Archives West Finding Aid

The collection is primarily arranged chronologically by the graduation dates of the correspondents and then alphabetically by the correspondents' last names within each folder, on the assumption that the primary use would be by researchers interested in given time period. A few unusual formats (a cassette tape and several reporters notebooks) are at the end of these files. In cases where a correspondent's marital name is obviously different from the name used while a student, their student-era name is used here. However, this is not always clear, and so may not be consistent. In a few cases (mostly those predating 1920), the letters are from children about their parents' experiences, and in those cases the parent is treated as the correspondent for purposes of determining filing dates and names. Letters from non-alumni are filed at the end of the years referenced in the letters.

Correspondence ranges from one page to thirty-plus pages, and the larger or more significant sets of correspondence are filed singly in their own folders.

Following those, about six folders collect letters very specifically in response to requests by Mr. Stimson for information about specific subjects; the correspondence in this set almost never touches on other topics. Keep in mind that letters in the chronological files might also touch on these topics.