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.

This collection is made up of records of the various agencies of the church. It also includes material regarding local churches and annual conferences. The collection is made up of eight series. The five largest series which make up the bulk of the collection are the Woman's Home and Foreign Missionary Society, Annual Conferences and Local Church, the Home and Foreign Missionary Society, the Board of Publication, and the War Service Commission. There is one unsigned letter from President Woodrow Wilson to Rev. E.O. Watson in the War Service Commission series.

This collection contains manuscripts, photographs, correspondence, notes, questionnaires, cemetery records, reports, college programs, and other sundry documents relating to the history of Westfield College in Westfield, Illinois. The college was started by the Methodist Episcopal Church. The manuscript is a mimeographed copy of the "History of Westfield College" written by Woodard in 1973. The photographs are black and white, and represent places and events related with the college history. A numbered list of these photographs is found at the end of the manuscript. The correspondence consists of letters written to and received from alumni of Westfield College or members of the Westfield community. All of the correspondence was generated while Woodard was researching the Westfield College history. Also included in this collection are questionnaires that Woodard sent out to gather information about the college, cemetery records, programs of Westfield college commencements and concerts, annual reports submitted by the college, deeds, and research notes.

This collection is made up of administrative material from the Women's Missionary Society and its local branches. It also contains publications and ephemera.

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 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.