Adventist History

Wayne Hooper: A Celebration of Life

Yesterday afternoon, partly out of curiosity and also because I work for the LLU Archives/White Estate Branch Office, I drove out to Glendale to observe the "celebration of a lifetime" in honor of Wayne Hooper (1920-2007), perhaps the most famous Adventist musician in our denominational history. For me Hooper is a complicated individual who was extremely talented on the one hand and who loved the Voice of Prophecy, but who was far from perfect as highlighted in the memorial service--someone who knew how to pinch every last penny (as Del Delker said yesterday, a "tight wad") and who had a temper. Listening to the service helped me understand some of the things I had heard about him--a paranoia that others in the church were trying to take advantage of his musical talent by not giving him enough money for his royalties, and even my personal experience with him when he changed his mind about doing an oral history because I would try to control or make money off his memoirs (a rather preposterous idea!). Regardless, for those interested in Adventist history, for biographical purposes, a lot could be gleaned yesterday just by watching and listening. Here are a few interesting tidbits:

(1) Hooper was one of the original members of H. M. S. Richards' "King's Heralds" quartet. He was the last surviving member of the original group and his death, according to Lonnie Melashenko, represents the "end of an era."
(2) His musical talent was extraordinary. During the service his songs and photography were demonstrated. One recording featured Hooper singing all four parts. Del Delker couldn't believe that Hooper actually sang the soprano part, a difficult piece to sing--even for her. It is also interesting to observe the relationship between Hooper and Delker, the latter describing the former as her mentor and teacher.
(3) The famous song "We Have This Hope" was composed for the 1962 GC Session and has been played for more than half the subsequent GC sessions (including the most recent one held in St. Louis in 2005).
(4) Hooper's style of quartet arrangement, known as the "Hooper style" reflects his unique contribution to this particular genre of music.
(5) Hooper is probably responsible more than any other single person for the current hymnal sitting in the pew of most churches throughout the Seventh-day Adventist Church (brought out in 1985). He also authored the "Companion to the SDA Hymnal" with helpful commentaries (I've used it on a number of occasions).
(6) Hooper was responsible for over 1500 arrangements and compositions. Several including "We Have This Hope" appear in the SDA Hymnal.

Adventism's Earliest Generation of Adventist Historians

The recent play at Pacific Union College, "Red Books" helps to illustrate the struggle and tension between Adventist historians who try to describe the past accurately and the tension not to gloss over anything. Historians are by their very training critical of sources, and so it is only natural that this can at times create tension. This is illustrated very clearly in "Red Books" although after viewing it I do wonder if the creators of the play aren't coming down unnecessarily hard on church leaders and that what I would consider a more balanced approach to Ellen White (a.k.a. someone like George R. Knight) is not represented more strongly. The purpose of this particular post is to highlight an even earlier generation of historians who predate the catastrophe of the 1970s. They illustrate the awakening of historical consciousness that even predates Everett Dick's dissertation on Millerism that he completed in 1930.

So who were these historians and when did this historical consciousness within Adventism occurred? Surprisingly, in the course of my dissertation research, I discovered that they occurred during the late 1910s. Two individuals in particular, E. F. Albertsworth and C. L. Benson gave presentations on teaching history and historical method at the 1919 Bible Conference.

Clement L. Benson (1882-1934) graduated from Union College in 1905. By 1906 he was serving as the secretary of the "young people's work" in the Central Union. He was the featured speaker at the 1910 denominational educational convention, which marked him as a rising star in educational circles. During the 1917-1918 school year he became acting president of Emmanuel Missionary College when O. J. Graf, his best friend, former college classmate, and brother-in-law became ill. Some time during that school year he was also appointed assistant secretary of the General Conference Education Department. By 1920 Benson had returned to Union College where he continued to teach history. It was while he was here that he earned an M.A. (1921) in history from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. His thesis was titled “The French Revolution and the Church Property: The First Phase.” At the 1923 educational conference he organized the section on teaching history. In his later years he appears to have separated from denominational employment. He may be the same Benson who was teaching history in later years at the University of Arkansas.

The second individual, Edwin Franklin Albertsworth (1892-1980), was at the time of the 1919 Bible Conference a history teacher at Washington Missionary College. He received an M.A. (1916) and Ph.D. (1918) from George Washington University. Soon after the 1919 Bible Conference he was attacked by a group of students for being too liberal. His employment was terminated. He spent the remainder of his career teaching first in Colorado and later at the University of Santa Clara in California. Albertsworth published a number of articles and books on constitutional law and labor relations. He is particularly significant as the first Seventh-day Adventist to earn a doctoral degree in history. He is also the third Seventh-day Adventist to earn a Ph.D. after Mahlon Ellsworth Olsen (who earned a PhD from the University of Michigan in 1909) and Benjamin G. Wilkinson (who earned a PhD from George Washington one year earlier [1908]).

I salute these two early Adventist historians who personify to me in a very tangible way the awakening of historical consciousness that moved beyond apologetics in our church.