahistorians.org). Check it regularly for updated information. We look forward to seeing many of you there!
The Donald R. McAdams Adventist History Research Grants
All scholars of Adventist history will be pleased to learn of new research funding now available. Appropriately, this generous support for Adventist history research comes from one of the founders of ASDAH. Donald R. McAdams (Ph.D., Duke University), a former professor of history at Andrews University, president of Southwestern Adventist University (1975-84), and successful education consultant, has over a long career maintained a lively interest in denominational history. (He was among the first scholars in the 1970s to examine Ellen White’s use of historical sources.) Now, assisted by a matching grant from Exxon, Dr. McAdams and his wife Anne have established the McAdams Adventist History Research Grants.
The intention of the grant program is to fund significant projects in Millerite/Adventist history that will result in publication. Scholars holding a Ph.D. in History (or related fields) or who have demonstrated competence in the field of Adventist history are eligible to apply. Grants are not intended to aid research for completion of doctoral work, although funding may be available for scholars who are revising completed dissertations for publication. Grants will ordinarily be in the range of $3000-$10,000. Follow-up grants for large projects may be available.
Applicants should complete the application form (included here or found at the ASDAH website, www.sdahistorians.org), which asks for a short description of the project. If a project is judged to be promising, the committee will ask for a fuller statement (1200-2000 words), including a proposed budget. Application letters should be submitted to Dr. Steve Jones, Department of History, Southwestern Adventist University, 100 W. Hillcrest, Keene, TX 76059. There are two deadlines: November 1, 2015 and April 1, 2016. A selection committee of veteran ASDAH members (Steve Jones, Terrie Aamodt, Eric Anderson, Ben McArthur) will review applications and make recommendations.
The McAdams Adventist History Research Grant Application asks for the following information: Your name, institutional affiliation, project title, the amount of funds requested, and a brief description (half a page) of your project, including its significance for Adventist history, how far along you currently are, and your publication expectations.
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Colleges, Universities, & Institutional Reports
Adventist International Institute for Advanced Studies (AIIAS)
Michael Campbell recently presented five papers: “Power, Print, and Martyrdom in the Development of SDA Missions in China, 1916-1936” at the Adventism in China/ASDAH Conference in Hong Kong on October 31, 2014; “Developing an Asian SDA Theology” at the AIIAS Seminary Forum on November 1, 2014; “Development of SDA and Ministerial Identify, 1863-1881” at the Adventist Theological Society in San Diego on November 22, 2014; “The Sabbath and the Taiping Rebellion” at the Society of Biblical Literature in San Diego, November 23, 2014; and “Developments in the Relationship between Seventh Day Baptists and SDAs” at the American Society of Church History in Minneapolis on April 16, 2015. During the past year, Mike has also had six book reviews and four peer-reviewed articles published. In addition to contributing a chapter to the George Knight festschrift and preparing thirteen articles for the forthcoming Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States to be published by Rowman & Littlefield, his article on “SDAs and the Formation of Ministerial Identity” appeared in the October 2014 Ministry while his article on “The Forgotten Revival of 1873” appeared in the February 26, 2015 Adventist Review. Mike is currently the editor of the peer-reviewed Journal of Asia Adventist Seminary and has begun teaching a new class on the History of Christianity in Asia.
Andrews University
Stephanie Carpenter joined the Department in 2014 after several years at Murray State University in Kentucky. Her specialties include American agriculture, the American West, Twentieth-century U.S., and women’s history. Currently she is doing research for a chapter referencing the Great Depression in the American South, women in the SDA Church during WWII, twentieth-century Civil Rights, and SDA nineteenth-century agricultural practices. She reports that the Department currently has 21 History Majors, 20 Political Science Majors, and 5 Social Studies Majors. John Markovic has used his spring semester sabbatical and summer to finish a book-length manuscript on the emerging church movement, which he expects to send to a publisher this fall. In 2014 two of Brian Strayer’s books were published: J. N. Loughborough: The Last of the Adventist Pioneers (509 pp.), the eighth book in the Adventist Pioneer Biography Series, by Review and Herald Publishing Association, and Romans Were Known For Their Aquaducks and Other Gems of Wit and Wisdom in Western Civilization (147 pp.), a hilarious compendium of 30 years of blue book bloopers with faux footnotes, by Spyderwort Press. He is currently finishing a 300-page biography of John Byington for the Adventist Pioneer Biography Series (hopefully continued by PPPA) and, with colleagues Linda Mack (AU Music Librarian Emeritus) and Marianne Kordas (current AU Music Librarian), completing a life-and-times biography of Dr. Blythe Owen (1898-2000), musician, composer, and music professor at WWC and AU to be submitted to the University of Rochester Press in 2016. He also had one book review published in the American Historical Review (June 2014) and another in French History (Fall 2015). Last fall he presented a paper entitled “Jansenism: Its Key Figures, Themes, and Relevance Today” to the religion faculty at DePaul University in Chicago. This fall Brian is teaching a new class, History, Myth and Film, at his home that examines the treatment of women, war, and race in eleven films from “Birth of a Nation” (1915) to the recent “Unbroken” (2015). He will retire after 42 years in education on July 1, 2016.
Archives of the General Conference of SDAs
In the fall of 2014 David Trim’s article “Reaching the World’s 500 Largest Cities: A Demographic and Statistical Analysis” (co-authored with Rick McEdward) appeared in the Journal of Adventist Mission Studies, while his chapter “Nurture, Retention and Discipleship” was published this spring in Kwon JohngHaeng’s edited work Retention and Reclamation, the ninth issue in the Northern Asia-Pacific Division Mission Publications. His presentation at Humboldt University in Berlin entitled “Put All to the Sword: The Effects of Reformation on the Ethics of War in 16th Century Germany and England” was published in Dorothea Wendebourg and Alec Ryrie, editors, Sister Reformations II in 2014. In addition to his article “Revival and Reformation Revisited: Lessons From the 1973 Annual Council” in the October 9, 2014 Adventist Review, David’s chapter “Modernism and Post-Modernism in Western Thought and Culture: From ‘Buttoned-Up Tight’ to ‘Ad Hoc Tattooed’” appeared in Journeys to Wisdom: Festschrift in Honour of Michael Pearson in 2015. Benjamin Baker published over two dozen articles on various aspects of Adventist history, and won the prestigious Associated Church Press Award of Excellence for his November 27, 2014, Adventist Review cover story “The Last House.” Trim and Baker coedited Fundamental Belief 6: Creation, the first in a new series of finding aids produced by the GC Archives. This 75-page work chronicles the process of the drafting and adoption of Fundamental Belief 6. The GC Archivist and Assistant Archivist also continued to host “This Week in Adventist History,” a weekly television segment aired on Adventist News Network and Hope Channel, now in its fourth year. In April 2015 the GC Spring Meeting approved the Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists, a $1.6 million, 5-year project directed by GC Archives. David will serve as Editor, while Benjamin will leave his position as Assistant Archivist to become the Managing Editor. David and Benjamin will contact Adventist scholars to assist in this World Church project. Ashlee Chism began as the new Assistant Archivist in August 2015.
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Avondale College of Higher Education
In 2015, Signs Publishing issued Daniel Reynaud’s book The Man the Anzacs Revered: William ‘Fighting Mac’ McKenzie, Anzac Chaplain. Also this year, the second edition of Testament: Anthology of Modern Romanian Verse, a bilingual anthology by Daniel Ionita, Eva Foster, Daniel Renaud, and Rochelle Bews, was published in Bucharest. During 2015 Daniel contributed two book chapters (the “Preface” to Testament and “War” in Ben Goldsmith, Mark Ryan, and Geoff Lealand’s Directory of World Cinema: Australian & New Zealand Cinema 2); two refereed journal articles (“Role-Playing as a Tool to Facilitate Learning, Self-Reflection and Social Awareness in Teacher Education” for the January issue of International Journal of Innovative Interdisciplinary Research, and “Film/Cinema Australia” in the on-line edition of the International Encyclopedia of the First World War); he presented a paper with Larisa Miler on “Australian Chaplains at Gallipoli: Role, Impact and Influence” at the Fourth International Gallipoli Symposium in Istanbul in March; and created five media productions for the Adventist Media Network and the National Film and Sound Archive.
La Sierra University
Over the past year Andrew Howe has presented papers on the Museum of Jurassic Technology at the American Studies Association and big game hunting at the Popular Culture Association. He also published an essay on libertarianism in the TV show Firefly. Currently he is working on presentations on manifest destiny as reflected in the movie Avatar and the partial rehabilitation of Billy Mitchell through film. He reports that LSU’s Department of History, Politics, and Sociology, which has recently moved (with English) into the Humanities Building, has about 65 majors, of whom two-thirds are majoring in history. New faculty members include the sociologist Eric Vega (Chicano and Gender Studies) and the political scientist Sasha Ross International Politics and Middle East History), who is following in her father Gary Ross’s footsteps at LSU.
Southern Adventist University
Lisa Diller will this year finish her current term as Department Chair and Chair of the Faculty Senate. She now teaches the History of the Christian Church course that Dennis Pettibone (retired) had taught for many years. She has recently finished writing two papers for publication, one on 17th century Anglican Bishop Gilbert Burnet and the other on the Catholic Reformation of Manners Movement in 17th century England. Kris Erskine is teaching courses in American Foreign Policy and Modern China. He is currently developing a course outline for a new class, Political Theory, and in collaboration with a professor from the Journalism Department, a new course in 20th Century War Through Film. This past summer he attended an NEH institute on Sino-US Relations over the past 150 years in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Shannon Martin, a political scientist whose last teaching stint was in Saudi Arabia, has joined the Department to direct the Global Policy and Service Program. Benjamin McArthur reports that in the spring 2015 semester, Steve Jones at Southwestern Adventist University, Malcolm Russell at Union College, and Ben at Southern collaborated to offer a video-linked course commemorating the centennial of WWI. English professors at SAU and UC also participated by giving presentations on poetry and prose fiction on the war. This represents an early effort by the recently formed Adventist Educational Alliance to link campuses together. During the past year, Ben sent his book manuscript on Arthur G. Daniells (which will be the tenth volume in the Adventist Pioneer Biography Series) to the Pacific Press and published an article on Daniells and lessons of leadership in the spring 2015 issue of Adventist Today.
Southwestern Adventist University
Chloe Northrop is completing her dissertation at the University of North Texas and expects to defend in August 2015. She recently presented a paper entitled “Sentimentality and Material Goods: Family and Exchange in the Post-Revolutionary Loyalist Diaspora” at the Organization of American Historians conference in St. Louis, Missouri. In April of this year, Chloe and Steve Jones, Chair of the Department of History and Social Sciences, hosted an exhibit, “World War I: Continuity and Change,” in the Meadows Gallery of the Chan Shun Centennial Library at SWAU. The exhibit, which featured items on loan from North Texas museums and private collections, included a replica trench, uniforms, helmets, weapons, photographs, and two machine guns (but no live rats, poison gas, or real blood). Between November 10, 2015 and January 7, 2016, the Department will host an “On the Road” exhibit sponsored by the NEH entitled “The Power of Children” featuring the lives of Anne Frank, Ruby Bridges, and Ryan White, with guest speakers from the Dallas Holocaust Museum
Union College
Edward Allen gave the keynote address (describing the influences that led to an official Adventist mission to China) at the first conference on the history of Adventism in China, held in Hong Kong on October 30-31, 2014. Other presenters included John Ashe (a perspective on David Lin’s “Appraisal”), Larry Onsager (a paper on Erik Pilquist, a forgotten pioneer), Bruce Lo (reflections on patterns of mission outreach), Ruth Crocombe (an appraisal of SDA involvement with the Kuomindang), Christie Chow (focus on Adventist publishing in China), and Mike Campbell (a review of C. C. Crisler’s life and death in China). One can access the entire program of presenters at http://www.sdahistorians.org/conference-program1.html. On June 30, 2015, after 45 years of teaching service (34 years at UC), George Gibson officially retired, although he agreed to teach one U.S. History course each semester for 2015-16. His wife Carol has also retired after 21 years as the Student Health nurse at UC. They look forward to spending quality time with their grandchildren in Lincoln, Nebraska, and Iowa during the coming years.
Independent Scholars
Although Floyd Greenleaf and his wife Betty have been retired in Port Charlotte, Florida, for several years, Floyd continues to write as the Muse strikes him. In 2015 he wrote Views from the Pew: Reflections on Christian Living, a delightful collection of 50 short thought-provoking essays published by A&A Printers in Tampa (www.PrintShopCentral.com) dedicated “To all the persons with whom I have rubbed shoulders and who have made me stop to think about the practical meaning of Christian living.” As one who received a personal copy, I can say that it’s the one devotional book that isn’t in an ABC near you, but should be!
The Association of Seventh-day Adventist Historians
Fall 2015
[Editor: Brian E. Strayer; Assistant Editor: Carmelita Arthur; President: Edward Allen]
Letter to the Members: Scholarship Is Witnessing!
Dear ASDAH Members,
Half a century ago in the 1960s when I was a teenager at Union Springs Academy, I dedicated four summers to selling books and magazines as a student literature evangelist (LE). While many of my friends were at the beach, at camp, or at home sipping lemonade by their backyard pools, I was knocking on unfriendly doors, facing hostile dogs, and sweating profusely as I trudged down long streets on hot summer afternoons in upstate New York. Ah, but this was witnessing the HHES director, our teachers, and our parents assured us. And to be honest, we did sell hundreds of dollars of Christian literature in those family-friendly days.
Sometimes, however, our attempts to witness were misunderstood. The Finger Lakes region in the 1960s was also home to thousands of Mormons (LDS) and Jehovah’s Witnesses, and like Adventist LE’s, their boys went door to door two by two carrying briefcases and wearing white shirts, dark ties, and crisply ironed pants (or dark skirts and white blouses for the girls). Often we would be met at the door by adults who, thinking we represented one or the other sect, refused to let us into their homes. Sometimes it required skillful diplomacy to explain that SDAs were not like Mormons or Jehovah’s Witnesses when one was uncertain whether the person asking the question belonged to one or the other group! While seeking to witness for our Adventist faith, we tried not to offend the beliefs of another whose home we hoped to enter.
To a certain extent, we Adventist historians are caught in that same dilemma. As Adventists we have an obligation to witness for our faith and serve the Church that pays us to teach. But as historians we also have an obligation to engage in scholarship through research, writing, and publishing in our disparate fields. Are the two compatible? I would argue that they are. By engaging in serious scholarship (in Adventist History as well as all other fields of history), we witness to academia that Seventh-day Adventist historians do not belong to some weird sect, but instead represent a global community of thinking Christians whose advanced degrees enable them to do scholarship of as high a quality as any historian from any university in the land.
My favorite quote from Ellen White supports this idea. “The greatest work of the teacher is to lead those under his charge to be intellectual Christians.” There should be no dichotomy between being an intellectual and being an Adventist Christian. While some Fundamentalist Christians (at one end of the spectrum) and secular humanists (at the other end) may polarize these two concepts as antagonistic to each other, we Adventist historians should strive to harmonize them in our lives. True, in the conventional sense, our witnessing efforts may not always lead souls to the baptistery. But as we chair sessions and read or comment on papers at non-Adventist history conferences; as we write scholarly books and publish serious articles; and as we participate in regional, national, and international conventions and colloquiums, we testify that as historians we represent a Church that takes scholarship seriously.
Some of my most treasured witnessing moments as a historian have occurred serendipitously. Once while I was walking down Concourse C at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, a complete stranger ran up to me, greeted me by name, and proceeded to tell me how much he was enjoying my recently published book on 17th and 18th century Paris police and prisons. His further query about where I taught enabled me to share some thoughts about Andrews University and Adventist education. Another time while sitting at my office desk, the phone rang and on the other end was a distinguished French History scholar who opened the conversation by saying he had a copy of my book about the Jansenists and Convulsionnaires sitting on his desk and wondered if I would chair a session and comment on some papers at an upcoming history conference. A year ago I was contacted by a member of the Religion Department at DePaul University (the largest Roman Catholic university in America) asking me to present a paper on the Jansenists to the faculty there. This visit also provided me the opportunity to talk about Andrews University and Adventist education. I presume many of you reading this newsletter have had similar experiences.
But is that witnessing? I assert that it is. Interestingly enough, of the twelve definitions of “witness” in my Webster’s New World College Dictionary, only one—“to testify to religious beliefs or faith”—meets the traditional Adventist definition of the term. All the rest relate to secular venues. The one that I think best meets our situation as historians is #5: “Something providing or serving as evidence.” As each one of us engages in serious, scholarly activity, we provide oral and written evidence that we are neither ivory-tower eggheads devoid of religious faith, nor are we anti-intellectual sectarians who care nothing for serious research. We are, therefore, witnessing about who we are as scholars, about the serious work we publish, and perhaps more significantly, about the kind of denomination we represent.
Kudos to every one of you who sent me reports of your recent professional activity and scholarly endeavors! You are witnessing, not only to your ASDAH peers and colleagues through the pages of this newsletter, but also to a wider world of scholars who need to know who we are. May your tribe increase!
Yours for the best in history,
Brian E. Strayer, Editor
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Upcoming 2016 ASDAH Triennial Conference
The Eighth Triennial ASDAH Conference will convene on the campus of La Sierra University in Riverside, CA, from March 17 to 20, 2016. Authors are invited to submit abstracts or papers that approach the theme—“Periods of Transition”—from any perspective: historical, political, sociological, textual, or any other theoretical model. Papers may be presented from either an American or a global focus. Pre-formed panels or papers designed to be presented along with another paper are welcome, although individual papers that are accepted will be placed on panels with others that are similarly themed. In light of ASDAH’s historical focus upon denominational history, papers that focus on aspects of SDA history are particularly welcome. Academy history and social studies teachers are also invited to plan sessions dealing with challenges and pedagogical issues in secondary education. Papers should be no longer than 8-10 pages (about twenty minutes when read aloud). Please send proposals for session and/or abstracts (or completed papers) by January 4, 2016, to Dr. Andrew Howe at [email protected] or La Sierra University, Department of History, 4500 Riverwalk Pkwy., Riverside, CA 92515. Notification of your paper’s acceptance will come by February 15 and the paper must be in its final form ready to share by February 28.
The cost of registration is $80 until February 1 and $100 thereafter. Checks should be mailed to the address listed above, and made out to “La Sierra University” with “ASDAH” written on the memo line.
Although there is no lodging available on the La Sierra Campus, nearby lodging can be found at Hampton Inn & Suites-Riverside (To make reservation, visit Hampton Inn WEBSITE or call 951-352-5020). A block of rooms at the Hampton has been reserved for $92 per night + tax (normal rate: $149) and these are a 5-10-minute walk from campus on a good sidewalk. In order to get the discount, ask for “ASDAH” (not La Sierra) when making a reservation. After February 25, any rooms remaining in the block will be opened to the public, so plan on reserving them before then. The Hampton Inn has a continental breakfast, and we are exploring the possibility of having the Thursday afternoon registration and evening keynote address there.
Although not as convenient, the Ayres Inn-Corona East (Click Ayres Inn WEBSITE or call 951-734-2140) is also an option. The Ayres is a ten-minute drive from campus. Their rate is $84 per night + tax (ask for “the La Sierra discount”), although rates will most likely go up in January.
Meals at the La Sierra dining commons are all-you-can-eat: $7.00 for breakfast and $9.00 for lunch and dinner. Adjacent to the cafeteria is the Eagle’s Nest, a small café that has per item selections and is generally open when the dining commons is closed. Numerous restaurants are within easy walking distance of both the Hampton Inn and the Ayres Inn.
A campus map, driving directions to the university, parking information, and airport information are available at www.lasierra.edu/map-and-directions/. Ontario is the best airport to fly into due to its proximity and traffic, with John Wayne/Santa Ana often a good second option, and Los Angeles/LAX a distant third option. All three airports have multiple car rental agency options as well as airport shuttle services: Super Shuttle (www.supershuttle.com), Go Airport Shuttle (www.goairportshuttle.com), and Prime Time Shuttle (www.primetimeshuttle.com) and all run to/from these three airports. (Please note that neither of the hotels has a dedicated “hotel shuttle.”) A round-trip shuttle from/to Ontario should cost around $75. Those planning on driving a vehicle and who require a permit for on-campus parking should contact Andrew Howe ([email protected] or call 951-785-2341) at least a week in advance of the meetings.
The guest speaker for the Thursday night keynote session will be Martin Doblmeier, award-winning documentary filmmaker and director of Bonhoeffer (2003), The Adventists (2010), The Adventists 2 (2013), and The Blueprint: A Story of Adventist Education (2013). Mr. Doblmeier’s keynote address will feature his interest in Adventism and education, as well as his latest work. Dr. David Trim, Director of Archives, Statistics, and Research at the GC, will speak at the Friday plenary session.
Currently there are two options for the Sabbath afternoon/evening field trips:
Option 1 ($60): A visit to the Huntington Library, with its rare book collections, art collections, and gorgeous botanical grounds. Given the Huntington’s limited winter hours, this trip will be leaving prior to lunch, so those who choose this option will need to attend the early church service (8:30 a.m.) at the La Sierra University Church. The fee includes transportation, entry, and a sack lunch.
Option 2 ($20): A tour of California’s “Inland Empire” (Riverside, Redlands, Loma Linda). Stops may include some of the following: the California Citrus State Historical Park, the Mission Inn Hotel (Mission Revival architectural style), Tio’s Tacos (Mexican folk art), the Abraham Lincoln Memorial Shrine, the A. K. Smiley Public Library (Mission Revival architecture), and the Loma Linda University campus. The fee includes transportation and entry.
The Session’s Business meeting has been schedule for Saturday night at 8:00pm. This change has been made to facility the departure on Sunday morning of many participants who will need to catch early morning flights to reach their destinations at a reasonable time.
The links for submitting papers, conference registration, the conference program, and travel and accommodation logistics will soon be activated on the ASDAH website (www.sdahistorians.org). Check it regularly for updated information. We look forward to seeing many of you there!
The Donald R. McAdams Adventist History Research Grants
All scholars of Adventist history will be pleased to learn of new research funding now available. Appropriately, this generous support for Adventist history research comes from one of the founders of ASDAH. Donald R. McAdams (Ph.D., Duke University), a former professor of history at Andrews University, president of Southwestern Adventist University (1975-84), and successful education consultant, has over a long career maintained a lively interest in denominational history. (He was among the first scholars in the 1970s to examine Ellen White’s use of historical sources.) Now, assisted by a matching grant from Exxon, Dr. McAdams and his wife Anne have established the McAdams Adventist History Research Grants.
The intention of the grant program is to fund significant projects in Millerite/Adventist history that will result in publication. Scholars holding a Ph.D. in History (or related fields) or who have demonstrated competence in the field of Adventist history are eligible to apply. Grants are not intended to aid research for completion of doctoral work, although funding may be available for scholars who are revising completed dissertations for publication. Grants will ordinarily be in the range of $3000-$10,000. Follow-up grants for large projects may be available.
Applicants should complete the application form (included here or found at the ASDAH website, www.sdahistorians.org), which asks for a short description of the project. If a project is judged to be promising, the committee will ask for a fuller statement (1200-2000 words), including a proposed budget. Application letters should be submitted to Dr. Steve Jones, Department of History, Southwestern Adventist University, 100 W. Hillcrest, Keene, TX 76059. There are two deadlines: November 1, 2015 and April 1, 2016. A selection committee of veteran ASDAH members (Steve Jones, Terrie Aamodt, Eric Anderson, Ben McArthur) will review applications and make recommendations.
The McAdams Adventist History Research Grant Application asks for the following information: Your name, institutional affiliation, project title, the amount of funds requested, and a brief description (half a page) of your project, including its significance for Adventist history, how far along you currently are, and your publication expectations.
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Colleges, Universities, & Institutional Reports
Adventist International Institute for Advanced Studies (AIIAS)
Michael Campbell recently presented five papers: “Power, Print, and Martyrdom in the Development of SDA Missions in China, 1916-1936” at the Adventism in China/ASDAH Conference in Hong Kong on October 31, 2014; “Developing an Asian SDA Theology” at the AIIAS Seminary Forum on November 1, 2014; “Development of SDA and Ministerial Identify, 1863-1881” at the Adventist Theological Society in San Diego on November 22, 2014; “The Sabbath and the Taiping Rebellion” at the Society of Biblical Literature in San Diego, November 23, 2014; and “Developments in the Relationship between Seventh Day Baptists and SDAs” at the American Society of Church History in Minneapolis on April 16, 2015. During the past year, Mike has also had six book reviews and four peer-reviewed articles published. In addition to contributing a chapter to the George Knight festschrift and preparing thirteen articles for the forthcoming Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States to be published by Rowman & Littlefield, his article on “SDAs and the Formation of Ministerial Identity” appeared in the October 2014 Ministry while his article on “The Forgotten Revival of 1873” appeared in the February 26, 2015 Adventist Review. Mike is currently the editor of the peer-reviewed Journal of Asia Adventist Seminary and has begun teaching a new class on the History of Christianity in Asia.
Andrews University
Stephanie Carpenter joined the Department in 2014 after several years at Murray State University in Kentucky. Her specialties include American agriculture, the American West, Twentieth-century U.S., and women’s history. Currently she is doing research for a chapter referencing the Great Depression in the American South, women in the SDA Church during WWII, twentieth-century Civil Rights, and SDA nineteenth-century agricultural practices. She reports that the Department currently has 21 History Majors, 20 Political Science Majors, and 5 Social Studies Majors. John Markovic has used his spring semester sabbatical and summer to finish a book-length manuscript on the emerging church movement, which he expects to send to a publisher this fall. In 2014 two of Brian Strayer’s books were published: J. N. Loughborough: The Last of the Adventist Pioneers (509 pp.), the eighth book in the Adventist Pioneer Biography Series, by Review and Herald Publishing Association, and Romans Were Known For Their Aquaducks and Other Gems of Wit and Wisdom in Western Civilization (147 pp.), a hilarious compendium of 30 years of blue book bloopers with faux footnotes, by Spyderwort Press. He is currently finishing a 300-page biography of John Byington for the Adventist Pioneer Biography Series (hopefully continued by PPPA) and, with colleagues Linda Mack (AU Music Librarian Emeritus) and Marianne Kordas (current AU Music Librarian), completing a life-and-times biography of Dr. Blythe Owen (1898-2000), musician, composer, and music professor at WWC and AU to be submitted to the University of Rochester Press in 2016. He also had one book review published in the American Historical Review (June 2014) and another in French History (Fall 2015). Last fall he presented a paper entitled “Jansenism: Its Key Figures, Themes, and Relevance Today” to the religion faculty at DePaul University in Chicago. This fall Brian is teaching a new class, History, Myth and Film, at his home that examines the treatment of women, war, and race in eleven films from “Birth of a Nation” (1915) to the recent “Unbroken” (2015). He will retire after 42 years in education on July 1, 2016.
Archives of the General Conference of SDAs
In the fall of 2014 David Trim’s article “Reaching the World’s 500 Largest Cities: A Demographic and Statistical Analysis” (co-authored with Rick McEdward) appeared in the Journal of Adventist Mission Studies, while his chapter “Nurture, Retention and Discipleship” was published this spring in Kwon JohngHaeng’s edited work Retention and Reclamation, the ninth issue in the Northern Asia-Pacific Division Mission Publications. His presentation at Humboldt University in Berlin entitled “Put All to the Sword: The Effects of Reformation on the Ethics of War in 16th Century Germany and England” was published in Dorothea Wendebourg and Alec Ryrie, editors, Sister Reformations II in 2014. In addition to his article “Revival and Reformation Revisited: Lessons From the 1973 Annual Council” in the October 9, 2014 Adventist Review, David’s chapter “Modernism and Post-Modernism in Western Thought and Culture: From ‘Buttoned-Up Tight’ to ‘Ad Hoc Tattooed’” appeared in Journeys to Wisdom: Festschrift in Honour of Michael Pearson in 2015. Benjamin Baker published over two dozen articles on various aspects of Adventist history, and won the prestigious Associated Church Press Award of Excellence for his November 27, 2014, Adventist Review cover story “The Last House.” Trim and Baker coedited Fundamental Belief 6: Creation, the first in a new series of finding aids produced by the GC Archives. This 75-page work chronicles the process of the drafting and adoption of Fundamental Belief 6. The GC Archivist and Assistant Archivist also continued to host “This Week in Adventist History,” a weekly television segment aired on Adventist News Network and Hope Channel, now in its fourth year. In April 2015 the GC Spring Meeting approved the Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists, a $1.6 million, 5-year project directed by GC Archives. David will serve as Editor, while Benjamin will leave his position as Assistant Archivist to become the Managing Editor. David and Benjamin will contact Adventist scholars to assist in this World Church project. Ashlee Chism began as the new Assistant Archivist in August 2015.
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Avondale College of Higher Education
In 2015, Signs Publishing issued Daniel Reynaud’s book The Man the Anzacs Revered: William ‘Fighting Mac’ McKenzie, Anzac Chaplain. Also this year, the second edition of Testament: Anthology of Modern Romanian Verse, a bilingual anthology by Daniel Ionita, Eva Foster, Daniel Renaud, and Rochelle Bews, was published in Bucharest. During 2015 Daniel contributed two book chapters (the “Preface” to Testament and “War” in Ben Goldsmith, Mark Ryan, and Geoff Lealand’s Directory of World Cinema: Australian & New Zealand Cinema 2); two refereed journal articles (“Role-Playing as a Tool to Facilitate Learning, Self-Reflection and Social Awareness in Teacher Education” for the January issue of International Journal of Innovative Interdisciplinary Research, and “Film/Cinema Australia” in the on-line edition of the International Encyclopedia of the First World War); he presented a paper with Larisa Miler on “Australian Chaplains at Gallipoli: Role, Impact and Influence” at the Fourth International Gallipoli Symposium in Istanbul in March; and created five media productions for the Adventist Media Network and the National Film and Sound Archive.
La Sierra University
Over the past year Andrew Howe has presented papers on the Museum of Jurassic Technology at the American Studies Association and big game hunting at the Popular Culture Association. He also published an essay on libertarianism in the TV show Firefly. Currently he is working on presentations on manifest destiny as reflected in the movie Avatar and the partial rehabilitation of Billy Mitchell through film. He reports that LSU’s Department of History, Politics, and Sociology, which has recently moved (with English) into the Humanities Building, has about 65 majors, of whom two-thirds are majoring in history. New faculty members include the sociologist Eric Vega (Chicano and Gender Studies) and the political scientist Sasha Ross International Politics and Middle East History), who is following in her father Gary Ross’s footsteps at LSU.
Southern Adventist University
Lisa Diller will this year finish her current term as Department Chair and Chair of the Faculty Senate. She now teaches the History of the Christian Church course that Dennis Pettibone (retired) had taught for many years. She has recently finished writing two papers for publication, one on 17th century Anglican Bishop Gilbert Burnet and the other on the Catholic Reformation of Manners Movement in 17th century England. Kris Erskine is teaching courses in American Foreign Policy and Modern China. He is currently developing a course outline for a new class, Political Theory, and in collaboration with a professor from the Journalism Department, a new course in 20th Century War Through Film. This past summer he attended an NEH institute on Sino-US Relations over the past 150 years in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Shannon Martin, a political scientist whose last teaching stint was in Saudi Arabia, has joined the Department to direct the Global Policy and Service Program. Benjamin McArthur reports that in the spring 2015 semester, Steve Jones at Southwestern Adventist University, Malcolm Russell at Union College, and Ben at Southern collaborated to offer a video-linked course commemorating the centennial of WWI. English professors at SAU and UC also participated by giving presentations on poetry and prose fiction on the war. This represents an early effort by the recently formed Adventist Educational Alliance to link campuses together. During the past year, Ben sent his book manuscript on Arthur G. Daniells (which will be the tenth volume in the Adventist Pioneer Biography Series) to the Pacific Press and published an article on Daniells and lessons of leadership in the spring 2015 issue of Adventist Today.
Southwestern Adventist University
Chloe Northrop is completing her dissertation at the University of North Texas and expects to defend in August 2015. She recently presented a paper entitled “Sentimentality and Material Goods: Family and Exchange in the Post-Revolutionary Loyalist Diaspora” at the Organization of American Historians conference in St. Louis, Missouri. In April of this year, Chloe and Steve Jones, Chair of the Department of History and Social Sciences, hosted an exhibit, “World War I: Continuity and Change,” in the Meadows Gallery of the Chan Shun Centennial Library at SWAU. The exhibit, which featured items on loan from North Texas museums and private collections, included a replica trench, uniforms, helmets, weapons, photographs, and two machine guns (but no live rats, poison gas, or real blood). Between November 10, 2015 and January 7, 2016, the Department will host an “On the Road” exhibit sponsored by the NEH entitled “The Power of Children” featuring the lives of Anne Frank, Ruby Bridges, and Ryan White, with guest speakers from the Dallas Holocaust Museum
Union College
Edward Allen gave the keynote address (describing the influences that led to an official Adventist mission to China) at the first conference on the history of Adventism in China, held in Hong Kong on October 30-31, 2014. Other presenters included John Ashe (a perspective on David Lin’s “Appraisal”), Larry Onsager (a paper on Erik Pilquist, a forgotten pioneer), Bruce Lo (reflections on patterns of mission outreach), Ruth Crocombe (an appraisal of SDA involvement with the Kuomindang), Christie Chow (focus on Adventist publishing in China), and Mike Campbell (a review of C. C. Crisler’s life and death in China). One can access the entire program of presenters at http://www.sdahistorians.org/conference-program1.html. On June 30, 2015, after 45 years of teaching service (34 years at UC), George Gibson officially retired, although he agreed to teach one U.S. History course each semester for 2015-16. His wife Carol has also retired after 21 years as the Student Health nurse at UC. They look forward to spending quality time with their grandchildren in Lincoln, Nebraska, and Iowa during the coming years.
Independent Scholars
Although Floyd Greenleaf and his wife Betty have been retired in Port Charlotte, Florida, for several years, Floyd continues to write as the Muse strikes him. In 2015 he wrote Views from the Pew: Reflections on Christian Living, a delightful collection of 50 short thought-provoking essays published by A&A Printers in Tampa (www.PrintShopCentral.com) dedicated “To all the persons with whom I have rubbed shoulders and who have made me stop to think about the practical meaning of Christian living.” As one who received a personal copy, I can say that it’s the one devotional book that isn’t in an ABC near you, but should be!