CAR-Center for Adventist Research

Two Ladies Retire

Pauline Maxwell and Lucile Haagenrud, long time employees of the Ellen G. White Estate, retired on Wednesday, July 7, 2004. Together these women gave over 50 years of service to the White Estate. Mrs. Maxwell began service here in 1972 and Mrs. Haagenrud in 1984. At the time of her retirement Mrs. Maxwell was the longest serving employee of the Ellen G. White Estate. She was originally hired by Arthur L. White, grandson of Ellen White and at the time Secretary of the White Estate. Both ladies served under the leadership of Hedy Jemison and William Fagal at the Andrews University Branch Office.

Pauline Maxwell, wife of late Church historian, and Seminary professor Mervyn Maxwell, has served as the administrative secretary to the director of the Branch office for most if not all of these years. Haagenrud, wife of a minister and missionary to the Middle East and South America, has served as research assistant.

Lucile Haagenrud
Mrs. Maxwell and Mrs. Haagenrud have exhibited a high level of commitment to service. Their knowledge of Ellen White and her writings has blessed many researchers and students. Both have enjoyed giving tours to visitors and explaining the work of Ellen White.

On Tuesday, July 13, we gathered to celebrate the service of these women. James R. Nix, Director of the Ellen White Estate and William A. Fagal past director of the Branch Office, were in attendance. Following the program and reception a potluck farewell luncheon was hosted by the staff of the James White Library.

Dinner Launches Endowment
for the Center for Adventist Research

On the evening of April 18, 2004, about 25 friends of the Center for Adventist Research assembled in the exhibit room of the Center. They were invited for a catered dinner and to provide feedback to Center administration concerning the future direction of the Center with regard to fundraising. The Center has begun raising an operating endowment to supplement the support received from Andrews University and the Ellen G. White Estate. Many good ideas came from the friends.

Ellen White Unpublished Letters & Manuscripts

During the first months of 2004 the Ellen G. White Estate provided a second copy set of the unpublished Ellen G. White letters and manuscripts. This makes it possible to preserve the mostly original set of letters and manuscripts and increases efficiency. The second set of letters and manuscripts enables the Center to serve more students at one time. This is particularly helpful during the winter when the Writings of Ellen White class is taught in the Seminary.

At the Center, Researchers have access to over 30,000 typewritten pages covering the period from 1845 to 1915. Work is in process to make the letters and manuscripts available in electronic form.

The Center for Adventist Research Descriptive Brochure

During June 2004 a new sixteen page color descriptive brochure was published on the Center. We will provide the brochure in a few days online.

Moving Special Materials into the Vault

From May 3-7, 2004 the Center for Adventist Research was closed to rearrange various materials. We are in the process of moving many of our rarer materials to the vault and integrating White Estate materials.

Exciting Discovery of Ellen G. White Letters

In the process of cataloguing the Smith/Bovee Collection (#146), doctoral student Michael Campbell discovered five previously unknown Ellen G. White letters. The collection consists of documents relating to Uriah and Harriet Smith, donated by the late Mark L. Bovee in 1990. The letters give insights into the life and perspectives of Ellen White. In addition to the Ellen G. White letters there were a number of other significant items found including an 1853 letter from James White to Uriah Smith inviting him to join the publishing office and a series of letters by Uriah Smith on his travels through Europe and the Middle East in 1894-1895. This collection is a rich resource for those wishing to discover more about Uriah and Harriet Smith and nineteenth century Seventh-day Adventism. Preliminary transcriptions of the Ellen G. White letters and the James White letter can be read at the following link.
http://www.andrews.edu/library/car/letters.htm

Staff Change in the Center

With the retirement of Pauline Maxwell and Lucile Haagenrud a new member joint our staff. Marcus Frey is the new Administrative Assistant in the Center. Marcus worked as a receptionist for several months. He has taken the lead in our web presence by designing and implementing the new CAR web site. He cares for all correspondence, web activities, materials and research requests from off campus, as well as a number of special projects. Marcus is also most likely the person who will answer the phone when you call our Center.