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Collection comprises a handwritten letter Lydia Howard Sigourney drafted as Secretary for the Hartford Ladies' Association for supplicating justice and mercy towards [sic?] the Indians, to request assistance with the circulation of a petition among the women of Hartford. The letter also discusses the political process behind the petition and its circulation. Includes a faint handwritten addendum, written in another person's hand, noting a decision not to send the letter. The item is undated, but possibly dates to the 1830s.

Collection comprises an autograph letter from Marianne North to Dr. Jessop, dated May 22, requesting that Jessop provide details about the possible sale of manuscripts of her ancestor, Roger North.

Dame Edith Sitwell was a British poet and critic whose work helped usher in the modernist era of British poetry. This autograph manuscript contains the text of two of her poems: "Lullaby" and "Serenade: From Any Man to Any Woman." Both poems were inspired by the early years of World War II and were published in her 1942 collection "Street Songs."

Mathilde Blind was a writer and feminist active in late 19th century England. This letter was written by Blind thanking a correspondent for sending her a newspaper clipping containing a review of her work. She expresses gratitude for his thoughtfulness and for his "sympathetic spirit" towards her work.

Lisa Unger Baskin, who assembled this collection of photographs centered on women's history and culture, is a bibliophile, collector, and activist. Collection consists of 514 photographs and other graphic items in a variety of formats typical for the time, chiefly albumen, but also including gelatin silver, cased images, and mechanical prints; there are also small groups of true photographic postcards. Along with titles, dates, and content, data points may include biographies of photographers and subjects, studio addresses, and other notes. Roughly three-quarters of the images were produced by commercial women photographers in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. The great majority date from about 1860 to 1920, and the most common format is studio portraits of white men, women, children, and families. There are also many photographs of well-known women artists, entertainers, intellectuals, and activists of the time, as well as images of women in educational and a variety of work settings, on sports teams, posing with uniforms, guns, and tools, and enjoying leisure activities. Roughly 40 images are portraits of African Americans and other people of color or mixed race. Color images are chiefly limited to hand-tinted images and mechanical prints. Acquired as part of the Lisa Unger Baskin Collection at Duke University.

Maria Mitchell was a pioneering United States astronomer. This collection comprises three social correspondence notes written by Mitchell between approximately 1846-1868.

Lady Elizabeth Holford was born Elizabeth Lewis around 1650. She first married a merchant called Harbin, whose wealth she inherited. Her second husband was a poor baronet, Sir William Holford, who died before her. Lady Holford died on 3 November 1720, without an heir. Collection comprises a handwritten manuscript copy (70 pages; incomplete, the text ends mid-sentence) of Lady Holford's will and codicils, created around 1720, following her death. In the will, large sums of money are bequeathed to several Oxford colleges, including Christ Church, Pembroke and Worcester Colleges, and Hart Hall, along with Charterhouse School. There are also lesser legacies made to various London charity schools, along with other amounts left to individuals.

Writing desk at which one would stand, designed and owned by Virginia Woolf. The sloping top of the desk features a central panel in two pieces, with hinges at the top. The panel lifts to reveal a storage compartment underneath. Two drawers are located below the storage area, one on each side of the desk. There are metal pulls on each drawer. The left-hand drawer pull surrounds a flower medalion; the medalion on the right-hand drawer is missing. The drawers and desk top each feature a metal lock, but no keys are present. Quentin Bell painted the figure of Cleo holding a trumpet on the top of the desk. He painted the rest of the desk, except the back, in grays with black accents. There are random spatters of paint present on all surfaces.

Ada Lovelace was a mathematician in 19th century England and the only legitimate child of the poet George Gordon, Lord Byron. She is often recognized as the creator of the first set of instructions meant to be carried out by a machine, and is thus seen as a pioneer of what would later become computer programming. The Ada Lovelace letter is a one-page note to [Fortunato] Prandi, an Italian interpreter, regarding ten guineas Lovelace owed Prandi.

Lydia Bailey was a prominent 19th-century Philadelphia printer. The Lydia Bailey account statements itemizes two printing jobs commissioned by John Steele of the Port of Philadelphia. The jobs were for use by commercial ships.

Collection comprises a single autograph manuscript note dated 1963 with a Paris return address from the conductor and composer Nadia Boulanger to her friend "R.I." Boulanger inquires after his recent illness and encourages him to carry on his work in the future. The note's recipient is likely the composer Robert Irving.

Collection comprises 5 black-and-white gelatin silver developing-out paper photographs taken by SNCC representatives from the Atlanta, Georgia, regional office. One photograph is uncredited, the others were photographed by Joffré T. Clarke, Bob Fletcher, and Tom Wakayama. They are undated, but probably were taken during the 1960s. Subjects in the images are all African-American, and include an elderly woman picking cotton, a young boy drawing with crayons, a little girl in a group watching others, a man slaughtering hogs, and a group building a house.

Vera Brittain was an English writer and pacifist activist best known for her World War I memoir Testament of Youth. The Vera Brittain letter to critia and editor John Middleton Murry concerns matters relating to the publishing and financing of Murry's literary, socialist, and pacifist magazine The Adelphi. Brittain also writes of her pacifism as it relates to concerns about nuclear warfare in the immediate aftermath of World War II.

Photographer Margaret Bourke-White writes to comic book editor Mort Weisinger commenting that she likes a story and that "it ought to be swell with the cartoons." The note likely refers to a comic book about Bourke-White published in 1947.

Collection comprises an pin with the text "American Women's Voluntary Services" on a background of red, white, and blue enamel. The back of the pin is marked "Bastian Brothers Co, Rochester, N.Y."

Pearl S. Buck was an American writer best known for her depictions of rural Chinese life. Her bestselling novel The Good Earth was awarded the Pulizer Prize, and she was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature (1938). This letter is written by Buck to Frances Perkins, then Franklin D. Roosevelt's Secretary of Labor, the first woman to hold a cabinet post. Buck thanks Perkins for congratulating her on winning the Nobel Prize. She writes that the award, "was given as much to America and China as it was to me."

Children's book author and socialite Julia Ellsworth Ford writes to fellow children's book writer Helen Hoke offering an introduction to the Yeats family while Hoke is in Dublin. Ford particularly wishes Hoke to meet Elizabeth Yeats because of her printing work with the Cuala Press. She writes that she considers William Butler Yeats the greatest poetic genius to emerge from England and Ireland in the 20th century, but that it will be difficult to meet him because he "is more or less a recluse because of writing all the time."

May Byron was a prolific British author best known for her children's books including a series of biographies and abridgements of J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan. In this letter, she responds to Rev. Edwin J. Matthews' request for the most important life lesson she's learned and for a list of her publications. Byron responds that she couldn't possibly sum up her life's experiences into one lesson, and that she can't provide a list of her publications because she's lost track of them. She does note that most of her children's books are still in print and have "been going on selling for some 20 years."

Agnes Smedley was a journalist, writer, and left-wing activist remembered for her activity on behalf of the Communist cause in China during the 1930s. It is believed that she engaged in extensive espionage activities while she lived in Shanghai from 1929-1941. The Agnes Smedley letters consist of three letters by Smedley, the first of which was written while she lived in Shanghai, and the second two while she lived at the Yaddo artists' colony during the 1940s. The first letter is a request for a social engagement, and the second two letters discuss the particulars of her political observations and writings while she lived and worked in China.

Elizabeth Arden was a pioneering cosmetics entrepreneur. In this letter, she writes to advise a potential customer on matters relating to health and beauty. Arden advises her to get plenty of rest, eat a balanced diet, and to use products from Arden's Venetian line in order to soothe her chapped hands. Arden writes, "I know that where one is a busy housewife and has many duties in a country home, it is hard to get rest and relaxation. Perhaps you are of the naturally alert, quick, nervous type and use up a lot of energy everyday."