Episcopal Service for Youth. Records

EA-00-R0098

The Archives of the Episcopal Church

Fonds

Episcopal Service for Youth. Records

• 1909-1976 (Creation)

5.35 cubic feet (6 boxes)

Church Mission of Help (CMH) was formally organized in 1911 to assist unwed mothers and promote family life. Over the 1920s and 1930s, the scope of its case work grew to include preventative services, and services to at-risk children, with particular attention given to young people coming out of institutions who lacked the life skills necessary to successfully integrate into society. To better reflect this expanded purpose, as well as appeal more strongly to the youth it served, the CMH changed its name in 1945 to The Episcopal Youth Service. It continued its programs under this name until 1960, when much of its work was assumed by the DFMS’s Department of Christian Social Relations, which was as a scholarship organization until its dissolution in 1976.

Much of these records date from the first fifty years of the Church Mission of Help (CMH), when its primary focus was on social services. These records include the annual file, containing documents related to the organization’s annual accomplishments; sub-committees and member agencies file; and the majority of the Executive Committee and Board of Directors minutes and reports, which are accompanied by associated documents such as the bylaws and constitution. Additionally, the general file contains documents related to conferences in which the CMH participated, as well as miscellaneous materials such as case worker evaluations, clippings, and correspondence related to Executive Secretary Edith Balmford (1950-1960).

The financial records from this period are concentrated towards the later decades, with most of them beginning in the 1940s. Notable exceptions include some ledgers, beginning in 1920; documents related to the Standing Committee on Trust Funds, also beginning in 1920; and documents related to scholarships and fellowships, spanning 1910 through 1972. The CMH’s final years are most heavily represented in the remaining financial records, including budgets, financial statements, correspondence, cash receipts, and income; however, there are also organizational histories from the late 1960s and Executive Committee and Board of Directors minutes and reports from 1960 through 1975.

Annual File, 1909-1961
Executive Committee and Board of Directors, Minutes and Reports, 1919-1975
Sub-Committees, Member Agencies, 1910-1960
General File, 1920-1973
Financial, 1910-1972
Artifacts and Scrapbooks, 1929-1946

Access to Episcopal Church records is governed by the Archives Public Access Policy. Research requests must be submitted in writing.

The Archives is able to respond to limited requests for reproductions subject to copyright restrictions, internal policy, and the condition of the source documents.

• English

• Department of Christian Social Relations
• Episcopal Youth Service
• Social Gospel Movement
• Youth ministry

• Balmford, Edith (Subject)