Fundamentalism File: 20 Years After
Alexandre Dumas, the famous French novelist who wrote The Count of Monte Cristo, The Man in the Iron Mask, and other swashbuckling classics, once penned a novel titled Twenty Years After. In its pages, Dumas revisited his old hero D'Artagnan from The Three Musketeers twenty years after his adventures alongside Porthos, Athos, and Aramis.
"Twenty years after" offers a good vantage point from which to judge the past, because it allows a certain objectivity and appreciation to develop. It is now "twenty years after" for the Fundamentalism File in J. S. Mack Library. In 1978 Dr. Bob Jones Jr., the late Chancellor of BJU, issued a memo outlining his vision for an archives and resource center in the library. It would record the "history of religion in our times," he said, by covering "all aspects of the Fundamental position and those who oppose it."
"In other words," he wrote, "we want resource material that somebody 50 years from now, if the Lord tarries, can use in doing an article on the present struggle of our day." The Chancellor said he wanted to include not only materials concerning the "issues of the history of Fundamentalism" but also "all of these side items that touch upon government and all that sort of thing with which there is a Christian principle involved."
Joseph Allen, at that time Assistant Director of the Library, set out to make this vision a reality. Using his library science expertise, he put together the basic system that, with some refinements, continues to be used today. The "Fundamentalism File," as it became known, relied on the basic headings, subheadings, and cross-references outlined by the Library of Congress and adapted to the particular needs of the File. The staff copied and filed some articles and simply cross-referenced others found in the library's periodical collection. The first item to be included—Accession No. 0000001—was a 1958 article by Billy Graham for Eternity magazine giving Graham's views on separation.
Twenty years ago, shortly after the File was launched, Joseph Allen wrote in Voice of the Alumni, "The secular press and the non-Fundamentalist schools will not provide the Fundamentalist with the right information at the right time. We hope that this file will help fill the void." That goal of providing accurate information to the Fundamentalist community determined the nature and direction of the File.
The Fundamentalism File started small—four file drawers on Mr. Allen's desk. But it grew. The process for recording and indexing items originally involved writing up, typing, and checking multiple cards for each entry. The system took an enormous leap forward through computerization, initially done in 1986 and then upgraded to a superior system in 1990. Using the same system as the library's on-line catalog, the File gained the ability to do its indexing and abstracting on computer. Not only did this reduce the paperwork and ease the cross-referencing, but it also allowed the staff to search for information on specific topics with greater speed and efficiency.
Joseph Allen's work with the File eventually decreased, especially after he became Director of Libraries in 1987. Other supervisors, however, oversaw the Fundamentalism File under his direction. Grace Nead, Dr. Randy Leedy (now on BJU's New Testament faculty), Dr. Myron Mclntyre, Dr. Tim Berrey, and currently Dr. Mark Sidwell all had to deal with the constant changes in the File, both the challenge of computerization and the increased use of its resources.
The growth of the File has been substantial. In the 1979-80 school year, the first year in which the Fundamentalism File was fully operational, sixteen out-of-state patrons and sixty patrons from among students, faculty and staff on campus used the File; as of August 1980, there were 6,600 items in the collection. In 1997-98, 179 out-of-state patrons used the File along with 3,143 from the University family on campus. Currently, the File contains over 95,000 items covering more than 6,100 topics.
The Fundamentalism File consists primarily of periodical articles. The File staff goes through periodicals as they come to the library, choosing articles to add to the collection. The result is that the File indexes articles not only from mainstream publications, such as Time or Christianity Today, but also items from smaller magazines and newsletters that are often indexed nowhere else. In addition, the File collects miscellaneous materials relating to its main purpose, such as brochures and statements of faith from different organizations.
Some special donations have enriched the File. Fundamentalist leaders G. Archer Weniger and W. O. H. Garman and former administrator Gilbert Stenholm (who was himself a sort of "walking Fundamentalism File") donated their extensive papers to the Fundamentalism File. These materials are of prime importance in documenting the history of Fundamentalism and its struggles since the 1940s. Garman said his files alone represented "55 years of work."
The File covers a wide range of topics. Numerous items deal with controversial religious leaders such as Billy Graham, Jerry Falwell, John MacArthur, and Bill Hybels. Many articles deal with major ethical issues, such as abortion, divorce, and homosexuality. Contemporary religious movements such as the Charismatic movement, postmodernism, and Contemporary Christian Music find a large place in the File. Organizations galore are found in the resources of the File, from major religious bodies (e.g., the Southern Baptist Convention) and cults to many Fundamentalist groups and institutions—including Bob Jones University.
Many items deal with the history of Fundamentalism and issues of keen interest to Fundamentalists. Patrons can find articles on biblical separation, evolution and creation, the Bible translation debate, biographical sketches of Fundamentalist leaders, and articles on the history of Fundamentalism.
So who uses the Fundamentalism File, and what do they do with the materials? The largest percentage of patrons are students of the University doing research papers and persuasive speeches. Others are University staff and people from the Greenville area or visiting from out of town who want information on a certain issue or topic. Even a few scholars researching Fundamentalism have visited the File.
Many users are out-of-state patrons. For those who cannot come to Greenville, the File offers a research service. For a nominal charge for photocopying, shipping, and handling, the staff of the Fundamentalism File gathers material on a requested topic. Often patrons using this service are pastors or concerned church members who find themselves facing some challenge. They might be in touch with some group they have never heard of that wants to present its ministry in their church, or a young person they know may be thinking of attending a school they have questions about.
The Fundamentalism File never offers an official position on controversial issues; that task belongs to official University spokespersons. But the File does provide material and documents from a variety of viewpoints so that patrons can make up their own minds. For example, one church affiliated with the American Baptist Churches, a liberal mainline denomination, gathered extensive information concerning that group from the File. After learning of the trends within the American Baptists, that church voted to leave the denomination and become independent.
Twenty years after, the Fundamentalism File looks back on a record of increased service to God's people. The next twenty years should bring opportunities for further service as well as more changes to the File itself. Not bad for a ministry that began as four file drawers on a librarian's desk.
Mark Sidwell ('80) is the Director of the Fundamentalism File. For further information about the research services of the Fundamentalism File, you may contact the File at (864) 242-5100, ext. 6020, or ffile@bju.edu.