Winn, Matilda Amelia

• Matilda Amelia Saxton

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.