The Podcast: Hitting the Sawdust Trail
Billy Sunday in Bellingham (Part 1)
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SUMMARY
Billy Sunday, former major-league baseball player turned evangelical traveling preacher, had a big influence on the city of Bellingham, Washington at the time of his visit in 1910. In this episode Kolby is joined by Good Time founder Marissa McGrath to discuss the details.
Before he was setting Bellingham on fire with his sermons, Billy Sunday was setting outfield records for the Chicago White Stockings. This episode traces his wild transformation from pro ballplayer to the most famous — and most theatrical — evangelist in America. Touring the country with his own choir and his own custom tabernacle, Billy was a big deal when he rolled into town in April of 1910. Such a big deal that this is a two-part episode.
In Part 1, we dig into his crusade against booze (he's a big reason Prohibition became law), his sketchy-at-best statistics, and how a small-town Iowa orphan built a national machine that was equal parts revival and spectacle. Then we land in 1910 Bellingham, with local ministers, a brand-new "Municipal League," and a shuttered red-light district all bracing for his arrival.
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Slideshow
References and Resources
Our sources for this episode were primarily:
The Bellingham Herald and other newspapers accessed with subscription at newspapers.com
Wikipedia contributors. Billy Sunday. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia,
Wikipedia contributors. Great Awakening. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.
Wikipedia contributors. Third Great Awakening. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.
Unger NC. Legislating Morality in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era: Moral Panic and the “White Slave” Case That Changed America. The Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era. 2024;23(2):141-169.
For further exploration
Listen to Billy Preach here: British Pathé. Billy Sunday Burns Up the Backsliding World. YouTube
Our Spotify Playlist of songs mentioned or otherwise inspiring us
Hear the hymn “Loyalty to Christ” aka “From Over Hill and Plain”
The following links are from a website that is… interesting.
Stewart, David J. BILLY SUNDAY A Courageous Man of God Who Preached THE TRUTH! https://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Great%20Men%20of%20God/billy_sunday.htm
Stewart, David J. Billy Sunday History https://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Great%20Men%20of%20God/billy_sunday_history.htm
Stewart, David J. It's Not “Billy's Sunday” https://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Wolves/frank_sinatra.htm
