The Bishop W. Ralph Ward Jr. Papers document Ward's ministry from his earliest appointment through his episcopal leadership and his years of retirement.

A major part of this collection consists of Ward's sermons, addresses, and writings. These materials reflect Ward's personal faith and his commitment to social concerns and the institutional life of the Methodist Church.

Ward's correspondence is fairly typical and not as revealing of larger issues as might be hoped. There are occasional letters to ecclesiastical and political leaders of note. There is one note to him from Harry Emerson Fosdick.

Ward's episcopal leadership is well documented in this collection. He was a dynamic and insightful leader. There is significant information about his skill in developing goals and programs in the Council and in his Areas.

Ward gave particular attention to the training of his District Superintendents.

While bishop of the New York Area Ward was involved in the racial crisis which engulfed the nation. There is not as much material on this period as might be desired, but it should not be overlooked in research. There is also significant material on the well publicized program by 60 Minutes on the role of the World and National Councils of Churches which inferred Communist sympathies on the part of those groups.

Ward was a prolific writer. Several of his published sermons are included in the collection as well as a number of unpublished manuscripts on Christian belief and practice. As an active and loyal member of the Masonic Order he spoke frequently at their assemblies. He was also an early advocate of the importance of visual aids in promoting Christian education.. The materials include early scripts he wrote as well as film strips dealing with educational themes. This interest in communication continued throughout his ministry.

There is considerable material documenting of TV and radio in the ministry of the larger Methodist Church.

Methodist history was one of Ward's special interests. The collection includes addresses he gave on this theme. The collection also documents Ward's continued ministry after retirement in 1980. There is a small but significant body of material on the Ward family. There are photos and genealogical materials. The latter material pertains to both the Bishop's roots but also those of his spouse, Arleen Burdick Ward. There are a few items from Arleen's childhood which are particularly attractive. She was a Christian educator in her own right, and some of the articles she authored are included in the collection. Family letters from the Ward children depicting their activities and marriages are also in the collection. For the interest of the researcher who may be working on Bishop Ward's life and ministry this family section has extensive materials written by the bishop in preparation of his autobiography. This autobiography was never published, but offers a sound base for understanding the man.

The records of the General Commission on the Status and Role of Women (COSROW) encompass its beginnings as a general agency and continues up to the early twenty-first century. Its primary role is advocacy for women both within and beyond United Methodism. Over time advocacy would be expanded beyond just women roles and acceptance as leaders. Responsibilities in their defined mission include workplace and sexual harassment, equitable leadership roles and benefits in relation to gender and race, legislation to General Conference such as changing language usage in the Book of Discipline to codify improvements for women and social issues relating thereof. These are but a few examples of its advocacy work for the denomination.

In order to support, empower and educate the denomination on all levels within COSROW’s defined responsibilities can be found in the Advocacy, Audio-Visuals, Connectional Ministries and Printed Matter series. Here the researcher will find a plethora of avenues by which COSROW fulfills its mission through multimedia, mailings, newsletters such as the Yellow Ribbon and The Flyer, correspondence, creation and submission of petitions to General Conference along with organizing and informing delegates, worship resources reflecting various women’s concerns and expressions, pamphlets, workshops and monitoring seminaries and all the boards and agencies throughout the connectional structures within the larger church.

COSROW is highly organized in the sense of resourcing and utilizing its membership both on the general church and annual conference levels. The creation of a talent bank in which to draw upon not only for its own qualitative work but also to network skilled individuals is but one of the creative ways COSROW optimizes its impact on the church despite its small staff. The records illustrate how the role of monitoring became a defining part of its work. Social justice issues related to women and children are amply documented in the files. The genesis of using non-gender specific language issue to promote inclusiveness within United Methodism can be traced here as well.

The Financial and Administration series reflects how COSROW ran its organization and implemented its mission on a daily basis. Minutes of the various committees, reports on the work and funding of the commission, along with membership records and the General Secretary’s office files make up the primary documents in this series. A researcher will notice multiple files on the same topics. The reason for this duplication rests upon the original organizational structure the commission utilized for an egalitarian General Secretariat rather than a typical top-down corporate management structure found in other United Methodist agencies. Later COSROW adapted the latter structure out of necessity. On another note it should be noted that COSROW often recorded their meetings in various media platforms which became the official record.

This series holds the minutes of the various boards and divisions. Included are the minutes of the board meetings along with committee reports and also the various levels of staff minutes of the agency. The second major section deals with the administrative functions of the board and primarially deals with the various general secretaries's files.

This collection contains slides, audiotapes, films, a filmstrip, slide scripts and listings, conference reports and promotional materials, correspondence, and some photographs.

This collection contains slides, audiotapes, films, a filmstrip, slide scripts and listings, conference reports and promotional materials, correspondence, and some photographs. The slides contain images taken by Hannah Flammer of diverse subjects, most of which are related to the home and foreign missions of the Methodist Church during the 1940's to the 1960's. These include pictures of schools, hospitals and medical clinics, homes, settlement houses, missions to cities and rural areas, Native American missions, and a variety of scenes from both urban and rural areas that were foci for the church's mission and ministry during this period. There are also many slides of conferences of the Women's Society of Christian Service and other church agencies in which Flammer was active. Many scenes from foreign missions and pictures of foreign missionaries are also included. Most of the slides were used in presentations that Flammer gave to highlight and promote the mission work of the Methodist Church. The audiotapes include recordings of some of Flammer's slide presentations, of Bible studies and lectures given at various conferences that she attended, of radio interviews, and of church music. There are three reels of film, two of which are 16 mm and one is 8 mm. the filmstrip is titled "Swinging toward the Light." Also included in the collection are some printed slide scripts connected to Flammer's slide shows, several letters related to her mission promotion work, a container listing of the audiotapes, reports and promotional materials from some W.S.C.S. conferences that she attended, and some photographs.

The personal papers of Gertrude Feely include three internment notebooks. There are articles, letters and general writings concerning her internment and also a copy of her book, Five Years in the Philippines, written in 1946. Included in her internment papers is a map of the Los Banos Camp. There are several black and white photos, mostly of Mission Meetings and two color photos, one of Gertrude Feely herself and one of James W. Lambuths' grave. There are two pamphlets published by the internees of Santo Tomas during their imprisonment, a leaflet advertising The Christian Youth Center in Kobe, Japan and a booklet titled The Church in the War Years

The Oral History Collection of Gertrude Feely contains three audio cassette tapes from an oral history interview conducted by June Fothergill on January 16-17, 1985. A tape index, release forms, several magazine articles about Feely, and two black and white photographs are included. The tapes are located at 6029-1-1:23-26.

The majority of this collection covers the years the Millers spent in Mexico and Central and South America, and extends to their retirement in California. Correspondence from both of the Millers to their daughter Evelyn ranges from 1915 to the late 1940s. There is also correspondence between George Miller and friends and supporters in the U.S., as well as limited administrative correspondence with church leaders in Panama, Costa Rica, Chile, Argentina, and Board of Missions personnel in the U.S. Photographs from the different mission fields make up another large portion of the collection. There also are photographs of the Miller family from the late nineteenth century. The Millers made films and audio tapes of mission work for use in their lectures and presentations in the U.S. These are preserved in collection. The audio tapes are in seven inch reel format. The films are both in original 16mm format and have been copied onto VHS and Beta tapes for viewing. The remainder of the collection is made up of copies of the Miller's various publications, including books and articles, short essays and drafts of published work, as well as collected articles, clippings, newsletters, and essays by other authors on the topic of missions.

This series contains the records of the Commission on World Peace, predecessor agency to this division. The material contains general administrative and correspondence files; records of conferences and workshops conducted by the staff; special projects of the Division and conscientious objector files. Also included are the relating to the various seminars conducted by the Division and the Board of Church and Society at the United Nations.

This collection contains the records of the various departments in the reorganized structure of the Board of Church and Society. Departments in this new division focus on human issues and the church's response to those issues. This includes many of the previous departments spread between the former divisions. This includes such programs as the drug initiative, social and economic justice; human rights; and peace and world order.

This series contains general administrative records of the division. Also included are committee records and records from various departments and special programs. This would include the programs on economic and racial issues, religion and race (which later became its own agency), church and government issues, and urban concerns. Also included are the records of the Law of the Sea Project (shared with Global Ministries), the Committee for Congressional Reform and records related to specific programs conducted by the Division in Washington, D. C.

The material in this series comes from the General Welfare Division of the General Board of Church and Society. The series contains administrative records, newsletters and scrapbooks from the Geneal Board of Temperance, the predecessor to the General Welfare Division. There are also records pertaining to the Department of of Alcohol Problems and Drug Abuse, the Depart of Population Problems, and the Department of Law, Justice and Community Relations. Each of these departments had wide-ranging portfolios and were active in a variety of issues. Some of the issues relate to United Methodism's historic stance on drug and alcohol abuse, as well as issues surrounding population and hunger in the 1970s and the division's involvement in Kent State slayings legal defense, Wounded Knee and other societal issues of the 1960s and 1970s.