Ellen G. White — Messenger to the Remnant

Chapter 2—A Visit To the Washington Office

When visitors inquire at the reception desk at the General Conference building for the office of the Ellen G. White Publications, they are directed to the ground floor. Here, at the front of the building, they find a conveniently arranged suite of offices, an exhibit room, and a large vault devoted to the Ellen G. White documents and to the continuing work of the custody of the Ellen G. White writings. EGWMR 71.1

With a member of the office staff as a guide, we step first into the well-protected concrete vault, and as we do so, we notice the secure fireproof door with combination lock which guards the literary treasures which the visitors have come to see. This vault is a room eighteen by twenty-one feet, divided into two sections: the library section and the manuscript room. Entering the library section first, we observe that it is well filled with library shelves, holding many precious publications. Turning to the left, we find the bound file of The Second Advent Review and Sabbath Herald—the issues of our church paper for more than a hundred years, bound in nearly a hundred black-covered books. We examine the first volume, edited and published by Elder James White in Paris, Maine, in November, 1850. We see also the Present Truth and a supplemental document, The Advent Review, which preceded the Review in 1849 and 1850. In another part of this room we see files of the Youth’s Instructor, our young people’s journal, started by Elder James White in 1852; the Health Reformer, begun in 1866; and the Signs of the Times, also initiated by James White as a religious newspaper on the West Coast in 1874. EGWMR 71.2

A complete file of the General Conference Bulletins, the S.D.A. Yearbooks, and various and sundry periodical publications of the denomination, together with a pamphlet file of more than a thousand documents bound in half a hundred black and red covered books, are all found in this room. The key to these materials is the card index, a file of several thousand cards in daily use by the office staff, for they record the topics presented in these rich sources. EGWMR 71.3

To this section of the vault come not a few Seventh-day Adventist workers and college and Seminary students for certain lines of research work. EGWMR 72.1

Before the grilled door to the manuscript room is unlocked, we pause for a moment near a table on which rests the memorable old leather-bound family Bible, weighing more than eighteen pounds, which Ellen Harmon, a frail girl of seventeen, held on her extended left hand for approximately half an hour while in vision. For the description of this experience, see page 26. EGWMR 72.2

Now as our guide unlocks the door, we step into the manuscript section of the vault, a room filled with banks of file cases and storage shelves, loaded with rare early documents. From a shelf near the center of the room, our guide takes a little work, the first Ellen G. White book, a pamphlet of sixty-four pages, published in 1851 and bearing the title A Sketch of the Christian Experience and Views of Ellen G. White. Along with this we find the Supplement, which was published in 1854, and also the first writing of the story of the great controversy, known better today as Spiritual Gifts, Volume 1, published in 1858. ^* Among other early publications are the first numbers of the Testimonies, issued from 1855 and onward, the four volumes of Spiritual Gifts, the six pamphlets entitled How to Live, and the Spirit of Prophecy in four volumes. On shelves above are other rare publications—more than a score of early editions of books written by James and Ellen White, as well as many other early volumes of the Advent Movement. EGWMR 72.3

To the left, in this section of the vault, is the Ellen G. White manuscript and letter file. In the one hundred twenty drawers of the Shannon File Cabinet is kept this collection of approximately 55,000 ^† manuscript pages of her writings. Beside this stands the card index, in which are catalogued on 15,000 cards the principal subjects dealt with in the manuscripts. EGWMR 72.4

The back wall of the inner vault is given over to a bank of regular letter file cabinets, with forty drawers devoted to document storage, and facing this is a similar bank of files filled with correspondence from the early days—letters received by James and Ellen White from our leading workers from 1860 and on. EGWMR 72.5

Needless to say, this collection is rich in historical matter. EGWMR 72.6

On the long shelves lining the inside wall are many records of great value. Here we see a shelf of irregular black and red books. These are the Ellen G. White handwritten diaries, running back to 1859, which, although incomplete, constitute a rich source of biographical data. On another shelf in heavy envelopes there is a file of about one thousand Ellen G. White letters in handwritten form. The earliest letter preserved was written in 1847, and this file carries us well into the eighties, when typewriters first came into use in Mrs. White’s work. This file covering a forty-year period is incomplete because as a general rule in those early days the original copy was sent to the person addressed. To make them more readily available for research work, type-written copies have recently been made. EGWMR 72.7

Before we leave the vault the guide explains that in efforts to safeguard the precious E. G. White documents a microfilm copy of her manuscripts is housed in a locked and sealed case in a good vault in the heart of the continent. In addition to this, a branch White Estate office with a secure vault holding duplicate copies of key E. G. White materials, including the manuscripts, has been established at Berrien Springs, Michigan, at Andrews University. This is a second step in providing security and at the same time making vital White Estate materials available for appropriate use at the University. EGWMR 72.8

From the vault we step across the hall to the exhibit room. Here we are shown the E. G. White books as they are published in various parts of the world. Steps to Christ we see in most of the eighty-three languages in which it has been published. The Great Controversy is pointed out to us in thirty tongues, Patriarchs and Prophets, The Ministry of Healing, Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, Selections From the Testimonies, and others are found in many languages. These are kept in the old sectional walnut bookcase used in the White home in the early eighties when Ellen G. White was preparing the copy for Spirit of Prophecy, Volume IV—the first edition of our present Great Controversy. EGWMR 72.9

On a nearby table we see the E. G. White books in the raised Braille letters for the blind, and then we hear a few lines from Steps to Christ in the Talking Book, also for the blind. The glass cases of the exhibit room are filled with Ellen G. White handwritten manuscripts, human-interest documents, early hymnbooks, and other early records. EGWMR 72.10

Before we leave, our guide tells us of the work of the custodians of the E. G. White documents and of the creation of the trusteeship to care for the writings, and of the several lines of endeavor which the trustees are carrying forward. These are explained fully in the following pages. EGWMR 72.11