About
Administration
The mission of the archives is to:
- Collect and preserve primary and secondary resources pertaining to the history of the United Methodist Church and predecessor churches in Michigan
- Encourage and assist the Michigan Conference and local churches in preserving their records, compiling their histories, and celebrating their heritage
- The Michigan Conference Commission on Archives & History oversees the archives, plans the budget and archives policies, and hires the archivist to manage the collection. Albion College and Adrian College provide space in their libraries to house the archives, although some recirds are also stored in other locations
History
The earliest efforts at preserving the history of the two Methodist Episcopal conferences in Michigan date to the nineteenth century when the annual conferences voted to create Historical Societies. Over the years, the Societies went through both active and inactive phases, but gradually accumulated some historical records.
In 1926, the Detroit Conference Historical Society voted to work out an agreement with the Burton Historical Collection of the Detroit Public Library to store its collections. By 1949 the Society had records at both the Burton Collection and the Wesley Building in Detroit. In that year, the Society moved their archives to Adrian College. Similarly, the West Michigan Conference began depositing its historical records at Albion College. Through the various church mergers the archives gradually broadened its scope to include the United Methodist Church and all of its predecessors:
- Methodist Episcopal Church
- Methodist Protestant Church
- Methodist Church
- Evangelical Association/Church
- United Brethren in Christ
- Evangelical United Brethren Church
In 1969, the conferences replaced the Historical Societies with the Conference Committees (later to become Commission) on Archives & History. The Commision on Archives & History manages the archives.