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The J. Walter Thompson Company World War II Advertising Collection documents the war-related activities of the J. Walter Thompson Company (JWT) advertising agency during 1940-1948, including a few post-war assessments. In particular, it shows JWT's contributions to the war effort by its in-house documentation and work on government, civilian, and war-supporting charitable organization accounts. Materials include lists, memos, press releases, correspondence, notes, and advertisement tearsheets and proofs. Many of the materials in this collection are products of campaigns conducted under the auspices of the War Advertising Council, as well as those sponsored by civilian clients. These advertisements and pamphlets supported food rationing, fuel and rubber conservation, the purchase of War Bonds, the United Services Organization (USO), military recruitment, and women's employment in war-related jobs. Other advertisements arose from JWT's work in 1941 and 1942 for the Navy Relief Society. Items produced by the JWT London Office supported British War Relief (Ministry of Food, 1940-1941) and the Food Facts series (recipes and cooking tips for foods available despite rationing).

The Women in Jazz Photographs Collection contains photographs, clippings, concert programs, and other promotional materials related to women jazz musicians in the United States from 1940 to 1945. The collection focuses on all-female big bands such as Ada Leonard's All-American Girl Orchestra and the Tennessee-based Marjorie Rainey's Rhythmettes. This collection was compiled from a variety of sources by the Jazz Archive staff for use in reference and research.

The Edgar Marquess Branch Papers span the years from 1939 to 2003, with the majority of the materials dating from 1960 to 1990. Through correspondence and writings, they document Branch's lifelong research on nineteenth-century American author Mark Twain. Important correspondents include such Twain scholars as Fred Anderson, Louis Budd, Cyril Clemens, Robert Hirst, and Henry Nash Smith. Topics chiefly focus on issues concerning academic writers, and Twain's life and literary output. Although the bulk of this collection concerns Branch's work on Twain, it should be noted that Professor Branch was also an eminent scholar of James T. Farrell, a twentieth-century American novelist best known for his "Studs Lonigan" series (1932-1935). Branch's papers are organized into three series: Correspondence, Special Projects Files, and Writings. Although Branch taught for many years as a Professor of English, there are no teaching materials in the collection. However, the correspondence may contain some references to teaching American literature and to activities as a faculty member at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

Collection contains bound manuscript diaries kept by Elgin W. Mellown (1904-1975), while superintendent of public schools in Sumter Co., Alabama during the 1940s-1960s, and other materials which shed light on conditions in Alabama schools during that period. The diaries are sometimes difficult to interpret: on occasion Mellown used an entry for organizing his thoughts on a subject, but most of the time entries consist of briefly jotted reminders and sometimes only appointments. Names are often rendered as abbreviations. Collection also contains audio tapes featuring interviews with school staff and citizens, both black and white. There are also slides related to Mellown's work.

This collection consists of official letters, speeches, data concerning party organization, newspaper clippings, printed matter (both from the state Republican Party and the national executive committee), a list of contributors to the state party in 1952, official press releases, and financial records.