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The Annie Lois Newkirk Blakely Papers, 1870-1988, contain chiefly correspondence and diaries but also include legal papers, pictures, and clippings. The collection primarily documents the life of Blakely as a Clinton, S.C. housewife and mother, and of her children, Florence Ella Blakely and Ann Newkirk Blakely McLeod. Much of the Correspondence Series consists of personal letters by family members and friends written to Annie Lois Newkirk Blakely, her husband Ralph Royd Blakely, daughters Florence Ella Blakely (a Duke University librarian), and Ann Newkirk Blakely McLeod. A large portion of this series contain correspondence (1921-1978) between Annie and Ralph Blakely before they were married. Although the Diaries Series (1927-1978) contains primarily the journals of Annie Lois Newkirk Blakely, other family members Florence Ella Blakely and Inez Robertson Blakely, are also included. The Pictures Series contains family photographs of vacations, holidays, and weddings. The Legal Papers Series primarily contains banking and investment correspondence, as well as personal legal Items, such as Annie Blakely's discharge papers from the U.S. Army and Ralph Blakely's discharge papers from the U.S. Navy after World War I. The Miscellaneous Series includes War Ration Books from the 1940s and photocopied newspaper clippings that pertain to the Blakely and Newkirk families.

The papers of Ann Preston Bridgers span the years 1871-1967, although the bulk of the material covers the period 1925-1963. Included in the collection are correspondence, manuscript drafts and notes, business items and programs related to the Raleigh Little Theatre, contracts, wills, newsclippings, and photographs.