Billy Graham Library

October 10, 2013

We drove to the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte, which is built like a dairy barn in memory of Billy's father's dairy business, but with a dramatic large cross of glass as a part the front of the barn. You enter at the foot of the cross.

The Graham family house, which was located on the dairy farm about three miles away, was moved and restored on the Graham Library property.

The tour begins lightheartedly in the milking stall with a Holstein cow as the narrator. Rod of course was very comfortable there, but noted that Billy Graham's picture was with a Jersey cow and that made him feel better. His family raised Guernsey and Jersey cows. Holsteins are the mainstay of large dairies because they give more milk, but we called it "blue milk" because its butterfat content was so low. We were proud of our rich Guernsey milk and sold cream from them.

We proceeded on the guided tour and it quickly gained my respect for being extremely well done. With big screen displays and well-chosen photos and artifacts, it told of Billy's call to ministry, his education in Florida and at Wheaton College. It told of early preaching, including some tent revivals as recreated above.

A re-created radio studio tells the story of his extensive radio ministry. There were also tapes and vinyl record albums.

They did a great job of telling the story of Billy's life and ministry with picture displays. At left above are Billy's parents, Morrow and William Franklin Graham. Next is his wife Ruth Bell Graham. Then Billy and his father with evangelist Mordecai Ham, who led Billy to Christ. At far right are John Minder and Cecil Underwood, Billy's teachers at Florida Bible Institute. The video segments told more about his initial college experience in Florida and his call to ministry there.

Advisors and mentors.

Underneath each picture was a tribute written personally by Billy Graham to each of these team members.

Billy Graham met with 11 U.S. Presidents!

He met with an amazing range of public personalities and cared about the challenges they faced.