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More than 190 names are on the Review and Herald's payroll today, but the Adventist
publishing work began in 1849, with only one person: James White.
A founding member of the Seventh-day Adventist church, James wore many hats, or would
have if he could have afforded them. In a given day James was writer, editor,
proofreader, binder, shipper, and business manager for The Present Truth, the
church's first periodical.
Like every great undertaking, it began with a vision. James's wife, Ellen, came to him
with a word from God. "You must begin to print a little paper," she said, "and send it
out to the people. Let it be small at first; but as the people read, they will send you
means with which to print, and it will be a success from the first." From this small
beginning, she said, the work would become "like streams of light that went clear round
the world."
To get that paper out, James often walked eight miles on a lame leg from his home in Rocky Hill, Connecticut, to a printer in Middletown. With the help of friends, he folded and addressed the product by hand at home. Then, packing a thousand papers into a carpetbag, he hiked to the Middletown post office.
In 1850 James launched The Advent Review, and soon combined his two magazines
into The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, which reviewed the prophecies
of Christ's second coming and heralded the proclamation of the seventh-day Sabbath.
(The magazine now enjoys a simpler title, The Adventist Review.)
In 1855 the Whites moved to Battle Creek, Michigan. There the Review and Herald Publishing Association grew and prospered - perhaps too well. As the company focused more and more on the bottom line, workers lost sight of their Christian principles. New visions came to Ellen White - this time of a sword of fire over Battle Creek.
She had warned the Review's managers to pay their workers fair wages, not skimming so
much for themselves, and to pay authors their due royalties. Her warnings were ignored.
The company now printed whatever people offered to pay them for, regardless of content.
And though God had directed that the church spread its work throughout the whole world,
power-hungry men desired to consolidate it all under one roof.
That all went up in smoke on December 30, 1902, when the Review's large offices burned to the ground. Leadership at last recognized it was time to decentralize and refine the work of the church. The Review moved to the - at that time - rural suburb of Takoma Park, Maryland.
Meanwhile, the White family hadn't finished making its mark on the publishing world.
In the 1890s, son James Edson White piloted the riverboat Morning Star on the
Mississippi and Yazoo Rivers. Through an onboard printing press he published a journal
called Gospel Herald, which encouraged and evangelized blacks in the South.
Moving to Nashville, he set his press up in a former barn chicken house. In 1901 the
Gospel Herald Publishing Company became the Southern Publishing Association. The
Gospel Herald magazine led the way to two great magazines, These Times,
and the award-winning Message magazine, which is still published today.
Southern Publishing struggled in its early days, and church leaders debated whether to
keep it open. Presented with the facts and figures, Ellen White agreed that it might
be best to close it down. Within 24 hours she'd reversed her position. God had shown
her that the South should have its own publishing house, and that it would prosper. The
ensuing decades proved the accuracy of her prediction.
In 150 years the Review and Herald and Southern Publishing printed millions of books
and magazines. Adventist Book Centers brought products to people and families around
North America. Best-sellers like Project Sunlight and magazines like Insight
and Life and Health, now called Vibrant Life, inspired millions in their
Christian walk. Literature evangelists knocked on countless doors, and bookmobiles
brought products to every corner of the country.
The Review had a real hit on its hands with perhaps its most famous product ever: the
10-volume Bible Story series for children. Written by Arthur Maxwell, it featured 1,200
full-color illustrations, and heralded a new era of quality in Christian products.
In 1980 the Southern Publishing Association merged with the Review and Herald. In 1983
the Review moved to its current home, Hagerstown, Maryland.
Today the Review serves a global church, printing Bibles for Romania, magazines for
Russia, health brochures for Africa, and much more. The gospel message comes off the
presses and truly does encircle the world like streams of light.
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The Review and Herald owns 127 acres of land, and the facility itself takes up about
six acres. It is located in Hagerstown, Maryland, just a stone's throw from the
beautiful Appalachian Mountains.