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The Outdoor Advertising Association of America Slide Library spans the years 1891 through the 2000s, with the bulk of the collection originating in the 1950s and later. The collection documents over a hundred years of outdoor advertising primarily in the United States, plus some international campaigns from several other continents. The Slide Library is a large collection, almost entirely comprised of slides of billboards, exhibiting a grand range of graphic artistry, advertising campaigns, and marketing strategies. A smaller group of images supports the ad collection with views of artwork, billboard construction and other related images. In addition to over 62,000 slides, there are a few early glass slides, as well as transparencies, a small number of paper files, and six audiocassettes accompanying slide presentations. Many images were submitted by outdoor advertising companies over a number of years to the Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA) as entries in annual national competitions to determine the best poster designs. The OAAA currently sponsors the OBIE Awards, which were preceded by awards programs under various names and sponsorships starting in the early 1930s. The award is modeled after the ancient Egyptian obelisk, considered by many the earliest form of outdoor advertising. Indeed much of the collection can be seen as evidence of this awards program although only the Award Nominees Series contains slides labeled as such. Other slides probably were transferred to OAAA when companies cleaned out their back files, though the precise sources of many items are unknown. The slides were maintained at OAAA primarily as a large supply of creative examples for member companies. Researchers interested in the following subjects may find the Outdoor Advertising Association of America Slide Library especially helpful: the outdoor advertising medium itself, advertising awards, advertising design, billboard construction, and commercial art, as well as the many outdoor advertising companies, advertisers, and advertising campaigns represented.

The records of the Charles W. Hoyt Company advertising agency span the years 1894-1973 with the bulk dating between 1909-1928. The collection primarily documents the founding and operation of the company, and to a lesser extent the personal activities of the Hoyt family (Charles, Effie, Winthrop, and Everett) and Winthrop's service during World War II in the U. S. Army Air Force. Materials include correspondence, scrapbooks, company publications and manuals, financial records, clippings, diaries, writings, drawings, photographs, house advertisements, Nazi medals, song lyrics, and printed material. Very little information exists in the collection concerning the Hoyt Company's clients. The only client advertisements that survive were produced for Merck and Co. The Hoyt company scrapbooks document some activities for clients including Arnold Bakers, Golden Blossom Honey, Jamaica Tourist Board, KLM, Stanley Home Products, the Charles B. Woolson Co. and the State of New Hampshire. The collection contains correspondence between family members as well as between the company and Merck and Co., the Charles B. Knox Co., and William Benton, one of the founders of the Benton and Bowles advertising agency. Another notable person mentioned in the collection is Hoyt Company employee Samuel Meek, who would go on to become an important executive for the J. Walter Thompson Company advertising agency. The collection is organized into the Company Series; the Family Series; and the Winthrop Hoyt World War II Series. Large-format items are located in the Oversize Materials.

The papers of Mary Octavine (Thompson) Cowper span the years 1895-1969, although the bulk of the material begins in 1938 when Mrs. Cowper became Executive Director of the Durham Nursery School Association, Inc., a post which she held until 1962. Included in the collection are five series: personal correspondence; writings; topical series; miscellany; and photographs.

The Michael I. Rostovtzeff Papers span the years 1897 to 1968 with the bulk dated 1926 to 1954. The collection chiefly consists of the correspondence of Michael Rostovtzeff and C. Bradford Welles, a colleague of Rostovtzeff's at Yale University, with other scholars in the fields of ancient history, archaeology, and philology. Other materials include autobiographical writings by Rostovtzeff, photographs, financial papers, and clippings. The papers primarily reflect Michael Rostovtzeff's tenure as a faculty member of the Classics Department at Yale University.

The Harry Slattery Papers span the period 1890-1953 with the bulk dated 1928 to 1944. They include correspondence, memoranda, writings and speeches, printed material, clippings, scrapbooks, and indexes. The collection chiefly concerns positions Slattery held during his years of public service and reflect his lifelong interest in conservation. Very few of Slattery's personal papers are included in the collection.

The Abram Kanof Papers, 1858-1996, contain printed material, correspondence, writings, and photographs primarily reflecting Dr. Kanof's research and writing in the field of Jewish ceremonial art; his role in the development of the Tobe Pascher Workshop of the Jewish Museum, New York, N.Y.; his curatorship at the North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, N.C.; and to a lesser extent, his patronage of the arts. The Abram Kanof Papers are relevant to the study of religious art in the Judaic tradition, and they also document Dr. Kanof's contributions, as a researcher, patron, and administrator, to the study of the relationship between art and Jewish liturgy and worship.

The papers of Louisa E. Rhine span the years 1890 to 1983 and include journals, correspondence, writings, genealogical papers, notebooks, pictures, and miscellaneous papers relating principally to her work and research with her husband J.B. Rhine in the field of parapsychology, including the impact of this work on their personal and professional lives.

The Floyd Millard Riddick Papers, 1909 to 2000, (bulk 1950-1983), consist of correspondence, writings and speeches, printed material, senate documents, photographs, and organizational papers documenting Riddick's career as the Assistant Parliamentarian, Parliamentarian, and Parliamentarian Emeritus of the United States Senate. The Correspondence Series includes correspondence to and from senators, presidents, and other political figures concerning the rules and procedures of the United States Senate.

The papers of Josephus Daniels span the period 1904-1954. However, the bulk of the material begins in 1913, while he was Secretary of the Navy in the Wilson administration, and continues until 1942 just after he resigned as Ambassador to Mexico.