Meet The Curator
“After several of our guests take the tour and hear the sacrifices made to have our English Bible, they tell me that they have a greater appreciation for their Bible.”
Gene Albert
With a passion for recalling biblical heritage that spans nearly 6 centuries, Gene Albert’s encyclopedic knowledge about rare Bibles from all around the world is on full display as curator of the Tennessee Bible Museum in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
His 1-hour narrated tours of the 8,000 square foot exhibit hall seemingly freezes onlookers in amazement but there is nothing cold or distant about Gene and his wife Darlean.
“People are so thankful once they hear the story of Tyndale, how he was murdered for the English Bible in 1536. He gave his life for that“!, Gene says.
“These people have something I don’t have!”!
GeneAlbert
After graduating from high school, Gene had attended college about an hour from home but soon partying and smoking marijuana with his dorm buddies became a habit that he knew he had to quit. He thought, “I have to get out of here if I want to do something with my life!” and that is when he decided to pursue his growing fascination with the Bible at a fledgling Christian college in Virginia. “These people have something I don’t have!”, Gene thought shortly after arriving on campus.
After professing his faith in Christ, his life suddenly had meaning and purpose.
“As far as I know, I was the first student at Liberty Baptist College to receive Christ as my Savior!”…
Gene Albert
While Gene has overseen the collection and preservation of ancient Bibles and an array of Christian relics and artifacts displayed in museums in three states for over 40 years, there is one date in history that Gene cherishes more than any other. “As far as I know, I was the first student at Liberty Baptist College to receive Christ as my Savior! I came to LBC lost and received Christ on September 29, 1971 when college founder and pastor Jerry Falwell extended the invitation at the end of the Wednesday evening worship service at Thomas Rd., Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia, where the college began.” 19 year old Gene was ready to surrender his life to Christ!
“We built over 600 entry-level homes and when I was making money I didn’t buy stocks and bonds, I bought rare autographs of Christians and Bibles”.
Gene Albert
For nearly 2 years, he helped international missionaries on furlough in the United States to travel and speak to churches to raise funds so they could return to the mission field where they were serving. In his late 20s, Gene was subscribing to real estate development magazines.
The more he read about the industry, the more his entrepreneurial aspirations inspired him to return to his hometown of Hagerstown, and launch a real estate development business, his brother-in-law partnered with him in the business, which lasted for 25 years, and the two became very successful in transforming farmlands into new home communities.
Ironically, as Gene developed new residential subdivisions, his love and passion for collecting revivals and autographs of pioneers of the Christian faith grew as well.
“The word of God is forever settled in the heavens”
Gene Albert
Gene’s first two purchases, original letters signed by Charles Spurgeon and D. L. Moody cost him about $350 each. These are now on exhibition at Liberty University in the late founder’s office.
40 years later Gene is known at major auction houses around the world, as “The Bible Guy”. He has bought and sold more than $9M worth of rare Bibles, autographs and other Christian artifacts and much of his collection was on display for 15 years in the Christian Heritage Museum he founded in Hagerstown, Maryland.
In the wake of the housing market crash of 2008 Gene sold nearly all of his collection and returned to his beloved Liberty University where he served as curator of Rawlings Scriptorium until launching the Tennessee Bible Museum this past summer.
While pursuing his college degree in biblical studies at Liberty, Gene’s entrepreneurial spirit was also born when he started a cassette tape duplicator business called ‘Cassettes for Christ’ to help churches and preachers distribute recordings of their sermons.
As a member of Liberty‘s first four-year graduating class in 1975, Gene had enjoyed his church history classes so much that he remained at liberty two more years to earn his Master’s degree in Christian education.