The records of the Overseas Department document the missionary endeavors of The Episcopal Church in China from 1835 to 1954 and include correspondence, reports, financial records, publications, and visual records. The three geographic districts in which Episcopal missions were located, Shanghai, Hankow, and Anking, as well as Chung Hua Sheng Kung Hui, the Holy Catholic Church in China, are represented.

Mostly correspondence and some financial records make up this set of records, which dates from 1941 to 1951, excluding the period from January of 1947 through November of 1948. They capture an important record of the activities of the Episcopal Church in China during World War II and during the last days of its work in the early 1950s. The correspondence contains far more than a record of financial transactions, since Allen wrote detailed letters recording the events taking place in China. There is some correspondence with the Bank of China, 1941-1944.

These records include photographs, minutes, letter press books, and diaries that were produced by or are about the China Mission.