On Writing the History of the American Bible Society–Update #100

1.  Oral history.  Over the last couple of months I have been to New York City; Crawford, Nebraska; Columbia, Missouri; Easton, PA; Cleveland, TN (actually, I am heading there on Monday); and Upland, Indiana.  I have or will have interviewed three ABS presidents, an ABS General Secretary, three deans of the Nida Institute for Biblical Scholarship, and three current vice-presidents.  I am thankful to my team of student assistants who have been frantically transcribing these interviews so that I can send them off to the interviewees for final approval.  These interviews will be important sources as I write the final one or two chapters of the book.

2.  Picking images.  I have chosen 30 images for the book.  This was not an easy process because the ABS photo collection is so rich.  I think I have chosen a nice blend of sketches (mostly from the early 19th century), photographs, and other images (such as ABS seals and posters).  Oxford University Press has been very generous in allowing me so many images.

3.  Research.  I have been reading through the papers of some of the ABS presidents and general secretaries from the 20th century.

4.  Writing.  Most of my time, of course, is now involved in writing.  The research is 95% complete, but I still need to do a lot more writing between now and the beginning of May.  In other words, I have my work cut out for me. 

Stay tuned.