Doing history

Right now I am in the process of an Independent Study in Church History, which entails quite a bit of reading and research.
I am studying the life of someone who is not very publicized, but made an enormous impact on Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism in the 20th century, and even today.

I am literally trying to "do history", meaning immersing myself so much in the context of the times that I get a "feel" for why this person thought the way he did, or did what he did.
It's hard to do because I want to begin judging actions based upon the hindsight of many decades.
This requires patience, discipline, and much, much study. So far, I read (skimmed) one volume of a newsletter this person published in a tabloid format just this week. Volume one began in the mid-1930s and each issue is 8 pages. I have one volume down and a few decades more to go!
I doubt I will be able to read every single one, but I do think that looking at these primary sources is a good key to judge this person, as opposed to reading the judgements of others. It just takes longer.

And no...I am not publishing my subject here because the person is unique enough for my (hopefully coming in 3-5 years) dissertation.