Barn-like library reflects Graham's life, influence

The barn-like structure reflects the dairy farm where Graham grew up, and windows in the shape of a giant cross draw visitors and light in.

"The icon of the library is the cross," director Deborah Cordial said. "The specialness of the library is the peacefulness that you feel. We're still spreading that message – and it's been spread for years and years – of God's love is forever."

'America's pastor,' renowned evangelist Billy Graham dies

The museum includes a replica of the tent where Graham first rose to fame with a two-month-long 1949 crusade in Los Angeles. Other displays are a radio studio, similar to one where he broadcast weekly sermons, and a home office with a teletype to stay in touch with the world.

Visitors have personal stories of what drew them to the library.

Andrew Chappelle came to Charlotte from England, where he attended one of Graham's crusades in the 1980s.

"It's a trip of a lifetime, really, an opportunity to experience and to reflect back on Billy Graham's life," Chappelle said.

Suzie Wagner of Grand Rapids, Mich., said she always remembers watching Graham on television growing up.

"My mom actually has a story that she sat on Billy Graham's lap as a little girl," Wagner said. "He had a meeting in Grand Rapids at the time, and she went to the crusade."

Cordial noted Graham was a social media force decades before the internet existed, attracting crowds through the power of prayer wherever he went. He built relationships with presidents over six decades and preached behind the Iron Curtain, urging people to crumble the Berlin Wall.

"What Billy did was historic," she said.

The museum also contains family mementos, such as Ruth Bell Graham's wedding dress – the beginning of a marriage that lasted 64 years.

Ruth Graham died in 2007 shortly after the library opened, and she is buried on the grounds. Billy Graham will be buried next to her.