Billy Graham Exhibit Now Open at Museum of the Bible
WASHINGTON, Aug. 5, 2018—Today Museum of the Bible’s newest temporary exhibit titled Pilgrim Preacher: Billy Graham, the Bible, and the Challenges of the Modern World opened to the public. The exhibit, made possible with the cooperation of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and The Billy Graham Library, is on the 430,000-square-foot museum’s fifth floor and runs through Jan. 27, 2019.
The exhibit provides a historical examination of the life, work and cultural significance of William Franklin “Billy” Graham, Jr. (1918 – 2018), focusing on his use of the Bible in his ministry from the late-1940s through his retirement in 2005. The exhibit is divided into two sections: The first examining the development of Graham into a global revivalist, starting with his roots in the American revival tradition and the postwar context of his early ministry, and the second exploring the impact of his work in the realms of religion, society and politics.
“Perhaps no individual in modern history has done more to invite people to engage with the Bible than Billy Graham,” said Anthony Schmidt, Museum of the Bible’s associate curator of Bible and religion in America. “We are honored to help tell the story of the arc of his life and work and the impact the Bible had on them.”
Key features of the exhibit include:
- Original pulpit used during one of Graham’s first major crusades in Modesto, California, 1948
- Original pulpit and sermon notes used during Graham’s final crusade in New York City, 2005
- Sermon notes used during one of Graham’s largest crusades in South Korea, 1973
- Personal Bibles owned by Graham, his mother Morrow and his father Frank
- Original movie posters from Graham’s World Wide Pictures production company
- Rare images taken by Graham’s personal photographer Russ Busby
This new exhibit is just one of many additions to the museum since its opening in November 2017. In July, the museum also opened a new temporary exhibit, Jerusalem and Rome: Culture in Context in the First Century CE, which presents a selection of archeological remains from Israel in the first century CE and was made possible by the Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.