The Winona History Center on the campus of Grace College, Winona Lake, Ind., has loaned a portion of its Billy Sunday artifacts to the Minnesota Historical Society for a new exhibit on World War I America (WWI America). The National Endowment for the Humanities provided a $600,000 grant for the exhibit’s implementation.
“Billy Sunday is being included for his role in supporting the war effort as well as for Prohibition,” said Dr. Jared Burkholder, chair and associate professor of the history and political science department at Grace College. “We’re excited that some of our artifacts will be spotlighted for this section of the exhibit.”
The WWI America exhibit will explore movements during that era, present dozens of artifacts and tell the stories of legendary American heroes. The exhibit opens on Saturday, April 8, in the Minnesota History Center, 345 W. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul, Minn. The exhibit will have a three-year tour to premier historical museums around the country.
Billy Sunday was an acclaimed evangelist in the early Twentieth Century. Due to Sunday’s fame, the iconic house in Winona Lake, built in 1911, has been a tourist destination since the early 1900s. After Billy’s death in 1935, Helen Sunday continued giving tours to curious passersby. It was her wish that the house remain available to the public after her own death in 1957.
The historic Billy Sunday Home and the Winona History Center are owned and operated by the history and political science department of Grace College. The Winona History Center is open Tuesday-Saturday, 2-5 p.m. Visit winonahistorycenter.com to learn more and schedule a tour of the Billy Sunday Home. Or, call 574-372-5193. — from grace.edu