Author Laura Kalpakian, described by some critics as one of the "most unheralded, brightest talents" in the country, has published several novels and short story collections, novellas, short stories, essays and interviews for magazines and newspapers including Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping, McCall's, Los Angeles Times, Miami Herald, and Hawaii Review. 

The Laura Kalpakian Papers contain manuscripts and drafts of stories, novels, and speeches. Correspondence relates to the creation and publication of several works. Writings are arranged in chronological order within three series: Novels, Short Stories and Other Writings, and Short Story Collections.

The Kauffman Collection, comprised of the Mississippi papers, pertains to three generations of plantation families in southwestern Mississippi. The papers were first received in four wrapped bundles, or packages.

The first package of documents are those of Dr. John F. Carmichael produced from 1800 to 1845. The majority of these manuscripts date from the 1820s, but there is a good distribution of items from 1800 to 1837, the year Carmichael died. The last dated item, produced in 1845, is the distribution of Carmichael's own estate, as written by his nephew John Carmichael Jenkins.

These papers give a limited view of life in early Mississippi when it was part of West Florida, the Mississippi Territory, and after it became a state. As there is not much lengthy correspondence involved, it is difficult to obtain a deep understanding of activities around that time. The papers do, however, show that the early settlers in Mississippi were in rather dangerous and isolated territory; floods and disease were quite common, and food was simple and not in ample supply. The numerous receipts are effective in demonstrating the lifestyle of the people; what was bought and sold in the area indicates the degree of comfort in which the residents lived.

The quality of the materials themselves runs from fair to poor. Many items have pages missing or are torn, holed, brittle, and stained, some beyond easy identification. Most of the papers are small, single-paged items, but the legal documents and manifests are usually oversized and lengthy.

The second package in this collection is related to Dr. John Carmichael Jenkins, the nephew of the aforementioned John Carmichael. The materials were produced from 1827- to 1869. The bulk of these papers were written between 1835 and 1855, the years Jenkins lived in Mississippi. There are, however, two items which date from his years in Pennsylvania, and a copy of a sharecroppers' lease in 1869 for the Beverly Plantation, which apparently was in the control of Dr. Jenkins' elder son, John Jenkins, Jr.

These manuscripts are useful in understanding the business and social climate of the expansive and antebellum periods in Mississippi. They are more diverse and detailed than the letters to Carmichael. They show the lifestyle one would experience as a middle-class Southern farmer of the 1840s and 1850s.

The condition of the material is fair to good; most of the items are intact and only slightly faded. Colored paper is still in good shape, but the handwriting becomes harder to decipher than on the yellowed white paper generally used. Occasionally there is a page missing from a long letter, but almost everything is complete.

The third package of the Kauffman Collection contains those papers relating to Judge Josiah Winchester. These papers were produced from 1849 to 1893. There are many unsigned and undated drafts of letters, mostly dealing with Chinese labor immigration and miscellaneous notes and accountings.

These items were produced mostly from 1856 to 1888, with a thinning of the material from 1860 to 1865, during the Civil War, and again from 1874 to 1880. The earlier papers were probably left with this collection as received, the more important documents relating to wartime being removed. A single document from 1849 was received in this package, but it concerns lands belonging to the Bank of the United Sate (Pennsylvania) and probably not relative to Winchester. There are also a printed map of Adams County, Mississippi, and a length typewritten draft of a proposal sent to Congress concerning levee construction along the Mississippi, and a lengthy typewritten draft of a proposal sent to Congress concerning levee construction along the Mississippi River. These date from around 1893, five years after all documents with Winchester's name ceased to appear.

These documents are somewhat helpful in understanding legal procedure and domestic law during the 1860s and 1870s. Many of the receipts and bills are printed with handwritten inserts; the stationary shows some the flair of the period with its lettertype and occasional engravings.

The condition of the material is in a quite good state of preservation. There are few holed or brittle papers, and the ink quality has been retained. Unfortunately there are some incomplete letters and documents, some unsigned, and many undated.

The fourth and final package in this collection is the most fragmented. Here are papers and documents that are in disarray, belonging mostly to six groups. The papers of S.J. Hoggatt all relate to Judge Winchester: Winchester was Hoggatt's attorney. When the collection was received, however, these papers were separate from the rest of Winchester's correspondence. Most of Hoggatt's papers are letters to Winchester or bills received and paid through an account with the attorney. The period covered runs from 1870 to 1888.

The letters of the Dunbar family total seven items, running from 1799 to 1850. These probably belonged to Annis Dunbar Jenkins, but they too were separated from the Jenkins package when received. The Morgan Company and Morgan family papers, and an inventory concerning a lawsuit between family members over the ownership and distribution of George Morgan's estate.

The United States Bank at New Orleans seems to have been a part of the Bank of the United States in Pennsylvania; several of the tax receipts in the Jenkins collection belong with these papers concerning land deals and business transactions in Mississippi. Most of these items are business letters for the secretary for the bank trustees in Philadelphia to their agent, A. C. Ferguson, in Natchez. The time covered is from 1837 to 1866, but the majority of these papers were produced in the late 1850s.

The final group in the package consists of miscellaneous material relative to Mississippi. They run from 1803 to 1869, and some actually belong in Carmichael's, Jenkins', or Winchester's papers, but for some reason they were placed in this package when received. Other items in this group are single letters or unidentified notes which have nothing to do with the principle persons in this collection.

These papers are generally useful in understanding the activities of specific groups on a smaller scale. The Harris family letters give insight into the way of life experienced by poorer Mississippians after the Civil War. The Morgan family legal case demonstrates the greed and desperation for wealth after the collapse of the Southern economy during Reconstruction.

The material is in good condition except for the oldest of the papers, those being the Dunbar letters and a few of the miscellaneous papers from the early 1800s.

Born in Cifuentes, Cuba in 1861, Julio A. Domínguez was a member of the Cuban rebel army better known as Mambises o Ejército Libertador. After the Spanish American War, he held many positions in the Cuban government under American jurisdiction and later when Cuba became a republic. The collection is comprised of documents related to his activities during the Cuban Independence War against Spain. Letters signed by General José J. Monteagudo, documents from "Ejército Libertador de Cuba" from the late 1890s, and photographs are some of the materials gathered in this collection.

The Julian Corrington Papers contain teaching and academic files concerning the University of Miami in addition to materials on scientific research and literature. Class records and course materials, dated 1944-63, include syllabi, memos, lecture notes, book lists, lists of research topics, correspondence with students and student recommendations. Other correspondence and memos, relating to the Biology Department discuss such topics as the curriculum, course requirements, faculty meetings and building plans. University of Miami "faculty notices," and "university memoranda" cover announcements of library news, information on education, and the Science Department. The records also contain publications such as "Self Portrait of a University," and a program from the 1962 dedication of the Otto G. Richter Library. Correspondence with faculty of other universities discusses the merits of general introductory science courses versus more specialized instruction.

Several files contain manuscripts and correspondence dealing with publications. Other files include materials on the electron microscope and include photographs taken through the microscope, reprints of articles and news clippings relating to the microscope. "Field Check Lists," dated 1917-21, and field trip reports record observations on the sea coast at Georgetown University. Photographs document trips led by Corrington. Reprints and publications on various scientific topics as well as and bulletins, newsletters, and programs from various scientific and scholarly organizations are included in files. Additional files of particular interest contain newspaper clippings and literature from various organizations on eugenics, genetics and the teaching of evolution. Corrington collected these materials, dated 1920-44, for inclusion in class lectures.

The Joseph Spencer Kennard Papers includes correspondence, a scrapbook, and the manuscript of A Literary History of the Italian People (1940) by Joseph Spencer Kennard (1859-1944), author of several books about Italian literature and theater.

The Joseph Auslander and Audrey Wurdemann Collection consists predominantly of correspondence, programs, and scripts relating to their involvement with the CBS radio program Housewives' Protective League. The Housewives' Protectice League, airing from 1948 to 1962, was a daily CBS radio feature which explored a variety of issues from childrearing and health to fidelity and marriage troubles. The letters are either from publishers confirming the Auslander's permission to review or discuss their books on air, or from CBS executives discussing their scripts. Included also are several scripts not by Auslander or Wurdemann, and an untitled typescript. Finally, the collection contains a leasing agreement from the Auslanders for a house in New York City. several periodicals, 15 research notebooks, and 28 photographs (with French inscriptions) depicting trench warfare in Belgium during World War I.

The José Miró Cardona Papers consist of 21 boxes the administrative records of the Cuban Revolutionary Council (Consejo Revolucionario Cubano) under Miró Cardona’s presidency in the 1960s.  Central to this group of documents are those that relate to the Brigade 2506 and the Bay of Pigs Invasion.  The Papers also include 36 boxes of Miró Cardona’s personal and professional correspondence, his writings and speeches, clippings, photographs, memorabilia and materials related to his career as a law professor.