This collection consists of records of the United Society of Friends Women and its predecessor bodies, the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Union of Friends in America and the Woman’s Missionary Union of Friends in America.  They are a rich source for the missionary activities of American Quakers since the 1880s and the establishment of Quakerism in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and Central America. These records were housed for many years in the vault of First Friends Meetinghouse in Richmond.  Although they have been collectively referred to as the USFW Archives, they appear to have had at least five discrete sources, which are reflected in the arrangement of the collection.  First are records of the international USFW and its predecessor bodies.  Then there are the records of its Indiana Yearly Meeting affiliate under its various names.  Then come two collections of correspondence and other materials collected by two key women in the organization.  One is Mahalah (Pearson) Jay (1826-1915) of Richmond, Indiana, a leading figure in the founding of the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Union.  The other is Phariba (White) Stephens (1857-1929), also of Richmond, who was a missionary at Matamoros, Mexico, in 1902-1903, and who served as executive secretary of the Foreign Missions Board of Indiana Yearly Meeting.  Finally, there are records of the Whitewater Monthly Meeting missionary group. Much of this series consists of letters to Amy (Johnson) Marvel (1867-1953), a leading figure in the Woman’s Missionary Union and national president from 1938 to 1943.             Significant additions to the collection, including executive committee minutes after 1962, issues of Blueprints, and triennial minutes, were made through a gift from Bea Kimball in November 1998.