Primary Sources: The 1980s: Religion

"The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives is committed to preserving a documentary heritage of the religious, organizational, economic, cultural, personal, social and family life of American Jewry."

"In collaboration with the IU School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI, this digital archive collects and preserves documents related to Muslim American history from the colonial era to the present with an emphasis on Muslims in greater Indianapolis. It includes memoirs, newspapers, books, reports, speeches and other documents that reveal the place of Muslims in American social, political, religious, cultural, and economic life. The collection currently includes annual reports and copies of Islamic Horizons magazine published by the Islamic Society of North America, which is headquartered in Plainfield, Indiana. The bulk of the library’s digital content concerning Muslim American life can be found in the Indianapolis Imam Warith Deen Muhammad Community collection."

"...strives to democratize access to the best data on religion. Founded as the American Religion Data Archive in 1997 and going online in 1998, the initial archive was targeted at researchers interested in American religion. The targeted audience and the data collection have both greatly expanded since 1998, now including American and international collections submitted by the foremost religion scholars and research centers in the world. The ARDA is generously supported by the Lilly Endowment, the John Templeton Foundation, Chapman University, Pennsylvania State University and Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis."

Television evangelist Jim Bakker resigns leadership of PTL Club ministry, asserting he was 'wickedly' maneuvered into sexual encounter in Florida in 1980 and subsequently blackmailed; he and wife Tammy Faye have for decade co-hosted The Jim and Tammy Show, raising hundreds of millions of dollars and living in great luxury; photo; Bakker makes statement to Charlotte Observer and says he and wife are at California drug treatment center; newspaper reports Bakker apparently paid $115,000 to Jessica Hahn, who was 21-year-old church secretary in 1980; Bakker's denomination, Assemblies of God, reportedly has been investigating conduct (M)

Rev Jerry Falwell and entire board of troubled PTL TV ministry resign, asserting that ruling by Federal bankruptcy judge has made it impossible to rebuild ministry; says he could not continue to run PTL unless he was assured that ministry would not be given back to Jim Bakker (M)

n his two-hour Archive interview, Jerry Falwell (1933-2007) talks about growing up the son of an entrepreneur, and his eventual calling to the Christian ministry. He discusses starting his first television broadcast, Thomas Road Baptist Church Presents and how it eventually became The Old Time Gospel Hour. He speaks about the growing popularity of the program and its eventual syndication worldwide as well as its transmission over satellite. Falwell also describes his founding and the goals of the Moral Majority and Liberty University. He details the controversy surrounding his political views, the fallout from the PTL scandal that hit religious broadcasting in the late 1980s and his treatment by the mainstream media. B-roll consists of a personally-guided tour of a museum dedicated to his life on the campus of Liberty University. Don Carleton conducted the interview on October 16, 2003 at Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA.

The mission of the Jewish Women's Archive (JWA) is to uncover, chronicle, and transmit the rich history of American Jewish women. The site provides access to a variety of research resources including The American Jewess magazine archives and a virtual archive containing biographical information, primary source materials, and more.

In her one-hour Archive interview, Tammy Faye Bakker-Messner (1942-2007) talks about her childhood desire to become an evangelist. She describes meeting her future husband Jim Bakker at bible college and their subsequent collaboration as traveling evangelists. She details getting discovered by Pat Robertson, and how they were launched on the fledgling Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN). Bakker-Messner speaks about their children's show, The Jim and Tammy Show, as well as Jim's tenure as host of The 700 Club. She then discusses their creation of Trinity Broadcasting and their eventual split with their co-founders, which led to the formation of the PTL Club. Although she does not discuss the subsequent "PTL scandal," she speaks of the devastation it left on her life. She also speaks about The Jim J. and Tammy Faye Show and her appearance on The Surreal Life. Karen Herman conducted the interview on January 19, 2005 in Palm Springs, CA.