Collection inventory

Overview of the Collection
Creator:	Caldwell, Erskine, 1903-1987
Title:	Erskine Caldwell Papers
Inclusive Dates:	1936-1942
Quantity:	8 linear ft.
Abstract:	Papers of the American author, dramatist, journalist, novelist, screenwriter, short story writer. Correspondence, financial records, writings, notes, telegrams, manuscripts, and memorabilia, spanning the seven years of the author's professional and personal relationship with photojournalist Margaret Bourke-White.
Abstract:	Writings
Language:	English
Repository:	Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries 222 Waverly Avenue Syracuse, NY 13244-2010 https://library.syracuse.edu/special-collections-research-center

Biographical History

Erskine Caldwell (1903-1987) was an American author known for writing about the American South. Caldwell grew up in the South (Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, and North and South Carolina) and his novels -- the most famous of which are Tobacco Road and God's Little Acre -- deal with problems faced by Southerners in the mid-twentieth century including poverty and racism. His second wife was the noted photojournalist Margaret Bourke-White.

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Erskine Caldwell Papers comprise 16 boxes of correspondence-subject files, writings, financial materials, and memorabilia documenting the 7 year span of the author's professional and intense personal relationship with photojournalist Margaret Bourke-White. Acquired as part of the Margaret Bourke-White Papers, there are few materials in the collection either before 1936 or after 1942, the year the couple divorced.

Correspondence-subject files are arranged alphabetically in 7 archival boxes and include business and professional files as well as personal and biographical materials. Correspondence which is of the greatest depth and duration includes that of Margaret Bourke-White, parents Ira and Caroline Caldwell, former wife Helen Caldwell Cushman, publishers Duell, Sloan & Pearce, Inc., agent Maxim Lieber, Life, artist Alfred Morang, PM, attorney Julius Weiss, and Caldwell and Bourke-White secretaries Margaret Salter and Margaret Smith, both of whom presided over the couple's often long-distance correspondences.

Writings comprise articles about the Russian front, typescript manuscripts and/or production records of books, short stories, production records, scripts, including untitled radio scripts from Moscow; miscellaneous drafts, typescript manuscripts, and notes on trips; press wireless releases Caldwell sent from Moscow while covering the German invasion of Russia for Life and PM; and printed short stories. They are arranged by type in 2 archival boxes and are almost solely works by Caldwell. Box 8 contains articles about the Russian front; typescript manuscripts and/or production records of books (God's Little Acre, Southways, Tobacco Road); production records of You Have Seen Their Faces (in collaboration with Bourke-White); scripts, including untitled radio scripts from Moscow; and typescript manuscripts of short stories. Box 9 contains miscellaneous drafts, typescript manuscripts, and notes on trips as well as press wireless releases Caldwell sent from Moscow while covering the German invasion of Russia for Life and PM, and printed short stories.

Financial materials (Boxes 9-15) include 3 years of cancelled checks, various household receipts (from grocery, utility and landscaping bills to car information and poll tax receipts), 4 years of royalty statements from the London, New York, and road company productions of Tobacco Road, and stocks and bonds information.

Memorabilia comprises addresses, clippings, contracts, publicity flyers, recipes, Caldwell's wallet and contents, a 1939 will, and miscellaneous printed material. Box 16 contains mostly personal photos of Caldwell and Bourke-White at their home, with their pets, or traveling and working together, some or which were taken by Bourke-White. There are some publicity photos and a few pre-1936 pictures of Caldwell's first wife and children.

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

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Related Material

See also the Margaret Bourke-White Papers.

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Subject Headings

Persons

Associated Titles

Subjects

Places

Genres and Forms

Occupations

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Erskine Caldwell Papers,
Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Library

Finding Aid Information

Created by: SEHG
Date: Apr 1990
Revision history: 25 Sep 2006 - converted to EAD (AMCon); 20 Mar 2013 - press release xrefs added (MRC); 8 Apr 2013 - Lewis, John corrected (MRC); 4 Feb 2016 - oversize box corrected, bioghist added (MRC)

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Inventory

	Correspondence - subject files
Box 1		A (1 folder)
		Accent
			See Harris, Marguerite Tjader.
Box 1		Allen, Jay 1940
Box 1		Alliance Book Corporation 1940
Box 1		Alvarez del Vayo, Julio 1940
		American Committee for Protection of Foreign Born
			See Hemingway, Ernest.
Box 1		American Council Against Nazi Propaganda, Inc. 1939
		American Folkways
			See Corle, Edwin; Kennedy, Stetson; Long, Haniel; Rayburn, Otto Ernest; Thane, Eric; Thomas, Jeannette; Vestal, Stanley.
Box 1		American Jewish Congress. Women's Division 1937
Box 1		Anti-Fascist Foundation 1939
Box 1		Appel, Benjamin 1940, undated
Box 1		Armstrong, Hamilton Fish 1938
Box 1		Atkinson, Brooks 1938
		Authors' Guild of the Authors' League of America
			See Authors' League of America, Inc.
Box 1		Authors' League of America, Inc. 1937-1940
Box 1		B (1 folder)
Box 1		Bailey, James Osler 1939
Box 1		Basso, Hamilton 1940
Box 1		Beals, Carleton undated
Box 1		Behn, Harry 1939-1940
Box 1		Behrens, Jacob 1939
Box 1		Bell, Earl L. and Emma 1938-1940, undated
Box 1		Bernadotte, Folke 1939
		Best, Marshall A.
			See Viking Press, Inc.
		Billings, John Shaw
			See Life.
		Birk, Louis P.
			See Modern Age Books, Inc.
Box 1		Bishop, John Peale 1939
Box 1		Blassingame, Lurton 1940
		Bliven, Bruce
			See New Republic.
Box 1		Block, Harry 1940
Box 1		Bobbs-Merrill Company 1939
Box 1		Bombal, Maria Luisa undated
Box 1		Bourke-White, Margaret 1936-1939 (6 folders)
Box 2		Bourke-White, Margaret 1940-1942, 1959, undated (5 folders)
Box 2		Braniff, Edward A. 1938
Box 2		Brentano's Booksellers 1939-1940
Box 2		British Broadcasting Corporation 1938
Box 2		Brown, Henry Tatnall 1939
Box 2		Brush, Katharine 1940
Box 2		Bulkley, Louise 1942, undated
Box 2		Burger, Hans undated
Box 2		Burnett, Whit 1939-1940
Box 2		Burrelle's 1938-1940
		Busch, Noel F.
			See Life.
Box 2		Byrd, Sam 1939
Box 2		C (1 folder)
		Caldwell, Helen
			See Cushman, Helen.
Box 2		Caldwell, Ira Sylvester and Caroline Preston (Bell) 1937, 1939-1940, undated
Box 2		Caldwell children 1937-1940
Box 2		Calmer, Alan 1939
		Campbell, Walter Stanley
			See Vestal, Stanley.
Box 2		Canadian Broadcasting Corporation 1941
Box 2		Carlson, Avis 1940
Box 2		Catlin, Stanton L. 1938
Box 2		Cerf, Bennett 1938-1939
Box 2		Cheever, Lawrence Oakley 1949
Box 2		Chemical Bank & Trust Company 1939-1940
			See also Financial: Chemical Bank and Trust Co.
Box 2		Coindreau, Maurice Edgar 1934, 1939, undated
Box 2		Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. (CBS) 1941
Box 2		Conference on Pan American Democracy 1938-1939
Box 2		Conroy, Jack 1939
Box 2		Corle, Edwin 1949
Box 2		Cosulich, Bernice 1939
		Cousins, Norman
			See Saturday Review of Literature.
Box 2		Coxe, Daniel 1939
Box 2		Cunningham, William 1940
Box 3		Cushman, Helen 1938-1940, undated (3 folders)
Box 3		Czechoslovak Consulate General 1938
Box 3		D (1 folder)
Box 3		Daily Sketch (London) 1941
Box 3		Daniels, Frank undated
		Davis, Lambert
			See Bobbs-Merrill Company.
Box 3		Dean, Alexander 1938
		Direction
			See Harris, Marguerite Tjader.
Box 3		Dodd, William Edward 1939
Box 3		Dolphin 1940
		Dombroski, James
			See Highlander Folk School.
Box 3		Dorrance, Ward Allison 1940
Box 3		Doughty, LeGarde S. 1940
Box 3		Dowling, Eddie 1938
Box 3		Dramatists' Guild of the Authors' League of America 1937-1939
Box 3		Duell, Sloan & Pearce, Inc. 1939-1941 (4 folders)
		Durant, Genevieve
			See Durant, Kenneth and Genevieve.
Box 3		Durant, Kenneth and Genevieve ("Jed") 1938-1941
Box 3		E (1 folder)
		Efron, David
			See Conference on Pan American Democracy.
Box 3		Elliott, Charles N. 1939-1940
		Everitt, C. Raymond
			See Little, Brown, & Company.
Box 3		F (1 folder)
		Ferguson, Otis
			See New Republic.
Box 3		Field, Ben 1938-1940
Box 3		Fischer, Louis and Markoosha 1939
Box 3		Foley, Martha 1940
Box 3		Foreign Commission of Soviet Writers of the USSR 1939
Box 3		Friede, Donald 1939
Box 3		G (1 folder)
Box 3		Gallimard, Claude undated
		Gannett, Lewis
			See New York Herald Tribune.
Box 3		Gates, Arnold F. 1939
Box 3		Geer, William and Herta 1939, undated
Box 3		Gillmor, Frances 1940, undated
Box 3		Goldstone, Nat C. 1940, undated
Box 3		Golenpaul, Dan 1940
Box 3		Gorelik, Mordecai 1941
		Graebner, Walter
			See Life.
		Gussman, Lawrence
			See Redbook Magazine.
Box 4		H (1 folder)
		Hampton, Vernon B.
			See Edwin Markham Memorial Association.
Box 4		Hanc, Josef 1938
Box 4		Harris, Marguerite Tjader 1940, undated
Box 4		Hartman, Ralph D. 1940
		Haycroft, Howard
			See H. W. Wilson Company.
Box 4		Hearst Strike Committee 1939
Box 4		Hellman, Lillian 1939
Box 4		Hemingway, Ernest 1940
		Henry, Ralph Chester
			See Thane, Eric.
Box 4		Herrick, Frances 1939-1940?
Box 4		Hervey, Harry 1940, undated
		Hicks, Wilson
			See Life.
Box 4		Highlander Folk School 1937, 1939-1940, undated
		Horton, Myles
			See Highlander Folk School.
Box 4		Houghton Mifflin Company 1940
Box 4		I
		Ingersoll, Ralph
			See PM.
		International Literature
			See Rokotov, T.
Box 4		J (1 folder)
Box 4		Johns, Richard 1938-1939, undated
Box 4		Jones, Alfred W. 1939
Box 4		K (1 folder)
Box 4		Karr, David 1942
Box 4		Kelm, Karlton undated
Box 4		Kennedy, Stetson 1940
Box 4		Kirk, Barbara 1939, undated
Box 4		Kline, Herbert undated
Box 4		Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. 1940
Box 4		Kocourek, Rotislav 1938
Box 4		Kopperl, Bert 1939
Box 4		Korner, Ruth 1938-1939, undated
		Kronenberger, Louis
			See PM.
		Kunitz, Stanley
			See H. W. Wilson Company.
Box 4		L (1 folder)
Box 4		Lane, Mrs. Julian Carswell 1939
Box 4		League of American Writers 1938-1941 (2 folders)
Box 4		Lengel, William Charles 1940
Box 4		Lewis, H. H. 1940
		Lewis, John
			See PM, 1941.
Box 4		Lieber, Maxim 1937-1939 (4 folders)
Box 5		Lieber, Maxim 1940-1941 (3 folders)
Box 5		Lieberson, Margaret 1940
Box 5		Life 1941, undated (2 folders)
Box 5		Little, Brown, & Company 1939-1940
Box 5		Long, Haniel 1939-1941, undated
Box 5		Luce, Henry and Clare
			See also Life.
Box 5		Lynn, Rhoda 1940-1941, undated
Box 5		Lyon, John Henry Hobart 1939
Box 5		Lyons, Leonard 1939, undated
Box 5		M (1 folder)
Box 5		McBride, Mary Margaret undated
Box 5		Macdonald, Dwight 1939
Box 5		Mack, Walter S. 1940
Box 5		Macleod, Norman 1939-1940, undated
		Macy, George
			See Dolphin.
		Magil, Abraham Bernard
			See New Masses.
Box 5		Maltz, Albert 1940
Box 5		March of Time Limited 1938
Box 5		Edwin Markham Memorial Association 1940
Box 5		A. N. Marquis Company 1939-1940
		Maxwell, William
			See The New Yorker.
		Meloney, Marie Mattingly
			See New York Herald Tribune.
Box 5		Mermelstein, Martin 1938-1941
Box 5		Miller, Ellen B. 1940
		Miller, Nellie Burget
			See Miller, Ellen B.
Box 5		Mitchell, Joseph 1940
Box 5		Modern Age Books 1940
Box 5		Moe, Henry Allen 1937, 1940
Box 5		Molotov, Vyacheslav Mikhaylovich 1941
Box 5		Montague Paramount News 1941
Box 5		Morang, Alfred 1936, 1939-1941
Box 5		Morang, Alfred - drawings: pen, watercolor
Box 5		Motion Picture Democratic Committee 1939
Box 5		Mullins, Helene 1939
		Mumford, Lewis
			See American Council Against Nazi Propaganda, Inc.
Box 5		N (1 folder)
Box 5		National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
Box 5		National Committee For People's Rights 1938-1939
Box 5		National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, Inc. 1938
Box 5		Nelson, Truman 1940
Box 5		New Masses 1939-1940
Box 6		New Republic 1938-1940, undated
Box 6		New School for Social Research 1937-1938, undated
Box 6		New York Committee of Fifty-Six 1939
Box 6		New York Herald Tribune 1939-1941
		New York Post
			See Lyons, Leonard.
Box 6		The New Yorker 1938-1940, undated
Box 6		Nix, Ann 1940 - caricature of Caldwell
		North, Joseph
			See New Masses.
Box 6		O (1 folder)
Box 6		O'Brien, Edward Joseph 1940-1941
Box 6		O'Donnell, Edwin P. 1939-1940
Box 6		Orton, Vrest 1939-1940 undated
Box 6		Oumansky, K. 1941
Box 6		P (1 folder)
Box 6		Page, Myra 1940
Box 6		Pardoe, T. Earl 1940
Box 6		Pearce, Charles A.
			See also Duell, Sloan & Pearce, Inc.
Box 6		P.E.N. 1939
		Perry, Claire W.
			See Perry, Clay.
Box 6		Perry, Clay 1940
Box 6		PM 1939-1941 (2 folders)
Box 6		Pringle, Ernest Henry 1940
Box 6		Q
		Quinn, Kerker
			See Harris, Marguerite Tjader.
Box 6		R (1 folder)
Box 6		Raffalovich, George 1939
Box 6		Rayburn, Otto Ernest 1934, 1939-1940
Box 6		Redbook Magazine undated
Box 6		Reissig, Herman F. 1939
Box 6		Robertson, Ben 1939
Box 6		Rokotov, T. 1937-1940
Box 6		Roosevelt, Theodore 1939
Box 6		Rose, Stanley 1939-1940, undated
Box 6		Rosenbach, A. S. W. 1940
Box 6		Russian War Relief 1941
Box 6		S (1 folder)
Box 6		Salter, Margaret and John 1938-1940, undated
Box 6		Saturday Review of Literature 1940
Box 6		Schacher, Gerhard 1939
Box 6		Seaver, Edwin 1938
Box 6		Selby, John 1939-1940
Box 7		Sellers, Jack 1940
Box 7		Showshop, Inc. 1937
Box 7		Simon and Schuster Publishers 1940
		Smith, Jessica
			See Soviet Russia Today.
Box 7		Smith, Margaret 1937-1940
Box 7		Southern Women's National Democratic Organization in New York, Inc. 1940-1941
Box 7		Soviet Russia Today 1939-1940
Box 7		Spanish Refugee Relief Campaign 1940
Box 7		Stagg, Jerry 1939-1940
Box 7		Steinhardt, Laurence 1941
Box 7		Steloff, Frances 1939
Box 7		Stern, Alfred Kaufman 1939-1941
		Stewart, Donald F.
			See PM.
Box 7		Stoddard, Alfred 1940
Box 7		Sunday Chronicle 1941
Box 7		Sure, Ethel 1940
Box 7		Szilasi, Bela 1938
Box 7		T (1 folder)
		Taggard, Genevieve
			See Durant, Kenneth and Genevieve.
Box 7		Thane, Eric 1940
Box 7		Thomas, Jeannette 1940
Box 7		Thompson, Clara 1939-1940
		Thompson, Edward K.
			See Life.
		Thorndike, Joseph
			See Life.
Box 7		Tilgham, Zoe A. 1940
Box 7		Town & Country 1938
Box 7		Trout, Bob 1939
Box 7		U (1 folder)
Box 7		Underwood, Edna Worthley 1940
Box 7		United States Department of State 1941
Box 7		Urey, Harold Clayton 1939
Box 7		V (1 folder)
		Van Doren, Irita
			See New York Herald Tribune.
Box 7		Van Vechten, Carl 1939
Box 7		Vassar College Political Association 1939
Box 7		Vestal, Stanley 1939-1940
Box 7		Viking Press, Inc. 1938-1940
Box 7		Von Carlshousen, H. Buderus 1940
Box 7		W (1 folder)
Box 7		Weiss, Julius 1937-1941 (2 folders)
Box 7		West, Nathanael ("Pep W.") 1939
		White, Paul
			See Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc.
Box 7		White, Ruth 1938-1940
Box 7		H. W. Wilson Company 1939
Box 7		Winter, Ella 1940
		Wise, Louise W. (Mrs. Stephen S.)
			See American Jewish Congress. Women's Division.
Box 7		Woollacott, Arthur P. 1940
Box 7		World Broadcasting System, Inc. 1940
Box 7		Y (1 folder)
Box 7		Z
Box 7		Zinn, Mildred 1940, undated
Box 7		Unidentified 1938-1940, undated

	Writings
		Articles
Box 8			"Behind Russian Lines" July 28, 1941 - draft of article which appeared in Life
Box 8			"Russia in Wartime" Sept. 8, 1941 - draft of article which appeared in Life
		Books
			God's Little Acre - motion picture option
				See Correspondence-subject files: Goldstone, Nat C.
Box 8			Russia at War - ms.
Box 8			Southways - ms.
Box 8			Southways - production records - galleys
Box 8			Tobacco Road - production records - illustrations
Box 8			You Have Seen Their Faces - production records - dust jacket
Box 8			You Have Seen Their Faces - production records - "Order of Caldwell Prints In Book"
		Scripts
Box 8			"Journeyman" - production records - financial
Box 8			Untitled radio scripts (Soviet Union) June 30, 1941, Aug. 1941 - ms. (2 folders)
Box 8			Untitled radio scripts (Soviet Union) Sept. 1941 - ms.
		Stories
Box 8			"Big Buck" - ms.
Box 8			"The Courting of Susie Brown" - ms.
Box 8			"The Day the Presidential Candidate Came to Ciudad Tamaulipas" - ms.
Box 8			"Dine and Dance" - ms.
Box 8			"An Evening in Nuevo Leon" - ms.
Box 8			"The Fly in the Coffin" - ms.
Box 8			"The Long Road" - ms.
Box 8			"Roadside" - ms.
Box 8			"Runaway" - ms.
Box 8			"Shorty's Place" - ms.
Box 8			"Squire Dinwiddy" - ms.
Box 8			"Sylvia" - ms.
Box 8			"The Thunderstorm" - ms.
Box 8			"The Time They Jailed My Old Man" - ms.
Box 8			"Uncle Jeff" - ms.
Box 8			"The Windfall" - ms.
		Miscellany
Box 9			"My Old Man" - ms.
Box 9			Notes on trips 1936, 1937, 1939, 1940 (4 folders)
Box 9			Press wireless releases, Soviet Union to Life - typed sheets
				See also Unidentified drafts.
Box 9			Press wireless releases, Soviet Union to PM - typed sheets
				See also Unidentified drafts.
Box 9			"Solomon Lozorsky" - typed sheets
Box 9			"Stalin" - typed sheets
Box 9			"Transit China" - typed sheets
Box 9			"Transit China" - notes
Box 9			Unidentified drafts - includes piece on Laurence A. Steinhardt which mention Lillie Langtry, and a number of copies of press wireless releases sent from the Soviet Union (recipient is not identified)
				See also Press wireless releases, Soviet Union to Life and Press wireless releases, Soviet Union to PM.
		Printed material
Box 9			"Hamrick's Polar Bear" - Red Book July 1937
Box 9			"Here and Today" - Harper's Bazaar Feb. 1937
Box 9			"Home Front - Texas Style" - New York Herald Tribune May 10, 1942
Box 9			"In Defense Of Myself" - publication unidentified
Box 9			"A Knife to Cut the Cornbread With" - Direction Jan. 1938
Box 9			"Man and Woman" - The New Yorker July 10, 1937
Box 9			"The Night My Old Man Came Home" - The New Yorker Dec. 11, 1937
Box 9			"Nine Dollars Worth of Mumble" - Harper's Bazaar Mar. 1937
Box 9			"A Small Day" - The New Yorker Aug. 22, 1936
Box 9			"Uncle Mose's Love Nest" - Sunday Worker Jan. 23, 1938
Box 9			"Warm River" - Redbook Apr. 1938

	Financial
Box 9		Chemical Bank & Trust Co. 1937-1938 - cancelled checks, deposits, statements (1 folder)
Box 10		Chemical Bank & Trust Co. 1939-1941 - cancelled checks, deposits statements (2 folders)
Box 10		Chemical Bank & Trust Co. 1937-1940 - custodial account #1 (2 folders)
Box 10		Chemical Bank & Trust Co. 1937-1940 - custodial account #2 (2 folders)
Box 11		Chemical Bank & Trust Co. 1938-1939 - notes
Box 11		First National Granite Bank 1937 - deposits
Box 11		Home Bank & Trust Co. 1939-1941 - cancelled checks, deposits, statements (3 folders)
Box 11		Home Bank & Trust Co. 1940-1941 - trust fund
			See also Chemical Bank & Trust Co. custodian accounts #1, #2.
Box 11		Household receipts 1936-1938 (2 folders)
Box 12		Household receipts 1939-1942 (5 folders)
Box 12		Insurance & annuities 1937-1941 (2 folders)
Box 12		Miscellaneous financial 1939-1940
Box 13		Royalty statements: books 1937-1940
Box 13		Royalty statements: Tobacco Road: London undated
Box 13		Royalty statements: Tobacco Road: New York Company 1937-1940 (4 folders)
Box 13		Royalty statements: Tobacco Road: Road Company 1937-1938 (3 folders)
Box 14		Royalty statements: Tobacco Road: Road Company 1939-1940 (6 folders)
Box 14		Royalty statements: Tobacco Road: Road Company-Eastern U.S. 1939-1940
Box 14		Royalty statements: Trouble In July 1940
Box 14		Savings banks 1940 - miscellaneous items
Box 14		Stocks: invoices, memos, receipts 1937-1938
Box 15		Stocks: invoices, memos, receipts 1939
Box 15		Travel (customs) 1941
Box 15		Travel vouchers 1937-1942 (3 folders)
Box 15		U.S. Government Bonds 1939-1940

	Memorabilia
Box 15		Clippings
Box 15		Contract for Say! This Is The U.S.A. 1952
Box 15		Contract for You Have Seen Their Faces 1937
Box 15		Credit cards and memberships
Box 15		Names and addresses 1940
Oversize 1		Photographs, personal and publicity
Box 15		Publicity flyers
Box 15		Recipes
Box 15		Will & testament 1939
Box 15		Miscellaneous printed materials
Box 15		Miscellany

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