Sunday, Billy

1862–1935

American Christian Evangelist

The most widely known revivalist of the early twentieth century, and a participant in the “muscular Christianity” movement, William Ashley “Billy” Sunday sought to bring men into Protestantism by emphasizing the strength needed to be a Christian. His ministry both reflected and addressed concerns about perceived perils to the state of American manhood and the feminization of American Christianity in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Born in Story County, Iowa, Sunday spent years struggling in poverty before being sent to the Soldiers' Orphans Home in 1872. At the orphanage, Billy discovered his ability to outrun other boys, and he parlayed his speed into a position with the Chicago White Stockings baseball team. His baseball career made Sunday a household name, and his ...