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The bulk of the papers relate to Brown's activities in the Presbyterian Church, the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions, and with the ecumenical and world missionary movements. Of special interest are Brown's travel diaries of tours of China and the Far East, 1901-1902 and 1909. Arthur Judson Brown was a Presbyterian clergyman, author and pioneer in the ecumenical and world missionary movements of the 20th century. The positions he held included administrative secretary of the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions (1895-1929), charter trustee of the Church Peace Union (1914), organizer of several World War I relief committees, editor of Missionary Review of the World (1930), vice-president of the International World Alliance of Presbyterian and Reformed Churches (1933-1937).

These papers document the work of Gerald H. Anderson, who was a missionary educator, college president, and Director of the Overseas Ministries Study Center from 1974 to 2000. Anderson's extensive writings, lectures, and conference activities provide a valuable overview of the ecumenical mission scene during the second half of the twentieth century. A substantial portion of the collection relates to Anderson's work as editor of the Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions. These records include drafts and materials not included in the final publication as well as correspondence with the contributors. Other areas of research interest for Anderson included Christianity in the Philippines, Jewish-Christian relations, and the history of the International Association for Mission Studies.

These papers document the later part of Helen Morton's career, particularly her work with the University Christian Movement in New England. Born to a privileged New England family in 1898, Helen Morton spent her long life engaged in ecumenical religious and social work with a variety of U.S. and international organizations.

These papers relate primarily to the life and work of Henry Knox Sherrill and his son Henry Williams Sherrill. The papers document Henry Knox Sherrill's career as an Episcopal rector, Bishop of Massachusetts, and Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, his wartime chaplaincy work (in France during World War I and as Chairman of the United States General Commission on Chaplains during World War II), his ecumenical leadership as President of the National Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches, and his service to institutions such as Yale University and Massachusetts General Hospital. Henry Williams Sherrill was a graduate of Yale College, Union Theological Seminary and Virginia Theological Seminary. He was an Episcopal priest who served parishes in Michigan and Ohio and for many years was chairman of the Cheswick Center, a research and education trust for study and improvement in nonprofit governance.

The papers document the multitude of activities and involvements pursued by John R. Mott in over seventy years of working life. General correspondence, 1886-1955, comprises nearly half the bulk of Mott's papers, and includes letters to and from prominent American governmental leaders, philanthropists, international political, social, and religious leaders. Family papers and correspondence provide valuable biographical and genealogical information as well as revealing another dimension of Mott's life, his role as a devoted son, brother, husband, and father. John R. Mott was born on May 25, 1865 in Sullivan County, New York. His higher education was pursued at Upper Iowa University, Fayette, Iowa (1881-1885) and at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York (Ph.B., 1888: Phi Beta Kappa). He received honorary degrees from Yale, Edinburgh, Princeton, Brown, Toronto, and other universities. He served as administrator and leader of various organizations including the Young Men's Christian Association, Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions, World Student Christian Federation, Foreign Missions Conference of North America, International Missionary Council, Interchurch World Movement, Institute of Social and Religious Research, and the World Council of Churches. In 1916, Mott was a member of the commission assigned to negotiate a settlement with Mexico. In 1917, he participated in a special diplomatic mission to Russia headed by Senator Elihu Root. Mott was co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1946. During his career, he was officially honored by the governments of the United States, France, Italy, Japan, Poland, Greece, Jerusalem, Siam, Sweden, China, Czechoslovakia, Norway, Hungary, Estonia, Portugal, and Finland. Mott died in Orlando, Florida on January 31, 1955.

The papers document Pope's career and thought. They are primarily related to his professional work, but personal insights are also available, particularly in the correspondence with his wife and friends. The collection provides information about theological education in the United States, the activities of the ecumenical movement during the 1950s, the relationship of the church (particularly the Congregational denomination) to social concerns such as labor and race relations during the 1950s. Liston Corlando Pope was born on September 6, 1909 in Thomasville, North Carolina. He was educated at Duke University (A.B., 1929; B.D., 1932) and Yale University (Ph.D., 1940). He served as pastor of churches in North Carolina and New Haven, Connecticut (1932-1938), professor of Social Ethics (1938-1973) and Dean (1949-1962) of Yale Divinity School, author and editor. He was active in the Congregational Christian Churches denomination (1850-1960) and the ecumenical movement, particularly the World Council of Churches, and in organizations involved in theological education. He died in Norway in April, 1974.

This collection contains publications of primarily American and British organizations, societies, conferences, and councils. The publications provide primary source documentation of organizations that focused on a wide variety of issues, ranging from sabbath observance to tract and Bible distribution to support of widows to religious education to ecumenical programs, etc.

The Ruth Rouse papers, 1897-1957, consist of Rouse's personal accounts of her international work with the Student Volunteer Movement (SVM), World Student Christian Federation (WSCF), and the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA), as well as her research files on the history of global ecumenism.

The Collection includes pamphlets, brochures, typescripts, booklets, comic books, posters, cartoons, letters, memoranda, offprints, etc., documenting various aspects of social issues in America and throughout the world during the mid-twentieth century.

This collection is primarily printed and typescript material that documents the formation of the World Council of Churches and its program activities. Monographs with distinctive titles and authors, which were at one time part of this record group, have now been removed and added as individual items in the Yale online catalog. The World Council of Churches is an ecumenical organization that was founded in 1948 in Amsterdam. It developed out of two other organizations, the Life and Work Movement, which concentrated on the practical activities of the churches, and the Faith and Order Movement, which focused on the beliefs and organization of the churches and the problems involved in their possible reunion.