This collection documents Kreps's career as an economist, academic administrator, and Secretary of Commerce for the Carter administration.
The largest series in the collection, Secretary of Commerce, is organized into six subseries: Appointment Books and Calendars, Appointment and Confirmation Process, Correspondence, Notes, Subject Files, and Photographs.
The second largest series in the collection, Speeches, contains drafts (frequently annotated and accompanied by other material) of Kreps's lectures, speeches, and remarks on occasions such as academic conferences, university commencements, various other university events, and corporate executive board meetings. The subjects are broadly based and reflect her interests in economics, especially in aging and older workers, women's social conditions and education, the value of women's labor, women in the corporate world, and work and leisure issues. Speeches given after her tenure as Secretary of Commerce also cover broader issues about globalization and domestic and international economic policy.
Albeit small, the Correspondence series spans several decades and documents Kreps's exchanges with academics and scholars, local and federal governments, and lobbyist groups. Other correspondence documents her career positions (some more fully than others), including Secretary of Commerce; Dean of the Woman's College at Duke University (especially relating to the merger of the Woman's College and Trinity College); Public Director of the New York Stock Exchange Board; Women's Research and Education Institute Board of Directors; and Carter Presidential Center fundraiser.
The Appointment Books and Calendars series records Kreps's busy schedule of events and engagements, and the Publications series holds her contributions to academic journals, government publications, and books.
The Visual Material series houses images that date from her childhood through her long career. Between this series and the Photographs subseries in the Secretary of Commerce series, there are 20 photo albums, 15 scrapbooks, 692 color and 595 black-and-white loose photographs, and over 100 negatives.
Other Files series contains material that falls outside of the scope of the other series, such as teaching material and publicity clippings.
