Mary Althea Anderson's personal letters and other record types illustrate her work and life both within and beyond the church. Correspondences from her father, S.H. Anderson, as well as Agnes Anderson, and Nellie Anderson. The former two were also involved in missionary work.

The papers focus primarily on her and her family's missionary work. There are other documents related to family that predate her service. Even though her family never lived in Britain and considered France to be their native home, her notes, documents, and letters are in primarily in English because of familial ties to Britain through her paternal line.

However, her mother was descendant of a French Huguenot family. As a result, letters and documents written in French are also within the collection.

Mary Anderson was an active Poet, and as a result, many of her original manuscripts exist within her collection. Much of her poetry reflects her missionary work. In addition to those that contain religious themes, many of Anderson's poems are written about North Africa, its history, and its people.

Also within the collection are a few noteworthy photographs depicting African peoples wearing western style dress, as well as one depicting a traditional indigenous African scene.

This collection contains mostly administrative records from Williams' work in missions administration. Included are Williams' reports on his trips overseas; personnel application procedures and personnel development procedures; papers and reports by other authors on missiology and missions theory; a history of the Joint Committee on Missionary Personnel: clippings, books, pamphlets, and reports on several geographic regions, especially China.

Material in this collection that relates to women include records from the World Federation of Methodist Women, notes from Wade's second wife, and an address by Emily Smith. Those records that relate to the World Federation of Methodist Women include articles, correspondence, a constitution, treasurer's reports, and signatures from representatives. The inclusive dates are 1936-1961, with the bulk of the material from the 1940s. Also included in Bishop Wade's papers are travel notes and observations from 1949 by his second wife. There are also several copies of an address given by Emily Smith in 1934 regarding Africa.

This collection consists of sermons, notes, photographs, legal documents, reports, clippings, correponsdence, and an artifact, reflecting mainly Bishop Wade's professional life. Also includes materials relating to the trial and prosecution of Bishop Anton Bast.

There is a microfilm (1892-1946) of his papers and manuscripts located in the library.