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This collection consists of letters, documents, writings, bound volumes, printed materials, original art, photographs, ephemera, and other materials related to the life and study of Emily Howland of Sherwood, New York, between 1849 and 1974. Howland worked to advance abolition, African American education, and women's rights and suffrage, and her papers reflect these varied reform movements and her long-standing relationships with leaders in the causes. She was especially active in Freedmen's relief and education in Virginia during and following the Civil War. Her work centering in Northumberland County, Virginia, is documented in the collection, as well as her domestic life in Sherwood following her return there in the late 1860s.

This collection consists of letters, documents, writings, bound volumes, printed materials, original art, photographs, ephemera, and other materials related to the life and study of Emily Howland of Sherwood, New York, between 1849 and 1974. Howland worked to advance abolition, African American education, and women's rights and suffrage, and her papers reflect these varied reform movements and her long-standing relationships with leaders in the causes. She was especially active in Freedmen's relief and education in Virginia during and following the Civil War, and her work centering in Northumberland County, Virginia, is documented in the collection, as well as her domestic life in Sherwood following her return there in the late 1860s.

The Correspondence Series contains letters written to and from Emily Howland from 1849 until her death in 1929, touching on topics like antislavery, African American education, women's rights and suffrage, pacifism, among other social reforms and personal matters. Several items were written to other correspondents within Howland's social circles that were possibly shared with her or others researching her life at a later date. These letters reflect the Howland family's broader social reform networks, including several items written in the 1850s and 1860s to or from David Wright, an Auburn, New York, attorney active in the antislavery and temperance causes, as well as Eliza Wright Osborne, a suffragist, in the late 1890s.

Some of the correspondence from the 1840s and 1850s reflects the Howland family's involvement in antislavery efforts. Circular letters from the New York State Vigilance Committee (March 10, 1849) and the "Provisional Committee, for the Promotion of Education among the Colored People, in such of the Slave States as are, or may be accessible" (October 18, 1849) are present in the series. Hiram Wilson wrote a letter from St. Catharines, Canada, to Susan Marriott, a woman involved in gathering clothing for enslaved people fleeing across the border (October 30, 1851). He noted that Emily Howland alerted him to Marriott's "deep interest" in the work preparing the shipment, indicating Howland's interest in the effort. Similarly, W. O. Dawson wrote to Slocum Howland on November 16, 1853, discussing the travels of William Darsey, a man fleeing from slavery to Canada, and support offered by abolitionists. "He said you told him to have me write you as to his safe arrival at our house," Dawson wrote, confirming the Howland family was active in efforts to assist escape attempts. One writer asked Howland to check in on Catharine M. White, a former resident of the Colored Orphan Asylum, to determine if she was in financial straits, revealing how Howland operated within abolition and benevolence networks (October 26, 1858).

Correspondence in the collection documents Emily Howland's long career supporting education. Several letters between 1857 and 1859 relate to her first foray in teaching, as she taught in the school previously operated by Myrtilla Miner in Washington, D.C. Letters include one dated July 3, 1857, written by Miner noting her failing health and coordinating with Howland for the upcoming school year. A letter Howland wrote while on her initial trip to D.C. is also included, in which she described her voyage to Philadelphia, meeting with Samuel J. May who had promised to raise funds for the school, and picking up a young formerly enslaved girl named Virginia Ayer who was going to attend Miner's school (September 25, 1857). In another early letter home (November 7, 1857), Howland described the climate, flora, teaching 30 students, social visits, and viewing the "Greek Slave" in the art gallery. By February 26, 1858, she was also teaching an evening school and upwards of 40 students in the day school. In May 1858, Howland related a visit she took to the homes of some of her students and speaking with an older enslaved woman. A ca. May 1858 document in the Writings Series, "A visit to Aunt Nella," written by Margaret McAnulty, one of Howland's students, further describes this visit. The final letter written during Howland's tenure at the Miner school is dated March 27, 1859, and reports Myrtilla Miner's return, abrupt dismissal of the teachers, and Howland's hope that one of her students, Susie, might return to New York with her, "the idea of a chance for education overcomes her dread." She noted visiting the student's mother.

Emily Howland was active in contraband camps, Freedmen's relief programs, and African American school efforts during and after the Civil War, and her correspondence reflects these interests. A letter of recommendation written by F. W. Seward endorses Howland's desire to "go to the front to aid in taking care of the wounded," noting how she "has labored very diligently and effectively in the Contraband Camps in this vicinity for the past three years" (May 14, 1864). Letters like the one by Walter L. Clift, a lawyer in Savannah, Georgia, on July 23, 1867, speak directly to struggles experienced by Black Southerners during Reconstruction, commenting on efforts to collect "small claims against their employers who take advantage of their inability to keep accounts to defraud them of their wages" and their political sensibilities and registering to vote.

Howland was instrumental in purchasing land and raising funds for the construction of a school in Heathsville, Virginia, in 1867 and her correspondence reflects her ongoing investment in the project, through discussions of financial issues, building upkeep, and land transfers. On July 13, 1867, L. Edwin Dudley wrote from the Union Republican Congressional Executive Committee office in Washington, D.C., offering support for raising funds for the completion of the school and noting his endorsement of woman suffrage. A detailed letter from F. E. Dow documents the construction of the Howland Chapel School in Northumberland County, Virginia (August 25, 1867), noting African American residents' efforts in the construction and securing government funds. The correspondence also documents the transfer of land ownership from Howland to African American residents in Heathsville and Howland's reasoning to do so as "a great check on the wicked wills of the old slaveocracy, who let no whit of a chance to oppress escape them" (January 16, 1870). On April 17, 1876, Howland wrote while in Heathsville overseeing repairs to the school and managing land sales, including one to a man she "put the screws on" to press him to be more industrious and build a house on the land in order to secure the sale. Other letters indicate ongoing relationships with the Black community in the area, including two letters from Thamsen Taliaferro written when she was 22 years old indicating she was a teacher preparing to leave Heathsville to undertake other educational efforts in Manassas, possibly attending the Manassas Industrial School for Colored Youth with Howland's financial support (January 6 and 17, 1895). At least two letters were also written by Sidney Taliaferro Boyer (1854-1927), who was taught by Howland and was active in the Heathsville region (August 4, 1903), and Howland references her elsewhere in her correspondence. Several letters between Howland and Anna M. Stanton, who taught at Heathsville, are also present.

Howland frequently corresponded with others involved in contraband relief efforts and African American education, including Cornelia Hancock, who moved to South Carolina in 1866 to work alongside newly emancipated enslaved people and founded the Laing School for Negroes in Mount Pleasant. Letters between Howland and Hancock in the collection span from 1865 to at least 1884, beginning just as Hancock was preparing to begin her post-war labors. In one dated December 20, 1865, Hancock bristled at Philadelphian Quakers' failure to recognize Howland and other women's efforts in the South. Hancock's frustrations with the Society of Friends continued through the month as she tried to prepare a trip south, lamenting on December 31st that "Their extreme timidity seems to rest in a fear that their teachers will not have a feather bed to lie on and hotel fare for diet." She wrote requesting Howland's financial assistance to secure her transportation to South Carolina, "and I know too thee is not fastidious about where the work is done so it is getting done." Putnam directly linked Howland's support as essential to bringing her to the Laing School and reflected on their shared sense of dissatisfaction and restlessness at the close of the Civil War. She enclosed a manuscript map of the Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, region and worked with Howland to secure funds to purchase property on Cat Island to transfer to African American residents (January 14, 1869). She continued to write to Emily and Slocum Howland about land purchases and financial matters relating to her efforts in South Carolina, African American residents working in the area, and the strain the labor placed on her health.

Howland also stayed in regular contact with Caroline F. Putnam who founded the Holley School in Lottsburg, Virginia. She noted a festival endorsing "care and vigilance for the protection of the hitherto enslaved" (April 17, 1871) and reflected on their early ventures ([November 12, 1906?]). Howland wrote frankly to Putnam regarding their shared interests in education and other matters, including financial inducements to encourage African American voters to decline liquor licenses in Heathsville, Virginia (March 20, 1898), the Spanish-American War (February 8, 1899), and Putnam's ongoing work in Virginia (January 14, 1901).

Two letters written by Sallie Holley, a close colleague and partner of Putnam, are in the collection, written in October 1867 while she visited Howland in Sherwood, New York, after the passing of Howland's mother. They touch on the waning of abolitionist sentiment, teaching, Charles Sumner's wife, and Howland's comments about her "Virginia life" and the need for land ownership by the formerly enslaved. One letter from Howland includes a later annotation that it may have been addressed to Holley, but the attribution is unverified (March 11, 1866). A letter written on March 7, 1893, concerning Sally Holley's will acknowledges some of the tension that could arise in the work, as her will allowed Putnam's continued use of the school but not its ownership.

Howland maintained a long-lasting friendship with Harriet Tubman, and several letters in the collection relate to Tubman, including correspondence arranging for her to speak at the National Association of Colored Women's convention in Washington, D.C., in 1896 by figures like Victoria Matthews who was helping to organize the convention (July 8, 1896). These items were not addressed to Howland, instead principally directed to Eliza Wright Osborne, so their presence among her papers is suggestive of them being forwarded to Howland, possibly to aid in working to secure Tubman's presence. Other letters reference discussions of reprinting biographies of Tubman and working to record her oral histories, including by figures like Franklin Benjamin Sanford. While these letters tend to focus on the events and projects, descriptions of Tubman emerge, such as having a limited "ability to speak in public" (July 1, 1896), or that "She is difficult to understand, unless one is familiar with the negro talk; but she can tell her experiences very graphically, and she seems to have a very good memory" (July 4, 1896), or that she would "want her books for Washington" (July 5, 1896).

Others reference Tubman visiting with Howland and include anecdotes about her experiences, such as having surgery and tending to an impoverished widow (September 5, 1897), or her tendency not to eat until after noon on Fridays, "the hour when the Lord descended from the cross" (November 24, 1899; June 22, 1900), or wondering whether Tubman would include the Manassas Industrial School in her will (June 14 and 20, 1900). Howland recounted one encounter with an African American man who claimed to be fleeing from lynching threats in North Carolina and was directed to her by Tubman, which turned out to be a scam, underlining the depth of the two women's relationship and how Tubman's reputation was wielded for unintended purposes (October 21, 1905).

Howland wrote twice to Eliza Wright Osborne (January 11 and 28, 1897) referencing her displeasure with a meeting and financial decisions for the nascent Harriet Tubman Home for Aged and Indigent Negroes, as well as her scathing displeasure with the fundraising efforts of John J. Smallwood for the Temperance, Industrial and Collegiate Institute. She noted her enlistment of Booker T. Washington and William Lloyd Garrison in her opposition, hinting at the complicated politics and interpersonal conflicts present in such efforts. Garrison wrote to her on November 5, 1896, about his work to publish warnings in newspapers, to expose "him by voice & pen for two years" as a "phenomenal liar, forger & sneak" and to work with Booker T. Washington to spread awareness.

Into the twentieth century, Howland continued to financially support educational institutions, including those focused on Black education such as the Kowaliga Academic and Industrial Institute for Colored Youth in Kowaliga, Alabama; Selma University in Selma, Alabama; the Piney Woods Country Life School for Training Colored Boys and Girls in Christianity, Character, and Service in Braxton, Mississippi; the Manassas Industrial School for Colored Youth in Manassas, Virginia; and the Tuskegee Institute, in Tuskegee, Alabama. Oswald Garrison Villard wrote to Howland on June 18, 1907, with a detailed report of the Manassas Industrial School, its teachers and administrators, plans for construction, and the need for contributions. Other letters reference the building of Howland Hall (December 17, 1910) and the secession of leadership following Oswald Garrison Villard's resignation (November 1 and November 22, 1912). Laurence C. Jones, principal of Piney Woods Country Life School, wrote a letter of thanks for Howland's interest in the institution and described the hardships African American communities were experiencing in Braxton, Mississippi. Howland also was heavily involved in the Sherwood Select School of Sherwood, New York, and letters in the collection reveal her planning, financial support, and frustrations with the school.

Howland also provided financial support for individuals' educational pursuits, and letters of thanks for her generosity (see August 11, 1903) or correspondence describing specific cases (August 6, 1903) are present in the collection. Howland's letter of January 11, 1897, illustrates how she worked her interpersonal networks towards her causes. She wrote to her colleague Mrs. Osborne, about a former African American student from Auburn, New York, Mary Williams, whom she had secured a teaching position for at the Manassas Industrial School and was now in need of someone to fund her salary. Howland noted Williams visiting her and following up on his request for Osborne's support, which is also in the collection (December 7, 1896).

Howland was heavily involved in efforts to secure women's suffrage in New York State, and letters relating to the New York State Woman Suffrage Association are included as well as those detailing efforts to advance women's suffrage during the New York State Constitutional Convention. Correspondence touches on meetings and conventions, distribution of materials, planning events and campaigns, financial concerns, and political outcomes, among other topics. Letters to Howland from various politicians indicate she was writing to them concerning their positions relating to suffrage. In a letter dated November 8, 1917, to her niece Isabel, Howland wrote about celebrating the successful vote for women's suffrage in New York, including getting their photograph taken at the Headquarters, a copy of which is present in the Photographs Series of this collection.

Howland corresponded with those working to advance women's suffrage in other states and at the national level. Her letters include those relating to Wimodaughsis, the National Council of Women of the United States, the National-American Woman Suffrage Association, among others. A November 9, 1893, telegram from Fred E. Smith from Greely, Colorado, announces it to be "the 1st State in the Union to extend Equal Suffrage to Woman," and a letter from her cousin J. H. Allen of Canon City, Colorado, answered questions Howland posed about the impact of women's suffrage in the state (November 4, 1897). Howland also reacted to the 1911 referendum in California that extended suffrage to women (October 21, 1911).

In the course of her work to advance women's suffrage, Howland amassed correspondence with many involved in the effort. The collection includes five letters from Susan B. Anthony, remarking on the tension between women's suffrage and enfranchising formerly enslaved men (February 29, 1892); the New York State Constitutional Convention (December 27, 1893); distribution of The History of Woman Suffrage, including to African American institutes and libraries (November 4, 1895); travel arrangements (April 2, 1899); and directions for sending mail (May 15, 1899). A postcard sent to Howland in August 1903 was addressed to her, care of Susan B. Anthony, suggesting how the two visited and travelled together on occasion. Other correspondents include figures like Harriet B. Laidlaw, Eliza Wright Osborne, Alice Stone Blackwell, Mariana W. Chapman, Harriet May Mills, Anna Howard Shaw, among others.

Several items reflect international efforts, including a manuscript circular letter originally written by Marie Goegg of the Association Internationale Des Femmes, dated March 1870. A June 8, 1889, letter written from Alice Stone Blackwell of the Woman's Journal to Hannah Howland refers to the upcoming Woman's Rights Congress in Paris and their openness to receiving a report on the proceedings. Anna Howard Shaw wrote to Howland on December 4, 1907, about European meetings and getting "in touch with some of the old suffragists again," and wrote from Triberg, Germany, on July 19, 1908, commenting on her international trip, her speech in London, and plans for future events in England. An undated letter from the Central Committee of the National Society for Women's Suffrage in London, England, notes their willingness to send Howland notice of their meetings. Other letters indicate Howland was tracking international news, like her letter dated March 28, 1898, where she noted, "progress since the time of Roman splendor & vileness is not so great as some shallow good folks may flatter themselves, with our lynchings & prisons & the condition of Cuba & Armenia the world is not in sight of the millennium & will not be soon." She elsewhere reflected on the "Philippine question" (May 25, 1902) and the suffering caused by the First World War (November 1, 1914).

Howland met and corresponded with Pandita Ramabai Sarasvati, a noted reformer from India who advocated for the rights of women, widows, and orphans, who visited the United States from 1886 to 1888. Howland wrote of meeting Ramabai and Dr. Rachel Bodley of the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania on August 23, 1886, calling it a "red letter day in my calendar." Howland described Ramabai and their conversation, noting a discussion about religion and missionaries, women in India, opposition to English rule, and some references to Anandibai Joshee. Howland also wrote about introducing Ramabai to Harriet Tubman, and Ramabai inquired after Tubman and sent her regards in subsequent correspondence (December 20, 1886; October 31, 1889). Letters between Ramabai and Howland continue through 1895 and touch on women's rights publications, speaking engagements, introductions to Howland's networks, fundraising, plans for visits, and the school Ramabai ran in India. Ramabai also wrote of the death of Rachel Bodley and confusion about financial affairs, including an order under Howland's name for twenty-four copies of her book The High Caste Hindu Woman (July 27, 1888). She requested at least twice for Howland to write to her about her work with African American causes. In her letter dated January 10, 1890, Howland obliged, describing her personal history, being raised in an abolitionist house and a "station on the Underground Railroad," feeling the constraints of the "bonds of custom" of Quaker tenets, and her entry into teaching at the Miner school. Several pages are missing from her autobiographical letter.

In addition to state and national affairs, Howland appears to have stayed apprised of local politics as well. A letter from the Superintendent of the Board of Education in Auburn, New York, wrote to her on December 19, 1883, in regards to whether women could vote at school meetings. Howland's political activities are also represented in her correspondence, such as her work with the Sherwood Equal Rights Association and the Cayuga County Political Equality Club.

The lines between Howland's work with Freedmen's relief, Black education, and woman's suffrage sometimes blurred, with her letters on behalf of race-based projects written on suffrage letterhead, or correspondence with those she likely met while working on Freedmen's affairs, such as with James Inglish Ferree, touching on women's rights (June 5, 1882). On April 5, 1903, Howland wrote to Caroline Putnam about a trip she was taking in company with Susan B. Anthony to the Tuskegee Normal School and Kowaliga Academic and Industrial Institute. A letter dated February 28, 1913, from the president of the Ohio Woman Suffrage Association, Harriet Taylor Upton, asserts that "the Washington people have decided wisely in regard to the colored question," and in a letter dated May 2, 1913, Howland wrote of Anna Howard Shaw and how "she is blamed because there is no more organizing done in the South but since Southern women will exclude colored women she is not in it."

Howland remained in communication with Margaret Jones Burleigh, an abolitionist and reformer who taught Howland for a period in her youth. Burleigh connected Howland with Edward Strange, a British immigrant who had been incarcerated and whose reform Burleigh took a particular interest in. Letters in the collection reflect on their partnership in this issue, Strange's housing and eventual stay with Howland, his health, care, and diet as he lived with tuberculosis, his thoughts on religion and his personal changes, broader interest in his case, concerns for his spiritual state, and his eventual death in March 1872. Howland referred to Strange in childlike terms and admitted to a sense of motherly affection inspired by him (March 15, 1872), and compared her grief to "some bereft mothers to whom I have listened who never knew when to stop talking of the departed" (April 11, 1872). Additional items relating to Edward Strange can be found in the Documents Series (a document penned by Strange authorizing Howland to tend to his personal property), in the Writing Series (Howland's retrospective of her full encounter dated April 3, 1872), and in her Diary.

Later in her life, Emily Howland became more active in pacifist efforts. Alfred H. Love, president of the Universal Peace Union, wrote to Howland on July 8, 1909, to discuss the organization's business and publications and seek her continued support. Five undated postcards from the American Relief Administration reflect her involvement with the program during World War I, seemingly for food packages, and in a letter to Caroline F. Putnam on November 1, 1914, she lamented the consequences of World War I, including her belief in the "crime against animals" by using horses in battle.

Miscellaneous correspondence with family members and friends from the Sherwood, New York, region document Howland's everyday life. Some letters suggest her family's broader interests or awareness of what would intrigue her, such as her nephew Herbert Howland describing his visit to Jamaica, Mexico, and South America, commenting on race and armed conflicts (January 21, 1903). Howland corresponded with friends over decades, and in her later years she reflected on aging and historical memory. For example, she wrote on March 17, 1914, "I find that I must keep out of the Past, as it makes the Present so poor, and summons a yearning feeling to follow."

The Documents Series spans from 1840 to 1928, the earliest being a manuscript copy of the rules for the Nine Partners Boarding School. Other materials reflect Howland's work supporting African American education. Three items relate to Myrtilla Miner's school in Washington, D.C.: a "List of scholars during April 1858," a bill of lading for apples and butter sent to Howland while teaching there, and "Questions in history prepared & written by Mrs. Seward.... When teaching Miss Miner's school in 1858 & 9." A copy of the 1869 "Deed of Bargain & Sale" that transferred ownership of the property in Northumberland County, Virginia, from Emily Howland to Benjamin and Beverly Taliaferro, Robert Walker, and Maurice Moore is also present, with the condition that "a school shall be established and maintained thereon, wherein no person shall be excluded on account of race, color or sex."

One document signed by Edward Strange on December 11, 1871, empowers Howland to dispose of his property upon his death.

• A typescript of resolutions passed by the Women's Christian Temperance Union and the Cayuga County Political Equality Club opposing the refusal to allow women to vote for school commissioners in New York, ca. 1892
• "Signers of the Anti Suffrage Petition from Aurora," ca. 1890s
• A typed notice announcing that The Woman's Journal was "no longer the official organ of the National American Woman Suffrage Association," ca. 1912
• A tally of Auburn, New York, votes for and against the 1915 suffrage referendum
• An undated copy of legal articles concerning voting in public school meetings
• An undated, blank form for a constitution for a branch of the Men's League for Woman Suffrage
• An undated typed copy of the "Plan to be Submitted to the State Committee" regarding organizing for an upcoming vote on a suffrage amendment
• An undated delegation certificate for John T. Hughes
• A blank subscription form for the National Society for Women's Suffrage
• A New York State Woman Suffrage Party pledge in support of women's suffrage
• An undated "Twenty-Five Greatest Women Guessing Contest of New York State Suffrage Association" entry form filled out by Emily Howland

Other items pertain to the Political Equality Club, the Women's Christian Temperance Union, and the Emily Howland High School in Aurora, New York.

The Writings Series includes miscellaneous written works, such as essays, poems, drafts, speeches, and obituaries. Several of the poems are political in nature, including one reflecting on women's political positions. A poem written by W. Darwin Wooden in June 1856, consists of acrostics for Charles Sumner and Stephen A. Douglass, focusing on their political positions relative to slavery, and another undated poem by A. H. Reynolds of Auburn, New York, is entitled "Tribute to Susan B. Anthony." Others are more sentimental in nature, but at least one undated poem was copied on a fragment of a letter from Harriet May Mills, providing insight into the intermingling of Howland's literary and political worlds.

Other items in the series reflect Howland's longstanding interest in suffrage. Howland wrote a draft for a speech to the Political Equality Club of Cayuga County ca. 1897 about women voting in school meetings. Typed lyrics to the song "Help Us Win the Vote" by Deborah Knox Livingston are noted as being sung to the tune of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic." A copy of Howland's October 26, 1915, letter to the editor of the Advertiser Journal refuting an anti-suffrage address is also present, as is an undated draft of an article for the Advertiser relating to suffrage. Undated draft notes in Howland's hand for a letter to George Allen Davis, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, appeal for his support to strike the word "male" from the New York constitution.

Materials documenting Howland's efforts with educational projects are also well represented in the series. Margaret McAnulty, an African American student at Myrtilla Miner's school, wrote an essay ca. May 1858, "A visit to Aunt Nella," describing a trip Emily Howard took with students to visit their families and an older enslaved woman. This corresponds to a May 23, 1858, letter written by Howland in the Correspondence Series. Two other sheets of draft notes reflect on the history of Myrtilla Miner's school near Washington, D.C., one written on the back of a partially printed circular sent in March 1868 by Jerusha M. Skinner to former patrons of the School for Colored Deaf, Dumb and Blind Children.

Two copies of a circular appealing for financial support of the Holley School appear in Howland's hand, ca. March 23, 1901, with notes about Mr. Chadwick plagiarizing her writing. An undated essay entitled "The Story in Brief" regarding the Holley School in Lottsburg, Virginia, was possibly written by Sarah Thomas Miller.

Another undated piece provides personal opinions about higher education for African Americans and that "we must discriminate and choose the proper education for the individual."

Typescript copies include a piece entitled "A Virginia School" from the February 1899 Friends' Intelligencer regarding the history of the Heathsville school. Typescripts detailing Cornelia Hancock's work during and after the Civil War are also present, along with an envelope annotated by Howland, "A letter from Cornelia Hancock and a M.S. account of her life in the army at various places and times beginning at Gettysburg." It is unclear whether the typescripts are the contents Howland refers to or were added to the envelope at a later date. The series also contains typed and manuscript notes for commencement addresses by Emily Howland and others for the Sherwood Select School in the 1920s.

Several items in the series relate to Howland's pacifist beliefs. Between 1919 and 1924, Howland copied three of her reports for the Women's Christian Temperance Union concerning peace. These sentiments are further echoed in a ca. 1919 draft responding to anti-suffrage sentiments and advocating pacifism which was written by Howland on miscellaneous scrap paper, including letters from the First Congregational Church in Little Rock and the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, a brochure of the closing exercises of Centreville Industrial Institute, and a circular for the National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. Another undated draft responds to a piece in Harper's Weekly about foreign policy and war, and is written on the verso of printed New York Woman Suffrage Association notices. Two other drafts relate to pacifism, one a resolution deploring "the present belligerent attitude of nations, & the spirit of conquest wh. everywhere prevails" and the other reflecting on how patriotism does not require "a jealous dislike of other nations & peoples." An undated draft of pacifist resolutions opposing "the present belligerent attitude of nations" is also present.

Howland wrote a 23-page retrospective, recounting her experiences with Edward Strange, a British man who had been formerly incarcerated and who spent six months ill with tuberculosis at her house, dated April 3, 1872. She described how they met, his stay with her, and the progression of his disease. She also noted the tumultuous emotions his stay caused, calling it a "whirlpool of feeling - a confusion as great as the mystery he was to me. Mystery then, mystery now and ever!"

Obituaries for Lisette M. Worden, Sarah Thomas Miller, C. de B. Mills, William Howland, and Elizabeth Jacobs are included.

The Bound Volumes Series consists of four items. The first is a handmade blank book wrapped in stenciled wallpaper, inscribed by Emily Howland, "My 1st day school book when a little girl." It includes copies of religious texts and answers to Biblical questions. One page appears to bear the name "Sidney Taliaferos," but additional research is needed to verify whether this was written by Sidney Taliaferro Boyer.

The second volume is a commonplace book kept by Emily Howland's brother, William Howland, ca. 1850s-1860s, in which he compiled quotations and proverbs and pasted in various newspaper clippings relating to recipes, remedies, legal subjects, poems, and miscellaneous topics like whining. Subjects relate to the law, politics and society, education, morality, and more. Some content is suggestive of abolitionist circles, such as quotations from the North Star and Gerrit Smith.

The third volume is Emily Howland's diary dating from January 1, 1871, to March 11, 1873, opening with Howland travelling away from home, likely in Heathsville, Virginia, and in discussion with Theodore Dow about partnering together with the school (January 11, 1871; January 31, 1871). Several entries include quotations written in dialect and Howland noted her reaction to "their strangely inspiring songs" (February 2, 1871), suggesting she was meeting with African American residents, and she recorded visiting the schoolhouse. By March 9, Howland had returned to Sherwood, and her diary entries reflect on the weather, family and social visits, local news, and her emotional state.

The diary skips from August 14, 1871, to March 27, 1872, beginning again with a brief reflection about her sadness over the death of Edward Strange ("Teddy") beginning to lift. The diary records her housekeeping tasks, attending religious services and Sunday School, reading, visits and correspondence, and remembrances of Strange and adjusting to his absence. Her entries reflect displeasure with the demands of domestic labor and a troubled emotional state. Howland expressed some dissatisfaction with the limited recognition she received for her efforts, "A good many times I've been omitted where it seemed to me I belonged, or I've had to see others reap where I had sown. How keenly H Greeley must felt this. One is not anxious to be conspicuous but one likes recognition of ones good intentions or one's services or places" (December 10, 1872).

Some content in the diary reflects Howland's ongoing interest in racial affairs, women's rights, and benevolence. At least two entries reference Native Americans (May 1, 1872; June 6, 1872), and others note making donations to Freedmen's groups (October 18, 1872; January 23, 1873), attending a festival for the Orphan Asylum (August 2, 1872), and reading material such as the Woman's Journal (January 27, 1873) and Eminent Women (July 22, 1872). Throughout the diary Howland made several mentions of Colonel Charles W. Folsom, Sidney (possibly Sidney Taliaferro Boyer), and Caroline Putnam.

The fourth volume is a minute book for the Quaker Picnic Association of Sherwood for 1894-1904. "Resolutions of Respect and Condolence, on the death of Hannah L. Howland" are laid into the volume. The volume documents meeting attendance, committees, discussions, and votes relating to the planning of the Sherwood picnics, in addition to accounts of the picnics themselves. William and Hannah Howland were especially active in the association, and several other members of the family also appear in the minutes.

The Printed Materials Series contains the following pamphlets, brochures, and programs:

• A Short Account of William Terry, A member of the Masonic Society… (Poughkeepsie, 1820)
• The Annual Catalogue of the Teachers and Pupils of the Poplar Ridge Seminary (Auburn, 1845)
• Three copies of Emily Howland, New York State Report for 1891, Presented at the Nineteenth Congress of the Association for the Advancement of Women, by Emily Ward Howland, Vice President (Syracuse, 1892). All three have "Ward" crossed out of Howland's name, and one bears a stamp, "From the Papers of Miss Emily Howland Presented 1934."
• The Twenty-fifth Annual Convention of the National-American Woman Suffrage Association… January 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 1893. (s.l., [1893])
• Report of the New York State Woman Suffrage Association. 25th Annual Convention (Syracuse, [1893]). Includes names of Emily Howland and Lydia S. M[ains?] on the front cover with the note "Moravia raised $14.30 for Miss Shaw's Meeting June 8." A newspaper clipping about a Political Equality Club meeting and a manuscript list of officers and committees, with Emily Howland as the president, are pasted into the front of the volume.
• Addresses of His Excellency, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, and Booker T. Washington, Principal of Tuskegee Institute, Tuskegee Alabama, Delivered at Carnegie Hall. (New York.) Home Missionary Meeting, March 3, '94, Under the Auspices of the Presbyterian Church, of America. (s.l., [1894])
• Report of the Annual Meeting of the Ramabai Association Held March 18, 1896 (Boston, 1896)
• The Fortnightly… Programme, 1897-'98 (s.l., [1897])
• Elizabeth Cady Stanton To her life-long friend and co-worker Susan B. Anthony on her eightieth birthday (s.l., 1900.
• Annual Reports, October 1st 1901. Supplement to the Junior Republic Citizen (Freeville, [1902])
• Mary Jane Howland Taber, "Friends Here and Hereaway Continued," in Old Darthmouth Historical Sketches. No. 12. Inscribed "Mr. Herbert Howland With best wishes for a pleasant Christmas & Happy New Year from the author." (s.l., 1905)
• Ida Husted Harper, History of the Movement for Woman Suffrage in the United States (New York, 1907)
• Two copies of The Forty-First Annual Convention of the New York State Woman Suffrage Association (s.l., [1909])
• Sanitary Laws and Regulations In and For the Town of Scipio, Cayuga County, N.Y. ([Auburn, New York], 1909)
• The Forty-Third Annual Convention of the New York State Woman Suffrage Association (s.l., [1911])
• Two copies of Lucy Jacobs, A Historical Sketch of Sherwood Select School, 1871-1911 (s.l., [1911]). One with a stamp on the front cover, "From the Papers of Miss Emily Howland Presented April 1934."
• The American Ramabai Association Report of the Eighteenth Annual Meeting, March 28, 1916 (Boston, 1916)
• The Westonian: A Monthly Magazine for Friends 21.1 (January 1916). With Emily Howland's name added in manuscript on the cover along with the note, "A Quaker Schoolmistress p. 9."
• A Brief History of Laing School, Mt. Pleasant, S.C. Covering Sixty Years of Service, 1866-1926. Together with a Picture of its Founder, Cornelia Hancock… (s.l., [1926])
• Joseph Tallcot, The Acorn. Designed to Promote Oral Instruction and Moral Influence in Common Schools Vol.1, No. 3 (Skaneateles, n.d.)
• A. F. Beard, Samples and Examples. By A. F. Beard, Corresponding Secretary of the American Missionary Association (s.l., n.d.), with a focus on the Kowalgia School in Alabama.
• The Charleston Exchange for Woman's Work Cookbook, (Charleston, n.d.)
• Charles F. Dole, G. S. Dickerman, and Roger F. Etz, Little Journeys to Piney Woods School (s.l., n.d.)
• Constitution of the New York State Woman Suffrage Association (s.l., n.d.)

A number of broadsides, circulars, and fliers are also in the series relating to topics such as Freedmen's Relief, Reconstruction, women's suffrage, the Political Equality Club, temperance, African American educational institutions, pacifism, and more. These include two "Votes for Women" broadsides featuring maps of the United States color-coded to identify suffrage status, as well as instructions on how to fill out ballots regarding suffrage questions. Oversize materials include two printed broadsides advertising lectures by Harriet May Mills, President of the New York State Woman Suffrage Association, and one printed broadside advertising a lecture by Mrs. Minnie J. Reynolds, who "lived and voted in Colorado for many years and is fairly conversant with the working of suffrage in the hands of woman. She is not one of the window smashing kind, but is noted for her intelligent and womanly methods."

The series also includes newspapers and periodicals. Full papers include editions of the Ulster County Gazette (a later reproduction of the January 4, 1800 edition), with content relating to the death of George Washington; the New-York Weekly Tribune (November 17, 1849); the National Anti-Slavery Standard (August 12, 1852); two volumes of the Evening Auburnian with articles concerning the death of James Garfield (September 20, 1881 and September 24, 1881); the Woman's Tribune (January 13, 1894); The National Bulletin (April 1892); The Peacemaker (October 1902 and April 1905); and Young People (September 23, 1933). Single sheets from an unnamed paper from 1876 reported on the "Soul Stirring Speech" of Col. R. G. Ingersoll to "the Boys in Blue" in Indianapolis about the Democratic Party, and a single sheet from the Advertiser-Journal of April 18, 1918 reports on the passage of prohibition in Auburn, New York, and women's influence in the vote.

Student periodicals include a copy of the Tuskegee Institute's The Student (February 1897); a copy of the The Industrial Student (November 1926) with an article about Emily Howland and her support of the Southern Industrial Institute in Camp Hill, Alabama; two volumes of The Intermountain Institute News (January 1928 and April 1932); and two volumes of The Pine Torch from 1940 relating to the Piney Woods School in Mississippi.

Various newspaper clippings dating between 1894 and 1965 primarily focus on local, state, and national suffragist activities, the Cayuga County Political Equality Club, profiles of Emily Howland and other women's rights activists, and reports on anti-suffrage news and opinions. Several relate to the Sherwood Select School, including a memorial for Hepisbeth C. Hussey (ca. 1908), the Tuskegee Institute, and other topics. A number of the clippings include notations of the newspaper name and date in Emily Howland's hand.

The collection contains several books including educational material, a sammelband (composite volume of multiple publications) of anti-slavery, farming, and temperance almanacs, the six-volume set of History of Woman Suffrage (inscribed by Susan B. Anthony to Isabel Howland), a Bible, and a copy of Harriet: The Moses of Her People (1901). Please see the list in the Additional Descriptive Data section for more information.

The Postcards Series consists of 76 blank postcards produced by companies and photographers like Fred Harvey, Detroit Publishing Company, Karl E. Moon & Co., among others, featuring imagery relating to Native Americans residing in the Southwestern United States, particularly New Mexico and Arizona. One postcard from the sequence can be found in the correspondence series with a postmark of August 6, 1932, suggesting the postcards were likely produced in the 1920s and 1930s. Images include artistic renderings, color printed photographs of portraits of individuals and families, scenes of everyday life and labor, artistic and cultural productions like woven blankets and pottery, buildings and pueblos, and dances and other gatherings. The bulk of the postcards represent individuals from the Hopi tribe, but other tribes and nations include the Dakota, Navajo, Apache, Pueblo, Hualapai, and Havasupai.

Two additional blank picture postcards are also included, one depicting the Sherwood Select School and the other for "Oklahoma Women Want Votes for Women. Let the People Rule Women are People," showing a woman standing at a desk.

The Photographs Series includes cartes-de-visite, tintypes, cabinet cards, a real photo postcard, a cyanotype, photographs, and reproductions, ranging in date from 1863 to the mid-twentieth century. They feature portraits of Emily Howland, women's rights activists, African American schoolrooms and students, and residences and Quaker meeting houses related to the Howland family, among others subjects. Portraits depict individuals such as Emily Howland, members of the Howland family, Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Henry Ward Beecher, Pandita Ramabai Sarasvati, and Anna E. Dickinson, as well as unidentified women, girls, and men, including a man seated in a wheelchair, possibly Edward Strange, a formerly incarcerated man who died of tuberculosis in Howland's home in 1872. One portrait is of a dog named Bevis, with a note regarding his death date on July 7, 1895. Photos of Emily Howland include three of her in regalia, relating to her receiving her honorary doctorate in 1926 and her centennial birthday, and other photos depict her from young adulthood through older age. There is a reproduction of a photo of Emily with her father Slocum Howland, a photograph of her feeding chickens in August 1896, and an original snapshot of her seated with the "Brown children" in 1921. There is also one cabinet card possibly depicting an African American woman, labeled "Eidelman" on the verso, as well as one photo of an unidentified African American man standing before Howland Hall in Statesboro, Georgia.

Group photos are also present in this series. One group portrait is of the National American Woman Suffrage Association's 1891 delegates, with Susan B. Anthony, Anna Shaw, and Emily Howland present, among others. One photo shows thirteen women, a child, and a man inside a Cayuga County suffrage office, decorated with pro-suffrage posters, American flags, and Cayuga County Political Equality Club flags. Emily Howland captioned it: "Nov. 7, 1917 - 'The Morning After' - the victory of Nov. 6," commemorating the passage of woman suffrage in New York State. It may have previously been part of a scrapbook, as it is affixed to a sheet bearing a clipping from the November 11, 1917, Post-Standard newspaper from Syracuse, New York, for "Suffrage Party Leaders and Advocates." An oversized, unlabled and undated photograph shows a group of individuals, seated and standing, on the steps of a building bedecked with American and patriotic flags, with a decorated car parked out front.

Photographs in the collection reflect Howland's longstanding interest in African American education. Two photos depict the Holley School at Lottsburg, Virginia. One, a reproduction of an 1893 photograph of the interior of the Holley School, is accompanied by a note likely written by Isabel Howland describing a visit to the establishment with Emily Howland. It shows a Christmas tree, bookshelves, portraits, flags, and several African American students. The other is a class photo from 1907 with several rows of students and their teacher(s), with a pencil inscription on the back reading "Miss Putnam's school." A reproduction of a photo taken in 1897 depicts Howland posing in front of a machine, noted on the back as one she "presented . . . to the iron-workers" at the Tuskegee Institute, while another reproduction of a photo taken in 1908 shows a group of people, possibly African American students and residents, standing outside of the "Howland School & Buildings" in Avalon, Virginia. A reproduction of a photo of Emily Howland, two white women, and an African American man and woman is labeled "Principal of Kowaliga School, 1913." A reproduction of a photograph of Emily Howland shows her seated in a chair while wearing a floral crown and two African American girls seated on the floor on either side of her. A pencil note written by a relative identifies it as a photo taken during a visit to Manassas, describing a program in Howland's honor. One mid-twentieth-century photo of a group of African American men, women, and children gathered in a cemetery was identified by the dealer as "likely Heathsville, Virginia" but requires further research to confirm.

Other photos primarily document places. Some of these appear to have been taken or reproduced in relation to Florence W. Hazzard's research on Emily Howland and include materials depicting the interior and exterior of Howland family residences and the Sherwood Select School. Two card photographs, dated 1912 and 1914 respectively, relate to Quaker Meeting Houses. They bear inscriptions on the verso by Emily Howland describing how she attended meeting in one for forty years and how her parents were married in the other. Another card photograph is of the exterior of "Leonard Searing's former house," again with an inscription by Howland with information about individuals captured in the photo.

The Original Art Series consists of five items. An unattributed artist drew three pencil sketches on March 23, 1891, of the exterior of the Holley School at Lottsburg, Virginia, Sallie Holley's residence, and a "Virginia log cabin" with individuals, possibly of African American descent, outside the front door. An unattributed and undated watercolor painting of the "Old Hicksite Meeting House West of Scipioville" is also included, as well as a manuscript map of the western United States with pen and ink and pencil drawings on the verso of buffalo, John Brown, a murderer at the gallows, two bearded men wearing hats, and a box addressed to F. D. Kohler.

The Ephemera Series contains business cards, notices related to the Association for the Advancement of Women and the Cayuga County Political Equality Club, several invitations for Howland during her stay in London during the 1899 International Congress of Women, and a sheet of paper that was previously used to wrap a biscuit "From the Queen's table spread . . . to refresh the members of the Council who went to see her by invitation" during the Congress. A disbound portrait of Slocum Howland and a clipped portrait of Anna Howard Shaw are also present. The series includes a handheld fan encouraging New York voters to vote in favor of woman suffrage in 1917. It features a poem on one side (The rose is red / The violet's blue / We want to vote / As well as you!) and a statement to "Keep Cool and Raise A Breeze for Suffrage!" on the other. An undated bookplate for S. Clayton Sumner and a small remembrance of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton are also present.

The Research Materials Series includes approximately one linear foot of items relating to the historical study of Emily Howland, principally by historians Florence Woolsey Hazzard, Charles V. Groat, and Phebe King from the 1940s to 1970s. The series contains correspondence to Hazzard and Groat relating to their research, drafts of historical writings and biographical sketches on Howland, research bundles on various topics from Howland's life, photocopies and typescripts of original sources, and miscellaneous notecards and citations.

The John Sayles Papers consists of documents, images, artwork and graphic material related to the noted filmmaker's life and career. Also included are the papers of Sayles' partner and producer, Maggie Renzi.

The John Sayles series includes material related to Sayles' personal life and acting career as well as interviews and articles unrelated to specific projects.

The Sayles as Actor subseries consists of photographs, correspondence, scripts, and other materials related to Sayles's work in projects directed by others. Many of the photographs include actor David Strathairn. Articles and Interviews include articles and book reviews written by Sayles, and interviews with Sayles which are not focused on a specific project, although some project-specific clippings are mixed in.

The Events and Festivals subseries contains invitations, programs, photographs, and other material related to film festivals, readings, and public appearances. The photographs span several decades, and include portraits of Sayles alone, and Sayles with Maggie Renzi.

The Maggie Renzi series contains Ms. Renzi's notebooks and journals arranged chronologically.

The Writings series contains drafts, notes, photographs, research, and other materials associated with Sayles's work as a writer of novels, movies, stories, essays, and articles.

The Notebooks series, which includes iterations of Sayles's works, provides insight into his creative process. The series is organized by the title information provided by Sayles on the notebook covers. Projects are grouped together whenever possible. Individual notebooks may contain multiple projects, or a particular project may be documented in more than one notebook.

The notebooks include drafts of narratives; dialogues for screenplays, short stories, and novels; and drafts for a few articles featuring Sayles. Research materials include notes made during the research process. Most of the notebooks are written in English, however some, particularly those related to Los Gusanos and Men with Guns (Hombres Armados), are in Spanish.

Materials that are specific to movies and screenplays include song lists, casting information, cues, drawings, and stage directions. There are examples of birds' eye set views for some of his produced works. One of the A Moment in the Sun notebooks contains drawings of horses related to research on harnessing and horse anatomy. Aspects of daily life, such as grocery and to do lists, are included.

The Sayles Scripts are organized in five different series; Rewrites, Produced, Television, Unproduced, and Producer. The materials, organized by project, include drafts, scene breakdowns, notes, correspondence, storyboards, photographs, song lists, character lists, and miscellaneous documentation.

The Legal series contains court documents and materials associated with two lawsuits brought against John Sayles. Virginia L. Towler versus John Sayles et al. involved copyright infringement in the screenplay of Sayles' s 1992 film Passion Fish. Karen C. Herzog versus Castle Rock Entertainment, a California partnership et al. involved copyright infringement in the film Lone Star. The series includes witness binders, trial notebooks, photocopied legal briefs, evidence, transcribed testimonies, motions, memoranda, and official court documents used by legal representation for both the defendants and plaintiffs. Sayles and his partners were cleared of wrongdoing in both cases and the appeals that followed.

The Return of the Secaucus 7 series consists of materials from the 1979 film, written and directed by John Sayles, about the reunion of seven college friends who met when arrested on the way to a protest. The actors include Bruce MacDonald, Maggie Renzi, Adam LeFevre, Maggie Cousineau, Gordon Clapp, and Jean Passanante.

The Legal subseries holds documentation on licensing and syndication; organization and dissolution of the production company Salispuedes; and bankruptcy of the rights holding company, Cinecom. The Business and Financial subseries contains correspondence, royalty reports, expenses, agreements with cast and crew, and tax forms. Movie dialogues and undated scripts, including an annotated version, can be found in the Scripts subseries.

Instances of potentially offensive language, release forms, and actors' headshots and resumes, including Adam LeFevre and Mark Arnott, are documented in the Product and Post-Production subseries. Publicity and Distribution includes information on rights film library rights, foreign and domestic rights, and a number of advertisements. The Articles and Reviews subseries contains domestic and foreign newspaper clippings, articles, film reviews, and radio transcripts. Slides, negatives, contact sheets, publicity stills, taken on the set and behind-the-scenes can be found in the Photographs subseries.

Included in the Lianna series are materials from the 1983 film written and directed by John Sayles. The Correspondence subseries includes fan mail. The materials in the Legal subseries relate to copyright, licensing, and contracts. The Business and Financial records contain documentation related to the Winwood Company. The Scripts subseries includes notes for scenes, draft scripts, and dialogues.

Product and Post-Production is comprised of call sheets and daily production reports. The Publicity and Distribution subseries contains information related to film distribution, press kits, and international publicity packets. Articles and Reviews consists of domestic newspaper clippings, film reviews, and articles from foreign publications. Photographs, slides, negatives, contact sheets, and publicity stills, taken on the set and behind-the-scenes, are found in the Photgraphs subseries.

The Baby It's You series consists of material from the 1983 film written and directed by John Sayles, starring Rosanna Arquette, Vincent Spano, Joanna Merlin and Jack Davidson. Set in the 1960s, it follows the relationship between a high-achieving student and a working-class boy who dreams of being the next Frank Sinatra.

The Legal subseries contains a report on copyright for home video distribution of the film. In the Scripts subseries there are several drafts as well as a release dialogue script. Production and Post-Production contains the deal memos for the direction, development and production of the film. The Publicity and Distribution subseries contains press releases in English and Japanese as well as correspondence regarding home video and screening rights for the film.

The Articles and Reviews subseries is comprised of magazine and newspaper reviews and advertising, and two folders of radio and TV review transcripts. Of note is the Photographs subseries containing prints and negatives for a number of publicity stills, a posed crew photo, several behind the scenes photographs, and a set of publicity stills with attached captions from Paramount Pictures.

The Brother from Another Planet series consists of material from the 1984 film written, directed, and edited by John Sayles. The film, starring Joe Morton, tells the story of an alien who lands in Harlem, where he is chased by bounty hunters from his home planet. In the early 1990s, planning began to make the film into a television series, but it was never produced.

The Correspondence subseries consists of letters from legal professional Marsha Brooks, from Colton, Weissbert, Hartnick, Yamin, and Sheresky, representing The Brother from Another Planet. The Legal materials deal with copyright research, title search, incorporation, and dissolution papers for A-Train, the corporation Sayles created for the filming and production of the film. The Business and Financial subseries includes fiscal documentation, cost and profit statements, tax information, bills, invoices, and receipts for production and distribution. Both the television and film versions of the project are included in the Scripts subseries. Television scripts include a notebook with dialogue, character information, and scenes. Additionally there are multiple drafts of scripts for the unproduced show written in 1991-1992. Holdings for the film include a draft from 1983 and a continuity and dialogue script. The Music and Scores subseries consists license agreements for music used in the film, as well as information about the soundtrack.

The Production and Post-Production subseries holds correspondence regarding permissions for music, video game, and poster use, as well as contract information for the cast, crew, director, producers, Screen Actors Guild , and the Writers Guild of America. Handwritten notes outlining various aspects of production (e.g., reports, schedules, call sheets, and television cuts) are included.

The Publicity and Distribution subseries details the domestic and foreign promotion and release of the film. There are public relations and press materials, film advertisements, and license agreements for screen and on television. Additionally, this section holds foreign rights information organized by country, correspondence, invoices, notes, producer reports, and license agreements. Legal materials related to a distribution dispute in Australia are included.

Awards, Events, and Festivals holds a limited amount of material related to exhibition of The Brother from Another Planet at film festivals. The Photographs subseries contains stills, contact sheets, negatives, and slides taken during filming. There is a note in the Publicity stills and negatives folder referring to a binder with additional materials, which is not available.

The Matewan series contains documents from the 1987 film written, directed and edited by John Sayles , and produced by Maggie Renzi and Peggy Rajski. The production company was Red Dog Films. The cast includes Chris Cooper, Mary McDonnell, James Earl Jones, Will Oldham, David Strathairn, among others. Tthe series contains a large amount of material related to a complex rights and fees dispute.

Contained in the Correspondence subseries is fan mail, requests for clips, and letters relating to the creation of the Matewan documentary Them That Work. The Legal subseries holds original contracts relating to financing and distribution of the film, as well as correspondence assembled for a film rights lawsuit.

There is a lengthy Business and Financial subseries, with documents relating to the formation and dissolution of Red Dog Films and the Matewan Limited Partnership, film financing agreements, budget and revenue reports, and Screen Actors Guild residuals. Also included are documents relating to Cinecom's involvement with the film, including original agreements, ongoing correspondence, and bankruptcy documents. The Business and Financial subseries contains correspondence, ranging over fifteen years, related to the rights and fees dispute.

The Scripts subseries includes drafts and revisions, some with annotations or notes; several dialogue and shooting scripts; script breakdowns by scene; and a descriptive backstory for the character of Hickey. Music and Scores consists of lyrics written by Sayles for the song Fire in the Hole, cue and breakdown sheets, and lyrics for a Matewan Rap composed by a cast member.

The Production and Post-Production subseries includes background research, storyboards drawn by Sayles, cast and crew deal memos, paperwork from the Writers Guild of America, schedules and call sheets, a production binder, and credit and subtitling information. Correspondence and paperwork relating to restoration work on the film in the early 2000s is included, as well as notes and permits relating to special effects, especially the large shootout at the end of the film. Of special note is a partial diary kept by Maggie Renzi during the early days of filming. Publicity and Distribution subseries contains drafts of advertising tag lines, several press packets, a report on Australian publicity, and invitations and advertisements for early screenings of the film.

Of note is the Articles and Reviews subseries, which includes published interviews, articles, and international and domestic reviews of the film. There are a number of articles from West Virginia newspapers discussing the casting and filming, interviews with local residents regarding the finished film, advertisements and features from various union publications, and academic papers written about the film.

Awards, Events and Festivals contains posters and invitations from several screenings held as benefits for various unions, as well as invitations and programs from various film festivals, including the Waterford Council of Trade Unions Celebration. There is also an award from the Political Film Society for Best Film on Human Rights. The Photographs subseries contains print and negative stills, cast and crew group shots, and on-set candids, as well as a large number of slides, some of which were intended for use as publicity sets. There is an all-female group shot highlighting the large number of women on the crew.

The materials in the Eight Men Out series are related to the 1988 film written and directed by John Sayles, starring John Cusack, Clifton James, Gordon Clapp, Michael Lerner, Christopher Lloyd, John Mahoney, Charlie Sheen and David Strathairn. Based on Eliot Asinof's 1963 book of the same title, the film is about the 1919 Black Sox scandal in Major League Baseball.

The Legal subseries contains a copyright research report as it related to the similarly titled book. Business and Financial contains agreements related to Asinof's book option, financial reports, and documentation on the effect of the bankruptcy of Orion Pictures Corporation the film's distributor.

The Scripts subseries contains different versions of the script titles, such as Black Sox, Take Me Out to the Ballgame and Eight Men Out. The Production and Post-production subseries contains pre-production memos detailing arrangements for locations, transportation and other pre-shooting details. Publicity and Distribution documents Orion Pictures Corporation's analysis of audience reactions to the film through screenings, surveys and questionnaires. Included is a press kit with movie stills and production information.

The majority of material in Articles and Reviews is from domestic newspapers and magazines reviewing and discussing the film and John Sayles as a director. There is an article written by John Sayles, titled "Dick Stuart," about first baseman baseball player Richard Lee Stuart who played on various baseball teams from the 1950-1960's. The Awards, Events and Festivals subseries contains a plaque from the Indianapolis Indians baseball team dedicated to John Sayles. Many of the scenes from the film were filmed at the Bush Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Photographs subseries contains slides and publicity stills and production stills taken by photographer Bob Marshak and Cincinnati Enquirer photographer Annalisa Kraft. Oversize Material includes a newspaper facsimile of The Chicago Daily Tribune and a photograph of the original 1918 White Sox team.

The Casa de los Babys series holds materials from the 2003 film written and directed by John Sayles, and the short story by Sayles on which the film was based. Starring Maggie Gyllenhall, Daryl Hannah, Marcia Gay Harden, Martha Higareda, Susan Lynch, Vanessa Martinez, Rita Moreno, Mary Steenburgen, and Lily Taylor, the story focuses on the experiences of six American women who moved to South America to adopt babies.

The Correspondence subseries consists of memos, emails, and faxes related to terms and agreements, scenes, costumes, music, and promotion. It also contains personal notes to John Sayles. Some items are in written in Spanish. Business and Financial records include limited accounting materials and a copy of the film's budget.

The Scripts subseries contains research and drafts of both the film and short story. The Research materials include correspondence, articles related to adoption, child organ trafficking, and illegal adoption practices. The Short Story subseries holds communication regarding submission to Zoetrope and manuscript drafts.

The Production and Post-Production subseries contains a mixture of Spanish and English language documents. These include handwritten notes from John Sayles to cast members regarding costumes and shooting; Director/Editor Agreement; Screenplay Purchase Agreement; release forms for John Sayles' appearance on Dinner for Five; songs he contributed to the film, and photographs and interviews. Production and scene breakdown documents provide information related to casting, locations, shooting schedules, camera directions, scouting information, and annotated scripts. The Cast and Crew materials contain a confidential cast list, crew list, and contact list, as well as articles and interviews related to the work of Daryl Hannah and Maggie Gyllenhall. Music and Scores contains liner notes written by John Sayles about the soundtrack for the film.

The Publicity and Distribution subseries includes information related to screenings and festivals, press events and schedules, interview itineraries, the box office campaign, and the DVD release. Included is a draft outlining the work of John Sayles. Articles and Reviews provides materials published in newspapers, magazines, and online. The folders titled National Breaks, National Features, National Reviews, Toronto Press, and Online all came from the IFC publicity binder.

The City of Hope series consists of material from the 1991 film written, directed and edited by John Sayles and produced by Maggie Renzi. The production company, Esperanza Inc, was established for this film. The cast includes Vincent Spano, Stephen Mendillo, Chris Cooper, Joe Morton and Angela Bassett.

The Legal subseries contains a mix of legal and production correspondence, memos, and notes on the law firm letterhead of Morrison and Foerster , because John Sloss served as both lawyer and executive producer for the film. The Business and Financial subseries includes production loan documents and several drafts of the loan agreement between Esperanza Inc. and the Interstate Bank of California.

The Scripts subseries contains multiple drafts of the screenplay, including the first draft with annotations and subsequent revisions. Also included are the treatment, production notes, and a collection of revision pages. Music and Scores holds licensing agreements for the songs titled Oh Marie , Buona Sera , and Fearless . Other documents include composer agreements for Mason Daring.

Production and Post-production documents of note are the various drafts of storyboards , drafts of cast and crew contracts, deal memos, union contracts, and production agreements. Notes by John Sayles on characters and scene breakdowns and a notebook that belonged to producer Sarah Green are included. Publicity and Distribution materials consist of letters sent to sales agents for domestic and foreign distribution of the film; information on press tours and schedules ; status reports for interviews in print publications and television shows, and publicity during the 1991 Cannes Film Festival.

Articles and Reviews includes clippings, copies, and faxes of published interviews, articles, and reviews from both international and domestic news sources. The first folder in the series, a collection of fax cover sheets separated from the articles they reference, serves as a list of articles and reviews related to the film. The General folders are sub-divided according to their arrival at Special Collections: 20 Kit / Leigh Harris; 22 Precious; and 23 Luther / Tom Wright. Press Clippings are organized by the title of the publication. The remaining folders are organized chronologically.

In Awards, Events and Festivals there are two certificates from the 1991 Hawaii International Film Festival: one for Best Political Film, and the second for Best Film Promoting Democracy. The Photographs subseries holds publicity stills and slides, along with a crew photograph.

The Passion Fish series contains materials from the 1992 film written, directed and edited by John Sayles and produced by Maggie Renzi. The cast includes Mary McDonnell, Angela Bassett, Alfre Woodard, David Strathairn. The production company established for this film is Atchafalaya Film Inc.

Some of the documents in the series (e.g., production binders and notes, legal documents , etc.) have numbers stamped on the lower right hand side of the page. The numbers are part of a legal system used in the Virginia L. Towler versus John Sayles, et al., case of copyright infringement. Other documents. labeled with blue Defendant's Exhibit stickers, were used as evidence during the trial. Additional information regarding lawsuits involving John Sayles can be found in the Legal series. The Legal subseries contains 53 folders of correspondence. Because John Sloss was both the main legal counsel and executive producer for the film, the legal correspondence folders are a mix of legal and production content.

The Business and Financial documents include loan documents between Fuji Bank and Atchafalaya Film Inc, as well as information on WGA compliance, Motion Picture and Video Tape Editors of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, and the industry health fund and pension plan.

The Scripts subseries contains the first draft, as well as subsequent revisions of Passion Fish with the previous title the Louisiana Project. Also included is the script at a glance breakdown copy as well as television/soap opera scenes for the film. The majority of documents in Music and Scores are licensing agreements for the film soundtrack. Also included are agreements for composer Mason Daring.

Production and Post-Production materials include cast and crew contracts and agreements, day performer daily contracts, deal memos, and several drafts for actress Mary McDonnell's contract. The final full shooting schedule identifies scenes, location, cast, extras and prop information.

The Articles and Reviews subseries holds clippings from newspapers and magazines, and press packets compiled by marketing firm Cline and White. The Publicity and Distribution subseries include various drafts of the agreement for general distribution and home video distribution, along with information on film rights. The general publicity folders contain status reports from Cline and White about interviews in print publications and television shows. In Awards, Events and Festivals there is correspondence regarding invitations, applications and logistics to attending film festivals in Toronto, Berlin, Cairo, London and Havana. Photographs contain publicity stills, a cast and crew photograph, slides and negatives.

The Secret of Roan Inish series consists of materials from the 1994 film written, directed and edited by John Sayles and produced by Maggie Renzi. The largely Irish cast includes John Lynch, Susan Lynch, and Jeni Courtney. The film, a coming-of-age story that combines Irish folklore with the area's striking scenery, follows a young girl as she moves back to her rural seaside home village in Ireland and learns more about her family's myth-laden history.

In the Correspondence subseries are several letters and agreements with Rosalie K. Fry, author of the popular book The Secret of Ron Mor Skerry, on which the film is based. After Rosalie K. Fry's death in 1992, her family members, lawyer and book agents continued to correspond with producer Sarah Green. The correspondence outlines Ms. Green's efforts to obtain rights to the book in order to make the film. Various drafts of option agreements can be found, along with responses from Rosalie K. Fry.

The Legal subseries contains correspondence nd inlcudes contracts, agreements, and production documents. As both lawyer and producer for the film, John Sloss from the Morrison and Foerster law firm wrote legal memos and production notes on the same law firm stationary. As a result, the correspondence is a mix of legal and production content.

Business and Financial subseries documents financing agreements of Skerry Movies Corporation (later known as Skerry Productions), the production company created by John Sayles for the film. These agreements demonstrate the complex funding negotiations between Skerry Movies Corporation, Jones Entertainment Group, the British Broadcasting Corporation. Other sizable sections within the series include insurance for the film's production and distribution, agreements with various labor unions, and budget reports.

The Scripts subseries is made up of various drafts of the screenplay utilized before and during the film's production. Also included are supporting documents for the scripts, such as correspondence and a synopsis. Music and Scores consists of three folders which inlcude a cue list of songs, music credit drafts, and correspondence with the Irish Film Orchestra outlining their rates and scores. Production and Post-Production includes documents used during shooting of the film. Highlights include numerous storyboards, some dated and undated. There are several contracts and agreements for cast and crew members as well as agreements for Sayles as director, editor and screenplay writer. The production notebooks and binders outline each day of filming and the key events for production. The Publicity and Distribution subseries is mostly comprised of materials of various distribution agreements, including items from Skerry Movie Corporation, Alfred Haber Inc., Jones Entertainment Group, and other organizations involved with the film's release. Other significant sections include laboratory access letters, advertising materials, and television distribution rights agreements.

The Articles and Reviews subseries contains a large number of domestic and international articles published around the film's release date in 1994. Included are extensive compilations, created for Skerry Movies Corporation personnel, of reviews and features written about the film.

Awards, Events and Festivals contains a program for the Ireland Film Festival held in Japan in 1996. The Photographs subseries consists of still photographs and slides produced to publicize and promote the release of the film.

Oversize Material contains production and post-production items: a strip board, also called a production board, which is a color coded chart with information about a scene, and drawings of props, shooting schedules, and art department materials. Oversize Drawings and Paintings includes drawings, watercolor paintings, photographs, and photocopies organized according to interior and exterior depictions.

Lone Star is the 1996 film written, directed and edited by John Sayles. Producers include R. Paul Miller, Maggie Renzi, and John Sloss, who was both executive producer and lawyer for the production. The film, a mystery set in Texas, was a commercial and critical success, garnering Sayles an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay in 1997. Notable cast members include Chris Cooper, Elizabeth Peña, Kris Kristofferson, Joe Morton, Frances McDormand, Ron Canada, and Clifton James.

The Correspondence subseries contains letters to John Sayles and Maggie Renzi during the film's production and soon after its theatrical release. Spanning from 1995 to 2003, common topics include congratulations for the success of Lone Star and requests to use the film's footage for college courses.

The Legal subseries consists of documents from 1995 dealing with legal issues and demonstrating close collaboration with the production's legal representation, the Sloss Law Offices. These topics range from copyright documentation to legal research for the film's title and content.

The Business and Financial subseries chronicles the business activities of Rio Dulce, the production company established for Lone Star. Insurance documentation constitutes the largest portion, notably materials from providers Speare and Company and the Fireman's Fund. Other significant aspects from this section include materials documenting payroll, such as time cards and start/close forms, numerous drafts of the production/financing agreement, and week-by-week grosses for what ended up being one of the most financially-successful films for John Sayles as a director. The dates for these materials span from 1995 to 1997.

The Scripts subseries holds various drafts of the screenplay utilized before and during the film's production, from 1994 to 1995. Also included are supporting documents for the scripts, such as scene breakdowns and synopsis. Music and Scores include correspondence in which John Sayles and producers discuss songs to include in the film and John Sayles' notes on where each song will be used. There are several drafts of the agreement for composer Mason Daring to write, compose, adapt, orchestrate and record musical scores for the picture. Also included are licensing documents, cue sheets, credits for the music, and listings of the length of each song.

Production and Post-Production includes several drafts of contracts and agreements for cast and crew, as well as John Sayles' agreements as a director, editor and writer. There are general production binders outlining shooting schedules and a final lined script. Also included is Maggie Renzi's production binder. The majority of documents date from 1995, with a few created in 1996. The Publicity and Distribution subseries mainly contains materials related to Rio Dulce's publicity efforts from 1996, such as press kits and information regarding advanced screenings for the press. Various aspects of film distribution are documented, including information on the film's release dates and post-theatrical distribution agreements.

Articles and Reviews contains a large number of domestic and international articles, mostly published around the film's release date in 1996. Also included are press books created by Castle Rock Entertainment which extensively compile the various reviews and features written about Lone Star. In Awards, Events and Festivals the correspondence provides information on screenings of Lone Star for film festivals in various countries. Also included is the original certificate of nomination for the Independent Spirit Awards for Best Screenplay in 1997, and a program from the Xenix Film Festival that outlines screenings for a John Sayles retrospective in June 2004 in Zurich, Switzerland. The Photographs subseries contains Lone Star publicity stills along with their slides and one negative.

The 1997 film Men with Guns was written, directed and edited by John Sayles and produced by Maggie Renzi. The cast includes Federico Luppi, Damián Delgado, Mandy Potamkin, Tania Cruz, and Dan Rivera González. The plot concerns a city-based doctor in an unnamed Latin American nation who finds the rural region ravaged by violence between government and rebel soldiers. Men with Guns was filmed in Mexico and utilized Spanish dialogue with English subtitles. Released as Hombres Armados in Spanish-speaking markets, the film was originally titled Cerca del Cielo in early production. Some of the documents are in Spanish.

The Legal subseries contains a mix of legal memos and production notes written by John Sloss, who served as lawyer and executive producer for the film. The Business and Financial subseries documents the fiscal dealings of Perdido Inc., the production company created by John Sayles for the film. Invoices, receipts, correspondence, photocopies of checks, and other materials related to payments are grouped by various vendors, individuals, government offices and unions. Also included are budgets of projected costs throughout production and profit participation materials that document the distribution of payments to the film's investors after its theatrical release.

Production and Post-Production materials include various drafts of unexecuted and executed cast and crew agreements. The Mexican contracts are in Spanish. Included is correspondence with Bertha Navarro, co-producer of the film and a key Mexican contact while filming in Mexico. Of note is an approval letter from novelist and journalist Francis Goldman, author of The Long Night of White Chickens, which was the inspiration for the film.

The Music and Scores subseries documents the work of Mason Daring, music composer for the film, and Tom Schnabel, the well-known program director for world music, who created a mix of Latin-American music that was not tied to a specific country. The soundtrack was distributed by Ryodisc, Inc. Royalty statements along with correspondence and agreements can be found in the soundtrack folders.

The Publicity and Distribution subseries holds licensing agreements, long and short form agreements, distribution contracts for Sony Pictures Classics and Bravo Company, along with various materials for distributers CiBy Sales, Columbia Tristar Films, and Film Four. Because of the potential global appeal of a Spanish-language film, many of these contracts are devoted to distribution rights in Latin and South American countries. Publicity materials include the film's press kit, promotional ephemera, and correspondence regarding the trailer.

The Articles and Reviews subseries contains a large number of domestic and international articles published around the film's release date in 1997. Also included is a scrapbook of Argentinian newspaper clippings assembled for Sayles, United Kingdom articles, Spanish language articles, and a retrospective on Sayles in the magazine Banda Aparte.

The Photographs subseries consists of still photographs and negatives produced to publicize and promote the release of the film. Most are color slides the set and the film. The Oversize materials include photographic stills on black cardstock from the credits of Men with Guns and two early designs for the film's poster.

The 1999 film Limbo was written, directed and edited by John Sayles and produced by Maggie Renzi. The cast includes David Strathairn, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and Vanessa Martinez. The production company was Green/Renzi Productions.

The Legal documents include bids from different law firms to represent the production company, clearances for using specific names and titles, permits, and work visas. The Business and Financial records contain budget and cost reports, insurance records, purchase orders, and invoices.

There are several drafts and revisions of Scripts, with annotations, organized according to date. Along with the revisions, there are several breakdowns of the script according to scenes or characters. Highlights of the Music and Scores subseries include correspondence between Bruce Springsteen, John Sayles, and Maggie Renzi regarding the song "Lift Me Up" written by Bruce Springsteen. Also included are a variety of contracts for musicians, music supervisors, and composer Mason Daring.

The Production and Post-Production subseries contains documentation on casting that includes resumes, headshots, and contracts and agreements for cast and crew. Some resumes are marked: hired, to interview, not hired, production assistants, and general. Included are the various agreements for Sayles as writer, director and editor of the film. Of interest is the research on Alaska, such as accommodations, location scouting, transportation, resources, children's activities, maps, restaurants and miscellaneous information about the logistics of filming in Alaska.

The Publicity and Distribution documents relate to press tours, screenings, distribution and release schedules, feedback from screenings, and estimated box office returns in domestic and international cities.

The Articles and Reviews subseries includes published interviews, articles, and reviews of Limbo from both international and domestic sources. The Domestic and International folders hold clippings of articles and reviews based on the location of the newspaper or magazine. The Press Packet folders contain faxes of groups of articles and reviews gathered and sent from marketing and public relations firms.

Invitations and correspondence about film festivals in the US and abroad is included in the Awards, Events and Festivals subseries. Three folders include invitations, logistics, and information regarding attending the Cannes International Film Festival.

Photographs includes publicity stills, cast and crew photographs, and an attached article about the filming of Limbo in Alaska which was distributed to all members of the cast and crew.

The Correspondence subseries contains 'thank you' cards sent to John Sayles and Maggie Renzi from the cast and crew after production. The Legal subseries contains copyright agreements, agreements for child actors, and visa paperwork for John Powditch, first assistant director.

The Business and Financial subseries includes documents for insurance, loans, contracts, and agreements for the Screen Actors Guild, Directors Guild of America, Writers Guild, and other unions. Of note are deferment documents for John Sayles' salary as editor and director. Sayles personally financed part of the film and deferred his payments until after the film was completed.

The Scripts subseries contains drafts of the screenplay utilized before and during the film's production. Also included are supporting documents, such as revision pages, script clearances to determine incidental copyright and intellectual infringement within the screenplay, and a synopsis. Early drafts of the script were titled Gold Coast. The majority of the materials in Music and Scores are licensing documents, legal contracts, and agreements to use music in the film. Of interest is a letter by Stephen Sondeim responding to Maggie Renzi's request for information on songs with a Florida theme.

Production and Post-production materials consist of daily production reports, lists of the day's shooting locations, cast and crew sign-in sheets, time cards, shooting schedules, script sides, camera reports, script supervisor daily reports, correspondence, and other documents relevant to the day's film shoot. Also included is documentation for the Archive Project concerning deposit of the film stock at the UCLA Film and Television Archive. Panoramic photographs of proposed filming locations, made of taped-together photographs are included, as well as the crew newsletter, and a wrap party speech written by Maggie Renzi.

In the Publicity and Distribution subseries there are contracts regulating the theatrical and home video release, promotional materials used in marketing, reports on various screenings, and grosses from the screenings of the film. Of note are the Publicity Tour materials, comprised of correspondence, schedules, and notes regarding appearances. Articles and Reviews contains newspaper clippings and printed copies from online sources and domestic newspapers, mainly arranged by state.

Awards, Events, and Festival materials document special screenings of Sunshine State, such as its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, the US premiere in Hollywood, a showing for the entire cast and crew, and other screenings set up to publicize the film.

In the Photographs subseries are publicity stills depicting characters from the film, Sayles working behind the scenes, and a picture of the entire cast and crew. The Oversize subseries contains Florida themed sheet music.

Silver City consists of materials from the 2004 film written, directed and edited by John Sayles and produced by Maggie Renzi. The large and notable cast includes Danny Huston, Maria Bello, Chris Cooper, Richard Dreyfuss, Tim Roth, Thora Birch, Maria Bello, Billy Zane, Miguel Ferrer, Kris Kristofferson, and Michael Murphy. The film centers on a private detective, played by Huston, trying to connect the dots between a dead John Doe and the gubernatorial campaign of a George W. Bush-like politician. A hybrid political satire and murder mystery, Silver City ties together the issues of environmental degradation, immigration, and corporate influence in American politics.

The Legal subseries includes copyright documents, legal clearances for names, legal representation agreements, visa paperwork for First Assistant Director John Powditch, and miscellaneous legal documents.

The Business and Financial subseries is the largest portion of the Silver City papers, with the bulk of the items created between 2003 and 2004. The materials include a diverse selection of receipts, contracts, and other records for vendors and individuals contracted by Silver City Films, Inc. The files consist of a diverse selection of receipts, contracts, payroll reports for the crew members processed by Axium International Inc., petty cash envelopes for cast and crew. and other records.

The Scripts subseries contains drafts of the screenplay for Silver City rewritten several times during 2003. Also included are supporting documents for the scripts, such as correspondence about the scripts, scene breakdowns and a synopsis.

The Production and Post-Production subseries includes three delivery binders (binders removed) with a variety of documents to be delivered to the studio or distributor of a film at the completion of post-production. Delivery Binder 1 includes (but is not limited to) quality control reports, credits, a press kit, copyright documents, title report, music licenses and cue sheets. Delivery Binder 2 has cast and crew deal memos, extras releases, location and art department releases. Delivery Binder 3 includes dialogue and continuity lists, a shooting script and lined script. In addition, various documents on each cast member such as cast and crew deal memos, payroll information, time cards, and start and end employment forms are included. Production binder materials contain different versions of the script, shooting schedules and character breakdowns.

Music and Scores highlights include notes from John Sayles on incorporating music into the film's score by Mason Daring. The majority of files within the section are made up of forms regarding the licensing of music in the film.

Highlights of Publicity and Distribution include the Silver City Express bus tour to Santa Fe, New Mexico and Colorado Springs, Colorado along with Denver, Colorado. The tour included a screening of film, live music, and a panel discussion about political filmmaking and the 2004 presidential election. The event was produced along with Newmarket Films and the New Mexico Women's Foundation. Other documents include advertisements, marketing materials (bumper stickers, one sheets, and pamphlets in English, Italian and Swedish), and international and domestic distribution agreements and drafts.

Articles and Reviews contains photocopies of newspapers and printouts from newspaper websites. The articles and reviews are organized according to international and domestic newspaper publications, with the majority from domestic publications. The domestic publications are organized according to state.

The Awards, Events and Festivals subseries includes invitations to attend political fundraisers and film festivals, such as the Cinema Arts Centre in Huntington, New York and the Bush in 30 Seconds political advertising contest sponsored by MoveOn.org voter fund. Also included are pamphlets and programs from domestic and international film festivals.

The Photographs subseries consists of contact sheets, slides, and cast and crew group photographs. One folder includes photographs intended for publicity materials labeled "rejected by producer Maggie Renzi".

Oversize Materials includes publicity and distribution materials, such as concept art for publicity posters.

Honeydripper, the 2007 film written, directed and edited by John Sayles, is centered on a blues club in 1950s rural Alabama, and features traditional rhythm and blues music and original songs. The actors include Danny Glover, Charles Dutton, Lisa Gay Hamilton, and Gary Clark, Jr.

The Correspondence subseries holds handwritten letters and emails between the filmmakers (John Sayles and Maggie Renzie) and several individuals who worked with them on the film. The Legal materials, demonstrating close collaboration with the legal representation of the production company, cover the film's copyright status and various signed legal certificates. The Business and Financial subseries consists of payroll for cast and crew, account payments, invoices organized by company name, petty cash envelopes, and a variety of accounting reports, including posting, closing and payroll reports.

Numerous drafts and master copies of Scripts, utilized before and during filming, are accompanied by supporting documents (source material, notes from Sayles, plot outlines, synopses, and related correspondence) used to write the scripts. The Music and Scores subseries consists of materials regarding the songs used in the film, information on the film's musical actors, and agreements with Rhino Records regarding the soundtrack.

The Production and Post-production subseries documents John Sayles' roles as director, screenwriter, and editor of Honeydripper and Maggie Renzi's work as the film's producer. Dating from 2004 to 2006, pre-production materials include items regarding casting, research of 1950s culture, location scouting in Alabama, and paperwork between Honeydripper Films and the various labor unions (notably the Screen Actors Guild, Directors Guild of America, and International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees). Materials created and utilized during production incorporate a variety of schedules and calendars, including call sheets and shooting schedules. Reports summarizing daily progress provide detailed insight into various aspects of filming, such as the daily production reports, day out of day reports, and camera reports. The Post-production materials provide audio reports and cue sheets that demonstrate the technicalities of the automated dialog replacement (ADR) process and sound engineering. The wrap book and producer Maggie Renzi's production binders combine documents from all phases of production, providing an overview of the making of Honeydripper.

Publicity and Distribution materials document the planning, creation, and accumulation of publicity materials. The majority of the subseries consists of materials for the musical tour of the Honeydripper All-Star Band, a group of the film's musical cast that toured and performed at major music festivals in 2007 to promote the film. Articles and Reviews contains international and national press, including reviews of the film, interest pieces on the cast and John Sayles, and articles about the Honeydripper All-Star Band musical tour.

The majority of the Awards, Events, and Festivals relates to the exhibition of Honeydripper at dozens of film festivals and noted screenings around the world. Correspondence between Sayles's staff and festival representatives, flight and hotel information, daily schedules, festival programs, and local articles about the screenings make up the volume of the materials regarding each festival. The awards materials offer insight into the process of applying for major film awards and the proceedings after a nomination. Award ceremonies include the Academy Awards, the Independent Spirit Awards, and the NAACP Image awards for which Honeydripper received two nominations.

The Photographs subseries contains photographic production materials from 2006 used during production and post-production for continuity purposes.

The Amigo series consists of material from the 2010 film written, directed, and edited by John Sayles. The actors include Joel Torre, who also co-produced the film, Chris Cooper, Garrett Dillahunt, DJ Qualls, Yul Vazquez, Bembel Roco, and Rio Locsin. The film is set in 1900, during the Philippine-American War, and filmed on location in Bohol, Philippines. The majority of the cast and crew are from the Philippines. Some of the post-production work was done in the Philippines.

The Legal documents contain copyright and license agreements. The turnover documents in this section consist of records for the Baryo Amigo Continuity Project (formerly Baryo Living Museum Project) in Toril, Maribojoc, Bohol, Philippines. Sayles donated the movie set structures and costumes to the city council of Toril to help create a museum about Philippine village life in the 1900s. The Business and Financial materials consist of invoices, payments and wire transfers to individuals and companies in the Philippines.

The Scripts subseries reflects the changing titles and inspiration for the film. The screenplay, formerly titled Baryo, was inspired by Sayles's book A Moment in the Sun. Some scripts are both in English and Tagalog. Music and Scores includes cue sheets and musician contracts as well as sheet music examples based on 19th century Philippine songs.

Production and Post-Production materials consist of background research for the film. Topics include 1890s U.S. media and politics, first-hand accounts of various wars, basic history of the Spanish-American and Philippine–American wars, historical prisons and execution methods, and Philippine life and industry. Other documents relate to the cast and crew, including US/Philippine travel arrangements, contracts, and individual folders for the main cast members. There are large production and director's production binders, production and post-production schedules, editor's logs, sound and camera reports, and information on costumes and props, including a folder of maps. Post-production documents include information on video and audio packages, subtitling, and MPAA ratings.

The majority of the Publicity and Distribution subseries is made up of correspondence and agreements relating to various US and international distribution companies. Also included are draft and finalized press kits, information about initial screenings, and travel and schedule information for many promotional interviews. The Articles and Reviews include a large press book with collected newspaper, web and radio interviews with Sayles, as well as clippings from US and Philippine newspapers and film festival literature.

Correspondence, travel arrangements, and schedules relating to five international film festivals where Amigo was screened can be found in the Awards, Events and Festivals subseries.

Go for Sisters includes documents for the 2013 film written, directed and edited by John Sayles and produced by Edward James Olmos. The cast includes Lisa Gay Hamilton, Edward James Olmos and Yolanda Ross.

The Business and Financial documents include purchase orders and a check register organized in alphabetical order.

The Production and Post-Production documents contain script notes and camera and sound logs which were part of a general production binder. The binder was removed but the documents kept in original order. Of interest are Shoot Day documentation that outlines activities for each day of shooting, and includes sections of the script, wrap report forms, personal release forms, script supervisor reports, sound reports, time sheets, crew call sheets, and actors' production time reports. The Locations folders contain contracts, permits, maps, and call times at specific locations. Wrap Book folders contain memos, call sheets, cast day reports, cast and crew lists, contacts lists, information on credits, extras and their contracts, and other production documents used at the end of the production.

Publicity and Distribution contains a 4x6 publicity card for Go for Sisters. In Awards, Events and Festivals, a program for the Morelia International Film Festival in Mexico is included along with an invitation for Maggie Renzi to attend a dinner held during the festival. John Sayles was invited as a special guest and Go for Sisters was screened. The Photographs subseries contains miscellaneous continuity photographs and behind the scenes pictures taken by stills photographer John Castillo.

The Audio/Moving Image series consists of audio and video recordings in various formats. The Moving Image subseries includes clips, interviews, electronic press kits, and dailies from Sayles' films. The Audio subseries includes music, interviews, and sound tracks.

Digital Media... consists of diskettes and hard drives containing scripts, business and financial documents, program disks, and images.

The 2024 Addendum series was added as a continuation of the John Sayles Papers collection. Its materials are organized into 13 subsubseries and contain materials ranging from 1958 to 2017. The arrangement of the materials in each subseries and subsubseries is not in chronological or alphabetical order:

The Maggie Renzi subseries consists of materials spanning the years 1958 - 2011 from Renzi's personal, academic and professional life. This subseries contains a large amount of black and white and colored photographs in a variety of sizes, negative film, newspaper and article clippings, and handwritten personal letters both sent and received by Renzi. As well as materials from Renzi's education, film festival passes, travel mementos. Some notable items include a canceled passport, an annotated copy of The Miracle Worker by William Gibson, and A Oaxaca/Puebla Guidebook Renzi created for her 50th Birthday.

The (5) Administrative Files subseries host a collection of administrative and business materials from Sayles and Renzi's various projects including work related correspondence on the subjects of Sayles book publishing, fundraising efforts, legal and tax documents and more. Admin is organized into five separate subsubseries: General, Work Correspondence, Logistics, Finance, and Legal.

The Administrative Files - General subsubseries (1996-2016) contains notes, research reports, several notebooks from John Sayles' internship program, and phone message books. Some particularly notable items include various corporate seals for Silver City Films Inc., Frostproof Inc., Perdido Inc., and research reports conducted for the films "Lone Star" and "Men with Guns/Hombres Armados".

The Administrative Files - Work Correspondence subsubseries (1972-2009) focuses largely on correspondence sent by, or on behalf of Sayles, Renzi and associates, correspondence sent through the Anarchists Convention to a host of film distributors, unions (WGA and SAG), literary publishers, and more.

The Administrative Files - Logistics subsubseries (1972-2015) contains a variety of logistical and planning materials including casting-related materials for certain characters in the films "Honeydripper" and "Silver City", multiple phone message books, flight information and more.

The Administrative Files - Finance subsubseries (1970-2009) consists of financial documents relating to various Sayles films, projects and travels. This includes items such as many tax forms, checks relating to film profits, budget reports, distribution breakdowns, and other accounting materials.

The Administrative Files - Legal subsubseries (1977-2008) consists of legal documents: book and literary copyright, film distributions contracts, agreements, copyright research reports, as well as correspondence with the University of California Los Angeles about their preservation agreements with Sayles. This subseries also contains screenplay contracts and agreements for both Sayles own films, and screenplays on which he collaborated.

The following (3) Publicity subsubseries are divided into general publicity materials, published magazines, and international materials - which is distinct from the rest of publicity materials due to the majority of the material being in a variety of non-English languages: Spanish, French, Japanese etc.

The Publicity - General subsubseries (1971-2016) contains numerous (U.S.) domestic newspaper clippings, magazine articles, and scanned copies of clippings on Sayles films, his interviews and reviews on his work. Other publicity materials relating to university visits or film screenings, and articles related to film festivals are also included in this sub-series. Other items of note include: Press kits for "The Brother from Another Planet", "Matewan" and "Lianna", professional photos of Sayles, multiple DVDs with publicity material, and (oversized) posters and newspapers.

The Publicity - Magazines subsubseries (1979-2014) contains an assortment of (entire) magazines covering interviews with Sayles or articles on his films and related projects.Some of these feature Sayles on the cover.

The Publicity - International subsubseries (1987-2011)similarly contains a variety of publicity materials, but focuses on non-domestic articles, magazines, clippings, posters and interviews with Sayles. Most of these materials are in languages other than English, and the majority are in European languages. However, there are a couple of Japanese items as well.

The Personal, Photos, Travel - General subsubseries (1967-2017) consists of travel mementos, handwritten letters dating from Renzi's university years, postcards, fanmail, and personal photographs. Notable items include reunion photographs from a "Secaucus 7" cast reunion, Sayles childhood photos, mini video cassette tape titled "Canada Scout", a "Matewan" Denim Crew Jacket.

The Personal, Photos, Travel - Film Festivals subsubseries (1983-2017) consists of Sayles and Renzi's many film festival passes from their travels and memorabilia as well as travel mementos, letters and photos.

The Creative Works - General subsubseries (1975-2014) includes drafts of various short stories written by Sayles, drafts for screenplays Sayles collaborated on, scene breakdowns, film research and reference materials, manuscripts, and more. This subsubseries also contains multiple screenplay drafts of "Jaime MacGilllivray", one of which is leatherbound, and a 500GB external storage hard drive.

The Creative Works - Notebooks and Awards subsubseries (1979-2013) contains a couple of (Sayles') untitled notebooks and legal pads, used both for film and non-film notes, and various awards and certificates awarded to Sayles, Renzi and both, including but not limited to: The American Academy of Arts and Science, America Video Award for Best Pop Video, Ossie Davis Award, 39th NAACP image Awards and more.

Mary Alice Lincoln wrote to multiple recipients in a search to obtain books and monographs related to African American suffrage while she was a student at Bates College (Lewiston, Maine). This is a collection of four responses she received from Little, Brown, & Company; American Publishing Co.; the Boston Public Library; and the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences. The letter from the American Publishing Company (Hartford, Connecticut) contains enclosures of printed, illustrated folio advertising circulars/prospectuses for Joseph T. Wilson's A History of the Black Phalanx, John M. Langston's From the Virginia Plantation to the National Capitol, and John H. Paynter's Joining the Navy, or Abroad with Uncle Sam.

Mary Alice Lincoln wrote to multiple recipients in a search to obtain books and monographs related to African American suffrage while she was a student at Bates College (Lewiston, Maine). This is a collection of four responses she received from Little, Brown, & Company; American Publishing Co.; the Boston Public Library; and the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences. The letter from the American Publishing Company (Hartford, Connecticut) contains enclosures of printed, illustrated folio advertising circulars/prospectuses for Joseph T. Wilson's A History of the Black Phalanx, John M. Langston's From the Virginia Plantation to the National Capitol, and John H. Paynter's Joining the Navy, or Abroad with Uncle Sam.