The records of the Michigan Migrant Ministry cover the years 1946 to 1969 with the bulk from 1954 to 1969. One-third of the records consist of committee and project reports from the local community projects. These folders are arranged chronologically with the reports arranged alphabetically by county. The reports contain information about the type and size of the crops in the area, the number and ethnic makeup of the migrants, the types of activities in the communities and personal glimpses of the lives of the laborers. Also included in this series are the annual reports published by the Michigan Migrant Ministry, minutes of the Executive and State Committee Meetings, financial reports, budgets and the minutes of the National Migrant Ministry Meetings from 1954 to 1959.
The records of Michigan Migrant Opportunity, Inc. are part of this collection, also. The records include background information, bylaws of the corporation, executive committee meeting minutes, progress reports and financial reports. Information is also included about the Office of Economic Opportunity and the Title IIIB programs.
In 1920, New Jersey churchwomen, recognizing the needs of migrant agricultural workers, began three day-care centers to care for the children of the workers. Thirty-five years later, their ministry had grown to include 23 Protestant church denominations cooperating through the Division of Home Missions of the National Council of Churches.
The Michigan Migrant Ministry, part of the Central State Migrant Program of the Division of Home Missions, began in 1940. The intention of the Ministry was to provide for the total person, including his/her health, education and recreation as well as spiritual needs. Local community committee projects set up housing, reference services, family recreation and sewing, homemaking and infant care classes. Each project tried to involve the migrant laborers in planning the programs and camp councils. By 1953, there were 9 projects in Michigan ministering to over 90,000 migrant workers; it was the third largest program in the country.
In 1955, in cooperation with the Division of Home Missions, the Michigan Migrant Ministry became affiliated with the Michigan Council of Churches as an independent department, with representatives from the Department of United Church Women, United Church Men and the Division of Christian Missions and Services.
Michigan Migrant Opportunity, Inc., a contracting agency, was the first federal migrant program under Title IIIB of the Economic Opportunity Act, a result of the War on Poverty Program. MMOI was jointly administered statewide by the Michigan Council of Churches and the Michigan Catholic Conference. Both agencies sat on the Executive Board of MMOI as did consultants from the Michigan state government in areas of health, education and welfare. The work of MMOI complemented the work of the Michigan Migrant Ministries. Organized in 1965, it was dissolved in 1968.
The Michigan Migrant Ministry merged with the Michigan Council of Churches in early 1970. In 1987, the Michigan Council of Churches became the Michigan Ecumenical Forum.
