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This collection is comprised of William Orville Shepard's sermons, sermon notes, speeches, Episcopal Book of Discipline, scrapbook, personal publication, and certificate of election to the office of Bishop.

This collection contains scrapbooks and other materials detailing the ministry and life of William Angie Smith, bishop of the Methodist Church. The first part of the collection consists of fifty-nine scrapbooks that document Smith's life from high school until shortly after his retirement from the episcopacy in 1968. While the majority of the material in these scrapbooks encompass the dates listed for each scrapbook, there are exceptions to the rule. Three other scrapbooks attributed to Bess Smith, wife of the Bishop, contain congratulatory letters on the occasion of their retirement. The final segment of the collection is comprised of loose materials that contains his retirement years and portraits. The records themselves illustrate almost every accomplishment Smith achieved whether it be sacred or secular. Methodist related schools in Oklahoma and Texas are well represented. Local church information ends to center on his evangelistic meetings and correspondence with the pastors. Other correspondences are representative of his work with general church boards, jurisdictions and various conferences. Native American work in Oklahoma is strongly represented.

This collection contains ten scrapbooks compiled by R. H. Bennett during his career. These scrapbooks contain many of the writings he contributed to magazines and church related publications. He wrote "Twitterings of Timothy Twig", a weekly syndicated column for newspapers, and many of these columns are included in the scrapbooks. At the back of the 1906-1911 scrapbook, there are several black and white photographs of the building Bennett's Lynchburg congregation built at Soochow University in China.

In addition, these scrapbooks contain commentaries on missions and temperance, and are an excellent source of social history during the first half of the twentieth century. Materials found in these scrapbooks include news clippings, articles, photographs, correspondence, and pamphlets.

The work of the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is documented through a variety of record types.

Minutes and reports reflect the official action of the agency when preparing for and dealing with various crises throughout the world. Through these documents we see the interconnectedness of UMCOR with the other general boards and agencies within the denomination in an attempt to fulfill the mandate to help others in the time of need. The series also shows UMCOR's humble beginnings and its subsequent maturity as a viable denominational entity.

Administrative records that document the general work of the agency can be found in the Office of the General Secretary series. Gaither Warfield, who was one of the primary forces of compassion ministries in the denomination during the mid-twentieth century, guided the agency from its nascent beginnings to an administrative powerhouse.

Warfield's records not only reflect his skill as an administrator, but also the heart of dedicated Christian whose compassion was translated into the basic philosophy that guided the decisions and direction that UMCOR became famous for in later years. Much of this guidance was based on his experience as both a missionary to Poland and subsequent imprisonment by both the Polish and Russian armies as a spy during World War II. The result of this experience produced a keen interest on Warfield's part, and the work of the staff, on the plight of refugees and their relief around the world. His correspondence, memos and other record types document ecumenical, denominational and personal involvement in the area of relief. Records of later general secretaries follow this same trend though the volume of material is much less than those records of Warfield's time. The Office of Refugee Resettlement Program series is the heart of the collection. It is in this area that the agency had its greatest impact.

This impact is reflected in the sheer size of materials in relation to the other series within the collection. Often this office had to work with ever-changing laws, programs and guidelines established by the United States Government and other governments around the world. A quick explanation of the laws that directly impact the work of the agency as documented in the collection would be helpful at this time. Record types that document the works of the office are card files, correspondence, application forms and photographs, reflect the value of their work.

Quota section - Immigration Act of May 26, 1924 limited the number of aliens of any nationality entering the United States to 3 percent of the foreign-born persons of that nationality who lived in the United States in 1910. Approximately 350,000 such aliens were permitted to enter each year as quota immigrants, mostly from Northern and Western Europe. This figure was changed in 1927 to 150,000 in relation to national origin as recorded in the 1920 census.

Immigration and Nationality Act of June 27, 1952 - A system of selected immigration by giving quota preferences to skilled aliens whose services were needed in the United States and were related to U.S. citizens or legal aliens.

Section 7 - relates to the citizenship of children of persons naturalized under certain laws.

Displacement Act (Displaced Persons Act) - President Truman introduced this act in 1948 to address the European refugee problem. Eventually 400,000 individuals immigrated to the United States under this act.

Refugee Relief Act - President Eisenhower pushed this act that allowed for 200,000 non quota visas for Europeans fleeing Hungary after the uprising. Later on the Refugee Escape Act in 1957 opened the door of any victims of communist controlled countries and their respective regimes. Primary nationalities that benefitted from this act were the Hungarians, Albanians, Koreans, Yugoslavs and Chinese.

Public Law 316 admitted aliens between the years of 1945 and 1954 which was amended in 1957 allowed entry of those individuals and their families who were fleeing persecution because of race, religion or politics but misrepresented their nationality, place of birth, identity, or residence because of fear due to persecution in their homelands.

The files of the Office of Refugee Resettlement Program is absent. A researcher may look at these files, but may not use any names, addresses, and other related information contained therein. The files can only be used for gathering statistical information. Please contact the General Commission on Archives and History for more information.

The Adoption Program files do not contain information on actual adoptions but illuminates both the roles and procedures that UMCOR used as a conduit in processing such requests from Methodist families to other church and governmental agencies. Information within these files includes the process on how to adopt an infant, monetary support of the work, general adoption information and program classifications for adoption. Records from the Office of the Treasurer are primarily reports and audits. Financial records historically tend to be secondary in documenting the history of an agency. That is not the case here. Over the course of time the agency spent less of a focus on actual physical work but financing the work of relief through other avenues. These records reflect this change and show what areas of relief were a priority depending on the need and specific time period. The Office of Public Relations records can be found exclusively in scrapbooks which contain pamphlets, clippings, brochures and other similar types of materials which illustrate how the agency publicized its needs and work to the denomination. The scrapbooks are oversized and some are in fragile condition.

This collection is made up of the administrative material from the Board of Missions. It also includes the records of the World Mission Division, the Division of Home Missions and Church Extension and its various departments and mission fields, the National Missions Division and the Mission Advance Program. The collection is made up of six series. Although there is some material from 1862 and the 1970's, the bulk of the material is from 1946 to 1968.

This collection is made up of administrative material from the Home Mission and Church Erection Society. It also contains publications, glass lantern slide sets, and ephemera.

This collection is made up of administrative material from the Foreign Missionary Society and its various mission fields. It also includes material regarding the 1898 Sierra Leone massacre of missionaries and the trial of Daniel F. Wilberforce for cannibalism.

The papers contains file folders on various places, organizations, and people Ralph T. Templin associated with during his missions. There are five files while he was at Central State University. Eight files directly related with missionary work in India but there are a number of others also pertaining to the India Missions. Eight files on the Puerto Rican independence nationalist movement which Ralph Templin strongly supported. There are various amounts on information pertaining to the Peacemaker movement and a number of files on personal correspondence. The other folders are manuscripts and published works. Some files contain photographs and newspaper clippings. The last box of the collection contains three large copies of Templin's, "Farewell Address" at Clancey High School. Two of the copies are in English and the final copy is in Sanskrit.

The Matilda Saxton Winn Collection is comprised of informational files, a journal from her college days, awards, certificates, and family photographs, dating from the late 19th century to 1996. This collection reflects the personal life of Matilda Amelia Saxton Winn and her family.

The largest component of the collection consists of photographs. These photographs are of Matilda, her husband Harvey, and their families. There are photographs that date back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These photographs are of Matilda’s side of the family, and depict people like her parents, her maternal grandmother, and her siblings. Using both evidence from the collection, as well as photograph information found online from the Old State House Museum in Arkansas, the people in some of these photographs can be named. The photograph by Dawson in Little Rock, Arkansas of a man sitting in a plaid jacket is of Uncle Duke Freeman. The photograph by Dawson in Little Rock, Arkansas of a man standing with his arm leaning on a fence is of George T. Saxton Sr. The photograph by M. C. Davies and T. B. Rayburn in Little Rock, Arkansas is of Elizabeth Freeman. The photograph with a oval opening of a young man is of George T. Saxton Jr. In the photograph of three woman, the woman sitting is Mrs. Millie Freeman, Matilda’s maternal grandmother. The two photographs of women and children taken in 1897 and 1899 are from George T. Saxton Sr.’s time at Gammon Theological Seminary in Atlanta. In the two kinds of family portraits found in the collection, the children are positioned in the following order from left to right: Matilda, George Jr., and Mary Myrtle Lois.

The other photographs found in the collection range from the early 20th century to about 1985. These photographs are of various events in Matilda’s life, including her college graduation and her marriage to Harvey in 1950. In the file folder “Matilda and Harvey Winn and Friends” is a letter written to Matilda by her mother-in-law found in the folder with the photographs. In addition to the photographs found in the file folders, there are photographs held in a scrapbook put together by Matilda. While most photographs are still attached, and were reattached in areas, there were a few photographs that seem to have been shoved into random pages. These have been taken out of the pages in which they were found and places in an envelope in the back of the scrapbook. There is also a photograph of Miss Rosa Hale in the back of the scrapbook, as well as a few papers pertaining to Lois Saxton and a handwritten note.

Another item of note is her yearbook. There were two items shoved in the pages of the yearbook. On the page that holds Matilda’s Senior Portrait is the program from graduation. On the page that contains a blurb about the Bit and Bridle Club (2 pages prior to the Kansas State Sweetheart winners section) is a photograph in a sleeve that had been interleaved into the book. This photograph depicts three people, one woman and two men, standing outside of a building.

The Marion Lane Conrow Papers document Conrow's life as a missionary and educator in Korea. In addition to detailing her professional and personal life, these papers also describe the history of women's education in Korea and of Ewha Woman's University. The papers have been divided into twenty-two series.