Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Title
Date(s)
- 1918-1919 (Creation)
Extent
1.05 cubic feet
Name of creator
Administrative history
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.
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
The records contain the transcripts of public addresses given by Methodist bishops, ministers and missionaries as well as U.S. public officials from the armed forces and the office of the President. Additional voices included representatives from the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, the National Woman’s Party and the Young Women’s Christian Association. Prominent speakers include I. Garland Penn, James Cannon, William Oldham, Charles A. Tindley, Anna Gordon, Clarence True Wilson, Robert E. Jones, Lena L. Fisher, and John R. Mott. Additional voices included William Howard Taft, Alice Paul, William Jennings Bryan, William B. McAdoo, Alvin York and Josephus Daniels.
The Official Reports and Records bound volume traces the history of the Centenary Exposition from its conception, planning and implementation. Here we see not only reports but also the various schedules for each day with its focused emphasis. Images document the many programs, grounds maps, specific representative groups and theatrical productions such as the Wayfarer pageant. Each descriptive entry is authored by different individuals.
The Centenary Surveys was published by the Joint Centenary Committee through the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1918. There is extensive statistical information related to the various work by the board. Topics include mission work to various ethnicity groups and geographic areas along with associated maps, financial data and various other important numeric tabulations.
System of arrangement
The collection is arranged by folder title.
Conditions of access and use elements
Conditions governing access
There are no restrictions on this collection.
Physical access
Technical access
Conditions governing reproduction
Detailed use restrictions relating to our collections can be requested from the office of the archivist at the General Commission on Archives and History. Photocopying is handled by the staff and may be limited in certain instances. Before using any material for publication from this collection a formal request for permission to publish is expected and required.
Languages of the material
- English
Scripts of the material
Language and script notes
Material is predominantly in.
Finding aids
Acquisition and appraisal elements
Custodial history
Immediate source of acquisition
2004-063
2016-016 Joseph L. Beardsley 265 Tripp Lake Rd., Poland, ME 04274 May 26, 2016
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information
Accruals
Related materials elements
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related archival materials
Elmer T. Clark Papers
Badley Family Collection
Eben Samuel Johnson Collection
Administrative Files Series of the Board of Missions of the Methodist Church
Records of the Mission Education and Cultivation Program Department of the General Board of Global Ministries
Administrative files series of the Board of Foreign Missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church
James Harrison Olmstead Papers
Edmund Pepperell Easterbrook Papers
Related descriptions
Notes element
General note
The purpose of this finding aid is to help you understand the nature of this collection and to assist you in the retrieval of material from this collection. The following pages contain a brief biographical history of the person, or persons, who created or collected these papers, followed by a general description of the collection in the scope and content note. If more detailed information is warranted then series descriptions also appear. The container listing appears last and is the listing of material in each box, or container, of this collection. To request material you need to turn to the container listing section. It is essentially a listing of file folders, or artifact items, in the collection. Each folder, or item, has a call number associated with it. Each folder also lists the inclusive dates of the material in the folder. On the material request form list both the call number and the folder, or item, title. Use a different line for each folder, or item, requested. When your request sheet is complete, or full, bring it to the archivist and the material will be retrieved.
General note
When citing material from this collection please use the following format: Direct reference to the item or its file folder, Records of the 1919 Centenary Celebration, United Methodist Church Archives - GCAH, Madison, New Jersey. Do not make use of the item's call number as that is not a stable descriptor.
Specialized notes
Alternative identifier(s)
Description control element
Rules or conventions
Sources used
Archivist's note
Prepared by Mark C. Shenise, Associate Archivist
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Methodist Church (Canada) (Subject)
- Christian Methodist Episcopal Church (Subject)
- African Methodist Episcopal Church (Subject)
- Methodist Episcopal Church, South (Subject)
- Methodist Episcopal Church (Subject)
- Penn, Irving Garland (Subject)
- Penn, Irving Garland (Subject)
- Cannon, James (Subject)
- Oldham, William Fitzjames (Subject)
- Tindley, Charles Albert (Subject)
- Gordon, Anna (Subject)
- Wilson, Clarence True (Subject)
- Jones, Robert Elijah (Subject)
- Fisher, Lena Leonard (Subject)
- Mott, John Raliegh (Subject)
- Bryan, William Jennings (Subject)
- Taft, William Howard (Subject)