EDWARD WILLIAM MARTIN PAPERS AR 809 Prepared by Joshua S. Baxter, Justin Cook, Howard Gallimore, B.S., M.A., and Jonathan Winn October, 2002 Updated May, 2012 Edward William Martin Papers AR 809 Summary Main Entry: Edward William Martin Papers Date Span: 1938 – 1997 Abstract: The collection contains materials from the pilgrimage of one of Southern Baptists’ most successful and soul-winning evangelists, from the 1930’s to the 1990’s. Included are correspondence, sermons, photographs, films, and recordings. Size: 50 linear ft. Collection #: AR 809 Biographical Sketch Edward William Martin was born November 25, 1915 to Robert and Edith Martin of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Martins later moved to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where Eddie resided for the remainder of his life when he was not traveling the country leading crusades and revivals. The spiritual pilgrimage of Eddie Martin, who became one of Southern Baptists’ most successful evangelists, began when an elderly woman visited the Martin household when Eddie was a young boy. The Martins were not a Christian family until a woman passing out Gospel tracts came to their home and introduced Mrs. Edith Martin to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Upon reading the tract, Mrs. Martin made a profession of faith in Christ and began witnessing to her husband and children. They were all won to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and made professions of faith – except Eddie. Eddie Martin was a rebellious teenager, giving in to the temptations of the young people of his day. He showed no interest in the Christian faith that his parents and siblings shared. In spite of his disinterest, Martin’s mother continued to pray for him and leave Gospel tracts for him in inconspicuous places such as under the pillow on his bed or under his cereal bowl. One of these tracts caused Eddie to think about his sinful, lost condition and planted a desire to make a change in his life. Eventually he professed faith in Jesus Christ, and the entire Martin household became believers. Soon after Eddie Martin’s conversion, he heard evangelist Porter Barrington preach, and Martin knew that he, too, wanted to become a full time evangelist. In the late 1930’s, Martin went to Moody Bible Institute of Chicago, Illinois. Upon arriving at Moody, 2 Eddie read a biography of Dwight L. Moody, the founder of the institution, and he learned that Moody would not go to bed unless he had shared the gospel with at least one “lost” person a day. From that day forward, Eddie Martin made a commitment that he would not go to bed unless he had shared the gospel with at least three persons who had not made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ. Throughout his long ministry, Martin credited this practice of personal evangelism with keeping him constantly focused on the needs of lost souls. In every crusade and revival, he devoted the hours from 4:00 p.m. to usually 7:00 p.m. to personal visitation and soul winning. Eddie was a successful businessman in the rock wool industry. He was handsome, athletic, and made a good first impression because of his elegant dress and demeanor. It was reported that he owned 38 suits of clothes. Later in his ministry, he gave a new suit of clothes as a gift of appreciation to the pastor in whose church he held a crusade or revival. He was affable, outgoing, made friends easily, and many of his successful sales calls can be attributed to his energetic, friendly personality. When he made the decision to enter full-time Christian service as an evangelist, God used these same desirable characteristics of Eddie’s personality to make him an effective and successful evangelist. In the early 1940’s, Martin became associated with the Pocket Testament League of New York City. Martin was an active participant in sports as a youth and later in life as a spectator. He used this interest in youth to help shape the direction and content of his evangelistic ministry. He also became interested in the spiritual welfare of the thousands of young men who were being drafted into the armed forces of the United States at the height of World War II. Eddie Martin formed an evangelistic team – himself as leader, a girl’s trio, and a piano player or other musician – and set out to visit military camps across the eastern half of the United States. The girls sang, he gave a devotional message, and the team distributed pocket new testaments. With the endorsement and cooperation of the regular military chaplains, the team enjoyed popular success and continued this ministry until the end of the war in 1945. While a student at Moody Bible Institute, Eddie decided on a successful plan to get himself introduced as an evangelist. He asked all his fellow classmates to write to their home pastors and tell them that the most promising Christian evangelist was available to lead a revival in their church. It worked, and he received more invitations than he could fill until the end of his ministry. After the war, Eddie turned to evangelist crusades and revivals with renewed enthusiasm. He began speaking in church auditoriums and sanctuaries, high school classrooms and gymnasiums, public auditoriums, and tents. His fame and success increased until he was filling huge tents with attendance in the thousands, not including those unable to find space within the tent. During his years of ministry, Martin made or had made hundreds of photographs of him and his revival teams, motion pictures, and audio and video recordings from disc through 3 wire and even 2” broadcast tape. He prepared many sermons and published a four-book series on his personal method of soul winning, “The Law of the Harvest.” At the height of his ministry, Martin turned his attention and energies to Central America. He made more than a score of trips to El Salvador to lead revivals and evangelistic meetings. Through the Eddie Martin Evangelistic Association and his own personal funds, he established and supported churches and preaching stations and built church houses, schools, and dwellings for pastors in El Salvador. Eddie Martin’s ministry spanned a period of more than 50 years and included work with 1,250 pastors in 1,500 crusades and revivals. He remained active as long as his health permitted and died in Lancaster, Pennsylvania May 17, 1997. Scope and Content Notes The Eddie Martin Papers is the personal collection of correspondence, promotional materials, sermons, photographs, motion pictures, and audio and video recordings of one of the most popular and successful evangelists of the last half of the 20th century in the United States. He is one of the most successful full-time evangelists produced by Southern Baptists. The papers span the period from 1938 through 1997 and represent more than 50 years of active evangelistic ministry both in the United States and abroad. The collection contains hundreds of photographs and sound recordings in different formats from wire, paper and Mylar tape to audiocassette, video reel-to-reel tape, and videocassette tape. The photographs illustrate the crusades, revivals, and soul-winning campaigns conducted by Evangelist Martin primarily in the south and southwest. The motion pictures and sound recordings cover the same period and illuminate the holdings with action and sound from the great crusades conducted in assembly halls, football fields, stadiums, and tents. Some material relates to Martin’s earliest ministry when he surrendered to become a full time evangelist, August 12, 1943. Other material from that period represents his ministry of New Testament distribution to the armed forces in World War II while he represented the Pocket Testament League of New York. The collection concludes with materials from Martin’s extensive ministry to El Salvador where he preached revivals, sponsored churches, and supported young men in ministry with funds from the Eddie Martin Evangelistic Association. Appointment books, calendars, and itineraries contain Evangelist Martin’s schedule from 1947 through 1989. Folders in the main collection are arranged alphabetically. Sub sections include photographs, recordings, and sermons. Recordings in the sub section are arranged chronologically with the earliest date appearing first. Unidentified Martin recordings are filed at the end of the sub section. Recordings – Other Speakers concludes the sub section. The major subject of correspondence contained in the collection concerns scheduling crusades and revivals. Typically, letters from churches request dates, Martin offers, and/or confirms dates and engagements. The collection contains correspondence from 4 Owen Cooper, W. A. Criswell, J. D. Gray, Mary Kay Hanshaw, Herschell H. Hobbs, Bob Jones, Darold H. Morgan, H. Franklin Paschall, Ramsey Pollard, Ray Roberts, Jaroy Webber, and others. Mrs. Evelyn Martin, widow of Evangelist Eddie Martin, gave his personal papers and other materials to the Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives shortly after his death. The collection contains 50 linear feet of space, and no additions are anticipated to the collection. Arrangement Folders are arranged alphabetically. Recordings are arranged chronologically. Provenance Donated to the Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives by Mrs. Eddie Martin after Eddie’s death. Preferred Citation Edward William Martin Papers, Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives, Nashville, Tennessee Access Restrictions None Subject Terms Appleman, Hyman J. Criswell, W. A. (Wallie A.) 1909 – 2002 Brown, Fred Butt, Howard Cofield, Garland Cooper, David Crimm, B. B. Gage, Freddie Gilchrist, Michael Graham, Billy Gray, Bob Haggai, John Edmund Hankins, Henry Templeton, Charles Bradly Hendley, Jesse M. Lee, Robert Greene, 1886 – 1978 Martinez, Angel McGinley, James N. Morgan, F. Crossley Piper, Bill Rosell, Merv Smith, Gypsy 5 Smith, J. Harold Eddie Martin Evangelistic Association Sermons, American Revivals – Southern States – History – 20th century Chaplains, Military Evangelistic work – United States Evangelistic work – El Salvador Evangelists – United States – Biography Evangelism Related Materials Jesse Murphy Hendley Collection.