MASTER'S THESIS M -517
WEEKS, Howard Benjamin. THE DEVELOPMENT OF PUBLIC RELATIONS AS AN ORGANIZED ACTIVITY IN A PROTESTANT DENOMINATION.
The American University, M.A., 1963 Religion
University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Copyright by
HCF/FAHD BENJAMIN IrJEEKS
1963
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. THE DEVELOPMENT OF PUBLIC RELATIONS AS AN ORGANIZED ACTIVITY IN A PROTESTANT DENOMINATION
by '
Howard BJ Weeks
Su'iiitted to the
Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences
of The American University
in Partial Fulfillment of
the Requirements for the Degree
of
Master of Arts
Signatures of Committee:
Chairman:
D ian bf>tn\e College Date: Date: /é>J /fé3
1963 AMERICAN UNIVERSITY The American University library Washington, D.C. JÜL3JI96.3 W ashington. D. c
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
INTRODUCTION...... I
Thesis of the S t u d y ...... I
The Church Organization ...... 2
Present Public Relations Operation. . 3
Scope of the Study...... 4
Research Procedures ...... 6
I. ADVENTISTS "FIND" THE W O R L D ...... 8
II. PUBLIC RELATIONS "TRACES" IN EARLY CHURCH PROGRAM...... 11
Public Considerations in Formal Organization...... 11
Growth of a Public Consciousness. . . 13
Early Use of the Mass M e d i a .... 16
Public Contact Through Associational Affiliations...... 27
III. PUBLIC RELATIONS DEVELOPMENTS SPURRED BY HOSTILE F O R C E S ...... 31
Threat and Response...... 31
The First Press Committee ...... 34
A Time of Public Relations Beginnings...... 38
Removal of Operations to Nation's Capital...... 41
Early Emphasis on Direct Legislative Efforts ...... 42
Recognition of the Need for a Favorable "Climate of Opinion". . . 46
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CHAPTER PAGE
Use of the Press as a Distinctive Organizational Function ...... 48
IV. REACHING OUT...... 52
Recognition of Public Relations N e e d s ...... 52
Public Impressions...... 52
Institutional Emphasis...... 53
Int er-Denominational Relationships ...... 55
Evangelistic Promotion...... 56
Formal Organization of a Separate Press Bureau...... 58
Background of the Action...... 58
Organization Accomplished ...... 61
V. THE EXPLORATORY E R A ...... 65
Vision of Possibilities in Press Bureau Concept...... 65
Early Publicity Operations...... 67
Materials to Assist the Field . . . 67
Direct Releases to the Press. . . . 68
Letters-to-Editors, a Publicity Instrument...... 69
Headquarters Publicity Program. . . 71
VI. THE ERA OF INTENSIFICATION...... 74
Refinements in Publicity Operations . 74
Missionary Publicity...... 74
Publicity on General Gatherings . . 75
Publicity on Traveling Headquarters M e n ...... 76
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CHAPTER PAGE
Publicity service in the Field. . . 77
"Setting up" Publicity Programs . . 79
New Materials for the Field .... 84
Departmental Promotion...... 89
First Departmental Bulletin .... 89
Promotion in Church Periodicals . . 89
Further Development of Field W o r k e r s ...... 90
"Assistants" in All Quarters. . . . 91
Counsel and Criticism ...... 93
Men in Key Areas...... 96
Training in the Schools...... 100
VII. OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT...... 102
VIII. CONTINUING EMPHASIS ON EVANGELISM . . . 110
Services to the F i e l d ...... Ill
Materials for Evangelistic Publicity...... Ill
Evangelistic Conventions...... 113
Personal Encouragement...... 114
Articles in Church Papers ...... 115
Appreciation of the Fie l d ...... 116
Public Relations Problems in Evangelism...... 117
Ambivalent Approach to the Public . 117
Evangelists: Controllers of the "Public Image"...... 123
Decline in Evangelistic Publicity . . 125
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- CHAPTER PAGE
IX. PUBLICITY RANGE WIDENS...... 129
A Wider Use of the Press..... 129
Institutional Publicity ...... 132
Radio Publicity...... 134
General Public Activities ...... 135
Public Exhibits ...... 137
X. AN APPRAISAL OF BURGAN'S CONTRIBUTION...... 142
XI. DEPARTMENTAL EXPANSION...... 146
New Beginnings with J. R. Ferren. . . 146
Regional Development...... 147
Official Recognition...... 149
Increased Headquarters Staff. 150
New Materials for the F i e l d . 151
Institutional Advances...... 152
Influencing College Curricula .... 153
Field Developments...... 154
XII. TOWARD A PUBLIC RELATIONS CONCEPT . . . 159
A More Comprehensive Program. 159
Legislative Moves Toward a New Status...... 161
APPENDIX I. PRESENT OBJECTIVES AND PROGRAM OF THE SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST BUREAU OF PUBLIC RELATIONS .... 165
APPENDIX II. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVENTH- DAY ADVENTIST DENOMINATION .... 171
BIBLIOGRAPHY . .•...... 176
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. INTRODUCTION
Thesis of the Study
In the eyes of some churchmen, "public relations"
as a denominational activity seems entirely superfluous.
To others, it is a contradiction. The former, consider
ing the basic mission of the church itself to be commun
ication, ask, "Why is a special department necessary to
help the church communicate?" The latter, observing
certain encrustations of craftiness and cunning that in
some quarters overlay the term "public relations," re
gard with utter dismay the importation into the church
of the wiles of the world.
The thesis of this study is that the development
of a public relations function in a religious denomin
ation is more likely to be a natural outgrowth of the
church’s own philosophy, history, and needs than an im
portation from "the world." If secular organizations
have adopted similar functions, that is a parallel, not
a causal, development, with both secular and religious
organizations responding to their mutual environment and
the necessities of communicating within that environment.
In the study of public relations growth in the
Seventh-day Adventist church, the first denomination to
establish such a program, we may gain some insight into
such developments among churches generally. It may well
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be that this study can become one part of a more search
ing inquiry into the history of religious public rela
tions in general.
The Church Organization
The Seventh-day Adventist church is an organization
of 1,307,892 members distributed throughout the world in
189 countries. While a detailed description of the or
ganization may be found in Appendix I, it may be said
here that the church is of Protestant origins, and shares
most of its major beliefs with other Protestant groups.
Exceptions are the observance of the seventh day, Satur
day, as the Sabbath, and certain beliefs pertaining to
eschatalogical passages of Scripture.
The group has a large institutional investment,
including 239 hospitals and other medical units in many
countries, and 4,818 schools ranging from simple elemen
tary schools in mission lands to elaborate schools,
colleges, and universities in more advanced countries.
The denomination also supports an extensive publishing
operation with some 40 publishing houses. In addition,
a $25,000,000 annual welfare and disaster relief program
is a feature of the denomination’s work. Total member
ship contributions currently average more than $100,000,000
annually.
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Present Public Relations Operation
The Seventh-day Adventist public relations program
is one of the most advanced among religious organizations
today. Its program embraces internal relations services,
community relations, public information, and institution
al public relations. (A detailed outline of its program
will be found in Appendix II.) Its organization paral
lels that of the denomination itself, beginning with
volunteer lay press secretaries in the churches, then
public relations directors in the state or regional con
ferences (most of whom, however, devote only part time
to the public relations responsibility), on to similar
officers in regional organizations called "union con
ferences," up to the division headquarters offices
(comprising continental portions of the world field),
and finally to the Bureau of Public Relations at the
world headquarters in Washington, D. C., the General
Conference.
The headquarters staff presently includes a
director, E. Willmore Tarr, and two associate directors,
M. Carol Hetzell and Marvin H. Reeder. The director and
associate directors are elected to four-year terms a^
quadrennial world conventions of the denomination and
are members of the General Conference Executive Com
mittee, a policy-making group that manages affairs be
tween world conventions.
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The headquarters staff works both directly with
the President, Reuben R. Figuhr, and other executive
officers. Departmental policies are established, pro
grams devised, and major materials created in counsel
with a Public Relations Advisory Committee whose member
ship consists of the public relations staff, certain
General Conference officers, leaders of some other
headquarters departments, as well as public relations
directors of North American union conferences and over
seas divisions. The group meets annually, except for
the overseas leaders, and engages in frequent corres
pondence concerning various operations.
Naturally, so extensively organized a public re
lations operation did not come into existence at once.
Its story is one of gradual evolution, a story intri
cately interwoven with that of the denomination itself.
Scope of the Study
The present study is largely historical, covering
a period from the origins of the denomination in the
mid-nineteenth century through 1954, when the former
press relations function was officially established as
the Bureau of Public Relations.
The study touches briefly upon certain general
programs of the church but concentrates primarily upon
the "press relations" line, its antecedents and its
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gradual evolution into the public relations concept.
This focus seems justified in view of the fact that dis
tinct public relations operations of most organizations,
secular or religious, have developed within a general
framework laid down initially by the press relations
operation.
This concentration naturally omits many aspects of
the church program that have a definite bearing upon de
nominational public relationships, such as extensive
welfare and disaster relief operations, medical services
and educational programs, to mention a few. The public
relations staff works cooperatively with these and other
agencies in a collective approach to the public, in no
way monopolizing the "public image" of the denomination.
Yet, it is the one agency of the church that makes that
image its primary interest.
Major emphasis is given in the study to lesser-
known periods of development in the public relations
program. This is particularly true of the twenty-eight
year tenure of Walter L. Burgan, first secretary of the
Press Bureau and, as such, the first public relations
officer in any religious denomination. Although the
work of J. R. Ferren, Burgan’s successor, was in several
ways more important, particularly in the building of a
departmental structure, subordinate attention is given
to this in the study for the reason that it is already
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a matter of rather extensive public knowledge and record,
having been thoroughly covered, since 1947, by a monthly
publication devoted exclusively to reports of the world
wide public relations program. Very little has heretofore
been known concerning the details of earlier operations,
at least by newer generations of denominational workers.
The same observation is true regarding antecedents
of the public relations program within the denomination
even before Burgan’s time. In the exploration of this
earlier period, extending backward to the very beginnings
of the denomination, we see in an especially clear way
that the roots of the present program go deeply into the
life history of the denomination itself.
Research Procedures
Research procedures have included a perusal of
many sources, both primary and secondary. These include
the personal files of Walter L. Burgan consisting of
hundreds of letters, collections of newspaper clippings
and departmental materials as well as articles published
during his lifetime in denominational periodicals.
Also included is material drawn from personal corres
pondence of the author with J. R. Ferren, the late Donn
Henry Thomas, and other present and former public rela
tions personnel. Minutes of executive committee actions
as well as of meetings of the Public Relations Advisory
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Committee have also been examined.
Detailed examination was made of denominational
periodicals, particularly the official church paper.
The Review and Herald, concentrating on years when major
events were known to have taken place, in addition to'
years when developments on the national scene might have
been reflected in denominational actions.
Also studied were newspaper files, notably the
Boston Herald of 1876, a year in which purposeful work
with the secular press was first undertaken.
In addition, various historical works concerning
Adventist history and others covering parallel secular
history were consulted.
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ADVENTISTS "FIND" THE WORLD
In the lexicon of early Seventh-day Adventists,
there was no need for the term, "public relations." The
public, indeed, the impenitent world at large, was deemed
beyond the hope of salvation. The mission of these early
religious leaders was to convey a special message to a
comparatively small group of fellow "adventists," former
colleagues in the Millerite movement of 1844, gather in’
the faithful ones, and the end of all things would come.^
Only those who had entered into the experience of
the Millerite movement, at first, could be candidates
for salvation. It was the task of the seventh-day ob
serving group to lead as many of these as possible into
the final stage of that experience and prepare them for
entry into heaven.
Small in numbers, impoverished in resources, the
Adventist mission was thus, unwittingly perhaps, con
stricted to fit "the possible." They could communicate
readily enough with the small group of Millerites
scattered throughout New England. The vast outside
world was utterly beyond their powers. Thus it was
^Spalding, Arthur W. Captains of the Host. Wash ington, D. C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1949, p. 152.
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fortunate, perhaps, that they felt no need for such
communication.
Yet, this religious movement, seemingly myopic at
its beginning, eventually became the first of all re
ligious denominations to formally establish an office to
promote better public relations, and has since extended
its outreach through every public medium into 196 lands.
This remarkable transformation is one of the great
stories of Christian action and an instructive study in
denominational adaptation to an enlarged vision and to
the necessities of a changing environment.
The early "myopic" stage of Adventist' development
was, fortunately, very brief, and, interestingly enough,
the first steps toward development of public relations
attitudes were the result of unintentional missionary
success in contacts with the "outsiders."
Believing that prophetic developments were at a
stage beyond which no more "sinners" were to be con
verted, the Adventist ministers, as they traveled from
one cluster of Millerite believers to another, neverthe
less discussed their faith with those outside the pale.
Adventist literature fell into the hands of some.
Amazingly enough a few sinners who hadn't heard about
the prophetic door having been shut actually became
converted. 'This was puzzling at first, but after all,
penitent sinners couldn't be turned away, so they were
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taken Into the movement.
By the 1850*s it was apparent that the Seventh-day
Adventists were making more progress among the general
public than among their former Millerite colleagues!
This required a clear reappraisal of the original objec
tives, which the leaders forthrightly made. The closed-
door doctrine fell into discard, and the entire movement
turned with courage to face the challenge of a whole
world opened before them.^
^Spalding, o£. cit., pp. 150-152.
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PUBLIC RELATIONS "TRACES" IN EARLY CHURCH PROGRAM
Public Considerations in Formal Organization
Hardly had the larger task been well begun by the
early Adventists when America was swept up in the great
Civil War. It seemed for a time that the movement would
be dissipated or at least come temporarily to a stand
still. "Excitement and pressure on the public in great
degree hampered the work of proclaiming the gospel
message."^
Shaken by the enormity of the issues involved in
the war, fearful that public suspicion would fall upon
a small group with unusual ideas, the leaders moved to
make publicly known the basic sympathy with the Federal
government and their abhorrence of slavery.^
A more immediate problem was that of the draft.
Seventh-day Adventists took a position as noncombatants.
Yet the group had no standing as a recognized denomin
ation. In part because of this dilemma, the Adventists,
in 1863, took the fortuitous step that made a denomin
ation of what had been a very loosely organized movement.
^Spalding, Arthur W. Captains of the Host. Wash ington, D. C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1949, p. 296.
Zibid.
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"The value of organization was immediately apparent, not only in the internal affairs of the church, but in its external rela tions. Had there been no organized church, it could not have spoken for its people to the Government, and there could have been no recognition of its noncombatant prin ciples."3
Thus, at the very birth of the church as such, good
public relationships were seen as vital to the continuing
existence of the movement.
Even in the name of the new organization, which had
been chosen in 1861, public considerations were paramount.
Some members had advocated "The Church of God." Ellen G.
White, prophetic "messenger" of the group, had spoken
against this as a name that would "at once excite sus
picion; for it is employed £by other groups^ to conceal
the most absurd errors." It was too indefinite, she
said. "It would lead to the supposition that we had a
faith which we wished to cover up." Much more appropri
ate, she suggested, and the leaders agreed, was "Seventh-
day Adventist," a name that "carries the true features
of our faith in front, and will convict the inquiring mind.
Only a few months after formal organization, the
^Spalding, 0£. cit., p. 294.
Sjhite, Ellen G. Testimonies to the Church. Moun tain View, California: Pacific Press Publishing Associ ation, 1948, I, 224.
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new denomination undertook its first great "public rela
tions effort": securing official recognition from the
government so that its young men could be recognized by
the military as noncombatants. John Nevins Andrews was
sent to Washington in the summer of 1864 to present the
case to those in authority. In hand was a special pam
phlet prepared for the occasion, entitled The Draft. In
the very best public relations manner, Elder Andrews had
secured for publication in the pamphlet, the endorsement
of Austin Blair, governor of Michigan, as well as recom
mendations of the Michigan Military Agency, a provost
marshall in Rochester, New York, where the movement's
headquarters had formerly been located, and a former
member of Congress from New York, all of whom were ac
quainted with Andrews. His appeal to Washington offi
cialdom was successful and arrangements were made for
Adventist men to be assigned to hospitals or other non-
combatant duties.5
Growth of a Public Consciousness
Despite the fact that strong statements continued
to be made against "fallen" churches, from these times
and onward a general public consciousness is apparent
in Adventist actions and statements, an awareness of
the importance of public impressions, and a seeming
^Spalding, 0£. cit., pp. 294, 295.
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sense of public scrutiny.
A resolution passed in 1867, at a church meeting
in Allegan, Michigan, for example, declared that the
progress of the cause would be "rapid or slow, accord
ingly as those who are engaged in presenting it to the
people are consistent or inconsistent in their lives."
A plea was made that the members make sincere efforts
toward "meekness...patience and forbearance under
difficulties and annoyances" and for "integrity in
matters of deal."^
With this sense of personal commitment and a zeal
for the advancement of a cause, the Adventists entered
a phase of rapid and diversified development.
Their world-wide medical program got its start in
1866 with the establishment of the Health Reform Insti
tute in Battle Creek, Michigan (later the Battle Creek
Sanitarium). A college was established in 1874, and in
this same year, Andrews, the "missionary" to Washington,
was sent as the denomination's first real missionary to
a foreign land— Switzerland. A tract and missionary
society was established in South Lancaster, Massachu
setts, in 1868, and in the same year, J. N. Loughborough
and D. T. Bordeau made the long journey around the Cape
Andross, Matilda Erickson. Story of the Advent Message. Washington, D. C.: Review and Herald Publish- ing Association,. 1926, pp. 94, 95.
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to begin work in California.
The establishment of the first Adventist college
in 1874 provides a good example of the weight early
church leaders gave, in denominational development, to
public impressions. The denomination had its "educa
tional blueprint," comprising principles expounded by
Ellen G. White and advocated by Goodloe H. Bell, an
Adventist educator who had helped to build up a church
school in Battle Creek. Basically the plan called for
independence from "worldly" institutions of learning.
Bell, though without university degrees, was an
eminently well qualified educator and is today revered
as a founding father of the Adventist educational pro
gram. However, when the college was organized. Bell
was passed over in the search for a first president, in
favor of Sidney Brownsberger, a young graduate of the
University of Michigan. This proved to be an unhappy
arrangement, for Brownsberger was not always in sympathy
with Bell’s devotion to the "blueprint." Nevertheless,
Bell graciously took a subordinate role, entirely for
the reason that James White and others felt that "for
prestige" the college needed a head with scholastic
degrees and university training.
When Brownsberger departed in 1881, Bell was
passed over again and another university man was called
in, Alexander McLearn. A new recruit to the Adventist
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faith, yet with the requisite degrees, McLearn proved to
be even more uncongenial to Bell, clashing repeatedly
over the principles Bell loyally upheld. So sharp was
the conflict that Bell resigned, McLearn departed and
the college was closed, less than seven years after its
founding.
Full adoption of the educational "blueprint" had
to await the procurement, in 1883, of a well-oriented
Adventist minister, Wolcott H. Littlejohn, who also
happened to have been educated at the University of
Michigan. He was succeeded by William W. Prescott, a
graduate of Dartmouth.^
Early Use of the Mass Media
The press of America came into its own in the last
quarter of the nineteenth century as new mechanical
developments and increasing retail advertising made
larger circulations possible. Ellen G. White early saw
the possibilities as well as the necessity of reaching
the public through use of the mass media. In 1875 (about
the time such men as Pulitzer and Scripps were just mak
ing a start), aware of the agitation and readjustment
that was even then reshaping the nation, Mrs. White
wrote:
^Spalding, 0 £. cit., pp. 443-451.
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"There are many who desire to know the truth. The angels of heaven are moving upon human minds to arouse investigation in the themes of the Bible...All who will be saved must cooperate with the agencies of heaven to arouse the inhabitants of the earth to the solemn truths for this time...The angels of God will even now go through all the land to arouse the minds of the people if we will cooperate with them...
She then pointed to the public press as a means of
accomplishing the great work essential to the advance
ment of the cause:
"Men will misrepresent the doctrines we believe and teach as Bible truth, and it is necessary that wise plans should be laid to secure the privilege of inserting articles into the secular papers; for this will be a means of awakening souls to see the truth. God will raise up men who will be qualified to sow beside all waters. God has given great light upon important truths, and it must come to the world."8
James White, then the General Conference President,
ventured to follow this counsel himself, beginning with
the campmeeting season of 1876. Recruiting as a "report
er" Miss Mary L. Clough, Mrs. White’s niece ("much re
spected and beloved by our people, not only for her
ability as a writer, but for all those qualities and
accomplishments which make her a refined lady"). White
®White, Ellen G. Counsels to Writers and Editors. Nashville, Tennessee: Southern Publishing Association, 1946, pp. 140, 141.
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launched a nationwide publicity campaign.^
As a member of James White’s itinerating campmeet
ing group, Miss Clough accompanied him throughout the
mid-West and into New England, setting a pace that
doubtless inspired local church reporters in many
places. At any rate the General Conference president
reported great publicity success in connection with
camp meetings in such cities as Omaha, St. Paul, Du
buque, Milwaukee, Madison, Des Moines, Burlington (Iowa),
Kansas City, Indianapolis, Chicago, Cleveland, Lansing,
Grand Rapids, Bay City (Michigan), Jackson, Detroit,
Syracuse, Rome, Boston, Burlington (Vermont), Portland,
Augusta, Bangor, ’’and a host of smaller ones.’’
"We have had free access to the best daily papers"
in these places. Elder White reported, "and this very
thing will prove a mighty lever to open our way to gain
access to the people." With publication of "statements
of our history, movements, and doctrines," the church
leader explained, "the masses of the great North will
no longer inquire— ’Who are the Seventh-day Adventists?” ’
Elder White rejoiced, too, that during the past
summer extensive publicity had been given to denomin
ational publishing houses as well as the College and
Health Institute in Battle Creek, so as "to advertise
^White, James. Review and Herald. October 19, 1876.
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them far more completely than could be done by notices
of them among the common advertisements of all these
papers from the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic.”
As one who had launched Adventist publishing work,
who had pressed for the production of denominational
tracts and periodicals, White made a significant com
parison between that means of reaching the public and
the use of newspaper publicity;
”And all this advertising, and spreading before the masses the facts concerning our religious faith, and what we are do ing, has cost simply the writing, copying, stationery, and postage. Put into the hands of our tract societies and our in stitutions $10,000, and with this sum they cannot send out as much light, and so effectually advertise our institutions, as has been done the past season by means of the camp meeting reports.”10
White summed up the advantages to be gained by an
organization in taking the initiative in its own press
coverage:
”It takes the work of reporting from the newspaper reporters, who are not always able to do us justice, even if they were disposed to be candid; and it secures to us full, truthful, and candid statement of the facts in the case. /"MoreoverJ in having this matter of reporting en tirely under our own control, we can furnish the daily reports to as many
lOibid.
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different papers as copyists can produce copies. And as there are plenty of good copyists on all our campgrounds, this matter of multiplying copies for differ ent secular dailies can be run up to any number desired.”11
For all its impact, as described by Elder White,
Miss Clough’s method was simple. She prepared descrip
tive news accounts of proceedings at the campmeetings,
had copies made, and sent them to the newspaper offices.
It was so simple, perhaps, that others had overlooked
it until the Whites emphasized its crucial importance
in reaching the masses. All that was needed was for
someone to be appointed and inspired to-dp the job.
Even so, not all in the church understood the impor
tance of what had been done. White spoke prophetically,
perhaps, of later generations of public relations men
when he said, ’’Miss Mary Clough has done a work with
her pen which but few of our people comprehend.”
Thus, Mary Clough may take her place as one of
America’s earliest ’’press relations officers” working
personally with the president of her organization, at
a time when such a. profession had not yet clearly
emerged in the secular world.
^^Ibid.
^^Cutlip, Scott M. and Center, Allen H. Effective Public Relations. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Pren- tice Hall, t^$8, p. 23 et. seq.
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The climax of the publicity campaign of 1876 came
at the Groveland, Massachusetts, campmeeting, a five-day
gathering in a well-chosen camp site thirty miles north
of Boston. The site was located directly on the Boston
and Main Railroad with as many as nineteen trains daily
stopping at the camp site. This provided not only con
venient access for the people of Boston, but also for
newsmen desiring to visit the campmeeting, as well as a
good line of communications for the transmission of Miss
Clough’s copy. Provision was made at the camp for re
porters, with a special tent located near the speaker’s
stand ’’for convenient hearing.”
In the news coverage. Miss Clough shared space
with the Methodists and Spiritualists in a special camp
meeting column in the Boston Herald and other papers
under such general headings as: ’’GOD’S FIRST TEMPLES,”
"WORSHIP IN THE WOODS,” or ’’CHRISTIANS UNDER CANVASS.”
Each campmeeting report carried its own ’’label” heading
specifying either the denomination or the location of
the encampment.
Miss Clough’s first advance stories were displayed
at the end of the column, but skillfull reporting, delicate
wit, and powefs of vivid description, soon brought her re
ports to the head of the column. As attendance mounted
to its peak on Sunday, August 27, 1876, her reports
brought the entire column to a prominent spot on Page
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One of the Monday morning papers. With scarcely 500
Adventists among them, some 20,000 persons taxed the
transportation facilities to crowd the grounds on the
week end— something of a tribute to the effectiveness
of the advance publicity.
One example will show why Miss Clough’s material
was well received by the newspapers:
’’The campground presents a pretty picture at night, the speaker standing behind the desk in a blaze of light, with the lamp light flooding the congregation and throw ing into deep shadow the heavy background of evergreen grove, where here and there a white tent starts out of the blackness like an uneasy ghost.
’’The great trouble is to sleep in the morn ing. The nights are quiet enough; not a sound breaks the stillness from 9:30 at night until daylight, excepting the tramp of the lonely watchman on his rounds.
’’But as soon as the first bell rings, at 5:30 A.M., the quiet is over. First comes the early meeting at the stand, then separate family worship, and from 50 tents, the voice of prayer and the singing of 50 separate tunes in as many different keys mingles in one discordant medley that rouses the most persevering sleeper.”13
Verbal glimpses helped to make readers familiar
with the personalities of denominational leaders. Of
the General Conference president. Miss Clough reported:
^%ews item in the Boston Herald. August 26, 1876. page 2, column 6.
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’’Elder White’s style is original. You never know what to expect. He throws up a barricade of argument, then dashes off into some quaint story or keen witi- cism, or drops into an impressive solem nity with a rapidity and earnestness that carry an audience by storm. He is one of those rare preachers who speaks to the point, uses no superfluous words, and has the good taste to stop when he is done.”14
Of Mrs. White, Mary Clough wrote:
’’She is an unassuming little lady, short of stature, but with an impressive dignity of manner and grace of gesture that mark her a born orator. She was dressed plain ly in black, relieved only by a white collar and cuffs. Her influence is very strong among her people, and is widely felt outside of that particular circle.”15
Mrs. White’s lectures ’’had the merit of originality
and good sense, a combination rarely achieved by the
orators of the day,” Miss Clough told her r e a d e r s . ^6 Her
picture of the plight of Camp Manager S. N. Haskell, also
president of the Massachusetts Conference, is notable:
’’The morning trains were full, and...a living stream of humanity poured into the grove and spread over the ground. The provision stand had been well filled, but when it was seen how large a company was present a messenger was dispatched to
14ibid.
ISlbid., August 25, 1876, page 2, column 6.
l^Ibid., August 28, 1876, page 1, column 6.
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Haverhill, and the Winter Street Bakery was stripped of all eatables for the camp. But the numbers so increased that there was not nearly enough to supply the demands, and the indefati gable Elder Haskell, with all his ex pedients, could not work the miracle of feeding 5,000 with a few loaves and fishes. Happy were the parties who brought their own lunch baskets.”17
Personality glimpses of church leaders served a
definite public relations purpose, but the real objective
of Miss Clough’s reporting was the transmission of infor
mation about the Seventh-day Adventist church, its work
and its faith. This she included liberally in her
stories in the form of statistical reports, sermon
summaries, and general observations concerning denom
inational progress.
She was careful to point out, for example, that
the denomination was very well organized, did all things
in order, and was growing apace, an obvious effort to
offset the stereotyped impressions of new, ’’upstart”
religious movements.
James White was quoted at length on the Adventist
view of Christ’s coming:
”At 9:00 A.M., Elder White took the stand to give the reasons for the Seventh-Day (sic) Adventists’ faith. His discourse comprehended the main articles of the
l^Ibid.
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denominational belief. The position of the church regarding the literal second advent of Christ was stated, and the various theories that labor to evade the literal interpretation of the Scriptures relating to that great event, were separately met and refuted.
’’The preacher rejected the idea of a temporal millenium...Nothing could be plainer than His exposition of the par able of the wheat and the tares...This dashes to the ground the flimsy doctrine of the coming golden age, since Christ says the wicked and the just shall grow together till the harvest.”18
The vision of such doctrinal messages going into
hundreds of thousands of homes (the Herald alone pub
lished nearly 113,000 daily), assured James White of
the wisdom of Ellen White’s counsel of the preceding
year. From Groveland, he journeyed to the General Con
ference Session held in September, 1876, and inspired
the following official action:
’’Resolved, That we heartily approve the plan carried out by Elder White in ob taining so able a reporter. Miss. M. L. Clough, and in securing so extensive publication of these reports in the leading papers of the various states, and that we recommend that the same plan be carried out next season.”19
Not a very extensive resolution, to be sure, look
ing forward only to the next campmeeting season, but it
18Ibid.
1^Review and Herald. October 5, 1876.
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was nevertheless an important step— the first official
church recognition of the values to be derived from
reaching out through the public media to a wider audience
than could be touched by the denomination’s own resources.
Thus encouraged, others took up the work during
subsequent years, and in 1884, Elder S. N. Haskell, of
Groveland fame, brought to the General Conference
session an inspiring account of his own recent experi
ences with the press. The assembled brethren were
moved to take the first formal action calling for a
continuing, systematic plan of press relations, at least
in connection with important gatherings of the church;
’’Resolved, That it is the sense of this body that faithful reports of all our general gatherings should be made for the leading papers, and that the services of good reporters selected from our people, should be secured for this purpose at the commencement of the meetings.”20
This was a general recommendation, leaving every
man to himself with no specific responsibility assigned,
but it was a long second step toward a deliberate public
relations program.
^General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Yearbook. Battle Creek, Michigan: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1884.
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Public Contact Through Associational Affiliations
Between 1875 and 1900, a span of only 25 years, the
United States doubled its population and shifted dramati
cally from a predominantly rural to a predominantly urban
economy.21 in the throbbing rush of these frantic years
many of America's people's prospered, many were hurt.
Action followed counter-action as underdogs appeal
ed to government to redress wrongs, and victors bound
themselves into protective associations to retain their
gains. Organizations of many kinds flourished. The
National Grange, for example, reached its peak years in
1873-86. The American Federation of Labor was organ
ized in 1886 and its pressures were in part responsible
for the formation of the National Association of Manu
facturers in 1893. The American Medical Association
was formed in 1884; the Anti-Saloon League in 1894. By
the 1890's such associations had become a commonplace
feature on the American scene and increasingly resorted
to government to gain their ends or to block the am bitions of rival associations.22
It was in such a context of causes and conflict
ing interests that the Seventh-day Adventist church
21cutlip and Center, 0£. cit., p. 25.
22Truman, David B. The Governmental Process. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1960, p. 75.
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first came into national prominence through a combin
ation of medical, temperance, and religious liberty
enterprises, often in association with other groups,
at other times through formation of their own societies.
The Women's Christian Temperance Union and other
reform clubs had begun a temperance drive in 1874 in
which the Seventh-day Adventists joined with enthusiasm.
Ellen G. White became a widely-known temperance lectur
er, often speaking to immense audiences.23 she urged
her fellow Adventists to enter fully into this public
question and to support the temperance cause by "pen
and voice and vote.” She declared:
"Every individual exerts an influence in society. In our favored land, every voter has some voice in determining what laws shall control the nation. Should not that influence be on the side of temperance and virtue?”24
In the Far West, Pioneer Evangelists Canright and
Cornell, in a magnificent "community relations” gesture,
interrupted a vital series of meetings in Oakland, turn
ing their tent over to the temperance forces and them
selves, along with James and Ellen G. White, joining in
the public cause. This gesture of goodwill to the
23gpalding, 0£. cit., p. 625.
2^*White, Ellen G. Review and Herald. November 8, 1881, p. 289.
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other churches and the resulting publicity for their
evangelistic endeavors made these meetings ”a pivot
point in the work on the Pacific C o a s t . ”26
The denomination organized its own temperance asso
ciation in 1878 under the leadership of Dr. John Harvey
Kellogg, also the primary developer of Adventist medical
work during these same years. Kellogg’s leadership and
the American Health and Temperance Association had great
influence on the general public.26
The medical program figured prominently in another
relationship with the national temperance cause when
Mrs. S. M. I. Henry, national evangelist for the WCTU
became a Seventh-day Adventist after a remarkable re
covery from illness at the Adventist Battle Creek Sani
tarium in 1896. She remained with the WCTU but also
led out energetically in the women’s work of the c h u r c h . 27
In 1895, the Battle Creek Sanitarium was the larg
est and best equipped health institution in the world.
This institution, along with Dr. Kellogg himself, who
had arrived in the front ranks of the nation’s physicians
and surgeons, was instrumental in creating a public
2^McCumber, Harold J. Pioneering the Message in the Golden West. Mountain View, California: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1946, pp. 118, 124.
26gpalding, o£. cit., pp. 626, 627.
27ibid., pp. 385, 386.
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awareness of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination. 28
Also a factor were such church periodicals of general
circulation as Good Health the Medical Missionary, and
other health and temperance literature.
Yet; none of these influences brought the Adventist
leadership and laity alike into such highly-charged con
tact with the outside world as did the religious liberty
crises which were to mark the last years of the nine
teenth century.
2 8 i b i d . , p . 6 3 1 .
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PUBLIC RELATIONS DEVELOPMENTS SPURRED BY HOSTILE FORCES
Threat and Response
As in the history of most organizations, mobiliza
tion of the Adventist church for vigorous public relations
action was not effected until the cause was under fire
and facing serious public threats. These conditions arose
in connection with agitation concerning questions of
church-state relations.
The National Reform Movement, organized in 1863,
the same year in which the General Conference of Seventh-
day Adventists was established, was pressing hard during
the last two decades of the nineteenth century for a
constitutional amendment and formal governmental recog
nition of Christian principles as the foundation of
national law. Among the specific objectives of this
organization’s agitation were new Sunday laws as well
as strict enforcement of existing Sunday laws.^ While
the Reform group made little headway toward a constitu
tional amendment they met with considerable success in
arousing public sentiment in behalf of Sunday laws and
Sunday law enforcement.
^Spalding, Arthur W. Captains of the Host. Wash ington, D. C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1949, p. 561.
- 31 -
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In the face of this threat some of the Saturday-
keeping Adventists maintained a view of the ten command
ments that required six days labor before "the seventh
day." Thus, feeling under some obligation to work on
Sunday, a few zealous souls were constrained to witness
for their faith by chopping wood in the front yards or
hanging out the wash while their Sunday-keeping neigh
bors en route to church looked on in scandalized amaze
ment. One unusually militant Adventist, a railroad
worker, sought to warn his Sunday-keeping fellow citi
zens of the error of their ways by setting off a king-
size dynamite blast at the Sunday worship hour.2
Such actions were hardly in the interest of good
public relations. While there were comparatively few
such examples of extremely provocative conduct, Ad
ventists in general, as dissenters to a general trend,
were vulnerable to reprisals by intolerant forces with
law on their side. Consequently, in a brief space of
time, Sunday laws were invoked specifically against
Adventist members in Vermont, Michigan, California,
Georgia, Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, Maryland, and
Virginia.^
What was needed first in this situation was an
appropriate attitude among Adventists toward their
2Ibid., p. 560.
^ 0 0 . cit.
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Sunday-keeping neighbors. Mrs. White advocated an ap
proach of prudence above valor:
"When the people were moved by a power from beneath to enforce Sunday observance, Seventh-day Adventists were to show their wisdom by refraining from their ordinary work on that day, devoting it to mission ary effort."4
Relationships took a turn for the better as mem
bers began to heed Mrs. White’s counsel. Thus avoiding
direct flouting of the onerous ordinances, the next step
for the Adventists was the affirmative one of public
education concerning traditional American principles of
religious liberty. The church sent large quantities of
literature to lawyers, editors, and ministers. A pub
lication slanted to these same "thought leaders" was
begun in 1886: The American Sentinel, edited by J. H.
Waggoner. In 1887, the General Conference appointed a
committee to work "through the press and platform" and
to provide legal aid for Seventh-day Adventists in Sun
day law difficulties.
So determined were the efforts of this small group,
that Sunday law proponents expressed amazement at the
effectiveness of their efforts. Said one National Reform
Movement spokesman:
^White, Ellen G. Testimonies for the Church. Mountain View, California: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1948, IX, p. 232.
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"These seventh day people are assuming proportions altogether inconsistent with their importance."5
The First Press Committee
It was apparent in 1888, that heavy guns were being
trained on the Congress with the purpose of enacting a
national Sunday law. Under the sponsorship of Senator
H. W. Blair of New Hampshire, for example, a bill was
introduced into the Fifteenth Congress calling for the
enforcement of Sunday as a national "day of religious
worship. Seventh-day Adventists moved vigorously to
neutralize such efforts and for the first time"appeared
in legislative halls as champions of the principle of
separation of church and state.
In December, 1888, the General Conference Committee
appointed a new group as a Press Committee, "for the pur
pose of devising and carrying out plans for the dissem
ination of general information to the public, on the
questions of civil and religious liberty."7 Though
burdened with other full-time duties, the three committee
men, C. Eldridge, M. B. Duffie, and W. H. McKee, secured
the publication of "quite a number" of articles and
^Spalding, 0£. cit., p. 559.
&Ibid., p. 558.
^"General Conference Bulletin," The Review and Herald. October 25, 1889.
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reviews during December and January in Maryland, Wash
ington, D. C., New York, Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, Illinois,
and Kansas.
As the Sunday law offensive gathered momentum, the
Press Committee membership was enlarged in January, 1889,
with the addition of A. T. Jones, J. 0. Corliss, the
leading religious liberty spokesman, as well as W. A.
Colcord. The group immediately took steps to enlarge
its influence. Harried and overworked, the men first
of all secured the services of "an efficient assistant"
in the person of A. F. Ballenger. Thereafter, "articles
were sent out more extensively and a system of journal
istic work was developed." This undoubtedly made
Ballenger, after Mary Clough perhaps, the first General
Conference "press secretary." In addition, they appealed
to various conferences asking for the appointment of
state press committees and "the selection of local agents
in every place where a newspaper is published and a
Q Seventh-day Adventist could be found to act."
Legislative efforts required personal attention
from members of the Press Committee. J. 0. Corliss,
for example, appeared before the Senate Committee on
Education and Labor in hearings on the Breckenridge
bill, which was intended to compel Sunday observance in
8lbid.
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the District of Columbia as a national example. This
bill was soundly defeated. A. T. Jones was sent to
speak before the legislatures of Ohio and Indiana on
Sunday measures. The group also sent copies of a pam
phlet entitled Civil Government and Religion, with
salient passages marked in colored pencil, to every
member of Congress.
Corliss also journeyed to Little Rock, Arkansas,
and, before a legislative subcommittee, successfully
argued against a bill to repeal from the state Sunday
law an exemption clause for Sabbath keepers.
In June, some disappointment was encountered in
a campaign to shape public opinion on a large scale.
Under the auspices of the Press Committee, Corliss,
accompanied by Percy Magan as a reporter, began a wide
ranging speaking tour addressing groups in Saginaw,
Michigan, Cleveland, Milwaukee, and Minneapolis. Al
though these addresses were well reported in the local
papers, and in general the committee was pleased with
the results, the lecture trip apparently was not the
smashing success it was expected to be, for "an exag
gerated idea of what it was expected to accomplish sent
the Elder home at an earlier date than at first con- Q templated."
*Ibid.
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Events in July, however, sent a quiver of excite
ment through the group. In Tennessee, where Sunday law
agitation was at its violent worst, local hotheads
attempted to assassinate William Covert, an Adventist
minister. Adding to the tension, an Adventist layman
in Georgia was convicted of the "crime" of chopping
necessary firewood on Sunday.
Accounts of these events were immediately given to
the Associated Press. Then the secretary of the Press
Committee went personally to Tennessee where he wrote
special articles on the shooting incident for the Chi
cago Inter-Ocean, the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, the
Atlanta Constitution, and other papers. A letter from
Covert himself was sent out as a general release.
Papers sending back clippings alone represented some
300,000 circulation, some of the papers giving, in
addition to news coverage, favorable editorial comment
to the Adventist position.
During the few months of its existence, this Press
Committee of 1889, was twice heard by Congressional
committees, by several state legislatures, and by public
lecture audiences. More than forty articles were sub
mitted to as many as one hundred newspapers and, in
addition, wire service dispatches went "to all the
principle newspapers of the United States.
lOlbid.
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The Press■Committee adjourned sine die on July 21,
having formed itself into a new organization, the Re
ligious Liberty Association whose declaration of prin
ciples and constitution were brought in October to the
General Conference Session for approval. Leadership of
the association consisted essentially of the membership
of the Press Committee with the addition of E. J.
Waggoner and W. H. Edwards.
The new association was designed for continuing
action. It met numerous religious liberty crises dur
ing succeeding years, accompanying its intervention in
judicial and legislative proceedings with a generous
outpouring of printed materials and press releases.
"While amelioration of persecution was an object, the
broader design was to enlighten minds and awaken con
sciences of American citizens; and this educational ob
jective was in great part reached.Nevertheless,
pressures applied by groups with views inimical to
those of the Seventh-day Adventists continued, and with
the coming of the new century, became increasingly
threatening.
A Time of Public Relations Beginnings
With the turn of the century Adventist public re
lations development can be seen as part of a national
l^Spalding, 0£. cit., p. 563.
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pattern. Several developments were under way that cre
ated both an opportunity and a need for many organiza
tions to devise more systematic plans of public infor
mation.
In a spreading revolt against economic domination
by big business, for example, new voices were heard.
These were the recently established national magazines
such as McClure * s, Cosmopolitan, and Munsey * s. With
circulations rising into the hundreds of thousands, they
were the first truly national press media. Most of these
publications joined enthusiastically, not only in the
anti-big business crusade, but also in a general rash of
"expose" journalism. Because of their nationwide audi
ences, they had a telling effect:
"...The magazines performed the service of coordinating and interpreting information about social economic, and political prob lems for a nationwide audience, and thus had great impact."12
The new magazines became a forum for a generation
of writers referred to by Theodore Roosevelt as "the
muckrakers." Lincoln Steffens, through the columns of
McClure's, turned the spotlight on one scene of local
divic corruption after another. Ida Tarbell, in the
same journal, ran an extended exposure of business
l^Emery, Edwin. The Press and ^ e r i c a , (second ed.). Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1962, p. 475.
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practices in the oil industry. Thomas W. Lawson wrote a
series of articles for Everybody's, giving inside infor
mation on Wall Street procedures. Samuel Hokins Adams
wrote a series for Collier's "exposing" the patent medi
cine trade. Thus the new-found national power of the
news media was unleashed on organizations long used to
working secretly. They were momentarily, at least,
stunned and helpless. According to Cutlip:
"The public wave of protest and reform brought strict regulatory regulation and a wave of 'trust busting.' Businessmen, long in the saddle, were forced to take the defensive. The corporations, the good ones with the ruthless ones, had lost con tact with their publics. For a while they sat helplessly by, inarticulate and frus trated, waiting apprehensively for the next issue of McClure's Magazine."13
However, the response of those organizations under
attack was not long in coming. The anthracite coal in
dustry, for example, in 1906 retained a former newsman
named Ivy Lee to help tell its story. Later retained by
such industries as the Pennsylvania Railroad and Standard
Oil, Lee set a pace that has led many to refer to him as
the "father of public relations." But there were others
too, such as James Drummond Ellsworth of American Tele
phone and Telegraph.
Cutlip, Scott M. and Center, Allen H. Effective Public Relations, (second ed.). Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1958, p. 31.
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As business developed its counter publicity tech
niques, there were parallel developments in other or
ganizations taking advantage of the new public forum
provided by the burgeoning American press.
Willard G. Bleyer, in 1904, set up a press bureau
at the University of Wisconsin. The United States Marine
Corps had a publicity bureau in operation in Chicago in
1907. The political parties also maintained press bur
eaus, often employing former newspapermen.^^ It was
through such "press bureaus" that many present-day
public relations operations first came into being.
In this setting of reform and reaction, and of
multiplying opportunities in the news media, the devel
opment of public relations in the Seventh-day Adventist
church appears as a part of a general national develop
ment. By 1912, the church had formally established a
press bureau, with a former newspaperman in charge, the
first such bureau among religious organizations.
Removal of Operations to Nation's Capital
This formalization of Seventh-day Adventist public
^^Ibid., p. 30, et. seq.
^^Cornell, George W. "Religion Today," an Associ ated Press dispatch in the Arizona Daily Star, July 31, 1959.
^^Cutlip, 0£. cit., p. 42, erroneously cites the bureaus of the National Lutheran Council and the Knights
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relations efforts was foreshadowed, however, by events
of 1903-1906. In 1903, the denomination had moved its
headquarters to Washington, D. C., following disastrous
fires at Battle Creek, Michigan, where offices formerly
had been located. This move was made with full con
sciousness of the importance of the national capital in
influencing the public. "If there is any place in the
world that should have the full rays of present truth,"
Ellen G. White had written, "it is Washington, the city
that is the very heart of the nation.
A. Early Emphasis on Direct Legislative Efforts
Washington proved to be not only a place for pos
itive public influence but also for defensive operations,
The National Reform Movement was again at work and a
Sunday law was introduced into the Congress in 1904.
K. C. Russell was called from Boston in November of that
year to become the new leader of the Religious Liberty
program and he moved quickly to strengthen the entire
program.18
Russell’s first actions did not take cognizance
of the press as a means of influencing the public. He
of Columbus as the first. These actually followed the Adventist Press Bureau, being established in 1918.
l^White, Ellen G. "Letter, August 27, 1903," Review and Herald, 8B (December 27, 1906), 7.
l^Review and Herald, 81 Q#%vember 10, 1904), 24.
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focused on influencing legislators through petitions and
the preparation of "direct mail" literature.1^
Successful action was taken in the Congress against
the 1904 Sunday law bill, but where one was put down,
others arose. In 1906, five bills were introduced into
the Congress in support of Sunday laws. And there were
other church-state problems. A special column, "Chris
tian Liberty," in the official church paper, the Review
and Herald, reflects the wide-ranging concern of the
church. Primarily interested in efforts of the National
Reform Movement to persuade Congress to designate Amer
ica "a Christian nation," and to enact Sunday laws, the
column also took up questions related to the labor
movement, the use of Federal funds for parochial schools,
religious instruction in the public schools, and even
an anti-polygamy amendment then currently under dis- cussion.^u20
Personal letters were sent by the Religious Liber- 21 ty Bureau to all Congressmen and to other prominent
men in many professions.2% Russelland his colleagues
also inspired the revival of a denominational paper on
l^ibid., 81 (December 15, 1904), 18.
20lbid., 83 (1906) passim.
21lbid., 83 (April 19, 1906), 20.
22%bid., 83 (February 15, 1906).
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religious freedom as the "most economical method of
reaching the p u b l i c . "^3
The key weapon in Russell’s arsenal, however, was
the petition. National appeals were made, encouraging
ministers to "get up" petitions against Sunday measures
both local and national. D. W. Revis, one of Russell’s
colleagues, in a reading prepared for use in the churches
on Saturday, February 24, 1906, cited the effectiveness
of petitions with lawmakers as well as in intensifica
tion of interest in the issues among persons who signed . . 24 petitions.
The use of petitions was undoubtedly successful
in influencing law makers. At times on the local scene, .
however, it was dimly viewed. A young departmental
secretary in the West Pennsylvania Conference wrote
that he had been "roasted" by attorneys he had invited
to sign petitions and that only one out of twenty would
sign. Also, he complained, "The burgess of the town
gave me a roasting for going around with no higher
object in view than to disquiet the public mind."23
The young church leader was Charles S. Longacre, later
to become Russell’s successor as leader of the religious
23lbid., 83 (March 1, 1906), 24.
^^Ibid., 83 (February 15, 1906), 20.
ZSibid., 83 (March 1, 1906), 20.
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liberty work.
The petition plan, accompanied by official visits
to government leaders, was particularly helpful in Can
ada. Here, also, the importance of the public press was
brought to view as a means of arousing the people. In
January, 1906, W. H. Thurston and other leaders of the
Canadian Union Conference called on Sir Wilfried Laurier,
the Prime Minister, and also the Minister of Justice,
protesting a Sunday law that had been proposed by the
Lord's Day Alliance. A. 0. Burrill, recounting this
interview, spoke significantly of the ensuing publicity:
"The two leading papers of Ottawa, the Evening Citizen and the Evening Journal, gave very favorable reports of this in- terview. In each case the report was given a prominent position on the first page of the paper, with striking h e a d i n g s . "26
To back up their protest, Canadian Adventists
began an intensive campaign to collect signatures for a
petition to Parliament against the Sunday law. This
campaign was reported "to all papers of the Associated 27 Press." By March 14, Canadian church leaders were
able to bring to the Parliament a petition with 13,832
signatures, and the presentation was widely reported in
the papers. "I have had personal interviews with
ZGibid., 83 (February 1, 1906), 20.
^^Ibid., 83 (February 8, 1906), pp. 20,21.
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several of the members of Parliament," Thurston wrote,
"and have supplied the house quite well with reading
matter on the subject at issue. Thus the truth is being
brought before men in authority, and the public press is o o reporting the progress of the work."
With equal success in Washington, Russell at
length reported to the constituency:
"The truths advocated by this people [have been) brought prominently to the attention of the public,...^confirming) the wisdom of the counsel which directed this people to make Washington their headquarters. We are here for a purpose and that purpose is plain. The final conflict is at hand, and this is the strategic point."29
B. Recognition of the Need for a Favorable "Climate of Opinion"
In meeting recurring religious liberty issues. Ad
ventist leaders began to attach increasing importance to
the need for maintaining a "climate" of religious free
dom, of conveying to the public a general knowledge of
the denomination and its faith. In his 1906 appeal for
the annual religious liberty offering in Adventist
churches, Russell emphasized the importance of main
taining the right to use "some of the most effective
agencies that we now employ in the proclamation of the
28lbid., 83 (April 5, 1906), pp. 16, 17.
^^Ibid., 83 (February 15, 1906), p. 5.
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...message; namely, free speech, the public press, and
the use of our literature. "^0 The reading for the
churches on Religious Liberty Day of that year was pre
pared by D. W. Reavis. Among the methods of communi
cation and persuasion available, the press was especi
ally emphasized:
"There is another effective method of aggressive work almost entirely unem ployed which...would be a great factor in educating the public mind...We refer to prepared articles for the press...It is not a very difficult matter for those of mature (judgment to adapt good general matter to the needs of local issues; yet the need of this kind of work at this time is very great."31
The importance of the press was also considered
important by workers on the local scene. A local con
ference religious liberty secretary wrote Russell of
the effectiveness of utilizing the public press in de
feating "efforts of the Sunday law crusaders":
"I have found the most effectual way to defeat them is to enter protest after pro test through the daily papers, provided they take the right side of the question. These crusaders will soon give up for fear the people will become enlightened."32
30lbid., p. 8.
31lbid., p. 20.
32ibid., 83 (March 1, 1906), p. 21.
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G. Use of the Press as a Distinctive Organizational Function
As the press became more important in the eyes of
those fighting the denomination's battles against re
ligious "reformers" it became clear that more organized
effort was needed in this specialized area. Petitions,
personal visits, incidental publicity attending these
activities--all this was fine, but what was needed was
specific, direct work with the news media, adapting
material to their needs.
In Europe, the plea for organized effort brought
quick results. With the press of Great Britain giving
more and more attention to Sunday law agitation by
various churches. Adventist leaders there appointed an
informal press bureau "to take advantage of every
opportunity to set the facts of the controversy before
the public." This press bureau, forerunner of that
soon to be established at the world headquarters in
Washington, D. C., consisted of fifty-five members in
various sections of Britain. Their task was to watch
120 leading newspapers and to exploit opportunities to
present the Adventist view. "Many paragraphs, letters,
and articles have been published, reaching thousands of
readers," it was r e p o r t e d . ^3
33Ibid., 83 (October 4, 1906), p. 32.
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By 1911 the press phase of the General Conference
religious liberty program was routinely being referred
to as "our press bureau work." Its operations ranged
beyond the coverage of religious liberty questions. In
formation was being given the news media on various Ad
ventist points of view, and Russell spoke enthusiastic
ally of the success of this better-organized and very
deliberate press relations operation:
"This feature of the Religious Liberty De partment ...is being attended with very en couraging results. On October 4 we gave an article to the Associated Press, which was accepted...(Later, an article on "Prophecy and the Turkish Question"^ was sent to 1,500 of the leading newspapers of the country...It is safe to say that a large percent of our national population had an opportunity to read it...We are now preparing another article on the question of capital and labor, with the hope of securing its publication in many leading papers."34
A fine sense of timing and news values was evident
in the release of these general articles. Concerning
that relating to church views on capital and labor,
Russell pointed out for readers of the church paper that
"in view of the great trial of the celebrated labor lead
ers, the McNamara brothers, it seems an appropriate time to present that subject."35
34ibid., 88 (October 26, 1911), p. 18.
35ibid.
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Well-illustrated articles on Christian attitudes
toward war were offered to the New York papers late in
1911, and efforts were being made not only to cover
metropolitan newspapers, but also through cooperation
of local church personnel to secure the publication
monthly of "live, up-to-date articles on vital points
of the message in town and country p a p e r s . " 3 6
In his report to the annual autumn Council of the
church in October, 1911, Russell recounted with justi
fiable satisfaction the many activities related specif
ically to the religious liberty program. Seven Sunday
law measures in the Sixty-first and Sixty-second Con
gresses had been repulsed, and members had been assisted
by petitions, memorials, letters, telegrams. Action had
also been taken in numerous state legislatures, and a
heavy lecture program had been promoted. Literature and
pamphlets had been distributed by the thousands, and the
departmental journal, now called Liberty, was being sent
to state and national officials, college presidents and
teachers. This was an ambitious and effective program.
Then as a climax to the report, Russell recounted his
plans for more extensive use of the press:
"We are endeavoring to encourage and develop a line of publicity work through the columns
S^Ibid.
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of newspapers throughout the country with encouraging results...Church elders and special correspondents are furnishing at intervals specially prepared articles on some phase of present truth, and for the most part these articles have been court eously received and p u b l i s h e d . "37
Among the local workers singled out for special
commendation in this newly developing phase of the work
was a young evangelist in Maryland, Carlyle B. Haynes,
who was at this very council to have a leading part in
establishing a separate press bureau to carry forward
the publicity work on an inter-departmental basis.
37lbid., 88 (November 2, 1911), pp. 17, 18.
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REACHING OUT
Recognition of Public Relations Needs
The blush of success in the public arena at the
turn of the century brought a new kind of public rela
tions consciousness to Seventh-day Adventists, from
those at world headquarters in Washington, down to the
lone evangelist in a small hinterland community.
A. Public Impressions
There was an awareness of a need for better public
impressions as reflected in frequent admonitions con
cerning personal qualifications needed in addressing the
public:
"The first impressions have an important influence upon the mind, and when those representing an unpopular truth go before the world with a speech and manner that clearly indicate a lack of culture, it leaves an impression which the presenta tion of truth can hardly overcome."!
Along with this positive advice, looking toward
success in meeting the public, members were also warned
against arousing needless antagonisms. For example,
when certain devotees of church-operated elementary
^Tenney, J. E. Review and Herald, 83 (November 1, 1906), p. 28.
- 52 -
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schools referred to pupils in government schools as
"only public school brats," Nora Hough, a pioneer Ad
ventist educator, chastened them with this counsel:
"Although the contrast between our purpose and that of the secular schools...is so clearly drawn, great caution should be ex ercised in speaking of these differences ...Probably no department in the government of our country has performed better service nor exerted wider influence for the improve ment of American citizens than our free public school system."2
B. Institutional Emphasis
Pleas for the completion of new'headquarters
buildings in Washington were based in a large measure
upon the necessity of public respect and good will.
The General Conference Committee, in calling for addi
tional funds, said to the members:
"The work at Washington, D. C., is still in need of additional help to finish the build ings which have already been started, and to place them in a condition where they can command the respect of the public in this important center."3
Emphasis on public relations values at headquar
ters was echoed throughout the country in connection
with the work of hospitals and schools. In North
^Hough, Nora. Review and Herald, 83 (October 4, 1906), p. 24.
Review and Herald, 83 (April 26, 1906), p. 16.
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Carolina, the Toluca Industrial School, a self-supporting
Adventist institution, got its start because of the in
terest of non-Adventist residents. "We are glad to have
the good will of the people," wrote D. T. Shireman, a
leader in the school. "We hope to make this school a
blessing to the surrounding community.
The Adelphian Academy in Holly, Michigan, appealed
for additional funds to complete a building program pri
marily because of the institution's "main objective to
see young people trained for service," but also for the
reason that:
"The Adventists have the confidence of the citizens of Holly, who expect to see good buildings, and a well-equipped academy in their midst. It is hoped that our brethren will not allow the people of the village to lose confidence in them, by failing to com plete the building at once,"5
The twenty-first annual calendar of Healdsburg
College in Northern California, with an eye to the com
munity, declared that the school's objectives were not
only to prepare young people to serve the church but
also "to develop and train men and women to live as true
Christian citizens.
^Shineman, D. T. Review and Herald, 83 (February 15, 1906), p. 14.
^Curtis, W. D. Review and Herald, 83 (February 8, 1906), p. 22.
^Review and Herald, 81 (September 22, 1904), p. 24.
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C. Inter-Denominational Relationships
While it could hardly be said that Adventists
dropped their attack on "fallen" churches, members were
officially encouraged to enter into fellowship with
Christians of other denominations, particularly in the
temperance work, but also in other activities of mutual
interest. D. W. Reavis' reading for the churches on
Religious Liberty Day in 1906 suggested:
"...wise, tactful, aggressive work in con nection with the meetings of the various organizations such as the WCTU, Christian Endeavor Society, Epworth League, temper ance societies, etc. We are not to hold ourselves aloof from the associations of the people. We are not to meet with them to partake of their ways, customs and practices, but to encourage them in what they are doing that right, and by in spired modesty, tact, and skill, to help the honest to see and to maintain right principle."?
There was a notable pride when other church organ
izations or public officials accepted the denomination
on equal terms. Spokesmen for the West Michigan Annual
Conference of 1906 regarded good public relations as one
of the highlights of their meeting:
"Very prominent among the circumstances that gave an auspicious opening to the conference was the cordial hospitality and hearty wel-
^Reavis, D. W. Review and Herald, 83 (February 15, 1906), p. 20.
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come given the delegates by the citizens of the place, irrespective of creed or denom ination. .. [Because the group was too large for our own church] the other churches were freely offered."8
This conference met for the most part in the Con
gregational church, with Friday evening services in a
Baptist church and the final session on a Sunday night
in the Methodist church, largest one in town, with many
non-Adventists attending. The convention was welcomed
on the first evening by Dr. Milton Chase, "a prominent
resident," and on Sunday evening by the Rev. H. D.
Skinner, Methodist pastor, who "gave an address of wel
come on behalf of the churches of the city."^
D. Evangelistic Promotion
Along with such general developments, public re
lations and the press came to figure in an equally
prominent way in the work of evangelism.
Meetings in Martinsville, Indiana, near Indian
apolis, were advertised through a four-page special
edition of the lodal daily.
In Los Angeles, a summer series of meetings re
ceived favorable reports in the daily papers bringing
Review and Herald, 83 (February 8, 1906), pp. 19,20.
9lbid.
^^Review and Herald, 81 (September 29, 1904), p. 18.
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out overflow crowds to hear the evangelist, William
Simpson.
An editorial in the denominational paper called
instructive attention to an extended synopsis of evan
gelistic sermons by A. R. Bell of the New Jersey con
ference, published by the daily Burlington Enterprise*
"Many papers will use this kind of matter if well
written reports are furnished." An example for emulation
was also seen in summaries of sermons, as well as letters
to the editor, published in Louisiana newspapers. In
evangelistic experiences there, "many prominent people
--one a mayor" had responded to such articles.
One evangelistic company at Willows, California,
undertook the publication of its own "newspaper." With
a small attendance at the meetings. Evangelists Sims
and Mogle published a bi-weekly paper to get their ser
mons out to the people, paying for the publication with
advertisements from local merchants. They reported "a
considerable interest awakened.
Such "public relations evangelism" reached some
thing of an ultimate in a Nashville campaign in which
the preaching of J. S. Washburn attracted an ex-mayor
^^Review and Herald, 81 (August 25, 1904), p. 17.
^^Review and Herald, 83 (April 5, 1906), p. 24.
^Review and Herald, 83 (July 19, 1906), p. 19.
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of the city. In general, it was said, there was "a
thinking, intelligent class...greatly interested in the
meetings." Accompanying the regular publicity were
daily reports in the paper (as much as a full column if
the evangelistic company would buy 100 papersi). In
addition, Washburn hoped "to get in a brief history of
the Advent movement." Sensing something of a "break
through" via this public-relations-oriented approach,
Washburn exclaimed, "The Lord has given us favor with
the people."1^
Formal Organization of a Separate Press Bureau
With a new consciousness of the denomination’s
powers in public encounter, encouraged by an often
favorable public response, together with repeated
demonstrations that the press would circulate a great
variety of information about the denomination, the time
seemed ripe at the 1911 Autumn Council to establish a
general press bureau to serve all the church.
A. Background of the Action
Carlyle B. Haynes had been one of the most success
ful exponents of the public relations approach in evan
gelism and had only that summer achieved the publication
^\fashburn, J. S. Review and Herald, 83 (July 19, 1906), p. 15.
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of eighty-four articles in Baltimore newspapers during
the course of an evangelistic crusade. These articles
had an aggregate circulation of 9,655,000 copies, Haynes
reported, a figure calculated to stir the imagination of
church leaders oriented to literature distribution.
Moreover, professional help was at hand, for Haynes had
during that crusade baptized Walter L. Burgan, a re
porter of some twelve years’ experience on the Balti
more American and the Baltimore Sun.
With the opening of the Council in late October,
Haynes was on the job supplying the Washington press
and the press associations with daily reports of the
meetings. Press reporters had even been sent to the
gathering in suburban Takoma Park for photographs of the
Adventist college and hospital to illustrate Haynes’
stories. This on-the-scene demonstration of a general
publicity operation had its effect. An official interim
report of the Council enthusiastically exclaimed:
’’Thus by...this one brother, information regarding our work has been placed before probably millions of readers. The Council has been giving study to the importance of this kind of publicity work, which can be made use of wherever councils or meetings are held.’’16
^^Burgan, Walter L. and Haynes, Carlyle B. A Series of Lessons in Newspaper Reporting. No. 1. Washington, D. C.: the Press Bureau, General Conference of Seventh- day Adventists, 1912. !6Review and Herald, 88 (November 2, 1911), p. 24.
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K. C. Russell of the Religious Liberty Department,
under whose sponsorship the informal "press bureau" had
grown up, urged the leaders forward. "The press bureau
work should be greatly extended," he told the Council.
"Plans should be developed for publishing articles
through the newspaper syndicates, the expense of which
might be met by special donations to a fund dedicated
to that purpose. We should secure space in the great
metropolitan papers of the country.*" From actual exper
ience, Russell pointed out, it was not difficult to
secure space for reports of meetings and synopses of
sermons. "Such reports are gladly accepted as items
of news." In order to obtain publication of material
"designed for enlightenment," however, he observed that
"more than ordinary care" was needed in the preparation
of articles."^7
As church leaders pondered the alternative courses
they might take in strengthening the work with news
media, they focused at length on "the importance of
more general use of the public press," rather than hav
ing the work related to one department. By special
request, Carlyle B. Haynes was called upon to read a
paper on the subject, to complement what Russell had
said. According to the official report of the Council:
l^Ibid., p. 18.
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"...jHaynesJ spoke of the large use that had been made of the press in Baltimore during the last tent meeting season. Of 54 sermons preached in that city, 51 had been reported in the papers. Brethren K. C. Russell and S. B. Horton, of the Religious Liberty De partment also brought before the Council the large work which has been done from the de partment office in the way of duplicating articles on special features of the message, which have been placed in the hands of our people throughout the country for insertion in the country press."18
B. Organization Accomplished
The pleas of these men, and the tangible evidence
of what was already being accomplished throughout the
country, and abroad, and a recognition of the value of
a professionally-manned, general press bureau for the
entire church organization, the Council at last took
this action:
"Recognizing the power and value of the pub lic press as an influential medium for con veying information, molding public sentiment, and educating the masses, and appreciating the openings universally existing, whereby the gospel message may go to millions of readers; and,
"Whereas, Encouraging results have already attended efforts put forth in that direction,
"We recommend. That the General Conference employ a man to take charge of and to operate a general Press Bureau."19
^%eview and Herald, 88 (November 9, 1911), p. 14. l^ibid.
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The "man," was Walter L. Burgan, figuratively
standing in the wings and ready for action. Undoubtedly
his professional qualifications and his accessibility
went far in persuading church leaders to establish the
press relations work as a distinctly separate agency of
the church, as so many other organizations were doing.
Burgan, as a new recruit to church membership,
relatively unacquainted with the ways of the church or
ganization, needed a mentor, however, and this was
supplied in the person of Carlyle B. Haynes, himself—
the man who had won Burgan to the faith. Early publi
cations of the new press bureau were in the names of
both men, early itineraries were undertaken in tandem—
that none should lack confidence in the new "profession
al" director of the denomination’s press bureau.
Burgan’s appointment was recognized as a signif
icant step in denominational history, the fulfillment
of the hopes of many years. Introducing Burgan to the
field, less than a month after the historic action of
the Autumn Council, General Conference President A. G.
Daniels recalled the entreaties of James White so long
before that just such a program be undertaken:
"Thirty years ago James White felt a great burden to make use of the public press in giving publicity to our message and our movement. Just before his death he made a great effort to awaken the conference lead ers to the importance of training persons
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...For a time there was considerable activity but the effort was not carried far. For years we have done but little. However, dur ing the last three or four years the impor tance of this work has pressed upon the hearts of many of our ministers.
"The General Conference has made a number of efforts to establish a Press Bureau. It has at last succeeded. At the Autumn Council the Committee was requested to secure an ex perienced newspaperman to take charge."20
The General Conference leader spoke approvingly of
Burgan*s experience as a newspaperman and revealed plans
for a series of classes in press relations to be conduct
ed for ministers and "other workers engaged in public
work" beginning in January, 1912. Burgan was to lead
out in the series of "workshops" in the northern part of
the country, Haynes in the South. Daniels expressed
hope that workers would "take advantage of this oppor
tunity to learn and thus be enabled to report tent,
hall, and campmeetings through the public press so that
people will have their attention frequently directed to
both our message and our work from the Atlantic to the
Pacific." He added, in a sort of benediction, "We be
lieve that our present bureau will prove to be of in
estimable value to our cause."3!
Thus was launched the first formally organized
20baniels, A. G. Review and Herald, 88 (December 14, 1911), pp. 9, 10. Zllbid.
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press bureau among America’s churches. As Burgan began
his work in January, 1912, and, with Haynes, began the
first field itinerary, the Review and Herald gave the
pioneers an enthusiastic send-off, with the hope ’’that
a hearty reception will be accorded them at all our
union conferences...We have lost many opportunities to
bring the message before the public by failing to util
ize the various avenues open to us through the weekly
and daily press. We should well improve this means of 9 9 spreading truth in the future."
^^Review and Herald, 89 (January 11, 1912), p. 24.
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THE EXPLORATORY ERA
Vision of Possibilities in Press Bureau Concept
Burgan, supported by Haynes, plunged into his work
with a prophetic spirit. "The newspaper," they declared,
"has been brought to its high state of efficiency in the
rapid dissemination of news for the express purpose of
being used of God in these last days to finish His work
and cut it short in righteousness. This is the real
purpose for the existence of the press of the world.
Such an observation would doubtless have seemed quaint
to HearSt, Scripps, and other "press lords" of the day,
but it does serve as an indication of the zeal with
which the Adventist press bureau got under way. "Here
is a system in actual operation," said Burgan and
Haynes, "which if we can but use for our own purposes
would go far toward solving the problem of warning the
world."2
Burgan’s objective, supported by Haynes, was to
"train a force of workers in the practical use of every
Burgan, Walter L. and Haynes, Carlyle B. A Ser ies of Lessons in Newspaper Reporting, No. 1. Wash ington, D. 6.: the Press Bureau, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, 1912, p. 2.
2lbid.
- 65 -
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avenue of publicity." Such workers were to be given
press cards and designated, "members of the Press Bureau."
Some older Adventist workers carry those press cards to
this day as prize possessions, indications of their per
sonal involvement in the development of denominational
public relations work.
A series of printed lessons was prepared, includ
ing "instruction in writing articles for the daily and
Sunday newspapers, the weekly country papers, the weekly
and monthly magazines, and in reporting tent and hall
meetings, sermons, addresses, lectures, local and union
conference sessions, ministerial institutes, departmental
conventions and campmeetings." As a result of training
present workers along these lines, it was declared, the
church leaders "hope to provide a trained press agent
for every conference and institution without additional
expense."
While special emphasis was placed on the report
ing of sermons and lectures in connection with various
meetings so that "we will be able to get the principles
of the truth in the papers," Burgan and Haynes took a
broad view of what constituted newsworthy material. The
bureau was established, they said, "for the purpose of
securing the widest publicity for the principles of the
^Ibid.
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everlasting gospel, and for the work, history, statis
tics, progress, etc., of the Seventh-day Adventist
denomination.'*^ The "etc.," has long since come to
include a wide variety of activities never envisioned
even by the far-seeing pioneers I
Early Publicity Operations
A. Materials to Assist the Field
After the first early itinerary becoming acquaint
ed with the field, inspiring an interest among the min
isters, Burgan was on his own. He settled down momen
tarily to preparing materials the members of his growing
"press bureau" could put into local use.
The 1912 lessons, a series of four, had acquainted
the local ministers with the basic organization of news
paper offices and simple rules of newswriting. Some of
the instruction sounds surprisingly modern:
"There are but two general rules that should be continually borne in mind, and these do not always apply. They are: 'Begin your story with the most important fact in it ; * and 'Write the various incidents in the order of their importance, leaving non-essentials for the last.'"5
"Next to being clear, the editor wants his items brisk or readable. Dullness in a
4%bid.
^Burgan and Haynes, 0£. cit., No. 3, p. 2.
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newspaper is inexcusable. Even reports of funerals would be pleasant and attractive if the editor could make them so..."6
By 1914, Burgan had branched out into paid adver
tising. In that year he issued a thirty-two page book
let of sample newspaper advertisements for use in pub
licizing evangelistic meetings, rallies and other
events, a service greatly appreciated by men in the
field who were struggling with the problems of prepar
ing advertising copy. One significance of this booklet
was its revelation of Burgan's conviction that churchmen
should not hesitate to "do business" with the news
papers, giving them paid advertising as well as expect
ing them to publicize their activities through the news columns.7
B. Direct Releases to the Press
During these early years, Burgan was also devel
oping techniques in the direct release of news to the
papers. Extensive publicity was given the departure
of missionaries such as Elder and Mrs. J. H. McEachern,
enroute to South America. As an example, a feature
story was prepared about this "reckless infidel lumber-
jack-turned-gospel-minister" and sent to newspapers in
^Ibid., No. 4, p. 1.
The Press Bureau, Attracting an Audience. Wash ington, D. C.: General Conference of Seventh-day Ad ventists, 1914.
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virtually every town Included in his life history, in
cluding cities in Nebraska, Ohio, Michigan, California,
Washington, Ontario, and Argentina, an indication of the
comprehensive view Burgan had of his work.®
Another example of a continuing system of mission
ary publicity is a series of stories on the sailing of
T. W. Steen and family to Sao Paulo, Brazil, in 1918.
Individually adapted releases were sent to Berrien
Springs, Michigan, and South Bend, Indiana, both towns
in the vicinity of Steen's college; and to Knoxville,
Iowa, the home of Steen's mother; as well as to Holly,
Michigan, where Steen had served as an academy prin
cipal.9
For a time, Burgan had the services of an
assistant, B. P. Foote, who aided in the operation of
a fairly prolific news bureau.
C. Letters-to-Editors, a Publicity Instrument
During and following World War I, Burgan expended
great energy in helping Adventist workers and members to
keep a stream of letters going to editors of local news
papers. At least three separate "kits" of suggested
letters were sent out covering a wide range of topics
®News Release, The Press Bureau, General Confer ence of Seventh-day Adventists, Washington, D. C.
Sibid.
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such as "Capital and Labor," "Be Not Troubled on Account
of Wars," "Industrial Crisis Approaching," "The Increase
of Knowledge," "Principles of Child-Training," and
"Health." In addition, recipients of these kits were
encouraged to prepare letters of their own where special
local adaptation was possible.10
In connection with the letters campaign, we find
one of the earliest efforts toward the appointment of
laymen in the churches as news representatives, a
development that later was to be an outstanding char
acteristic of Adventist public relations effort under
the leadership of J. R. Ferren. In a general letter
addressed to local church elders throughout the country,
Burgan appealed for the specific appointment of someone
in each church, who "will be able to get them all pub
lished in some local paper.
From a general public relations point of view,
this appeal touched upon another point in its sugges
tion that the elders read to the congregation one of
the sample letters on Seventh-day Adventist standards
of conduct, for the reason that "some of our people
may feel the need of raising their own standard somewhat
^®The Press Bureau, materials in Historical Files, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Washing ton, D. C.
^^Burgan, Walter L. General Mimeographed Letter, August 29, 1918.
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after this is presented to them, knowing that the public
will watch them more closely after seeing this statement
of our beliefs."
D. Headquarters Publicity Program
With all his encouragement of activity in the
field, Burgan*s duties at home were not neglected. One
sample of headquarters publicity survives as a by-lined
full-page spread on "Unique Adventist Development at
Takoma Park" published in the Washington Herald.Also,
by 1924, Burgan had systematized his coverage of the
annual autumn Councils of the denomination, with a
standard "file" of localized releases. These stories
stressed the participation of local delegates in the
Councils. Burgan*s file, "arranged for future reference
and guide," contains releases slanted to the interests
of each of twelve unions in the North American Division.
With the 1926 General Conference Session, at the
exact mid-point of his tenure, Burgan was able to report
after fourteen years of building, that the Press Bureau
was a going concern. Although it was still, at head
quarters, a one-man operation, "The name and fame of
Seventh-day Adventists are growing," Burgan told the
^^News item in the Washington (D.C.) Herald, October 14, 1923.
^®News Releases, The Press Bureau, Washington, D. C.
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delegates. "Editors appreciate the fact that we have
something for the benefit of humanity.He recounted
successes in evangelistic publicity as well as publicity
developed for "health lecturers" and medical institu
tions. A notable example of the latter, Burgan said,
was the publicity for the Glendale Sanitarium in Cali
fornia, where Burgan had spent six weeks prior to the
opening ceremonies. During this time he had placed
news stories in "newspapers all over the state and
personally had prepared a six-page feature section for
the Glendale News and a sixteen-page section for the
Glendale Press, then a separate newspaper.
Burgan also reported to the 1926 session a con
tinuing tradition of support for the religious liberty
work. Especially mentioned was a close cooperation
between the two agencies in defeating Sunday law
measures in the District of Columbia the preceding
spring:
"In connection with the hearings before the Congressional Committee on the four Sunday bills that were introduced for the District of Columbia during the session just closed, the press associations telegraphed dispatches
Burgan, Walter L. "Report to the General Confer ence Session," 1926. The Press Bureau, Historical Files, Washington, D. C.
• ^^Letter, Walter L. Burgan to James W. Gillespie, January 24, 1934.
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all over the nation about our activities in opposing these measures, with the result that the denomination has had an unusually large amount of profitable publicity. Lengthy articles have appeared on the front page of large city papers, giving prominent mention to Seventh-day Adventists."16
Significantly, by 1926, Burgan could also point to
a growing publicity work overseas. From Africa, Japan,
England, and Australia, encouraging reports had been re
ceived. A notable breakthrough was sensed in Australia,
in particular, Burgan suggested. "This is a new thing
for Australian dailies," the leaders down under had re
ported in connection with the past season’s campmeeting
publicity. "Hitherto we have had great difficulty in
getting into their columns at all, but this year they
have been very free with their space.
The General Conference press secretary capped his
mid-term program with the publication, in 1926, of yet
another handbook for the pastors. Report Your Sermons
in the Newspapers, a collection of twenty-seven model
sermon reports covering the major doctrines of the church,
plus several others commenting on the relationship of
Bible prophecy to current events.
^®Burgan, Walter L. "Report to the General Confer ence Session," 1926. l^Ibid. l®Burgan, Walter L, Report Your Sermons in the Newspapers. Washington, D. C.: The Press Bureau, Gen eral Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, 1926.
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THE ERA OF INTENSIFICATION
Refinements in Publicity Operations
By the 1930*s the Press Bureau was in full flower.
Burgan's activities ranged widely with the continuance
of an impressive news operation, in addition to an in
tensive program of encouraging and training workers in
the field.
A. Missionary Publicity
On the news front, Burgan continued his coverage
of missionary sailings of such persons as Robert Leo
Odom and Dr. Ralph Waddell, as examples, and encouraged
returning missionaries to carry stock stories and pic
tures with them as they traveled from place to place
while in the states. He even coached such persons at
times as to how their visits could "make news" more
effectively. To his old friend, J. H. McEachern, he
wrote:
"I hope in your travels over this country you will have an article all ready to present to the newspapers in the different cities where you visit. I do not see any harm in your saying something in print as to the attitude of the Filipinos toward independence...I hope in the article you will mention something of your extensive travels in the Far East, and something of the advancement of our work in those lands, without saying anything that
— 74 —
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would react against us from a governmental standpoint."1
B. Publicity on General Gatherings
In connection with denominational gatherings, Bur
gan had developed an efficient news service for local
papers, routinely alerted the Associated Press to the
importance of certain meetings, and made arrangements
to supply appropriate information.^ Publicity at the
autumn Councils frequently dominated entire pages in the
local newspapers, and included interviews with mission
aries in attendance, routine news stories on the business
of the day, and personality sketches of prominent Ad
ventist leaders.®
The personality sketches often revealed the
skilled newsman's approach to the news. For example,
Burgan once wrote of "unique employment of gridiron
tactics" by a newly-elected General Conference presi
dent :
"...Suddenly several heads were raised above the brush where others had been hidden and
^Letter, Walter L. Burgan to J. H. McEachern, September 5, 1935.
^Letter, Walter L. Burgan to Herbert Yahraes, Associated Press, October 1, 1932.
®News items in Battle Creek (Michigan) Enquirer and Evening News, October 17-20, 1933.
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in a moment Rev. McElhany found himself sur rounded by a group of fierce warriors intent on adding another head to their collection.
"Rev. McElhany smiled at the recollection. He told of the effect of a lightning charge and tearing through the ring of menacing natives in the manner in which he had played many hard-fought games.
"At the first onslaught of 200 pounds of husky American missionary the natives gave way to a strange and superior form of assault and, with yelps of dismay, dis appeared into the bush."4
G. Publicity on Traveling Headquarters Men
Burgan developed refinements, too, in his handling
of publicity on men traveling for the General Conference.
In the 1930*s he was prepared to supply portrait photo
graphs, along with specially prepared releases, usually
sent directly to the newspapers in cities along the
route of appointments.®
Stock stories on persons like Heber H. Votaw, then
a returned missionary from India, were relayed from
place to place with little change except the name of the
local city, much in the same fashion as such stories are
often handled today.®
4 News item, San Francisco News, June 5, 1936.
^News Release, General Conference Press Bureau, Washington, D. C.
^Ibid., August, 1929.
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D. Publicity Service in the Field
Often, Burgan went personally to cover locally-
sponsored events, as well as General Conference func
tions. The six-weeks project in connection with the
1926 opening of the Glendale Sanitarium is an example
of this. Another is a campmeeting-youth congress in
Oklahoma. On these occasions he usually had the unqual
ified support of local administrators. W. H. Clark,
president of the Oklahoma Conference, for example, wrote:
"You probably are wondering what our atti tude is toward the publicity for campmeet ing, so I am writing you...to tell you that we are getting in advance notices and write ups concerning the coming campmeeting and the way will be clear for publicity of the meetings.. .With the write-ups you will be able to give the meetings...we will be able to do much toward enlightening the people ...for many miles around with respect to the work we are doing and set the message before them in a very clear way."7
This same meeting provides a good example of the
fraternal approach Burgan made to his erstwhile col
leagues of the press. Emphasizing in an advance story
the fact that Christian standards of dress, entertain
ment, and conduct would be discussed, Burgan appended a
postscript to Oklahoma City editors:
"This convention will produce some hot
^Letter, W. H. Clark to Walter L. Burgan, August 6, 1929.
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stuff for the newspapers as the fur will fly over practically all these subjects. Why don't you send your own reporter, also pho tographer, for there may be some in the del egation who are dressed in hoseless, sleeve less fashion. Others may be decorated with lip sticks and rouge, and may wear boyish bobs. The Adventist leaders are not all agreed on these subjects and the convention promises to be a scrappy time. I'll be there and will help the reporters."8
Thus, the news-wise press secretary sought to lure
the reporters with a prospect of good-humored conflict,
doubtless knowing that the meeting was more likely to
produce positive impressions than negative ones.
Burgan worked closely with the Associated Press,
certain magazines, and the press in general when Ad
ventist doctors and nurses were caught in the Ethiopian
war of 1935. He supplied pictures and general back
ground information, and also sent out stock stories for
local adaptation by workers in the field.^ He also
worked closely with such men as Owen A. Troy in contacts
with the Negro Press, seeing such results as a full-page
story in Abbott * s Weekly and Illustrated News on a re
markable new Negro church in C h i c a g o .
®News Release, General Conference Press Bureau, Washington, D. C., August 13, 1929.
^Letters, Walter L. Burgan to Alden B. Mills, Octo ber 28, 1935; Associated Press, December 2, 1935.
^®News item in Abbott*s Weekly and Illustrated News, December 16, 1933.
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E. "Setting up" Publicity Programs
Burgan believed in working ahead, just as good
public relations men do today. Well in advance of the
1936 General Conference session, for example, he was
engaged in voluminous correspondence with those scheduled
to speak, seeking advance summaries of their talks. To
one who questioned the advisability of "freezing" so far
in advance what one was to say, he ventured the opinion
that not only was advance material necessary, but that
it might also be necessary for the press secretary to
do a little preliminary ghost writing:
"Our men in the field, as you well know, are not all Alonzo L. Bakers by a jug full, and many of them have to be helped by put ting into their hands the very information they should give to the newspapers, in the form that it should be presented."11
A new world of possibilities for "making news" was
opened up for Burgan and other Adventist leaders with
the bringing of Fiji Islanders to a World Conference of
the church in 1930. These converted chieftans were re
ceived in San Francisco by the mayor and other leading
citizens and, in a Fijian ceremony, they presented
exotic gifts from the South Seas. This event was one
of the first Adventist publicity projects to break into
^^Letter, Walter L. Burgan to Alonzo L. Baker. April 16, 1936.
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the motion picture medium. Then, with Burgan alerting
newspapers along the way, the islanders undertook a
cross-country trip, visiting campmeetings and c h u r c h e s . ^2
Burgan developed a nation-wide publicity program
in connection with the visit, in 1936, of Hulda Jost
from Germany, director of an extensive and dramatic Ad
ventist welfare work in Germany. Miss Jost was met at
the boat in New York by Elder J. L. McElhany, president
of the General Conference, and inasmuch as newspapers
had been alerted by a comprehensive advance announce
ment, considerable publicity resulted. Similar releases
were made as she visited Adventist installations from
New York through Massachusetts, Michigan, Chicago, St.
Louis, Denver, Washington, Oregon, and California.1®
With the coming of Chief Kata Ragoso as a 1936
General Conference delegate from the Solomon Islands,
the publicity program really seemed to hit the "big-
time." Beginning his itinerary in the East, Ragoso was
interviewed on the National Broadcasting Company Network,
and on clear-channel stations in Detroit and Chicago, in
addition to extensive publicity in the New York news
papers and elsewhere throughout the E a s t . 14
l^Letter, Walter L. Burgan to Alpha Film Laborator ies, Baltimore, Maryland, July 2, 1930.
l®News releases. General Conference Press Bureau, Washington, D. C., March 8-11, 1936. l^Letter, W. E. Howell to W. L. Burgan, July 30, 1936.
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Westward, from Chicago, Ragoso was accompanied by
George C. Hoskin, an early "convert" of Burgan to the
publicity program, then serving in that city as general
transportation agent for the General Conference. News
paper publicity became so extensive that Hoskin employed
a clipping bureau to keep up with it. The chief created
a sensation everywhere, from the Loop to Pike's Peak,
and was interviewed extensively on radio stations, feted
by mayors and governors, and implored to speak at lunch
eon meetings.
Together with local church officials, Hoskin
booked the Denver Civic Auditorium and issued some ad
vertising, with the result that more than 3,000 curious
residents turned out to see the bushy-haired Solomon
Islander and to hear him speak articulately about the
value of Adventist missionary operations.
Hoskin wrote enthusiastically to Burgan of his
experiences:
"I believe the denomination is missing its greatest source of publicity by not bring ing more of these men over here and bring ing them oftener. If they would bring one or two of these men every year or two, or possibly one from India and one from the South Seas, there is no reason why even greater publicity than they have had at this time could not be developed."15
l®Letter, G. C. Hoskin to Walter L. Burgan, August 25, 1936.
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Hoskin saw great possibilities in working far
enough ahead to line up appointments with service clubs
and other churches, in arranging receptions with public
officials, and in staging public meetings.^®
Burgan took Hoskin seriously and began promoting
an extension of the idea. He explored with Alaskan
officials the thought of bringing an Eskimo family to
the United States,^^ and with South Sea officials the
possibility of bringing an entire family of Solomon
Islanders to the United States.He took the case to
officers of the General Conference with an appeal to
Elder M. N. Campbell, vice president for North America:
"My brother...I believe we can get thousands of dollars for our foreign mission work by bringing such men and women to America and planning well-advertised meetings for them ...They should also be taken to our camp meetings ... If we had four or more of such bushy-headed, barefooted fellows, with bludgeons in the hands, and the devil-gods they used to worship, they would attract more than ordinary attention.../als<^Eskimos ... [orj some Hottentots.. .from the equator ial sections of South America."19
l®Ibid.
^^Letter, 17, 1936.
^®Letter, ber 17, 1936.
^^Letter, ber 5, 1936.
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The church leader looked favorably upon the gener
al idea. Said M. N. Campbell:
"I agree with you on the matter of bring ing converted heathen over here from time to time and giving them publicity. I be lieve it would do much to counteract the powerful propaganda against foreign missions. Other denominations do not seem to be doing anything about it and I guess it is up to us."20
Full realization of Burgan’s dream was to elude
him. It would await the end of World War II, when his
successors in office would develop publicity valued at
some $5,000,000 in connection with a visit of the
"fuzzy-wuzzy angel," Robert Salau, and his reunion with
some of the American pilots he and his men had rescued
during the war.
At the 1936 General Conference Session, Burgan
dramatically displayed a chart nearly fifty feet long
and four feet high, containing hundreds of newspaper
clippings appearing in print during the years 1934 and
1935.21 As evidence of an equal success by men in the
field, workers from Michigan, at the same meeting, dis
played a chart nearly the same size featuring newspaper
clippings published in connection with one ten-day state
20 Letter, M. N. Campbell to Walter L. Burgan, Octo ber 8, 1936. 21 Letter, Walter L. Burgan to I. C. Schmidt, July 22, 1936.
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campmeeting in 1934. This and other reports from the
field do not dim the luster of Burgan's personal achieve
ments in releasing information to the press. They rather
emphasize the importance of his work in multiplying his
own efforts through inspiring and training men in the
field to do likewise.
F. New Materials for the Field
The backbone of Burgan’s work for the field was
his steady flow of materials of various kinds to exhort,
to explain, and also to provide actual working tools for
ready use by local people.
In 1931, Burgan began the use of a brief reporting
form to maintain a record of publicity in the field and
to gain ideas for improving his service. This form was
rather rudimentary but did for a time elicit much worth
while information. Among those responding with reports
of publicity activities were such men as H. M. S. Rich
ards, then West Coast evangelist, and J. D. Reavis, an
enthusiastic worker in Kentucky. Reavis reported a
four-month total of some 200 sermon summaries in the
papers at a cost of "not one cent." Professing an active
interest in the press work. Reavis complained of a lack
of time to prepare articles on various subjects such as '
temperance, religious liberty, missions. Then he made
a highly significant suggestion: "If timely articles
could be rea^y to turn over to the editor without it
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requiring our time, I believe we could get more matter
before the p u b l i c . "^2
Of course, Burgan had long been furnishing ready
made letters to the editor, prepared sermon reports, and
suggested releases on special events. He had done little
in preparing general news stories on regular church func-'
tions for local adaptation. By the Autumn of 1931 he
had begun sending prepared articles publicizing the
annual Harvest Ingathering appeal of the church, a pub
lic fund raising drive. In this, Burgan had the whole
hearted approval of the sponsoring Home Missionary
department. "We cannot get too much publicity in con
nection with our Harvest Ingathering activities as it
helps to keep our work before the people," he told the
field.Burgan*s Ingathering publicity consisted
primarily of an advance story, with blank spaces for
filling in local names. He accompanied this with
suggestions for further adaptation by including infor
mation about local welfare or other activities. Also
supplied was a follow-up, "thank you" story for the
community, again with blank spaces for filling in local
names and amounts raised.
Among those in the field highly pleased by this
22Letter, J. D. Reavis to Walter L. Burgan.
2®General letter, Walter L. Burgan, September 10, 1931.
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turn of events was J. D. Reavis, himself. Not only did
he use the story locally, but he also sent copies to
isolated members of the conference, where no local church
existed. Twelve of these isolated adherents joyfully
sent in clippings to demonstrate their success with the
local newspapers. "I only wish that I could spend all
of my time getting our truth and work before the edi
tors," said Reavis, "for I believe in using this free
means of disseminating the G o s p e l . "24
The same year, Burgan sent out a series of arti
cles, letters to the editor, and other materials for
local adaptation in publicizing the cause of temperance
and prohibition.®® A little later, he added a "kit" of
blanks-to-be-filled-in articles to help workers publi
cize a series of health talks. Including, incidentally,
such helpful items as a recipe for "Peanut Rice Salad,"
the kit featured general information on the subject of 9 fi health and hygiene.
With general pressure by Sunday law forces in
1931 to pass the Barbers’ Sunday Bill for the District
of Columbia, Burgan continued the tradition of press
24 Letter, J. D. Reavis to Walter L. Burgan. 25 Document, General Conference Press Bureau, Wash ington, D. C. 9fi Burgan, Walter L. Subjects on Health. General Conference Press Bureau, Washington, D. C.
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support of the religious liberty department with a letter
to all local church elders, outlining a model resolution
for adoption by their congregations, with appropriate
publicity in the newspapers. Thoughtfully, Burgan also
included a model newspaper report for publicizing the
resolution. similar mailings at other times brought
to the local workers such materials as ready-made stor
ies on the autumn Council sessions, including advance 28 stories, progress, and follow-up reports.
By 1935, Burgan's arsenal of printed helps for the
field included:®^
1. Campmeetings Should be Advertised in News papers.
2. An Illustration of What Newspapers Will Print of the Advent Message.
3. Favorable Newspaper Publicity Given to Evangelical Meetings.
4. Subjects on Health for Newspaper Reports.
5. Report your Sermons in the Newspapers.
6. Sermons by Adventist Preachers That Should Be Reported Through the Newspaper.
7. Lessons in Newspaper Reporting.
8. Advertise! Advertise! Advertise!
27 General Letter, Walter L. Burgan, December 23, 1931.
®®General Letter, Walter L. Burgan, November 15, 1935.
®^Letters to Walter L. Burgan from W. H. Hanhardt, March 14, 1935; and Merlin L. Neff, Aÿril 11, 1935.
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9. What is "News"?
10. Attracting an Audience Through Advertising.
In 1936, Burgan also alerted the field to the im
portance of tying in with current news events. He dis
tributed a compilation of clippings on such subjects as
military buildup, warnings of war, spiritualism, geo
logical discoveries, the development of inventions,
Catholic action, the brewing industry— all with sug
gestions for local use, asking in connection with each
story: "Does this offer a topic for a sermon, or a
letter to the editor?"
The year 1936 also brought forth continuing pub
licity materials on the autumn Councils and a kit of
information on a world calendar proposal then being
agitated, as well as materials for local publicity of
the 1936 General Conference Session.
One of the last items produced by Burgan was a
collection of facts and figures about the world-wide
work of the church. Accompanying the material sent out
in 1939 was Burgan’s suggestion that not only would the
compilation itself serve as the basis for a local report
but also that the general facts could be inserted here
and there in sermon reports and general news stories.
He also suggested that the report itself should be
given to newspaper editors so they might have a broad
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concept of the program of the church.®®
Departmental Promotion
Burgan kept a more or less constant barrage of pro
motional material going to the field in order to stir
the brethren up to good works in press relations. During
the second half of his tenure, this phase of Burgan*s
program became increasingly sophisticated.
A. First Departmental Bulletin
In 1929, and for a few years thereafter, Burgan
issued a Press Bulletin. This contained news sugges
tions, reports from individuals around the field, and
model stories on important subjects for local adaptation.
In a primitive way, this bulletin may be considered a
forerunner of the professionally-produced departmental
periodicals of today.®^
B. Promotion in Church Periodicals
Articles promoting the press relations cause, as
they appeared in regional church periodicals, sometimes
had their origin in Burgan’s Washington office. They
were often simple accounts of significant achievements
Burgan, Walter L. Report of World-Wide Activities of the Seventh-day Adventist Denomination, the General Conference Press Bureau, Washington, D. C., 1939.
®hpress Bulletin. General Conference Press Bureau, Washington, D. C., March 1, 1930, et. seq.
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in the field. Other articles were submitted by local
people, often with specific encouragement from Burgan.
He freely employed representatives of other departments
to carry the press relations torch. Henry F. Brown, of
the Home Missionary department prepared an extensive
list of news possibilities, and with encouragement from
Burgan, sent it to all the union papers as well as to
the union conference Home Missionary secretaries.
Articles were also submitted regularly to nation
al church periodicals, especially Review and Herald and
The Ministry. These articles sometimes touched on
specialized aspects of press relations, at other times
they were in the nature of a general exhortation.® 2
C. Further Development of Field Workers
A great deal of Burgan’s promotional effort dur
ing the second half of his tenure was devoted to the
development of active press relations workers in all
ranks of church personnel. In 1933, he sent a letter
to ministers in each of the twelve union donferences,
citing the population and newspaper circulation figures
for each of the conferences in those fields. Drama
tizing the great opportunities available for informing
the public about the Adventist faith, he pleaded not
®®Walter L. Burgan. "What Constitutes Press News?" The Ministry. November, 1934, pp. 17, 18.
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only that the ministers be more active in newspaper work
but that they "help to secure a qualified writer in each
of the churches that the message may go faster." He
offered to supply instructive materials not only to
workers but also to "members of local churches who would
like to help advance the message through the agency of
the press."®®
Suggestions came to him that the denomination be
gin its own daily newspaper, after the manner of the
Christian Scientists. Burgan vigorously resisted this,
convinced that a multitude of local "reporters" getting
information into the existing press would influence far
more people than the denomination could hope to reach
through its own daily newspaper. He wrote:
"Our ambition is to have a newspaper reporter in every church in the denomination who will be on his toes... to give the news of things that occur in his church or in his local con ference to the local papers...We are constant ly encouraging this kind of program, reminding the local conference presidents of the possi bilities of giving our news in every place where a newspaper is published. We do not believe that a newspaper published by the denomination would be nearly as influential. "34
D. "Assistants" in All Quarters
In the late twenties, Burgan had an assistant on
^^General Letter, Walter L. Burgan, July 21, 1933. 34 Letter, Walter L. Burgan to Paul R. Nelson, December 19, 1935.
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the West Coast, paid by the General Conference, but he
apparently was not as effective as Burgan had hoped he
would be for, with the opening of the Glendale Sanitar
ium and its attending publicity, Burgan was sent by the
General Conference "to take the work out of his hands."®®
Some effort was made to secure the appointment of
press relations personnel in institutions and confer
ences, but this was largely a later activity in Burgan's
program. For the most part, he relied upon alert indi
viduals here and there to help cover important events
by special arrangement.
He often sent story suggestions to any classes of
workers he felt would take an interest in doing some
thing with them. For example, in connection with an
autumn Council, he sent one story on the general arrange
ments to conference presidents, asking them to see that
the story got to the newspapers. Another story on the
facts and figures reported at the Council was sent to
local conference secretaries and treasurers. Still
another story was sent to local pastors.®® Some mater
ials on occasion might be sent to Home Missionary or 37 Temperance secretaries. Thus Burgan seems to have
35 Letter, Walter L. Burgan to James W. Gillespie, January 24, 1934.
®®General letletter, Walter L. Burgan, October 17, 1935.
®^Ibid., February 20, 1935.
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impressed into service any and all departments and per
sonnel of the church as seemed appropriate from time to
time. But, he did not hesitate to bypass all of them
and send stories directly to local newspapers if time
was pressing and if it seemed feasible to do so.
E. Counsel and Criticism
Still, Burgan had a great desire to find young
people interested in’tkeeping our message.. .before the
public through the great agency of the press."®®
His voluminous, enthusiastic correspondence, and
his lengthy, encouraging letters in response to the
humblest layman, bespeak the distinctly personal inter
est he took in his work--and in those who showed an
interest in it.
For example, an isolated member wrote, asking
for help in supplying information to the newspapers
in Warsaw, Ohio:
"We saw in the Review that the Press Bureau would be glad to give suggestions for pre senting the truth through newspapers. As we are an isolated family we would like to do that, but feel that we do need help to go about it systematically."39
In response, Burgan wrote a two-page response.
®®Ibid.
®®Letter, Myrtle Davidson to Walter L. Burgan, June 23, 1936.
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going into the smallest details raised in Miss David
son’s inquiry, a typical example of the careful manner
in which Burgan handled his contacts with prospective
press relations workers:
’’...Please do not become discouraged be cause the editor does not print all you write. Editors do not print all I write, but I continue to supply information... We must never permit the enemy to even suggest discouragement to us, but fight loyally and heroically to give the message as wide publicity as possible...! trust you will always endeavor to make the edi tor feel that you appreciate what he is printing for you, and as you develop an acquaintanceship, no doubt, he will be more liberal in giving you space. I am sending...some outlines...”40
Burgan did not hesitate to criticize where he
thought a correspondent was venturing off the track.
To Ira Niermeyer in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, who had written
critically to an editor about the New Deal, Burgan
wrote:
”It would surprise you, my brother, to learn that many of our people believe implicitly in the policies of the present Federal administration, and in the last election voted to continue this adminis tration in power. If you will study our church papers...you will not find any thing in them criticising the acts of the government on purely economic questions .. .We should be careful not to drag the
^^Letter, Walter L. Burgan to Myrtle Davidson, July 5, 1936.
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denomination into any political controversy that may react unfavorably upon us as a people.”41
Burgan’s apparent prudence in speaking editorially
on economic questions may have been derived from possible
consequences of a letter he himself had written to the
editor of a Louisiana newspaper some two years previous
ly in which he had cheered that "fearless man,” Huey
Long, and wished him success in his battle "for the re
distribution of wealth in the United States”!
Be that as it may, the personal interest Burgan
took in encouraging prospective denominational report
ers, is a mark of his program. A minister in New York,
for example, had written with some discouragement that
because of the impoverished state of the conference he
could not buy newspaper space and, because of the tend
ency of Buffalo editors to ignore his copy, he was able
to do little in the way of free publicity. Burgan took
him to task for his pessimistic attitude:
"Some of your predecessors made very encour aging contacts with editors of the papers there. I hope you will approach those men with heavenly courage, and let them know that you have a message that concerns the eternal destiny of their readers. My brother, the time is ripe for God’s ambassadors to arise and SHINE...As for the New York
^^Letter, Walter L. Burgan to Ira Niermeyer, Decem ber 4, 1936.
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Conference being broke,...I beg to differ with you. The statistical report...says that...there would be approximately $75,000 turned into the treasury of that conference in tithes alone during 1934. That is far from broke...Our faithful people...will support whole-heartedly and enthusiastically the larger program...when...it is explained to them.
"Don't allow discouragement to come in just because the editors did not publish the re port written by the scribe attending your meeting. I have had many contributions re jected, but this does not deter me. I grit my teeth, bite my upper lip, and declare, with the help of God, that I will break through. Don't stop, but keep plunging on, make friends with editors and reporters, and win their confidence...and I believe you will meet with success."42
F. Men in Key Areas
Especially close to Burgan's heart were a handful
of men scattered throughout the country who looked upon
the press work with more than common interest. G. C.
Hoskin was one of these. Another was J. R. Ferren,
Mountain View, California, successful circulation man
ager of the Pacific Press Publishing Association, who
made time in his heavy program to serve as a reporter
for general meetings. He assisted in coverage of Gen
eral Conference sessions and reported annually such
events as the St. Helena Sanitarium constitutency
meeting in northern California. He reported to Burgan
1x0 Letter, Walter L. Burgan to Delmar P. Wood, Jan uary 25, 1935.
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on one such occasion:
"On the question of publicity I did my annual little stunt at the St. Helena Sanitarium Constituency meeting Monday, sending out a story of their meeting to about sixty northern California newspapers. In this I featured one or two statements made by Dr. Vollmer on the reason for twenty-five million undernourished school children in this country, and went on to tell how the Sanitarium this year is plan ning a series of nutritional health schools to be held in various cities."43
Ferren saw a great need for the appointment of
press relations men by the various conferences and in
stitutions and encouraged Burgan in this direction,
pointing out the possibilities for publicity at various
conference meetings.
Burgan highly valued Ferren's friendship and ad
vice, and took him into his confidence as to his hopes
and frustrations in the press relations work:
"I have tried several times down through the years to get different union conference officials to put men on their staffs who would look after the newspaper work, and they have always had some excuse for not doing so."44
Burgan felt a burden especially for the Lake
Union Conference, which includes such cities as Chicago,
^^Letter, J. R. Ferren to Walter L. Burgan, March 28, 1934.
^^Letter, Walter L. Burgan to J. R. Ferren, April 3, 1934.
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Detroit, and Milwaukee; and for the Columbia Union and
Atlantic Union Conferences of the densely populated
section of the eastern seaboard. "But brother," he
said to Ferren, "it is a difficult proposition to make
our leaders see the wisdom of this feature of the work."^^
One of the most likely fields for placement of a
regional press relations man was in the Pacific Union
Conference, with its heavy Adventist population and its
many institutions. "I am highly in favor of the Pacific
Union Conference having its own publicity department,"
Burgan once declared. With the large Adventist churches,
hospitals and colleges, he said, "I am confident that a
real live newspaper reporter connected with the cause on
the Pacific Coast would have plenty to keep him busy,
and would more than pay the brethren for the expense involved."46
This vision for the Pacific Union Conference was
not realized even in part until 1944, when under the
encouragement of J. R. Ferren, as Burgan's successor,
the union conference executive committee assigned Harry
G. Willis as secretary of the Pacific Union Conference
Publicity Department. 45lbid. 4^Letter, Walter L. Burgan to James W. Gillespie, January 24, 1934.
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In his various reports to conventions and in arti
cles for church papers, Burgan praised the laymen for
their part in the press work. In a manuscript written
as a Review and Herald article, he spoke glowingly of
news-conscious church members, citing one "sister in New
Jersey" who, over a period of several years produced
articles on such topics as "The Sacredness of Home Ties,"
"The Observance of the Sabbath," "Temperance," "Religious
Liberty," and "The Millenium." True, most of these
articles were letters to the editor, but Burgan saw
this as an effective way in which laymen could make a
start in writing for the newspapers.47
Burgan encouraged workers to write for magazines.
One of these, Claude E. Holmes, met with limited success
in trade journals and other small publications. Others,
Burgan encouraged to write of their experiences for de
nominational periodicals. Stemple White, a minister
with an active press relations interest, prepared a
series of two articles for The Ministry, sharing his
techniques, and echoing Burgan's enthusiasm: "There are
today multitudes who will perhaps never hear the message
of God unless they read it in some way in the daily or
weekly press," he declared.4®
4^Walter L. Burgan, Manuscript, no date.
4®White, Stemple, "Capitalize the Public Press," The Ministry. June, 1934, p. 7.
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Another, S. A. Ruskjer of the Southern Union Con
ference, wrote: "What news could be more important than
the news concerning the message and work of Seventh-day
Adventists?.. .Certainly /we]] have a message and a move
ment that are worthy of attention by the newspapers and
magazines of the present hou r ."49
G. Training in the Schools
As a part of his program of training publicity
workers, Burgan gave careful attention to the schools.
He traveled extensively, conducting classes for stu
dents at Adventist Colleges.^0 He considered the es
tablishment of courses in journalism in several of the
colleges one of the achievements of his tenure in the
Press Bureau. He was proud of the fact that he had
"been instrumental in establishing journalism classes
in the major colleges of the denomination, and also in
encouraging prospective preachers to become acquainted
with the art of journalism."51
Burgan sent his materials in quantity to English
teachers in colleges and academies in America as well as
4%uskjem, S. A. "Getting Into the Newspapers," Southern Tidings. July 26, 1933.
5®Burgan, Walter L., unpublished "sketch."
^^Letter, Walter L. Burgan to Roland Goodman, Battle Creek Enquirer and News, February 6, 1934.
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o v e r s e a s , 52 go that students in journalism classes could
learn "the practical side of it, so that when they be
come. actively engaged in church work, especially evan
gelistic work, they will think of the newspapers as a
valuable adjunct in helping them to reach the people with the message."55
Denominational interest in journalism training
was best exemplified during this period in the work of
Merlin L. Neff, who developed a minor in journalism as
a part of the English department at Walla Walla College
in Washington state. The program, serving some thirty
students, included courses in elementary and advanced
newswriting and editing, ethics of journalism, propa
ganda, history of journalism, magazine writing, and
advertising, plus a requirement of two years of print ing. 54
526eneral letter, Walter L. Burgan, October 23, 1930.
55Letter, Walter L. Burgan to A. E. Axelson, Decem ber 27, 1935.
54Letter, Merlin L. Neff to Walter L. Burgan, Novem ber 30, 1934.
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OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT
Throughout all of Burgan's period of service he
took an active interest in the world-wide application of
the art of press relations. Mention has been made of
some progress in this aspect of the program as reported
by Burgan in 1926. Even in 1912, however, after his
appointment to the General Conference, but before he had
taken up residence in Washington, Burgan had a vision of
world possibilities in his new work. In a story pub
lished by his old newspaper, the Baltimore American, it
was forecast:
"Mr. Burgan*s new work as head of the press bureau of the General Conference of Seventh- day Adventists will take him all over the United States, and probably, a little later, as the work increases, all over the world. According to the United States census re port on religious bodies. Seventh-day Ad ventists have sent out more foreign mission aries and opened more missions stations in more foreign lands than any other Protest ant denomination, and it will be his duty to reach all as far as possible and train them in the essentials of press writing."1
Burgan's evident intention to work personally with
his colleagues in distant lands was apparently not real
ized, but he did maintain an energetic and intimate
^News item, Baltimore American. January, 1912 (no day apparent.)
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correspondence with scores of workers in many lands. As
mentioned previously, he sent personalized letters to
administrative leaders in various world divisions and
unions, with sample news stories.^ On occasion, also,
he received a good clipping from an overseas worker,
duplicated it and sent it to other workers in the same
field as an example of what was possible in their own
territory.
The response was encouraging. Here are some ex
amples of materials and experiences sent to Burgan in
response from the overseas fields:
A 1922 article by Francis D. Nichol ("a writer in
the Watchman Magazine"), entitled "A Survey of World
Conditions," was sent from the Seoul Press, Korea, Jan
uary 21, 1923, giving in detail the Seventh-day Ad
ventist view of the world scene.
Mrs. F. H. Devinney, wife of the president of the
South China Union Mission in Hong Kong, submitted to
her editor an article by Stemple White in The Youth's
Instructor, a Seventh-day Adventist periodical pub
lished in Washington, D. C. The article, "The Biblical
Fish Story" of Jonah and the whale, landed a large
amount of space at the top of Page One of the South
^General letter, Walter L. Burgan, 1936.
^General letter, Walter L. Burgan, February 19, 1935.
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China Morning Post for September 10, 1924. She sent a
copy to Stemple White with the post script, "If you
think this will be of any help or encouragement to
Brother Burgan please forward to him."4
In his report to the 1930 General Conference
Session, Burgan told of extensive activities in the
overseas publicity work during the preceding four years:
A church council in South Africa had been well reported
in illustrated stories in the Bulawayo Chronicle. An
other church conference had rated a full page and other
items in the Rangoon, Burma, Gazette. Said R. A. Beck-
ner, the local correspondent:
"As I travel about Burma, I find that people are interested to know about Adventists, and we are beginning to be looked upon as a fac tor to be considered in the development of Burma. I think the things we got into the press two years ago are responsible for a lot of this interest; and I feel sure that this publicity given the conference just closed will mean."5
Dr. H. C. Menkel had written from Lahore, India,
in 1929:
"You may be interested to know that the press of India is quite responsive to our offerings
4Letter, Mrs. Minnie R. DeVinnie to Stemple White, September 10, 1924.
5press Bulletin.Bulleti General Conference Press Bureau, Washington, D. C., 1930
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and we find little difficulty in having suit able material published."6
Edwin R. Thiele had reported continuing publicity
for the Shanghai Sanitarium and the work of Dr. H. W.
Miller. Also in 1929, E. L. Maxwell had reported from
the Australia union that the newspaper men were very
liberal toward non-Catholic "religious propaganda," al
though the Adventist leaders were careful to present
"the truth in a positive, direct manner" rather than
from a controversial point of view.^
A clipping from one pastor's publicity work in
Sao Paulo, vÆiich Burgan relayed to other workers in
South America, yielded responses from such persons as
Eli M. Davis, indicating additional activity on the
South American front, and urging Burgan forward. "Do
not become discouraged in stirring us on," said Davis.&
In 1933 and 1934 publication of spectacular
spreads on the Seventh-day Adventist church in the
famed La Prensa of Buenos Aires^ and another magazine,
described as the "Ladies Home Journal" of Brazil, as
^Letter, H. C. Menkel to Walter L. Burgan, Octo ber 29, 1929.
^Press Bulletin, Ibid.
^Letter, E. M. Davis to Walter L. Burgan, Janu ary 21, 1931.
% ew s item. La Prensa (Buenos Aires), November 5, 1933.
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well as success in radio publicity prompted general ar
ticles in church publications of South America encour
aging an extension of the program. Much of Argentine
publicity was due to the efforts of E. W. Thomann, who
had been appointed "a publicity agent and reporter" for
the church conference, perhaps the first such overseas
appointment. It is worthy of note that Carlyle B.
Haynes, several years previously, had visited Buenos
Aires for a series of well publicized evangelistic meetings.
A primitively printed newspaper from Addis Ababa
tells of the opening of a new Adventist hospital in
1933 with the blessing of the emperor.H Other clip
pings report the visit in 1936 of a state governor's
representative to a church conference in Porto Alegre,
in Brazil.12 E. A. Moon and other workers in the Phil
ippines were putting Burgan's materials to use, gaining
newspaper coverage on religious liberty issues, and ex
tensive publicity of activities in connection with the
Brown, J. L. South.American Bulletin. February 1934, pp. 4,5; Letter, J. L. Brown to Walter L. Burgan, June 14, 1934.
llwews item, L'Ethiopie Commerciale, (Addis Ababa), November 25, 1933.
l^Letter, N. P. Neilsen to Walter L. Burgan, July 25, 1936.
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T_3 denomination's college.
New Zealand was active, with H. E. Piper, president
of the North New Zealand Conference, reporting outstand
ing publicity in connection with evangelistic meetings
and religious liberty actions, as well as at camp meet
ings. "We stand very definitely for using the news
papers all we can, and we pray that all our workers
throughout the world field will be thorougjily alive to the
opportunities given through this avenue," Piper de clared. 14
In Britain during this same period, church lead
ers were impressed by a lengthy article on the beliefs
of the church that appeared in the London Sunday Dis
patch, an article that produced a rash of inquiries, a
baptism, and a visit to British Union headquarters by
the Iman of the London Mosque.15 Burgan saw this as an
opportunity to boost the entire program in England, and
wrote A. S. Maxwell, editor of the British Present
Truth:
"The newspaper editors over there would take an interest in us as a people and as a news
l^Letters, E. A. Moon to Walter L. Burgan, July 12, 1934; and J. L. Cummins to Walter L. Burgan, April 13, 1934.
14Letter, H. E. Piper to Walter L. Burgan, January 15, 1932. l^The Missionary Worker. May 18, 1934, pp. 1,2.
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possibility if our leading brethren would take upon themselves the burden of inform ing these editors about our work and its progress. I hope that you will keep in mind this possibility, and when our breth ren... come together in the general meeting bring to their attention what the Sunday Dispatch has published...urge upon them the fact that this avenue is open to all of us.. .’»16
J. A. McMillan reported successful work with the
press in North I r e l a n d , 17 p. Brewer wrote for
additional materials in order to make a presentation on
newspaper publicity at a ministerial institute scheduled
in Mukden, Manchuria. "I believe that we could use the
press out here, both in Chinese and in English," Brewer
confided to Burgan.1®
From Shanghai came a request for publicity help in
connection with a series of radio talks over XMHA, the
most powerful station in China.19 And in Peiping appeared
news stories and euologistic editorial comment in the
Peiping Chronicle on a China-wide campaign against tu
berculosis launched by Dr. H. W. Miller, of the Shanghai
l^Letter, Walter L. Burgan to A. S. Maxwell, May 6, 1934.
l^Letter, J. A. McMillan to Walter L. Burgan, Novem ber 10, 1935. 1 8 Letter, N. F. Brewer to Walter L. Burgan, March 18, 1936.
l^Letter, F. E. Stafford to Walter L. Burgan, March 22, 1934.
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Sanitarium "and his colleagues of the Seventh-day Ad- 90 ventist Mission throughout China."
In Australia, A. W. Anderson, long active in pub
lic work, was formally designated the Press Bureau sec
retary, probably the first in any overseas division
headquarters. He reported successful utilization of
Burgan*s materials and especially excellent results
with local stories related to the Ethiopian War coverage
in which the Adventist hospital was damaged.21 Anderson
reported the widespread use of the press by Australian
evangelists and plans to launch a series of radio pro
grams on a Sydney radio station. "This work can never
be done," said Anderson, speaking for a growing corps
of overseas public relations advocates, "until this
message has gone into all the world with a loud voice
through the living preacher, or through the newspapers,
or the radio."22
90 News item. The Peiping (China) Chronicle, July 12, 1936. ------
2lLetter, A. W. Anderson to Walter L. Burgan, March 23, 1936. 22 Letter, A. W. Anderson to Walter L, Burgan, March 26, 1935.
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CONTINUING EMPHASIS ON EVANGELISM
Burgan*s debut as a Seventh-day Adventist official,
it will be recalled, had been the result of his experi
ence in evangelistic publicity with Carlyle B. Haynes in
1911. This kind of publicity continued through the years
of Burgan's regime as the greatest objective of the Press
Bureau. There was, of course, a recognition that pub
licity of other activities was possible and desirable.
In connection with general meetings of the church, pub
licity was given to denominational personalities, offic
ial actions and statistics. Denominational institutions
were publicized. The experiences with native personal
ities from overseas had given many of the leaders a
vision of the importance to the denomination of pub
licity not directly related to its doctrines.
Nevertheless, the primary emphasis in Burgan’s
time was publicity for evangelistic campaigns and pub
licity conveying Adventist doctrines, the same type of
publicity in which Burgan’s service to the church had
been launched. While this has continued to be an inter
est of the public relations office, the focus has long
since shifted to the communication of general knowledge
of the church as a reliable community influence whose
voice should be heard.
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Burgan*s interest in evangelistic publicity was in
harmony with a then more general denomination preoccu
pation with public evangelism. It was the age of the
large-scale "public effort" in auditorium or tent; the
age of evangelistic "greats," like Charles T. Everson,
Archer V. Cotton, Carlyle B. Haynes, J. L. Shuler,
William H. Branson, and later, Louis A. Dickson, and
H. M. S. Richards. To these and hundreds of other evan
gelists the Press Bureau of the General Conference sent
a steady stream of admonition and help.
Services to the Field
A. Materials for Evangelistic Publicity
Burgan was quick to suggest tie-in publicity with
events of great public interest, particularly those of
a crisis nature. The great drought of the thirties
brought this letter from Burgan to evangelists through
out North America:
"...Do you not believe that the present drought situation in this country offers an opportunity to our evangelists to get something into print concerning the more terrible calamities that are coming upon the world...? It seems to me that our evangelists ought to use the public press at the present time more than ever because of the amount of space that is now being given to the drought situation...You could weave into an article some of these thoughts so that the world at large may know that a millennium of peace and safety is farther
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away than ever and that they ought to begin to think about the most terrible things [seven last plagues] that e/er visited man."l
A separate letter was sent on this subject to con
ference presidents, urging them to encourage their evan
gelists to take advantage of the drought situation to
impress upon the public that only in the coming of Christ
did man have ultimate hope.
In 1936, a letter to the whole field urged every
evangelistic worker to "Make This Evangelistic Season
The Most Far-Reaching Through the Newspapers Ever Ex
perienced. . .Hasten The Advent Message To The Waiting
Millions Through This Most Remarkable Agency That Is
Read By All Classes of Society."2
In 1937, Burgan was again offering kits of mater
ials for use in promoting the doctrines of the church.
Utilizing a series of sermon reports published in news
papers by Taylor G. Bunch, then pastor of the Battle
Creek, Michigan Tabernacle Church, Burgan advertised a
general collection of material that "could be utilized
in newspaper reporting in connection with evangelistic
services. Sabbath preaching, and other meetings of the
churches." Articles included subjects on the millen
nium, punishment of the wicked, divorce, redemption.
^General letter, Walter L. Burgan, August 13, 1930.
2lbid.. 1936.
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Sabbath observance as well as other doctrinal subjects
and activities in church work in general. The compil
ation totalled some sixty single-space pages and was
recommended as "a guide in the preparation of newspaper
reports and in supplying valuable facts concerning the
eternal plan of salvation that the reading public
should know."5
B. Evangelistic Conventions
In addition to providing general materials for
the evangelists, Burgan gave personal instruction at
evangelistic conventions. For example, along with
C. H. Watson, the General Conference president, W. H.
Branson, I. H. Evans, H. M. S. Richards, and J. L.
Shuler, Burgan instructed evangelists at a national
series of such institutes held successively in St.
Louis, San Francisco, and Philadelphia, from December
17, 1934, to January 17, 1935.4 ^n planning for the
Philadelphia session, Burgan developed a symposium of
evangelists such as Louis K. Dickson to reinforce his
own presentation of the values of newspaper publicity
in order to "make a profound impression on many local
^General letter, Walter L. Burgan, March 18, 1937.
4Letter, Walter L. Burgan to John G. Mitchell, September 17, 1934.
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conference presidents."5 The following year Burgan was
invited by the Columbia Union conference to lead out in
the Number Two topic on the agenda of an evangelistic
convention in Pittsburgh: "How to Advertise Effectively."
Evangelists M. R. Coon and John Ford followed Burgan
with ten-minute talks giving further development to the topic.5
C . Personal Encouragement
Burgan, of course, impressed others into service
in his work of newspaper evangelism. At least one Ad
ventist editor was repeatedly urged to adapt some of
his doctrinal articles for syndicated publication.
Burgan wrote, for example, to Alonzo L. Baker, editor
of the Signs of the Times:
"I should like to ask you what you think of the idea of endeavoring to have some of our snappy articles on current events published through the different newspaper syndicates?
"Why not re-write your article on strikes, emphasizing the unsettled conditions in the labor-capitalistic world in general, and then offer it to some of the syndicates? I believe that the time has arrived when our writers should launch out into deeper water ...in giving our message publicity through
^Letter, Walter L. Burgan to L. K. Dickson, May 20, 1934.
^Letter, H. J. Detwiler to Walter L. Burgan, December 24, 1935.
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the secular journals.
Burgan included with his letter a list of nine
news and feature syndicates in New York, Boston, Wash
ington, and Chicago, offering to send Baker "a complete
list" if he wished, all of which indicated Burgan*s
familiarity with this national medium of communication.
D. Articles in Church Papers
Regular articles in the church papers inspired
publicity activities on the part of many younger evan
gelists. In response to an article in the Review and
Herald, November 19, 1936, on "The Power of the Press,"
Burgan received a report of intensive work with the
press from Theodore Carcich, then pastor of the Bing-
hampton, Elmira, district in New York (now vice pres
ident of the General Conference for North America):
"In my last two efforts I made friends with the city editor and thus inserted many of my sermons in their newspapers. At present I am conducting an effort in Corning, N.Y. I do not have the means to conduct an ef fort on a large scale, but I do make sure that my sermons are reported in the Corning Leader. While my voice can reach only about 15Ô people every Tuesday evening, yet the Wednesday issue of the Corning Leader reaches over 20,000 people withny printed sermon... Our attendance has shown an increase...I
^Letter, Walter L. Burgan to Alonzo L. Baker, August 14, 1934.
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attribute this to the newspaper publicity given my sermons...Remember us in your prayers, especially, that God will contin ue to give us favor with the newspaper editors..."8
Burgan did a re-write on a sample sermon report
Carcich had sent to him, converting it into a letter to
the editor, and returned it with the suggestion that
Carcich send it to other newspapers such as the New York
Times and the New York Herald-Tribune, as well as news
papers in Boston, Philadelphia, and even Chicago. "We
must reach these great centers of population," Burgan
urged, "and if others located in these cities refuse
to even make the effort to get publicity, then those
of us who are not afraid must step in and fill the breach."9
E. Appreciation of the Field
There was widespread appreciation of the evangel
istic assistance Burgan supplied. Workers like Wesley
Amundsen, then Home Missionary secretary of the Okla
homa Conference, relayed accounts of encouraging con
tacts with newspaper editors, extolling Burgan's
materials and personal assistance:
O Letter, Theodore Carcich to Walter L. Burgan, November 23, 1936. a Letter, Walter L. Burgan to Theodore Carcich, November 29, 1936.
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"Recently while talking with me in his office £^the editorj asked the question, 'Who writes up this stuff that you bring in here?' I told him that Elder Brown wrote his own and I wrote mine. (^Well, ' said he, 'let me tell you this: your write-ups are the best I have ever received from any evangelistic meetings in my life and I have been in the newspaper game for twenty-five years.' Much of this praise must go to our instructor at Washing ton, D. C. And so, dear Brother Burgan, we wish to thank you again for your splendid help to the ministry of the denomination in guiding us and encouraging us to write for the newspapers."iO
Public Relations Problems in Evangelism
A. Ambivalent Approach to the Public
There is not much evidence that Burgan was concerned
with the "public relations" so much as he was concerned
with getting the doctrines of the church prominently be
fore the public through the columns of the newspapers.
In this he shared the attitudes of most evangelists of
the day. There was, of course, a consciousness of the
need for public good will, but evangelists and press
bureau both tended first of all to envision themselves
as in conflict with other churches contending for the
attention and acceptance of the public at large.
In the Twentieth Century's second decade, for
example. Adventist ministers often openly challenged
^®Letter, Wesley Amundsen to Walter L. Burgan, May 20, 1935.
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other clergy both from the pulpit and in the newspapers.
In connection with a large tent meeting in 1916, F. H.
Robbins, president of the Western Pennsylvania confer
ence, and D. A. Parsons, pastor of the First Seventh-
day Adventist church of Pittsburgh, and others, published
a half-page "Open Letter" to "the clergy of Pittsburgh."
One of their challenging headlines read, "They ask
Protestant ministers for divine precept for Sunday
keeping."11
Archer V. Cotton, in a 1917 Detroit Campaign,
employed the "comic strip" approach in his advertising
— a highly sophisticated method of church promotion for
the time. However, in keeping with much Adventist
evangelistic practice,the content of these strips could
hardly have been calculated to be more provocative of
clerical indignation in the other churches. In one
example, a Bible-carrying gentleman strides along the
sidewalk saying to himself, "I am going over to ask
Rev. Mr. Jones to find a text that commands the re
ligious observance of Sunday, so I can get the reward
of $25,000 offered by evangelist Cotton."
"Reverend," he says in the next frame, as he
shakes hands with the pastor, "I have come over to ask
you for a text that commands the religious observance
^^Advertisement, Philadelphia (Pa.) Sun, July 15, 1916.
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of Sunday. I want the reward offered by Evangelist
Cotton."
Next frame: The good pastor, apparently having
searched the Bible in vain, scratches his befuddled head
and says, "I can’t find it just now,— come next week and
in the meantime I will try to find the text."
"I haven’t been able to find anyone who can find
that text," says the Bibl(?-carrying gentleman, leaving
the front door of a church, "I am going to Evangelist
Cotton’s meeting Sunday night and see who gets that
reward of $25,000.
There were other types of evangelistic advertis
ing that also went against the grain of those knowledge
able enough to see through the copy. A handbill of un
known date is typical of many. Over the picture of a
dynamic, gesticulating evangelist, is this notice "To
the Public":
"In response to the urgent invitation of the Christian people of Portsmouth, we have se cured and now take pleasure in presenting the Ellis Chautauqua Company, which will con duct this Bible Chautauqua in our city. This is your invitation to attend this series of lectures on Bible fundamentals. -- The Com mittee on Arrangements."
This obvious effort to give the appearance of a
^^Advertisement, clipped from a Detroit newspaper, 1917, paper and exact date not known.
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non-sectarian, community-wide campaign, with no indica
tion of its Seventh-day Adventist origins, could hardly
have been expected to develop good "public relations"
with "the Christian people" of the community who were
in a position to know the facts.
Another handbill, although identifying the spon
soring church as Seventh-day Adventist, still was cer
tain to stir wrath in some quarters by using as its
illustration a picture of a heroic figure standing on
"Christ" the solid rock foundation, holding aloft the
banner of "the commandments of God and the faith of
Jesus," while all around was a group of people labeled
"federation of churches," foundering in the mire of
"compromise with error."
Adventist evangelism was not all conflict, how
ever. A public ambivalence is reflected in many mater
ials surviving from evangelistic campaigns of the day.
In the work of Arthur A. Cone, for example, we see the
strong desire to win the good will and support of im
portant segments of the community, as well as the
usual conflict with other denominations provoked by the
evangelistic message.
Cone's meetings in the Providence, Rhode Island,
area were billed as the Southern New England Lecture
Bureau "Illustrated Lectures," with an emblem inscribed,
"Visual Education." His promotion consisted of personal
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letters to "the more influential people of the commun
ity, newspaper advertisements, window cards, and news
paper publicity. Editors of papers in surrounding
smaller towns were "most cordial," Cone reported, giving
him front-page write-ups and giving his advertisements
preferential positions.
Through a funeral sermon preached for the father
of a captain of the state highway patrol. Cone made a
very favorable impression on one suburban community,
and thus was able to make an auspicious beginning in
that town. The suburban chief of police was regular
in attendance and helped financially. The town "boss"
interceded in securing favorable rental rates on the
city auditorium. "This is a community benefit for
which they should expect to help on the expense, rather
than trying to make something out of it," he had said.
"Thus, you see," Cone reported to Burgan, "we
have the chief of police, the captain of the highway
patrol and the ’boss of the city’ with us to begin with.
And with the three newspapers of the district showing
such favorable attitude, we feel that the Lord has
surely opened the door wide open there."13
In the city of Providence proper, however. Cone
encountered an altogether different situation. "This
1 1 Letter, A. A. Cone to Walter L. Burgan, March 8, 1933.
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Providence Journal and Bulletin are IMPOSSIBLE," he
declared (emphasis his). "Their rates are exhorbitant
and they give us the meanest place in the paper every
time." His letters to influential people on the "South
ern New England Lecture Bureau" letterheads "got some
results, but failed in other cases."
"The preachers down there have been busier than they ever were before in their lives. They made a house to house canvass of the town and environs, doing all in their power to keep people rrom coming to any of our meetings. They have a strong hold on the people, and have succeeded in keeping many away...[TheyJ have started revivals in their churches, holding them the same nights we hold our meetings. But in spite of all they have done we have a nice class attending and they are there practically every night."14
With this basic attitude of war against the other
churches, the accompanying effort to win good will
among the general public, at least among influential
people of a community, was never enough to achieve what
could be called good public relations in any continuing
broad sense of the term. For that matter, few persons
felt any need of a broad-guage approach. Such public
relations as was developed in an evangelistic context
was seen as important to the success only of a given
campaign, with little thought to a continuing program
l^ibid., April 5, 1935.
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of public relations. It was frequently a hit-and-run
approach.
B. Evangelists: Controllers of the "Public Image"
In the work of public evangelism, the evangelist
himself was virtually his own boss. Usually a rugged
individualist, the evangelist stood amid the turmoil of
theological battle as a heroic figure and few confer
ence administrators ventured to offer suggestions per
taining to his methods of public approach. If he got
results, "won souls," there were few questions asked
about his general impact in the community.
On one occasion, Burgan protested the public
approach of a leading evangelist who had asked for his
help, only to be put down by the General Conference
officers themselves and instructed to give the evangel
ist such help as he required.
John Ford, in laying plans for a public campaign
in Boston, had called on the General Conference to
send Burgan to assist in publicity for the meetings.
In a preliminary letter to Burgan, Ford emphasized,
however, that
"I do not wish to have any mention made of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination in the stories. The most effective use of the press in a large effort running nightly is as an advertising medium to get folks out to the meeting and NOT TO IMPART INFORMATION UPON OUR DOCTRINES. My method in advertising
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is to excite curiosity and withhold all poss ible means of having that curiosity satisfied without attending the meetings." (Emphasis his).15
This stirred the indignation of Burgan who envis
ioned the press as an evangelistic medium in its own
right, not merely a means of generating curiosity among
a few who would attend a public meeting. He penciled
boldly in the margin of Ford’s letter: "The aim in
operating the Press Bureau is to secure as much pub
licity in our doctrines as possible. WLB." Then he
took his case to the General Conference officers. Back
came this official action:"
"A call has come for the services of W. L. Burgan in connection with the evangelistic effort of John Ford in Boston. Brother Burgan raised some question on the methods of Brother Ford in giving publicity to his effort, expressing his own desire to give as much newspaper publicity to Adventists and their teaching as the press will per mit, yet it was
"Agreed, To advise Brother Burgan to join Brother Ford in his effort and cooperate with the plans he is accustomed to using in his publicity work, remaining as long as the interests of the work require."16
Th^s came to Burgan the frustrating experience
^^Letter, John Ford to Walter L. Burgan, August 22, 1934.
l^Min^^Minutes, General Conference Officers Meeting, August 30, 1934.
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that has come to many another public relations man. He
saw the hazards inherent in a certain operation, but
found that the "sales"department with its prospect of
immediate, tangible gain, took priority over the public
relations department with its long-range aims.
Certainly the hard-driving work of the evangelists
did build up a solid corps of church members and estab
lished churches. Whether they could have done this
without an appeal and a methodology antagonistic to
other churches may be debated. Virtually beyond debate,
however, is the fact that the hard-driving approach did
leave a legacy of public relations problems with which
the church struggles today.
Decline in Evangelistic Publicity
Whether due to the provocative nature of Adventist
evangelistic sermons, to a generally increasing size and
sophistication of the American press, or to an increas
ing public apathy toward theological issues, Burgan, as
well as the evangelists, began to note a decline in the
willingness of editors to print lengthy sermon summar
ies as news.
Even in 1934, Burgan had expressed doubt as to
the possibility of using the metropolitan press to con
vey the Adventist message to the masses, at least in
the news columns— a sharp contrast to his original
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vision of unlimited possibilities.
"I doubt very much that any large city in this country will be reached through the free news columns of the papers. Such cities as Philadelphia, Denver, Detroit, Milwaukee and Chicago have all had success ful evangelistic campaigns, but in all of these cities the paid columns were used. I had the privilege of assisting the evan gelists in all of these, and we spent the money, and got the results in souls."17
Evangelist Charles T. Everson had his own methods
of prolonging free evangelistic use of the press. In
connection with some campaigns he distributed to church
members a sheet of "Sample Letters to Use in Writing
Editors." Carefully instructing his fellow members not
to follow the copy exactly, changing it "enough to make
it your own letter," Everson offered such models as
these:
1. "Dear Editor: I am writing you concerning the evangelistic meetings being carried on by Prof. C. T. Everson. I understand that they are one of the greatest series of re ligious services ever held in (name of town). They are the talk of our entire neighborhood.
"I am at a loss to explain the little we get a chance to read about them in your paper... We hope we shall soon see a change in this situation that a lot of dissatisfied sub scribers may be turned into friends of the paper. Yours truly,"
^^Letter, Walter L. Burgan to Frank B. Wells, March 14, 1934.
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2. "Dear Editor.Not only was I pleased with the prospect of enjoying these inspiring lectures for myself but I had great plans of sending marked copies of our newspaper containing the reports of the meetings to friends and loved ones. But up to the pres ent time so little has appeared in your paper that it has not been worth sending away...I certainly hope that our newspaper will not fail to give this town the benefit of some real full reports on these meetings ..."18
Whether these tactics prevailed with hard-hearted
editors, we have no record, but at least they indicate
that relatively extreme measures had come to be necess
ary to persuade the newspapers to publish lengthy ser
mon reports as they had so readily done in former years.
Burgan worked just as avidly in writing up his
news-style sermon reports, but it was necessary in many
places to pay for their publication. He spent several
weeks in Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1935, preparing sermon
reports for a series of meetings conducted by E. L.
Cardey, publication of which was paid for. He wrote
to G. A. Coon:
"I have had editors in big cities tell me that they would give us just one announce ment about the meetings and no more, and that is why I am advocating that we buy space in the newspapers and put into that space reports of the sermons just as we want them published...
^®DocTiment, General Conference Press Bureau file.
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"We do not have much difficulty in getting free space in the smaller cities, but the big cities are different."19
l^Letter, Walter L. Burgan to 6. A. Coon, June 4, 1935.
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PUBLICITY RANGE WIDENS
A Wider Use of the Press
It was more than coincidental that, as sermon pub
licity declined in the 1930*s, voices were being raised
encouraging the idea of publicity of a more general
nature than that incidental to meetings and evangelistic
campaigns. One of the earliest of these, in the field,
was J. D. Reavis of Louisville, Kentucky, who had en
couraged Burgan to provide a wider variety of prepared
news releases. He wrote:
"The press is a mighty agency as it reaches nearly every home either directly or indi rectly. Let us use it more. To my mind one of the best ways in which the press can assist the denominational work is that through its columns a favorable impression may be made for the good will of the public ...provided the articles and news submitted are of a happy, progressive tone."l
Varner J. Johns of Des Moines, Iowa, was another
"prophet" of the "public relations" use of publicity.
He early developed a liaison with "church reporters" on
the newspapers and saw clearly the need for more divers
ified publicity. It was his contention that:
^Letter, J. D. Reavis to Walter L. Burgan, May, 1931.
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"Publicity for our church does not depend entirely upon reports of doctrinal sermons (a sentence Burgan carefully underlined in relaying John's letter to the field in his regular bulletin). Notes on the progress of Sabbath School or Missionary Volunteer work, announcements of visiting ministers of prominence, reports of conventions, and articles of a similar nature, are sought after by church editors and help to keep the name 'Seventh-day Adventists' before the people."2
By 1934, Burgan was actively promoting the wider-
ranging type of publicity. In an article for The Min
istry, "What Constitutes Press News?" cited earlier,
Burgan outlined in detail the church activities he con
sidered newsworthy in character.^
Leading the list, as may have been expected, was:
"The most startling news that human lips can proclaim,
and pens or typewriters can put into copy...the fact
that Jesus Christ is coming soon..." In the same vein,
Burgan suggested that "every sermon that is preached in
an Adventist church, or by an Adventist minister where-
ever he preaches has news in it..."
But then he launched into an array of suggestions
for other types of publicity including advance notices
of meetings, stories on visiting ministers or mission-
^Press Bulletin, General Conference Press Bureau, Washington, D. C., 1930.
^Burgan, Walter L. "What Constitutes Press News?" The Ministry. November, 1934, pp. 17, 18.
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aries, special programs, conventions of various cate
gories of local church officers, medical talks, fund
raising campaigns and tent meetings.
In addition, Burgan pleaded anew that every church
and every institution should designate someone to serve
as the "news reporter" for that church or institution to
take the initiative in keeping up with the many kinds of
news generated by the schedule of activities.^
While no copies have been discovered, various
sources suggest that a booklet was prepared about this
time with model stories to help laymen in the churches
cover the news, and the name, "publicity secretaries,"
seems informally to have been adopted for these report
ers.
For example, in an article by Henry F. Brown
circulated to home missionary secretaries throughout
North America, this advice was given:
"Our news sources are constantly multiplying, and every local church should have its own reporter...To aid such reporters, or public ity secretaries, the Press Bureau of the Gen eral Conference has prepared a booklet of thirty-two pages of news stories which can be adapted to each locality and occasion."5
4lbid.
^Brown, Henry F. An article distributed by Walter L. Burgan.
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In addition to adaptations of denominational view
points to events of a "social, political, industrial,
scientific, religious, financial, and educational"
nature, this rather elaborate list of suggestions was
provided with the thought that "many of our members do
not realize that their newspapers would gladly print
news items on the following happenings in the Seventh-
day Adventist church":
"Church officers' conventions. Harvest In gathering campaigns. Week of Prayer services. Sabbath programs, missionary experiences. Sabbath school rallies, publishing department institutes, missionary volunteer conventions, cooking schools, home nursing class gradua tions, Bible Readers' class graduations, funerals or weddings, baptisms, church school graduations, lay preachers' institutes, stu dents leaving for college, thirteenth Sabbath programs, church elections, visits from min isters."o
Institutional Publicity
Despite problems with the ethical rules of some
medical societies, Burgan continued in his later years
to encourage medical institutions to appoint publicity
personnel and maintain regular news operations. The New
England Sanitarium seemed to have been a shining example
in the 1930's with a staff member, appointed half time
to care for publicity, enjoying solid support from the
Gibid.
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business manager and medical director. One burst of
publicity growing out of a visit of Mayor Curley of
Boston to the sanitarium, it was reported, brought in
quiries from seventy prospective patients.^
In his characteristic "plow ahead" attitude, Bur
gan wrote to E. G. Fulton who had become reticent about
sanitarium publicity because of lifted eyebrows in the
Colorado medical society:
"Such publicity activities are being carried out right along by our brethren in New Eng land in spite of any restrictions that may be placed on them by the Medical Association ...The Institution does not buy any space for advertising purposes...They find the newspapers always ready to accept genuine newsitems...This is the kind of work that I advocate for all of our institutions, and that is the kind of work that is being done at the Washington Sanitarium and also at St. Helena Sanitarium. That is the kind of work that I wanted done at the Porter Sani tarium... and that is the kind of work that I think should be done anyhow regardless of what the Medical Association rules to the contrary."8
P. R. Cone, following in the footsteps of Leonard
F. Bohner who had pioneered publicity work at the New
England sanitarium, continued the good work and sought
even to enlarge the horizons. "Accident stories, births,
stories about our missionaries and their visits at our
^Letter, Walter L. Burgan to E. G. Fulton, May 8, 1934.
®Ibid.
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institutions— all make good material for the newspapers,"
he wrote to Burgan.^
Students at Walla Walla College under the direction
of Merlin L. Neff, and at Pacific Union College under
the guidance of Charles E. Weniger, supplied the local
press with news material prepared as part of their work
in newswriting courses.
Radio Publicity
Burgan did comparatively little personal work with
radio although he encouraged ministers to use it, par
ticularly in the form of "message" addresses on paid
time. He did a great deal to help radio speakers pub
licize in the newspapers talks they had given over the
air. Men like Roger Altman of the Southwestern Union
conference sought Burgan's services in preparing pub
licity releases on the first series of radio programs
sponsored in that field.This was the same year in
which H. M. S. Richards began his regular broadcasts in
Southern California as the Adventist Hour and "Taber
nacle of the Air," later to become the "Voice of Prophecy.
q Letter, P. R. Cone to Walter L. Burgan, November 12, 1936.
^^Letter, Roger Altman to Walter L. Burgan, May 24, 1934.
^^Richards, H.M.S. "Our Tabernacle of the Air," The Ministry. June, 1934, pp. 6, 7.
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Time was also being given by local stations for
campmeeting publicity, a use of radio most similar to
that presently promoted by the public relations depart
ment. The Alabama-Mississippi campmeeting, for example,
for several years preceding 1934, presented such broad
casts, at times presented sermons, at other times
musical p r o g r a m s . one of the earliest known uses of
public service time was a talk on "The Charitable Work
of Seventh-day Adventists," given in 1936 by Frank D.
Wells, president of the Southern New England Conference,
at the invitation of WNAC, "one of the better stations
in Boston." Wells was also being invited to take a
full week of devotionals in a morning series on the
Yankee Network, originating in Boston. Burgan seems to
have been the man Wells took into his confidence in
planning these programs.
In 1936, Burgan was sending out mimeographed ma
terial to the field for use in publicizing in newspapers
talks given over the air.^^
General Public Activities
While Burgan did not actively seek to enlarge his
1 0 Letter, R. I. Keate to Walter L. Burgan, June 17, 1934. 11 Letter, Frank D. Wells to Walter L. Burgan, Febru ary 24, 1934. 14 General letter, Walter L. Burgan, December 14, 1936
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area of operations beyond the sphere of "newspaper" re
lations, he did become involved in other activities of
a public relations nature. As mentioned, men in the
field tended to think of him when they began radio
broadcasting. Inasmuch as they had been buying space
in newspapers to get doctrinal messages across, perhaps
it seemed at the time natural to think of buying time
on the new medium, radio, as an extension of the oper
ation being fostered by Burgan. Had Burgan been not
quite so content to limit his work to relationships
with his old medium, the newspapers, it is possible
that a separate radio and television department would
never have been established, and that this newly devel
oping phase of the work would have resulted in an en
largement of the press bureau even in Burgan*s day.
In "community relations" activities Burgan's
"Press Bureau" came to the thoughts of men in the field.
George Leffler, for example, wrote him at length of his
work in Fort Worth:
"I am at this time...a member of the Minis terial alliance here in the city and am quite frequently asked to fill pulpits of some of our sister denominations which gives us favorable influence. Not long ago I en joyed the courtesy of addressing the minis ters of the Disciples of Christ in their state convention held at their University ...This has broken down a lot of prejudice that existed here a year ago..."15
ISletter, George Eugene Leffler to Walter L. Burgan, February 14, 1934.
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Public Exhibits
Burgan also became involved in exhibits sponsored
by various conferences and churches, primarily in pro
viding newspaper publicity for the exhibits.
There were comparatively few such public displays
spanning the great gulf between Ellen G. White's coun
sel in 1906 concerning the St. Louis Fair, and the
"big plunge" at the 1933-34 Century of Progress Expo
sition in Chicago, although there is a hint of a church-
sponsored exhibit at an exposition in San Diego in 1915,
another in New England in 1917. In 1935, a well-publi
cized exhibit at the California Pacific Exposition in
San Diego, was maintained in the "Palace of Better
Housing," manned by F. W. Paap. This was one of in
creasingly numerous local exhibits inspired by the
spectacular display sponsored by the General Conference
in Chicago.
The Chicago exhibit was considered at the time
"the greatest publicity and informational attempt of its
kind ever made" by the denomination. The anxiety of
church leaders that church members, unused to such a
public impact on the part of the church, "might have an
adequate conception" brought into their articles in
^^Letter, Walter L. Burgan to F. W. Paap, July 30, 1935.
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denominational papers a wealth of detail concerning the
exhibit and the activities surrounding it.^^
Church leaders had pondered the possibility of an
entry in the first phase of the two-year exposition but
were deterred by "the aggravated economic and financial
conditions early in 1 9 3 3 . Although conditions were
scarcely better in 1934, a decision was made early in
the year to respond to an invitation from the fair man
agement to take an exhibit in the Hall of Religion for
the session of May 26 to November 1.
A committee was set up at the General Conference,
led by J. L. Shaw, the treasurer, and including H. H.
Cobban, assistant treasurer, W. H. Branson; president
of the North American division; J. C. Thompson of the
Sabbath School department; W. H. Holden, president of
the Lake Union Conference; M. A. Hollister, president
of the Illinois Conference; and 0. 0. Bernstein, a Chi
cago evangelist, who served as manager of the exhibit.
These men, through the General Conference, appealed to
the field for financial assistance. The exhibit became
truly a cooperative North American endeavor^as the
^^Thompson, J. C. "Capitalize our Exposition Ex hibit," The Ministry. June, 1934, pp. 14, 15. IGlbid.
^%ews release. The Press Bureau, General Confer ence of Seventh-day Adventists, May 28, 1934.
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various union conferences shared the load. 20
Originally planning for a smaller space, generous
financial support made it possible for the committee to
take a 1,000 square foot exhibit area, "as large as
that taken by any single religious organization." A
choice location was secured near the main entrance and
extending down the hall a distance of seventy feet.%^
The entire time of several men was employed
throughout the winter and spring months getting the
exhibit into shape for the 1934 opening, with their
objective: the preparation of "a striking dignified,
informing exhibit of the work and message" of the church.
The dominant figure of the exhibit was a large illumin
ated oil painting of Christ done by T. K. Martin of the
Review and Herald Publishing Association and two assist
ing artists, the painting flanked on either side by the
Decalogue in gold letters, with a legend over all, read
ing, "Christ Our Righteousness." The attention getter,
however, was a large, slowly revolving globe, "a scien
tific triumph" showing the extent of Seventh-day Ad
ventist world work via some 800 vari-colored lights.
The globe has since become a traditional feature at
20 General Conference Committee Minutes, January - April, 1934, passim. 21 Thompson, J. C., loc. cit.
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large Adventist conventions and has been loaned for use OO in many local expositions.
Along the extended exhibit walls were displays
showing evangelistic, educational, medical, and pub
lishing activities by means of pictures, transparencies,
charts, displays of books and other devices. Church
work for the blind was represented by two blind women,
from the Christian Record Publishing Association in
Lincoln, Nebraska, actually operating a braille emboss
ing machine, turning out braille-printed cards as sou
venirs for exhibit visitors. Other displays featured
books of the denomination in 157 languages and an ex
hibit of exotic objects given up by heathen who had be
come Christians: idols, opium pipe, ornaments, etc. 9 Q A souvenir folder was prepared for general distribution.
Briefly,(it was planned, as Burgan described it,
"on a scale worthy of a world enterprise.
There was great interest in the project among Ad
ventists throughout the country and worthwhile efforts
were made to "merchandise" the exhibit. Evangelists,
and other workers "having contact with the public,"
were encouraged to invite any persons planning a trip
^^News Release, Ibid.
^^Thompson, J. C., loc. cit. 9Zi Burgan, Walter L. "Our Exhibit in Chicago." Present Truth. British edition, September 13, 1934, p p . 6, 15.
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to the Exposition to visit the display. Even the announce
ment of the display in local communities and at evangel
istic meetings was seen as helping "to dignify and en
large our work in the minds of the listeners, and to give
them a more adequate idea of our movement."^5 Burgan,
working directly, and through the publicity department
of the exposition, released newspaper stories empha
sizing the exhibit’s unique features. In addition, a
general release was sent to workers throughout the field
for local publication.
^^Thompson, J. C., loc. cit.
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AN APPRAISAL OF BURGAN *S CONTRIBUTION
Burgan laid foundations of public relations con
sciousness in the minds of leaders and members all
around the world. Many of the programs brought to fru
ition in later years, he had already begun to develop.
He performed expertly as a personal publicity repre
sentative of the General Conference. He produced
materials to share his knowledge with others and scat
tered this information far and wide. He was a volum
inous correspondent and maintained a steady stream of
personal instruction and encouragement reaching to the
ends of the earth.
But Burgan was never able to implement his own
vision of a corps of "professional" representatives in
the subordinate organizations of the church, and a large
number of lay representatives in the churches and in
stitutions .
Burgan agitated but he did not organize. He
seems to have worked against his own objective in his
indiscriminate distribution of materials. One idea
might be funneled to laymen’s directors in the confer
ence, another to evangelists, another to pastors, or
conference treasurers and presidents. With no men in
the field he could call his own, he sent materials to
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anyone who might be able to put them into use.
His apparently few and tentative appeals to con
ference executives for the appointment of professional
public relations workers were turned aside and he seems
to have so deferred to his brethren he did not press the
matter. As to a uniform plan of appointing laymen as
"publicity secretaries" in the churches, this could have
been effected by an executive committee action of recom
mendation, plus definite promotion to this end. However,
there is no record that Burgan ever sought such an
executive recommendation.
With the coming of J. R. Ferren to the department,
the organizational aspect of the public relations was
destined to take on a new vigor. Ferren’s past exper
ience was as an organization man, the circulation man
ager in a denominational publishing house. His custom
was to working directly with duly appointed representa
tives in the conferences and churches. It was inevitable
that Ferren should press upon the leaders the need for a
more adequate organization for publicity action, from
the General Conference on through all the subordinate
organizations to the local churches.
Yet, Burgan is honored for what he was and what
he did. During his long tenure of twenty-eight years,
as "Mr. Press Relations" for the Seventh-day Adventist
church, he received many expressions of confidence from
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church leaders at home and around the world.
L. H. Christian, president of the Northern Eur
opean Division, once wrote in response to an appeal from
Burgan to help in publicizing a General Conference
session:
"I shall do all I can to have these things printed in Europe. The more this Advent Movement is mentioned in the press the better."!
Christian urged Burgan to send his material to all
the union conference presidents of Northern Europe.
"Some of the men will say that they cannot do here as
in America, but the truth is that very often they can
not get these things into the press because they do not
try." He closed his letter with a warm personal tribute:
"I have great faith in the work you are doing to make 2 the cause of God known through the papers."
Shortly after his retirement, W. A. Spicer, the
Grand Old Man of the church, for many years a General
Conference president, wrote affectionately to Burgan:
"We who look on believe in the Press Bureau with all our hearts. It is wonderful the publicity that has been secured for the message. Yet, I am sure you are striving
^Letter, L. H. Christian to Walter L. Burgan, Feb ruary 3, 1936.
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for bigger things.. .What could we not do if every worker, and somebody at least in every city center in the church were able to give time to send short items to the newspapers constantly,..But the Bureau is doing more things than we can think of, I am sure. May God bless your efforts and inspire more pens to take part in this news paper evangelism."3
Burgan died in 1940, ending a twenty-eight-year
era in the history of Seventh-day Adventist public re
lations. He had instructed and inspired thousands of
church leaders, ministers, and laymen in the art of
using the public press. He had set the stage for the
next phase of development— the organization of a de
partmental structure and a diversification of content
in public information.
better, W. A. Spicer to Walter L. Burgan, no date,
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DEPARTMENTAL EXPANSION
New Beginnings with J. R. Ferren
During a two-year period following Burgan*s death,
his old mentor, Carlyle B. Haynes, came in to keep the
program going.^ Haynes was already deeply involved in
the increasingly demanding task of maintaining the priv
ileges of Adventist youth in the military, concerning
conscientious objection and observance of their Sabbath.
By 1942, and the United States entry into World War II,
that work had so enlarged that Haynes could no longer
do justice to the work of press relations. With his
encouragement, the General Conference officers at the
Cincinnati, Ohio, Autumn Council, called J. R. Ferren
to revive and carry on the program. The bureau was
then renamed, "Bureau of Press Relations."
With characteristic energy, Ferren plunged quickly
into a flury of news releases to the local press in
Washington, enrollment in a course in journalism at
American University to brush up on his techniques, and
a flood of personal correspondence to the field, a flood
that was to continue unabated for the next twelve years.
General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Yearbook. Washington, D. C.: Review and Herald Pub- lishing Association, 1941.
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Regional Development
By 1944, as mentioned earlier, the Pacific Union
conference had appointed a part-time "publicity direc
tor," Harry G. Willis, who acknowledged the zest Ferren
had brought to the "new" press relations program:
"Although the General Conference has main tained a Press Bureau for many years, not a great deal has been done by either local or union conferences, or by individual churches until recently. Under the super vision of J. R. Ferren, Secretary of the General Conference Publicity Department, that department has taken on new life and is rapidly taking its rightful place among denominational publicity departments."2
Under Ferren*s encouragement, a plan of selecting
lay press secretaries in the churches was under way in
the Pacific Union conference at this time, although it
was new and the work of these laymen was still viewed
with great caution:
"While it is understood that all have good intentions, it still remains a fact that if we are not extremely careful, unintentional errors may creep into our work that will bring embarrassment to the denomination. Our leaders have felt that we should pro ceed very carefully and cautiously, until we are sure of just what is going into the individual reports...Unless we keep in step we shall have to abandon the project entirely
2 The Scribe. Mimeographed news bulletin of the Pacific Union Conference Publicity Department, Decem ber 1, 1944.
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and restrict the work to the few ministers and others duly authorized to speak for the denomination."3
The Northern California Conference had elected J.
W. Rice as "publicity secretary" and Willis looked for
ward "to the time when each of our seven conferences in
this Union will have an active publicity department."^
The outline of the new "Ferren-style" department
was beginning to appear. Continuing his appeals to the
church leaders for more manpower with which to carry on
a program for a rapidly growing organization, Ferren
made something of a break-through in 1947. In Detroit,
he found Donn Henry Thomas, a suburban newspaperman,
and a recent convert to the church. With the part-time
arrangement in the Pacific Union conference by this
time not developing very successfully, Ferren saw in
Thomas an opportunity at last to establish a full-time
professional operation in one of the field organizations.
Leaders of the Pacific Union were persuaded by Thomas'
professional qualifications and they called him to their
field. He thus became the first full-time public re
lations leader of a field organization in North America,
destined to become J. R. Ferren's successor in Washing
ton, D. C.
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Official Recognition
In 1948, a comprehensive resolution was adopted
at the Autumn Council held in Denver, "to further en
large and make more efficient the denomination’s rela
tions with the public press. Ferren, in urging adoption
of the resolution, had made a general presentation of
the work of the Bureau, displaying a ninety-foot roll of
clippings in order to demonstrate the possibilities. He
impressed delegates with a report that the articles dis
played had a combined circulation of some 20,000,000
copies.5
The Council’s resolution, though merely in the
nature of a recommendation to the field organizations,
was considered a "working policy to provide larger and
better organized press representation." The press was
defined as, "newspapers, magazines, and radio."
Conferences and unions were asked to assign to
someone in their fields a definite responsibility for
press relations activities, so that they could "be
fostered at closer range than is possible from the
General Conference office."
Also contemplated in the resolution were definite
plans for meetings of press secretaries for sessions of
instruction.
^Document, General Conference Press Bureau, Wash ington, D. C., 1948.
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Special press representation was requested in
metropolitan areas and administrators were urged to
allocate time in meetings of ministers for "practical
instruction" in press relations.
Increased Headquarters Staff
While Burgan had continued at headquarters a one-
man operation except for a brief period, throughout his
twenty-eight-year tenure, Ferren moved in 1947 to en
large the staff in Washington. He called a young woman,
Helen F. Smith, from the Southern Publishing Association
in Nashville, Tennessee, to serve as an assistant. Miss
Smith was at Ferren*s right hand through the years to
come as an important influence in the development of
many programs, including the consolidation of the plan
to have press secretaries in the local churches, pro
duction of the earliest training materials prepared
under Ferren*s regime, as well as in the inauguration
of a regular denominational public relations journal.
News Beat.
In 1950, another assistant was added, Howard B.
Weeks, whose work Ferren had been encouraging in the
Oklahoma conference. In 1956, Weeks succeeded Thomas
as leader of the public relations program.
Still another addition to the headquarters staff
was made in 1951, with the arrival of M. Carol Hetzell,
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formerly of the Review and Herald Publishing Association
in Washington. Miss Hetzell's creative abilities were
immediately employed in the production of News Beat and,
through the following years, in the publication of many
basic materials of the department, as well as in creative
services contributed to the programs of other headquar
ters departments.
The headquarters press relations staff was brought
to its peak strength in 1952 with the addition of Cecil
Coffey, a former newspaperman and member of the public
relations staff at the Adventist medical training center
in California. Coffey's arrival brought to five the
executive staff, in addition to three stenographers.
New Materials for the Field
The stream of training materials produced in Bur
gan' s day continued at an increased volume under Ferren's
direction, and with a more professional touch, both in
content and typography. Ferren produced an attractive,
printed brochure. Church Reporting, in 1946. This was
followed in 1947 by a sixteen-page booklet. Religion
Goes to Press, a stock item of the department for the
next eight years. Also produced in 1947 was the first
of a series of special releases to the field. News Tips,
focusing on reports of model publicity activities from
various parts of the field, as well as general admonition.
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Institutional Advances
The autumn Council action of 1948 had urged larger
institutions of the denomination— colleges, sanitariums,
and hospitals--to "make immediate arrangements" for a
public relations department--one of the earliest refer
ences to the term "public relations" in any of the de
partmental literature.
The General Conference medical training complex
in Southern California, then the College of Medical
Evangelists, in this same year employed Milton Murray
to begin the development of a public relations program
for that institution. Murray's close-knit, soundly
based program ultimately came to employ an extensive
staff of specialists, combining such functions as uni
versity publications, internal information, community
relations, public information, and institutional fund
ing operations, in a comprehensive program of public
relations and development. Other institutions, both
on their own and in counsel with denominational public
relations leaders, followed suit, with the operation
of broad public relations programs at this writing the
rule rather than the exception.
In 1957, a special information exchange for in
stitutional public relations personnel was established
by the General Conference Bureau, in the form of a
bulletin called PR Tabulator. A headquarters staff
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member is assigned the special responsibility of coun
selling and cooperating with institutional public rela
tions directors. Special sessions in current denomin
ational public relations councils are set up for
institutional public relations workers.
Influencing College Curricula
As Burgan did, Ferren gave special attention to
the colleges, not only concerning their institutional
public relations needs but also because of the oppor
tunity they presented for instructing future denomin
ational workers in the best use of the public press.
The typical Ferren visit to a denominational
college included an assembly talk to the entire student
body, special workshop sessions for ministerial and
other students, and classroom talks in regularly sched
uled courses, particularly those with a ministerial
orientation. This pattern has continued to the present
time, although the subject matter has broadened con
siderably beyond press relations as such.
A special course, "Religious Reporting," was in
augurated in 1945 at the denomination Theological Sem
inary. In 1951 the Bureau assumed also the responsi
bility for teaching an existing course, "Religious Ad
vertising." These courses were combined in 1952 to cover
both press relations and advertising. As the scope of
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departmental activities broadened in later years to in
clude general community relations, the course was re
vised accordingly and is now offered simply as "Public
Relations."
In the meantime, a full-blown curriculum in public
relations had been developed at Pacific Union College,
Angwin, California, under the direction of Leslie Ser
geant. Herbert Ford, the first graduate in 1954, be
came the first full-time public relations secretary of
the Southern California Conference.
Field Developments
By 1949, the Autumn Council resolution of the
preceding year was having some effect in obtaining
greater local representation for the press relations
work. As church executives planned for the 1949 Council
in St. Louis, Ferren obtained permission to call his
field people together. That meeting may be called the
first "public relations council," although perhaps less
than a dozen "press relations representatives" were
available for counselling. It was at this gathering
that various members of the group began to talk to
gether about the possibilities for a larger scope in
the departmental program, looking forward to the event
ual development of a "public relations" program incor
porating activities in addition to publicity in the mass
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media. The consensus, however, was that more organiza
tion building with the present progrom was needed before
newer and larger activities could be undertaken.
A major step in organization building was taken in
1950 when Don A. Roth, a Ferren protege, was elected by
the East Pennsylvania conference as the first full-time
press relations director in any local conference.^
Also in 1950, a rudimentary reporting system was
put into operation calling for an account from church
press secretaries of the names of newspapers in which
they had published items, together with the number of
column inches.7
Local conferences, such as Ohio, Oklahoma, the
Southern Union and Pacific, Oklahoma, and even overseas
fields like the Antillian Union in Cuba, began to issue
bulletins during these years conveying to press secre
taries and ministers, instruction with the local view
point.
Also as a part of the "big push" in 1950, workshop
training sessions already under way in local conferences
were vigorously expanded, from New England, where the
first ones had been held, to the West Coast and back
^Letter, J. R. Ferren to Howard B. Weeks, Septem ber 20, 1950.
^Document, General Conference Press Bureau, Wash ington, D. C.
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into the Southern Union Conference where Ferren ranged
over the entire territory holding workshops with J. M.
Cox, Southern Union Conference press relations secre
tary, in Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Geor
gia, and Florida.®
Other major steps in 1951 added materially to the
sophistication of departmental training programs. Donn
Thomas, still on the West Coast, produced for the General
Conference Bureau a film, "Religion Goes To Press,"
outlining the work of the local church press secretary.
In addition, a public relations workbook was published
for use in press secretaries' workshops throughout the
field. To these materials were added, in 1953, two
training filmstrips on church publicity.
The old liaison with evangelists continued under
Ferren's leadership. In 1949, a series of meetings in
Atlanta, Georgia, by Evangelist M. E. Eckenroth had
Ferren's personal attention. In 1950, the same evan
gelist, in Southern California, employed the services
of Donn Thomas in the preparation of advertising and
publicity materials. In 1951, Howard Weeks was assigned
to help with publicity and advertising in evangelistic
campaigns in Chicago and New York. A special booklet.
Evangelism in the News, was prepared for general
O Mimeographed News Bulletin, Southern Union Con ference, May, 1950.
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distribution in 1953, including public relations as
well as publicity suggestions for evangelists. At the
same time, a set of evangelistic advertising mats and
other materials was offered to the field. A series of
doctrinal messages in mat form had been offered earlier,
in 1951.
By 1952, the Press Bureau had more or less come
into its own as a "department." In a major demonstra
tion of its new maturity, Ferren called two regional
Press Relations Conferences, one in Cincinnati, the
other in Denver. More than fifty out of seventy con
ferences and union conferences of the North American
division sent duly appointed press relations directors.
In addition to instruction on the art of conducting
workshops, maintaining liaison with church press secre
taries and other operational subjects, the sessions
discussed the first general organizational structure
in the departmental program, with a suggestion for the
division of responsibilities. As detailed by the con
vention, the suggested organization included these q features;
^Minutes, Western Press Relations Conference, May 13-15, 19522.
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The General Conference Bureau
Promotional material and news releases to union and local conference directors. Contact with national news services and magazines. News Beat and news releases sent directly to local church press secretaries.
Union Conference Press Director
Promotional material to conferences. Releases to papers at union headquarters and to wire services on union activities. Tips to conference men on actions of the union affecting them.
Conference Press Director
Promotional material to the churches. Releases to papers at headquarters and to wires on conference events. Releases to churches on local or regional events. Tips to church press secretaries on coming guest speakers, etc.
Church Press Secretary
Responsible for news coverage of local church activities.
Three regional press relations conferences were
held the following year in Philadelphia, Lincoln,
Nebraska, and Oakland, California, covering ground
similar to that of the 1952 gatherings, with additional
refinements in organizational procedure, workshop tech
niques, and press relations practice.
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TOWARD A PUBLIC RELATIONS CONCEPT
A More Comprehensive Program
With a growing staff of diversified interests,
the scope of activity encompassed by the Bureau of
Press Relations steadily enlarged to include many func
tions well beyond press relations as such. The depart
ment developed two projects in 1953, for example, that
impressed the entire church organization that its
"press" bureau was becoming a "public relations" bureau.
The year 1953 marked the golden anniversary of the
removal of denominational headquarters to Washington, D.
C., from Battle Creek, Michigan. Encouraged by the
Press Relations staff, the headquarters organization
arranged a gala celebration, including an elaborate open
house for the community at large. With press bureau
staff implementing the program, community leaders turned
out in large numbers to congratulate the church. It was
one of the most outstanding public relations occasions
in the organization’s history in the nation’s capitol.^
The imagination of the denomination was also cap
tured this same year by a national advertising campaign
in which messages prepared by the Bureau of Press
^Minutes, (^en House Committee, November, 1953.
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Relations, in counsel with an advertising agency and a
specially constituted committee of advisors, were in
serted in two national magazines, and twenty-eight news
papers throughout the nation. The Bureau also developed
and maintained follow-up machinery to nurture the inter
est aroused by the advertising. While the project was
not continued beyond the year, it was successful in its
immediate objectives and, further, had a definite impact
in moving the denomination toward a consideration of its
Bureau of Press Relations as a public relations operation.
The term "public relations" had been in use as
early as 1948, when the Pacific Union press relations
program was, for a time, referred to as the "Department
of Public Relations." A 1948 article in The Ministry
magazine had spoken of certain objectives in press re
lations to be attained by "a skilled public relations
O man or woman." Too, in the 1948 Autumn Council, Ad
ventist institutions had been urged to establish "public
relations" programs. The 1949 meeting of press relations
men had underscored the interest of many in enlarging
the program. The term in that year was in use in places
as far away as Southern Africa where E. Willmore Tarr
employed it to describe his work as director of the
program in the Southern Africa division.
^Smith, Helen F. "The ABC's of Press Relations," The Ministry. April, 1948.
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Legislative Moves Toward a New Status
Ferren and some of his field men were brave enough
to bring a request to the 1951 Autumn Council in Cleve
land, Ohio, for a change in name to "Bureau of Public
Relations." In hopeful anticipation, their new training
film, "Religion Goes to Press," had been titled as hav
ing been produced by the General Conference Bureau of
Public Relations, and the expression was used throughout
the film. Unfortunately, the term fell strangely upon
the ears of some of the church leaders and the matter
was referred to a committee for study. That committee
somehow was never convened.
New overtures were rebuffed at the 1952 Autumn
Council, but in 1953 the bureau's probing struck a
promise of success when the question was referred to the
Quadrennial General Conference Session, scheduled for
1954 in San Francisco.
When this world-wide gathering was convened, it
was clear to all that the Bureau of Press Relations had
indeed outgrown its name. Its program included general
promotional aid to other General Conference departments,
advertising aid to pastors, public relations counsel to
various committees, projects of denomination-wide inter
est bearing on general public relations, promotion of
church exhibits at state and county fairs— the range
was much too wide to be adequately described by the old
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press relations terminology.
Even in the press relations aspect of the program,
concepts had gone far beyond the mere reporting of rou
tine events. News was seen as the product of action
planned with the public effect in view. Where such
possibilities had been visualized in the 1930's in con
nection with the visit of South Sea Islanders to Ameri
ca, the Bureau now tended to operate as a matter of
routine. At the 1952 press relations conference, field
men had been instructed in the art of "making news,"
through inspiring church organizations to undertake
appropriate action, or to add to already planned events
an extra "public relations" element that could generate
more effective publicity.® Ministers had been told
repeatedly in press relations workshops that good public
relations was based upon "good performance, publicly
appreciated."^
In addition, various projects, complete with
operational instructions and publicity outlines, were
suggested to the churches. One of these, "The Old
Bible Contest," introduced in 1953, involved churches
in community-wide searches for their town's oldest Bible,
with attendant publicity, library displays, and other
O Document, General Conference Press Bureau, 1952.
^Lecture notes, Howard B. Weeks.
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features. Such projects were used nationally and even
adopted in other lands where Adventists were at work.®
With a momentum developed by all the events lead
ing up to 1954, the plea for making the office a "Bureau
of Public Relations" was brought to the world officials
of the denomination in preliminary meetings at the San
Francisco gathering. These leaders enthusiastically
endorsed the proposal which was then brought to the
General Conference in Session and adopted. Further,
elective officers of the bureau were listed at this
session as members of the General Conference Committee,
the top governing body of the denomination between gen
eral sessions. The Bureau of Public Relations had at
last arrived.
It was an action on which the pioneers would have
looked with appreciation. From the first enthusiasm of
James White for the power of the secular press, through
further developments at the hands of Corliss, Reavis,
Russell, Daniels, Haynes, and Burgan, to the rapidly
enlarging program inspired by J. R. Ferren is a long
way in denominational history. The deliberate action
of the General Conference in constituting the program
as a public relations program and placing its officers
on the governing committee is a faithful reflection of
®News item in Tell, January, 1954.
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enlarged vision of the church as a whole— an abandonment
of the parochial view of a limited task to a purposeful
embrace of a world mission to all men.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. APPENDIX
I. Present Objectives and Program of the Seventh-day Adventist Bureau of Public Relations
II. Brief Description of the Seventh-day Adventist Denomination
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PRESENT OBJECTIVES AND PROGRAM OF THE SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST BUREAU OF PUBLIC RELATIONS
Departmental Objectives
To utilize every effective and feasible medium of
information and personal contact to create favorable
attitudes toward the Seventh-day Adventist church among
the public.
Through a studied choice of presentation, to es
tablish these characteristics of the church in the pub
lic mind:
1. A Christian church 2. A conservative Christian church 3. A prophetic church 4. A progressive church 5. A humanitarian church 6. A responsible church 7. A respectable church 8. A friendly church 9. A personally helpful church
To establish these concepts not only among the
public at large, but also among influential groups of
the public through a direct and specialized approach.
To develop within the denomination an awareness
of the value of good public relations in attaining the
divine objectives of the church and to inspire among
our people a sense of individual and collective par
ticipation in the denomination's total public relations
- 165 -
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effort.
To fulfill a public obligation to give adequate
information about our activities and achievements, an
obligation incurred by our regular solicitation of
public assistance and support.
To aid directly in the success of public endeav
ors of the church such as evangelism, Ingathering, home
visitation.
To give public relations counsel and help to the
officers and departments as requested in the develop
ment of policies, plans, and materials.
To keep editors and others in the communications
world receptive to our viewpoint through the friendli
ness and professional competence of public relations
personnel.
To encourage the development of the foregoing
public relations principles and procedures throughout
the field.
Public Relations Program at Headquarters
A. Community Services
Speaking appointments for General Conference per
sonnel, missionaries, before service clubs, other com
munity groups.
Visitors and groups to the General Conference
building:
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1. Encourage members and non-Adventist friends and groups to visit the headquarters office to become getter acquainted with Adventist work and to establish a personal identifi cation with it.
2. Arrange suitable displays, both general and departmental, to make visits interesting and instructive.
3. Develop tour plans.
4. Give help as needed in arranging receptions for special guests of officers or various departments.
5. Prepare suitable printed material to explain denominational work and the operation of the headquarters office.
General Conference participation in community
events:
1. Aid to Treasury officers in promotion of community drives, blood campaigns, etc., within the headquarters organization.
2. Adventist gestures or even speakers at major community events, business openings, new public buildings.
3. Aid to departments in displays and presenta tions to their specialized groups.
4. Entries in annual exhibits, parades; coor dinate participation of other Adventist organizations in the area.
B. Public Information Services
News releases on General Conference activities,
actions, personnel, and visitors to newspapers, news
magazines, wire services, radio and television stations,
religious publications, other media:
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1. In the Washington area 2. Nationally 3. Spot coverage on traveling personnel
Feature articles in national magazines, newspaper
supplements.
Adventist information to reference books.
Paid advertising in national media.
General Conference news to Review and Herald,
school papers, union papers.
G. Internal Services
Promotional materials and photographs for special
offerings, projects:
1. Brochures. 2. Displays for church publications 3. Offering envelopes 4. Bulletin and poster designs 5. Public exhibit designs
Promotional pictures file.
Motion pictures file.
D. Staff Information Services
Information on developments in the public relations
field.
Special information to officers and departments on
current events in which statements or actions would have
a desirable public relations effect.
Data to General Conference staff members on events
in which they are participating.
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Public relations suggestions to planning committees
on special events and projects.
Opinion surveys as needed for special projects and
general planning.
Departmental Program in the Field
A. Departmental Organization and Development
Relationships with field men. Development of new field men. Assistance to interested administrators on public relations personnel. Contacts with prospective public relations workers. Departmental bulletin, SURVEY. Departmental journal, TELL. Departmental reports. Planning departmental program, projects, procedures. Field appointments, churches, general meetings.
B. Training Services for Press Secretaries and Pastors
Production of materials. Participation in field public relations workshops. Participation in workers' meetings. Public relations handbook for pastors. Ministerial Reading Course. College appointments. Special help to journalism teachers. Home Study Institute. Public relations course at Theological Seminary. Trainee program with Theological Seminary. Summer PR Institutes.
C. Field News Services
Coordinate the cooperation of field men on major news events. News coverage of major field events where
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local help is lacking. Prepared news releases and other materials, guides for use in churches as needed. Direct help with emergency situations or unfavorable developments. Television news films and slides, radio tapes.
D. General Public Relations Services and Materials
Roadside signs and materials for their pro motion. Exhibit designs, suggestions, literature for summer fairs and other public exhibitions. Public relations talks at general meetings of other departments, institutions.
E. Special Services to Adventist Institutions
Public relations information exchange. Direct assistance on dedications, open house events, other special occasions when local help is lacking. PR TABULATOR
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BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST DENOMINATION
From Inf ormat ion F ile, a publication of the Bureau of Public Relations
GENERAL ORGANIZATION
All units of the Church, with exception of local churches, have duly elected officers devoting their full time to the direction of Church work. These include a president, secretary-treasurer, departmental secretar ies, and a regularly employed staff. Each unit has a permanent headquarters building.
General Conference
World headquarters at Washington, D. C., is the coordinating body of the denomination. Officers are elected in general session of world delegates every four years. Special departments receive direction from here also.
Divisions
World field is divided into 13 divisions. Each division has its officers and departmental secretaries, who are elected at same time as General Conference officers. Divisions are: North American, Austral asian, Central European, China, Far Eastern, Inter- American, Middle East, Northern European, South Amer ican, Southern African, Southern Asia, Southern European, U.S.S.R.
Union Conferences
Each division is comprised of two or more union conferences. These may be made up of several confer ences which may include the territory of a state, a group of islands, or of a single country, or nation. Unions operate all educational institutions on the college level in their territory. Union officers, elected every four years, help to coordinate efforts of the conferences. There are 10 union conferences
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in the North American Division.
Conferences
A conference is comprised of a state or province, or country, or portion thereof, depending upon the size, or population, or Adventist membership. It has direct responsibility for Church and evangelistic work within its respective area. It receives and distributes con tributions, appoints and pays ministers of local churches. It reports to its parent union conference. It may operate its own educational, medical, etc., institutions. Officers are elected biennially by delegates from the churches within its territory. There are 61 conferences within the North American Division.
Churches
Congregations govern themselves through officers nominated by a committee appointed from the floor and voted upon by the church. The minister, or pastor of the church, appointed by the conference, is the ex ception. Key lay officials are: local elders, deacons, deaconesses, clerk, treasurer, departmental leaders.
The organization of the Seventh-day Adventist churches is not so centralized as to conflict with the patriotic loyalty which the citizen of any country owes to his fatherland.
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DEPARTMENTAL ORGANIZATION
The work of the denomination is divided into de partments, which promote activities in specific subject areas. Each geographical division has its own depart mental officers in these subject areas. The depart ments are listed as follows:
Department of Education -- gives guidance and direction in the organization and operation of elementary schools, secondary schools and colleges.
Home Missionary Department — promotes and directs health and welfare activities by laymen and lay evan gelistic activities, and supervises Bible correspondence schools in many areas. Cooperates with Civil Defense.
Medical Department — gives guidance and direction in the establishment and operation of Adventist medical institutions, counseling in development of medical education, in establishment of schools of nursing, in dietetics, and in the development of schools of medical technology; also in the development of a school health program, and home nursing and health and nutrition classes for lay people, both Adventist and non-Adventist,
Ministerial Association — promotes and gives guidance in pastoral and evangelistic techniques.
Young People's Department — promotes religion among the youth, summer youth camps, wholesome youth activities including community service by youth.
National Service Organization — a branch of the Young People's DepartmentT Keeps in touch with Adventist servicemen, assists with their problems when such arise.
^blic Relations — responsible for contact with and information to public communications media, promotion of good community relations.
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Publishing Department — coordinates the publishing work of the Cnurch, promotes the sale of literature through literature evangelists and book and Bible houses operated by the Church.
Radio-Television Department -- promotes and gives guidance to the regularly scheduled religious radio and television programs of the denomination.
Religious Liberty and Public Affairs Department — guards the constitutional rights of religious freedom, and urges the principle of separation of church and state. It cooperates with churches and Church depart ments in meeting religious liberty issues.
Sabbath School Department — directs the Sabbath school program of the Church (comparable to the Sunday school work of other ehurches), and promotes offerings to missions.
Association of Self-supporting Institutions — serves as a base for fellowship and exchange of ideas among institutions operated by Adventists but not owned by the Church.
Temperance Department — conducts strong educational program on alcohol, narcotics and tobacco. Promotes total abstinence.
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GENERAL STATISTICS
MEMBERSHIP
Baptized adult church members...... 1,307,892 Churches...... 13,369 Sabbath school members...... 1,814,719 Sabbath schools...... 23,239 Ordained ministers, active...... 5,602 Full-time salaried workers...... 49,501
EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM
Schools operated by denomination...... 4,818 Total enrollment...... 300,503 Schools above elementary level...... 360 Academies in North America...... 72 Colleges in North America...... 15 Schools of nursing in North America...... 11 Schools of nursing outside North America... 23 Medical center for training physicians, dentists, etc...... 1 Universities ...... 2
FOREIGN MISSIONS
Countries in which church is working...... 189 (Countries in world as per United Nations, 223) Languages in which church is working...... 928 Missionaries sent overseas...... • •. 256 Foreign missions offerings...... $17,384,982
GOOD-NEIGHBOR PROGRAM
Value of laymen’s welfare work...... $25,977,507 Persons helped...... 7,179,073 Articles of clothing given...... 6,706,493 Food baskets given...... 4,192,288 Health and Welfare Centers...... 703 Cash given to local welfare work...... $1,545,608
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary source materials, such as the letters of Walter L. Burgan, may be found at the offices of the Bureau of Public Relations, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Washington, D. C. Volumes of early denom inational publications, such as the Review and Herald, may be found at library ôî Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Books
Andross, Matilda Erickson. Story of the Advent Message. Washington, D. C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1926.
Cutlip, Scott M., and Center, Allen H, Effective Public Relations. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Pren- tice-Hall, 1958.
Emery, Edwin. The Press and America. Second Edition. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1962.
General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. Yearbook. Battle Creek, Michigan: Review and Herald Pub- lishing Association, 1884.
______. Yearbook. Washington, D. C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1941.
McCumber, Harold 0. Pioneering the Message in the Golden West. Mountain View, California: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1946.
Spalding, Arthur W. Captains of the Host. Washington, D. C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1949.
Truman, David B. The Governmental Process. New York: Alfred Knopf, 1960.
White, Ellen G. Counsels to Writers and Editors. Nash ville, Tennessee: Southern Publishing Association, 1946.
______Testimonies to the Church. 9 Vols. Mountain View, California: Pacific Press Publishing Asso ciation, 1948.
Periodicals
Brown, J. L. South American Bulletin. February, 1934, pp. 4, 5.
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Burgan, Walter L- "What Constitutes Press News?” The Ministry. November, 1934, pp. 17, 18.
. ”Our Exhibit in Chicago.” Present Truth. [British edition), September 13, 1934, pp. 6, 15.
Curtis, W. D. Review and Herald. February 8, 1906.
Daniels, A. G. Review and Herald. December 14, 1911, pp. 9, 10.
Hough, Nora. Review and Herald. October 4, 1906, p. 24.
Reavis, D. W. Review and Herald. February 15, 1906, p. 20.
Review and Herald. (No Author): October 5, 1876; August 25, 1904; September 22, 1904; September 29, 1904; November 10, 1904; December 15, 1904; Feb ruary 1, 1906; February 8, 1906; February 15, 1906; March 1, 1906; April 5, 1906; April 19, 1906; April 26, 1906; July 19, 1906; October 4, 1906; November 1, 1906; November 2, 1911; Octo ber 26, 1911; November 9, 1911; December 14, 1911 ; January 11, 1912.
Richards, H. M. S. ”0ur Tabernacle of the Air.” The Ministry. June, 1934, pp. 6, 7.
Ruskjer, S. A. ’’Getting Into the Newspapers.” South ern Tidings. July 26, 1933.
Shireman, D. T. Review and Herald. February 15, 1906, p. 14.
Smith, Helen F. ’’The ABC’s of Press Relations.” The Ministry. April, 1948.
Tenney, J. E. Review and Herald. November 1, 1906, p. 28.
Thompson, J. C. ’’Capitalize Our Exposition Exhibit.” The Ministry. June, 1934, pp. 14, 15.
Washburn, J. S. Review and Herald. July 19, 1906, p. 15.
White, Ellen G. Review and Herald. November 8, 1881.
______. Review and Herald. December 27, 1906, p. 7.
White, James. Review and Herald. October 19, 1876.
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White, Stemple. "Capitalize the Public Press." The Ministry. June, 1934, p. 7.
Newspapers
Abbott*s Weekly and Illustrated News, December 16, 1933.
Baltimore American, [internal evidence indicated Janu- ary, 1912.J
Battle Creek (Mich.) Enquirer and Evening News, October ------1 7 - 2 0 ' , 1933. ------
Boston Herald. August 26, 1876; August 25, 1876, August 28, 1876.
Cornell, George W. "Religion Today." An Associated Press dispatch in the Arizona Daily Star. July 31, 1959. -----
La Prensa (Buenos Aires), November 5, 1933.
L ’Ethiopie Gommericale (Addis Ababa), November 25, 1933.
San Francisco News, June 5, 1936.
The Peiping (China) Chronicle, July 12, 1936.
Philadelphia Sun, July 15, 1916.
Letters
Altman, Roger, to Walter L. Burgan, May 24, 1934.
Amundsen, Wesley, to Walter L. Burgan, May 20, 1935.
Anderson, A. W . , to Walter L. Burgan, March 26, 1935; March 23, 1936.
Brown, J. L., to Walter L. Burgan, June 14, 1934.
Burgan, Walter L., to Alpha Film Laboratories, July 2, 1930.
______, to Associated Press, December 2, 1935.
______, to A. E. Axelson, December 27, 1935.
______, to Alonzo L. Baker, August 14, 1934: April 16, 1 9 3 6 .
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Burgan, Walter L., to M. N. Campbell, October 5, 1936.
to Theodore Carcich, November 29, 1936.
to G. A. Coon, June 4, 1935.
to Myrtle Davidson, June 23, 1936.
to L. K. Dickson, May 20, 1934.
to J. R. Ferren, April 3, 1934.
to W. A. Ferris, December 17, 1936.
to E. G. Fulton, May 8, 1934.
to James W. Gillespie, January 24, 1934.
to Roland Goodman, February 6, 1934.
to A. S. Maxwell, May 6, 1934.
to J. H. McEachern, September 5, 1935.
to Alden B. Mills, October 28, 1935.
to John G. Mitchell, September 17, 1934.
to Paul R. Nelson, December 19, 1935.
to Ira Niermeyer, December 4, 1936.
to F. W. Paap, July 30, 1935.
to I. C. Schmidt, July 22, 1936.
to Frank B. Wells, March 14, 1934.
to Delmar P. Wood, January 25, 1935,
to H. L. Wood, December 17, 1936.
to Herbert Yahraes, Associated Press, October T7 1932. Campbell M. N., to Walter L. Burgan, October 8, 1936.
Cone, A. A., to Walter L. Burgan, March 8, 1935.
Cone, P. R., to Walter L. Burgan, November 12, 1936.
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Cummins, J. L., to Walter L. Burgan, April 13, 1934.
Davidson, Myrtle, to Walter L. Burgan, June 23, 1936.
Davis, E. M., to Walter L. Burgan, January 21, 1931.
Detwiler, H. J., to Walter L. Burgan, December 24, 1935.
DeVinne, Minnie R., to Stemple White, September 10, 1924.
Ferren, J. R., to Walter L. Burgan, March 28, 1934.
______, to Howard B. Weeks, September 20, 1950.
Ford, John, to Walter L. Burgan, March 8, 1935.
Fulton, E. G., to Walter L. Burgan, May 2, 1934.
Hanhardt, W. J., to Walter L. Burgan, March 14, 1935.
Hoskin, G. C., to Walter L. Burgan, August 25, 1936.
Howell, W. E., to Walter L. Burgan, July 30, 1936.
Keate, R. I., to Walter L. Burgan, June 17, 1934.
Leffler, George Eugene, to Walter L. Burgan, February 14, 1934.
McMillan, J. A., to Walter L. Burgan, February 18, 1936.
Menkel, H. C., to Walter L. Burgan, October 29, 1929.
Moon, E. A., to Walter L. Burgan, July 12, 1934.
Neff, Merlin L., to Walter L. Burgan, November 30, 1934; April 11, 1935.
Neilsen, N. P., to Walter L. Burgan, February 25, 1936.
Piper, H. E., to Walter L. Burgan, January 15, 1932.
Reavis, J. D., to Walter L. Burgan, no date; also May, 1931.
Spicer, W. A., to Walter L. Burgan, no date.
Stafford, F. E., to Walter L. Burgan, March 22, 1934.
Wells, Frank D., to Walter L. Burgan, February 24, 1936.
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Miscellaneous Documents
Burgan, Walter L., and Haynes, Carlyle B. A Series of Lessons in Newspaper Reporting. Nos. 1-4. Washington, D. G.: The Press Bureau, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, 1912.
"Report to the General Conference Session." Washington, D. C.: The Press Bureau, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, 1926, (Mimeographed).
Report Your Sermons in the Newspaper. Wash- ington, D. G.: the Press Bureau, General Confer ence of Seventh-day Adventists, 1926.
. Manuscript, no date.
Unpublished life sketch, no date.
______. General Letters (mimeographed): August 1, rWl8; August 13, 1930; October 23, 1930; Septem ber 10, 1931; December 23, 1931; July 21, 1933; February 19, 1935; February 20, 1935; October 17, 1935; November 15, 1935; December 14, 1936; March 18, 1937.
News Releases from the files of the General Conference Bureau of Public Relations, Washington, D. C., various years. (Mimeographed).
The Press Bureau. Attracting an Audience. Washington, D. C.: General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
______. Press Bulletin. Washington, D. C.: General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. (Mimeo graphed).
Publicity Department. The Scribe. Glendale, Califor nia: Pacific Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, December 1, 1944. (Mimeographed).
Official Minutes
Officers of the General Conference of Seventh-day Ad ventists, Washington, D. C., August 30, 1934.
Open House Committee, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Washington, D. C., November, 1953.
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Western Press Relations Conference, sponsored by the Bureau of Press Relations, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Washington, D. C., May 13-15, 1952.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.