Needles in Haystacks: What Studying Old Documents Can Teach Us About Living Here and Now

The Archives and Special Collections at Wheaton College presents "Archival Research Lecture," a lecture by Dr. Karen Johnson on Thursday, November 12, 2026 at 7:00 PM.

In the 2026 Archival Research Lecture, Wheaton history faculty member Karen Johnson asks, "Why spend time poring over diaries, letters, and meeting minutes, searching for a needle in a haystacks when you're not even sure what the needle looks like?"  Drawing on her research on civil rights leader John Perkins in Wheaton's archives and the exhilarating, though sometimes unsettling, experience of bringing students face-to-face with original sources, history faculty member Dr. Johnson argues that archives offer something we desperately need.  Encountering people made in God's image, who like us were capable of great evil and great good, loosens the grip of our assumptions and draws us into the diversity of God's Kingdom.  It can also teach us to love our places well and live more faithfully here and now.    

This event is free and open to the public and will take place in Marion E. Wade Center,   Room 130 Bakke Auditorium, located at 351 East Lincoln Avenue in Wheaton on the Northwest corner of campus at the intersection of Washington Street and Lincoln Avenue. For more information, contact Archives at 630.752.5910 or archives@wheaton.edu.