ROTOGRAVURE Christian Revival

The evangelical Christian revival movement with its emphasis on morality and temperance took the country by storm in the early 1900s and Hazleton wasn't immune. The Stough Evangelistic Campaign was in Hazleton for seven weeks, beginning April 26, 1914, holding revival meetings in a temporary tabernacle built on a field off Broad Street between Hazleton and West Hazleton. The campaign was led by fiery evangelist Henry Wellington Stough. He railed against immorlity and liquor and whipped audiences into a fervor. Early in the campaign he complained that the Hazleton crowds were too small, saying "if you don't turn out stronger and give me your earnest support Hazleton will deeply regret it." He conceded that a local trolley strike in Hazleton might have been partly to blame for the empty seats but an estimated 6,000 people reportedly showed up for the opening session to hear the preacher and the huge choir situated behind the stage and directed by Prof. Duncan Spooner. Stough undoubtedly won many converts in Hazleton. St. Paul's Methodist Church alone took in 127 new members after the campaign. When Stough died in 1939, the Standard-Sentinel called him "an energetic, brilliant speaker with an abilityat dramatics... The remarkable series resulted in several thousand converts who 'hit the sawdust trail': the floor of the tabernacle at the old fan field was covered with sawdust."