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The mission agency underwent several name changes and re- organizations from its creation in 1846, but finally settled on Board of Missions around 1910. The material in this sub-series represents administrative and financial concerns of the entire board. Much of the financial and administrative concerns where continued by the Board of Missions of the Methodist Church after merger in 1939.

The Missionary Society was organized on April 5, 1819 in New York, and became an official agency, through General Conference action, in 1820. The purpose of the organization was to enable the several Annual Conferences to more effectively spread the Gospel and to aid them in their benevolent and charitable work in both domestic and foreign missions. The society administered its work through a Board of Managers and its Corresponding Secretaries, subject to the General Missionary Committee, which met annually to make appropriations and to establish policy. The board had its headquarters in New York City.

The Centenary Celebration of American Methodist Missions was held in June and July of 1919. The twenty-four day missionary world’s fair attracted over one million visitors to the Ohio State Fairgrounds complex in Columbus. The exposition was a joint effort of the Methodist Episcopal Church and Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Other Methodist-related denominations invited to participate included the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Colored Methodist Episcopal Church and the Methodist Church of Canada. The purpose of the fair was to bring attention to the history and progress of Methodist missions in the United States and around the world. As a result, Methodist missionaries functioned as cultural and religious experts and converted Christians from overseas were brought to the fairgrounds. The missionaries and those missionized spoke of their experiences while participating in a series of exhibits meant to recreate the conditions in their home lands.