The Roy Stinson Smyres Collection documents the life of a person and his family whose multifaceted ministerial career exemplifies a dedication to United Methodist Church work in the twentieth century. This dedication is well documented through a variety of record types within the collection. Smyres kept an ongoing journal (1914-1990) and date books (1913-1990) that reveal his intimate experiences as a missionary, minister, and family member. The journals from his missionary days discuss the ongoing work of the mission as well as documenting Smyres' trek across West Africa in 1919, as well as other related trips. Additional entries record interviews with missionaries and indigenous people alike. Also included are discourses and reflections on sociology, anthropology, theology, politics, and life in general.

The date books list mundane things such as financial expenditures, appointments, etc. Some of the entries are in shorthand. The correspondence between Roy Smyres and his family, friends, and colleagues are just as illuminating as the journals, date books, and images. Most of these letters were collected by Nell Smyres and were given to Roy after her death.

While in Africa, Smyres made it a point to write home at least once a week whenever possible. Roy saved copies of letters that he wrote home while serving as a missionary to Africa, which is the reason for some duplication from Nell's files. A few letters were written on the back of older ones for economy. His early pen name to his family was Bud. Record types include correspondence, Christmas letters, and postcards. There are a few letters between Roy and Esther's children with each other which due to the lack of volume were incorporated into Roy's sub-series. Roy's earlier letters (1914-1929) contain personal observations on student life at Northwestern, mission work, missionaries, cannibalism, and "frontier justice" in Africa. These letters also document formal and casual reports from the mission field, photography, and hand-drawn diagrams of architectural features of mission buildings in the Congo.

The African travel accounts tell of the dangers of living in the jungle. Family matters are sprinkled throughout the correspondence. Most of the letters are addressed to Smyres' immediate family. Correspondence from 1930 to 1949 focuses on teaching, church work in Ithaca, and the beginning of a cooperative store in Ithaca - the first of its kind in that city. Roy was greatly interested in politics and peace issues.

Smyres' early work for the mission board is discussed here as well. The letters dating from the 1950's and early 1960's revolve around his continued work for the mission board, trips, publishers, and family. Included in the mission board correspondence was his involvement with the Advance Program.

After Smyres' retirement, the correspondence documents voluntary mission work in India, the Vietnam War, and other peace issues. Subjects found in correspondence from 1970 to 1992 document articles that Smyres published, speaking engagements, ministerial activities, work for the Religious News Service, and global trips. Also during this time period family issues are recorded which include the death of his first wife, Esther, and his second marriage to Mary Fraley, and extended family events. There are social and political remarks about Vietnam, peace, The Human Needs and Security Bill of 1984, El Salvador, the Lebanon conflict, opposition to the United States government appointing an ambassador to the Vatican, and the Persian Gulf War. Most of these letters were written to government officials who had a direct influence in these issues. Another aspect of this correspondence involves his photographic commissions and subsequent loans of images to publishers and missionaries.

Esther Smyres' correspondence ranges from 1920 to 1968 with the bulk of the letters dated from 1920 to 1937. Though not as voluminous as Roy's, they do illustrate in some detail the domestic work in a missionary home as well as documenting a spouse's missionary work in the Belgian Congo. There are casual references to African geography and society. Later correspondence documents Esther's work as a school teacher, her various travels, local church work, and family. Another value of Esther's correspondence is that they often fill in points of information that Roy leaves out of his correspondence of the same time. This is especially true during their years on the mission field and ministry in the local church. Most of the correspondence is directed to Mary Hannah Brown Smyres and Nell Smyres. Mary Fraley Smyres correspondence dates from 1972 to 1980 with bulk dates of 1973 to 1975. Most of these letters relate to family events and friends. Nell Smyres incoming and outgoing correspondence documents her early childhood, college life, family news, trips, and theology.

Some of the letters are from Roy and Esther's children and grandchildren, who express their embracing of Pentecostalism and faith healing. The last group of letters is from Roy's parents. Recipients of these letters include their children as well as extended family. Topics include family news, missionary work, spirituality in the church, and theology in general.

Mary's correspondence ranges from 1911 to 1947, with the bulk of the correspondence from 1919. Luther's correspondence dates from 1916 to 1920, with the bulk of the letters from 1919-1920. Family records are general in nature and revolve around four people: Roy, Esther, Nell, and Joan Smyres. Joan was Roy and Esther's daughter-in-law who died of cancer at an early age. Joan's sub-series documents her funeral.

The rest of the material reflects the childhood, marriage, and careers of Esther and Roy. Nell's records contain her Master's Thesis written at Ohio Wesleyan on the expansion of Christianity in Russia. Nell also collected reports written by her nephew, Eugene Stockwell, a missionary in Africa.

The Writings Series contains manuscripts (1917-1990), sermons (1929-1966), prayers (1937-1988), and publications (1939-1987) authored by Roy Smyres. Included in this section are two books that Roy wrote: Thoughts of Chairman Smyres, and his autobiography. Both these volumes were published in the late 1980s. Other publications include articles and photographs. The sermons (1929-1966) illuminate a variety of topics including missions, politics, theology, liturgy, world communion, cooperatives, and stewardship. Formats include radio and children sermons as well as pulpit sermons. Some of the sermons are in shorthand. The prayers relate to the various aspects of Smyres' ministry within the church. Smyres' professional life in the ministry of the church revolved around three sub-series: local church, annual conference, and the General Board of Global Ministries. Local church records contain worship bulletins and miscellaneous church papers. Annual conference records contain reports and ephemera.

The General Board of Global Ministries sub-series documents Smyres' work in DOM Committee material, reports, gift programs, IDOC International records, Advance Program Support Funds, Central America, financial records and journals, treasurer codes, notebooks, and newsletters. Roy created and collected maps that attest to geographic areas that he served or visited. The African maps are of special interest to those researchers whose historical focus is either missions or the Belgian Congo political boundaries during his years as a missionary. The hand-drawn maps are especially enlightening. The largest series in the collection contains Smyres' photographic images. These images are the spotlight of the collection. His photographic abilities and style were sought out by a number of religious organizations. Record types include glass lantern slides, 35 mm slides, negatives, photographs, and contact sheets. Geographic areas include countries from each of the populated continents as well as Oceania.

The images cover a vast array of topics too numerous to list. In some instance's Roy kept log books that identify certain images with corresponding narrative via his unique cataloging system. It should come as no surprise that family images are in abundance as well.

This accession contains two brief letters from White, seven books in Chinese, and one in Arabic. Six of the books are bound with wooden covers with continuous folding pages. There is also a handwritten piece in English entitled "Translation of a Chinese Love Letter."

This collection contains photographs, portraits, photograph albums, correspondence, higher education documents and artifacts from the missionary work of the Stahl family members. The numerous photographs and photograph albums contain images of former students including wedding photographs, other missionary workers and various landscapes in China.

This collection primarily documents the work and ministry of the Evangelical Church's annual conferences and local churches from the middle nineteenth century to the middle twentieth century. To a lesser degree there are records that reflect the ministry of the general church as well. There are other records that pertain to filial denominations such as the Evangelical Association, United Evangelical Church, Church of the United Brethren in Christ (United Brethren Church), and the Evangelical United Brethren Churches are also found in this collection. Leedy was an avid collector of church related information so that the topical landscape of this collection is broad enough to cover information ranging from local church ministries and histories to denominational theological beliefs and social concerns. Most of the paper records center on church work in the Ohio region though not to the exclusion of other geographic areas within the continental United States and Germany. All in all this collection provides a nice overview of the diversified life within the Evangelical tradition and is an excellent resource for those who wish to understand more fully the Evangelical Church's historical influence within the ongoing traditions of United Methodism.

Record types include: diaries, letterbooks, oversized photographs, a book, a map, and three scrapbooks. The diaries (1895-1906) describe his trip to Africa with considerable detail about the work there. Included within these diaries are the records of African members. The 1902 letterbook contains letters concerning the Daniel F. Wilberforce cannibalism charge. There are three oversized photographs, a book written by Flickinger titled History of the Flickinger Family and a map in german of the Berlin area. Clippings comprise the bulk of the 1901 scrapbook. These clippings helped form the basis of his book, Fifty-five Years of Active Ministerial Life which is located in the library department. The other two scrapbooks are mainly comprised of clippings as well. The 1882-1895 scrapbook also contains lectures on Africa. The third scrapbook is a history of the United Brethren Church.

This collection contains church publications, correspondence, images, newspaper clippings, publications, and sermons from Elmer Elmsworth Higley’s ministry work.

Most of the information within the documents are from the early 1900s-1951 and are related to his work as a Methodist Episcopal preacher. A majority of the images within this collection are of the churches Higley served.

This collection also contains two of his authored publications, and several newspaper clippings acknowledging Higley’s death.

The Papers of Edward Pearce and Lily Anderson Hayes are comprised of correspondence, journal entries, informational files, photographs, speeches, newspapers in both English and Chinese, and conference programs and journals, dating from 1916 to 1988. This collection reflects the Hayes’ passion in their mission work in China, as well as Edward Pearce Hayes' view on Communism and its perceived threat to the United States.

The largest part of the collection is correspondence. Edward Pearce Hayes signs his name as Pearce in his letters. The bulk of the correspondence (1938-1947) is letters from Edward Pearce Hayes in China to his wife and family residing in the United States. These letters recount his life in China. The letters discuss homesickness and difficulties due to lack of money, food, and clothing. They also allow for a glimpse into the uncertainty of life during war time, including rumors about the path of war, bombings, and government unrest. Once Lily rejoined him in China for the one hundredth anniversary of Methodism in China, they both sent letters to their family in the United States. These letters (1947-1950) inform family about daily life and how it had changed before, during, and after the communist takeover in China, which later produced the People’s Republic of China. These letters also discuss the ever changing prices in China, rumors about the happenings in cities and towns taken over by the Communists, information on the fate of other missionaries, reasons for staying in China longer, and the evacuation of other missionaries.

Another collection of correspondences pertain to Edward Pearce Hayes’ 1958 and 1961 trips for the then Methodist Church Board of Missions in New York. These letters, written to his wife, discuss his daily life, as well as give a glimpse into his thoughts on issues in Asia, Africa, and Berlin, as well as his thoughts on the state of the Methodist Church and mission issues.

The collection also includes Edward Pearce Hayes' letters and travel logs about his two trips abroad. In 1952, he traveled to South East Asia. This trip consisted of visiting Japan, Okinawa, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Manila. In 1955, he traveled to other areas of South East Asia, India, and Malaysia. Both sets of letters and travel logs tell of his daily travels and encounters.

In addition to correspondence, the collection includes files containing biographical information written by the family about the lives of Edward Pearce and Lily. These files also include letters Edward Pearce wrote to friends and family over the years prior to 1938. There are also clippings of Edward Pearce's various speaking engagements, as well as numerous obituaries for both and a clipping about their Golden Anniversary. Other items of note found in the collection are notes written by Edward Pearce for his speeches, and some diary and journal entries from his trips abroad. There are also pamphlets and booklets from Methodist conferences Hayes attended, including a photograph of the 1947 Centennial Celebration of the Methodist Church taken at the China Central Conference, as well as four banners given to the Hayes' as parting gifts upon their departure from China in January 1950. There is a General Conference badge Edward Pearce received when attending the 1940 General Conference in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Another item of note is a 1947 Chinese newspaper printed in Foochow, China, pertaining to the one hundredth anniversary of Methodism in China.

While this collection is primarily in English, there are a few items that are in Chinese. The banners are in Chinese, with translations included. There is a document with his name written in Chinese. This includes a YMCA membership certificate from Foochow. The 1947 newspaper pertaining to the one hundredth anniversary of Methodism in China is printed in Chinese as well.

There are two items in this collection. The first is a Seth Thomas Clock that was built in 1876. The clock was removed from what is known as the William Butler bungalow in Bareilly, UP, India around 1970 by Dr. Robert Petersen at the suggestion of Dr. Stanley Thoburn, deceased. Due to the patent date, it is highly probable that some other early Methodist missionary actually owned it.

The second item in this collection is a book written by William Butler entitled THE LAND OF THE VEDA. The book is autographed in the front by Clemetina Butler who was William's third wife.

The Mellony Turner papers primarily documents her life as a missionary in Bulgaria. There is a number of records on the American School for Girls in Lovetch, consisting of photographs, textbooks, yearbooks, and financial records. Turner's notebooks and lecture notes are included in the collection. It should be noted that there is a single folder containing information on closing the school. Turner kept diaries during her tenure in Bulgaria as well extensive correspondence. There are general images in both photograph and slide format ranging from the royal family of Bulgaria to her own family in the United States. Turner has a copy of a sermon by Bishop Burt; the bishop who had established the Bulgarian mission at the beginning of the twentieth century. Clippings and other types of publications reflect Bulgarian life and politics. There are eight lectures and a sermon written by Turner. Artifacts are personal in nature, reflecting the clothing and accessories of mid-twentieth century Bulgarian dress. There is a pot in the artifact series as well.

The other series within the collection reflects Turner's immediate family. The few records relating to her parents deal with their will and a folder of letters. Mellony's brother, Ewart Turner's three folders are related to his spying for the United States War Department during the World War II. Though he was ministering to a church in the United States during the war, Ewart was familiar with German communities in Europe and South America. The War Department had Turner collect information on Germans, in the U.S., who were thought to be a threat to national security during the war. This information is elucidated in a correspondence folder.

This collection documents the ministry of Roger Stillman Guptill both on the mission field and his subsequent teaching and administrative positions at Gammon Theological Seminary. Though not extensive, the collection gives a clear window into Guptill's life. The Methodist Episcopal Church had a strong connection between African missions and Gammon Theological Seminary. It was at this institution that a number of African-American and African Nationals were trained for full-time ministry in both the United States and Africa.

The first seriesilluminates the early stage of Guptill's adult life when he was sent as a missionary by the Methodist Episcopal Church to Africa's Belgian Congo. Topics include observations on general Congo mission work as well as a detailed account of Guptill's own mission work in the area. He also wrote and published a biography on Melville B. Cox.

Within this series documents a point of transition which takes place regarding Guptill's shift in career appointments after service with the local and general church. He was the editor and manager of a serial called " The Foundation." This was published under the auspices of Gammon Theological Seminary, which Guptill was a faculty member. "The Foundation" was a quarterly publication printed in the interest of Gammon Theological Seminary, alumni, The Stewart Missionary Foundation for Africa, and the School of Missions. The serial published news on African missions, alumni, campus events such as lecture series, as well as articles on philosophical and practical theology. Guptill was an important participant in many of the above mentioned organizations.

Given this transitional point, the second seriesbegins to expand the scope of, and enter into, a new phase of Guptill's work at Gammon. Here we have a number of items directly related to both the Stewart Missionary Foundation for Africa and Gammon Theological Seminary. Topics include institutional histories, a biography on William Fletcher Stewart who founded and endowed the Stewart Missionary Foundation, various opinions about the feasibility and value of starting the Foundation, Stewart Foundation School of Missions, charters and by-laws, courses of study, and a constitution and by-laws of the Friends for Africa.

The third series, Africa, gives the largest picture of that which profoundly influenced Guptill's life. The series contains information on the development of the Congo mission, a history of Methodist missions in Africa, general information about the continent, biographical material which includes Henry M. Stanley, World Service, African studies, medical missions, the beginnings of Protestant mission work in hte Congo, native education, native economics, native literature, and a missionary conference report.