History of access to unpublished materials

For twenty-two years following Ellen White’s death, her unpublished letters and manuscripts continued to be preserved in the fireproof vault attached to the back of the office building behind her Elmshaven home. ^{30Ellen White’s Elmshaven office remained where it had been during the last 15 years of Ellen White’s life. It was only after the death of W. C. White in late 1937 that, in January 1938, the White Estate office and materials were all transferred to the General Conference, where they are still located.}UEGW 217.3

Initially, the majority of the White trustees, as well as the officers of the General Conference, were opposed to the publication of any Ellen White materials not printed during her lifetime. ^{31“Minutes of the Council-Meeting held at ‘Elmshaven, St. Helena, Cal., Oct. 28-29, 1915, by the Persons Named in the Will of Mrs. E. G. White to Act as Trustees of the Ellen G. White Estate,” 1, 2 (filed with White Estate Board Minutes).} They felt that only Ellen White could properly publish, or make available for research, her unpublished materials. Both Clarence Crisler and W. C. White, the two trustees who had worked most closely with Ellen White during her lifetime, urged the judicious use of some previously unpublished materials in future compilations. The two men correctly pointed out that Ellen White’s will specifically authorized the “printing of compilations from [her] manuscripts,” ^{32See “Last Will and Testament of Mrs. Ellen G. White,” dated February 9, 1912, paragraph FOURTH, subdivision (d), point 2.} but they were overruled. ^{33“Minutes of the Council-Meeting at ‘Elmshaven,’ ” 5, 6. “Although no motion was adopted it was the concensus [sic] of opinion that no unpublished MS even though it might have Sister White’s O.K. should be published in connection with published Mss. That if such O.K.’d MSS were ever used it should be in separate form with suitable explanations.”} It was not until Medical Ministry was published in 1932 that an official Ellen White compilation came out containing any previously unpublished Ellen White materials. ^{34Comprehensive Index to the Writings of Ellen G. White (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press®, 1963), 3:3207 (s.v. “1932 Medical Ministry”); see also EGW, Medical Ministry, 2nd ed. (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press®, 1963), vii.}UEGW 217.4

During the lifetime of the five original trustees, several significant things occurred. A number of Ellen White’s books were translated and published in languages other than English. Several new compilations in English came out. A simple letter identification code for each book was developed, making possible the first Index to the Writings of Ellen G. White, published in 1926. The loan from the General Conference was repaid by the 1930s. ^{35The White Estate trustees repaid the 4 percent loan to the General Conference from royalties earned on Ellen White’s English-language books.} The trustees incorporated in 1933, ensuring the legal status of the White Estate. The office of the estate was transferred to the General Conference building in Takoma Park, Maryland, in 1938.UEGW 218.1

Throughout its history, the White Estate has sought a balance between those wishing access to everything Ellen White wrote and those who thought that the existence of the estate was pointless. As recently as the 1960s, the last General Conference officer retired who reportedly did not think the White Estate was even needed. ^{36His reasoning was reported to have been, “Everyone believes in Ellen White, so why is the White Estate needed? Besides, do we really need to publish all of those unpublished materials?”} The last General Conference department head who reportedly held a similar view retired in the early 1980s. Also, as recently as the late 1970s, two descendants of a former General Conference official threatened to sue the White Estate if it ever released any of the letters Ellen White wrote to their grandfather. ^{37As told to the writer by Dr. Robert W Olson, director of the White Estate to whom the threat was made.} In short, throughout its history, the White Estate has of necessity been careful in terms of how it has handled the inspired counsels housed in its vaults. The White Estate trustees and staff have tried to make available any additional counsel that added understanding to what Ellen White published during her lifetime, but not embarrass anyone named in that counsel or their family. With the passing of time, the White Estate is able to do things today that would have been imprudent, if not totally impossible, as recently as just a few years ago.UEGW 218.2

One such example is the 1987 reintegration of the former “Z-file” materials back into the main collection of Ellen White’s unpublished letters and manuscripts. ^{38There are an estimated 50,000 typewritten pages in the letter and manuscript files. These reduce to approximately 40,000 pages when computerized; White Estate Board Minutes, May 7, 1987. See also Herbert E. Douglass, Messenger of the Lord (Nampa, ID: Pacific Press®, 1998), 484. Of the 120 file drawers containing approximately five thousand letters and three thousand manuscripts, only two drawers containing eighty-six letters and manuscripts were in the “Z-file.”} Many years earlier, eighty-six highly personal letters and manuscripts were placed in two separate drawers. Initially, they were restricted to all except the White Estate trustees and senior office staff. Eventually provision was made for limited use of the documents by others under certain conditions. ^{39Exactly what year the “Z-file” was created, or why it was so named, is not now known, though it appears to have been set up in the early 1930s.} Although helpful instruction from this restricted collection was included in Ellen White compilations produced during the years the “Z-file” existed, it was always done in a manner that protected the identity of the person to whom the original counsel was addressed. The fact that virtually no one living had recollections of the people named in the “Z-file” documents allowed those materials to be reintegrated into the regular unpublished letters and manuscripts file.UEGW 218.3

The same proved true with the former Manuscript Release Policy. When originally instituted in the early 1930s, the Manuscript Release Policy required that everything requested for release must be read and approved by both the White Estate trustees as well as the members of the General Conference’s Spirit of Prophecy Committee. Initially, only specific quotations, generally consisting of just the requested sentences, were released. The questions asked by both groups were, “Why should we release this? Will it add anything new to what is already in circulation?” By the time the Manuscript Release program ended in 1991, ^{40White Estate Board Minutes, July 11, 1991. The last Manuscript Release was numbered 1600.} in order to provide proper context, entire letters or manuscripts were released. ^{41The practice of releasing the entire document rather than just the few requested sentences from it began in 1983. See “A Word of Explanation,” Manuscript Releases, vol. 21, 1993, unnumbered introductory page.} By then, the question asked by those granting permission for release was, “Is there any reason why this material should not be released?” In other words, the determinative question had changed from “Why should we?” to “Why shouldn’t we?”UEGW 219.1

By the time the Manuscript Release Policy ended, most researchers viewed it as restrictive and cumbersome. They did not realize that the release procedures outlined in the policy had been instituted originally to make materials accessible.UEGW 219.2

In 1991, the White Estate Board of Trustees voted to plan for the publication of all the unpublished Ellen White letters and manuscripts preserved in its vault. ^{42White Estate Board Minutes, May 9, 1991. The vote was to move toward printing the unpublished letters and manuscripts, beginning chronologically with the earliest ones.} Digitization and copyediting of the collection progressed through the 1990s. Eventually, between 2000 and 2002, the board took several actions to publish the earlier Ellen White materials as quickly as they could be annotated, including helpful background information regarding the people, places, and issues mentioned in the original letter or manuscript. ^{43See White Estate Board Minutes for actions taken on February 17, 2000; April 26, 2001; September 20, 2001; and March 21, 2002;} The actual publication of annotated letters and manuscripts covers at least through the year 1863. The White Estate voted in 2013 to prepare all of the unpublished letters and manuscripts, and other resources, for electronic publication during 2015. ^{44See White Estate Board Minutes, January 4, 2013.}UEGW 219.3