Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Title
Date(s)
- 1897-1996 (Creation)
Extent
2.19 cubic feet
Name of creator
Biographical history
Matilda Amelia Winn (nee Saxton) (1907-1996) was an active member of the United Methodist Church who served eight years as a director of the Board of Global Ministries. She was born on August 29, 1907 in Pine Bluff, Arkansas to parents George T. and Elizabeth Freeman Saxton. Her father, George T. Saxton Sr., was an active Methodist Minister for 39 years, while her mother, Elizabeth Freeman Saxton, was active in Woman’s Home Missionary Society and Foreign Missions for 44 years. She has a brother, George T. Saxton Jr., and a sister, Mary Myrtle Lois Saxton. Matilda married Harvey Winn on December 10, 1950.
She graduated from Kansas State College with a B.A. in Music Education and a minor in English and Speech in 1931. She first studied Philosophy and Sociology at a graduate level at Washburn University in Topeka, KS from 1935 to 1936. In 1942, she took a four week intensive study course in Sociology and Community Relations with the National YWCA in NY at Union Seminary. In 1948, she attended Rutgers University to study Sociology. Through her professional career, she taught junior college and high school levels in South Carolina, Tennessee, and Missouri. With her appointment as the executive director from 1942 to 1946, she became the first African-American staff person at a branch of the YWCA in Memphis, TN. She worked for the national YWCA in Trenton, NJ from 1946 to 1950. She also worked for the Child Welfare of Essex County, New Jersey for several years, retiring in 1958.
Her mission involvement began with the Woman’s Home Missionary Society, which included membership with Mothers Jewels, the Home Guard Band, and Queen Esther Circle. She was later an officer in the Woman’s Home Missionary Society. In 1940, she became the conference delegate to the Woman’s Provisional Conference, which was a planning group for the new Woman’s Society of Christian Service. From 1944 to 1952, she was the conference president in the Central Jurisdiction and chair of Christian Social Relations and Local Activities.
From 1968 to 1976, she was a member of the Women’s Division of the General Board of Global Ministries. During her eight year term, she was the vice president of the Women’s Division and the chair for the Section of Christian Social Relations. She visited several countries. In May 1971, she was one of six women from the Women’s Division that visited seven African countries. In January and February 1972, she spent five weeks in India evaluating the role and status of women. She also visited the Middle East during her tenure, visiting the home of President Yassar Arafat to see what could be done by women Methodists to helped displaced and homeless Palestinians. Of all her trips, the most notable was her attendance at the celebration marking the Independence of Mozambique. She represented the Women’s Division at both the World YWCA Conference in Vancouver, Canada, and at the unveiling of the Mary McLeod Bethune monument in Washington, D.C. She was also the author of several articles for Response and To A Higher Glory, as well as an author of program material for the Women’s Society.
In 1976, she was elected to the Mission Committee of the Southern New Jersey Conference and later as a Chairperson of the Conference Task Force on Ethnic/Minority Local Church. In 1980, she left this position, but continued to be a resource person for certain interests of the Women’s and National Divisions, the Board of Global Ministries, and the National Division. She also continued to teach in Schools of Christian Mission throughout the United States and was a public speaker. In 1986, she was named one of the outstanding Women in Mission at the United Methodist Women’s Assembly in Anaheim, CA. She passed away on July 3, 1996 after a long illness and fight with Alzheimer’s Disease.
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
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.
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use elements
Conditions governing access
There are no restrictions regarding 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
Finding aids
Acquisition and appraisal elements
Custodial history
Immediate source of acquisition
1996-202, Mrs. Marita Hinton, 12-17-1996
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information
Accruals
Related materials elements
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related archival materials
Mission Biographical Reference Files
Records of the Women's Division of the General Board of Global Ministries
Kansas State University Archives and Manuscripts, Women at Kansas State University
Old State House Museum, A Museum of the Department of Arkansas Heritage, Photograph Collection
Related descriptions
Notes element
General note
When citing material from this collection please use the following format: Direct reference to the item or its file folder, Matilda Saxon Winn Collection, 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
A total of .25 cubic feet were disposed of. 1/17/2017 MC
Archivist's note
Prepared by Meghan Chapuran, Student Assistant and Mark C. Shenise, Associate Archivist