Commercial design work and professional papers of May, a designer and art director for several Chicago-based publications. May later moved his practice to California where he became a regional painter as well as a designer.

Correspondence, journals, unpublished manuscripts, and publicity of Arthurian novelist Dorothy James Roberts. Papers also include speeches, unpublished poetry, reviews of published works, and photographs of Roberts and her home.

Papers pertaining to the family of Illinois U.S. Representative John R. Eden (1826-1909). The majority of the material primarily concerns John R. Eden’s daughter Rose, her husband Ivory J. Martin, and their children. The papers also contain correspondence and material relating to the Taylor and Pifer families, who were the in-laws of Rose and Ivory’s son, Robert W. Martin. (Robert Martin married Ruth Pifer, daughter of Hattie Taylor and Finley Pifer).

Letters of Ivory J. Martin of Sullivan, Illinois, to his daughter Olive Eden Martin, while she was a student at the University of Illinois, and later when she lived and taught in LaSalle, Illinois. Also includes a few letters to Olive from her mother, Rose Eden Martin, siblings, and friends. The letters are published in R. Eden Martin’s 2017 book, As Ever: The Letters of I. J. Martin to His Daughters: Olive Eden Martin and Mabel Martin George.

Five letters, written between 1920 and 1922, from Edgar Lee Masters to Mr. and Mrs. John Hooper Smith. Also included is an undated newspaper clipping entitled "’Spoon River’ comes to life dramatically," which describes a staging of "Spoon River anthology," Edgar Lee Masters’s collection of autobiographical epitaphs of residents from the fictional town of Spoon River, Illinois.

Correspondence, works, and other items related to Edward Price Bell's career as a foreign correspondent for the Chicago Daily News and roving correspondent for the Literary Digest.

Letters, documents, photographs, and printed ephemera centering on John C. Edwards and Lydia Martin Edwards, and their immediate families, both of whom settled near Chicago in the 1840s.

Collection of children's schoolwork, composition books, drawings, correspondence and church bulletins of German-American family, the Ehrhardts, from Chicago, Illinois.

Correspondence, photographs, and other miscellaneous material pertaining to the Endicott family and relatives of the Redden, Castle, and Smith families. These families lived primarily in the towns of Greenville, Stubblefield, and Villa Ridge, Pulaski County, Illinois. Topics discussed in the correspondence include marriage, domestic life, illness, and religion. Miscellaneous items include an account book, a paper written about dairy farming, and calling and greeting cards.

Manuscript autobiography and related notes by Eugene E. Prussing (interleaved with photographs and clippings). Also clippings and letters relating to Prussing’s two books on George Washington, genealogical information about the Peltzer family, and a biography of father Ernst Prussing.

Correspondence, clippings, manuscripts, photographs, and memorabilia relating to the life and work of Chicago literary critic and author, Fanny Butcher.

Chicago-based writer Finley Peter Dunne’s correspondence, essays, and memoirs. Collection also includes a photograph of Dunne, an etched stamp, and an adaptation of Dunne’s “Mr. Dooley” series for the stage, by his son, Hollywood screenwriter, film director and producer Philip Dunne.

Correspondence, works and miscellaneous material relating to Floyd Dell, novelist, poet, playwright, newspaperman, literary editor and social and political critic.

Papers of Frances Wells Shaw of Chicago and Lake Forest, Illinois, wife of architect Howard Van Doren Shaw. Bulk consists of material related to the frequent domestic and international travels of Frances Shaw during the first half of the 20th century. Includes her diaries, travel materials and memorabilia, and photographs. Also includes correspondence to and from Frances Shaw and her daughters, plus the diaries of her brother-in-law, Charles T. Atkinson.

Correspondence, literary manuscripts, memorabilia, clippings, photos and material relating to Francis Fisher Browne and the publication of several Chicago literary periodicals, primarily The Dial, of which Francis Fisher Browne was the founder and editor, 1880-1913.

Correspondence, manuscript and typewritten, by amateur historian Frank Grover to and from members of Antoine Ouilmette’s family inquiring into the ethnicity of Ouilmette. Also includes two copies, one with annotations, of Grover's Some Indian Land Marks of the North Shore.

Incoming correspondence to Frederick A. Stock, second conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Also photographs of Stock rehearsing at Interlochen Music Camp, early 1940s.

Book drafts, illustrations, and publicity about the children's and young adult books, stories, and verse written by Fredrika Shumway Smith, wife of banker and Northern Trust president Solomon A. Smith.

Correspondence and papers of Frederick W. Clark, Chicago building contractor and construction company president. Includes business and some personal correspondence, plus account books and trusteeship papers.

Six letters from Irish translator and physician George Sigerson, five of which relate to Sigerson’s health issues. Also includes a medical prescription, and one poem translated from Irish.