The collection has been arranged as follows: family correspondence (except Juliette (Gordon) Low); personal papers of William Washington Gordon II; Nelly (Eleanor) Kinzie Gordon; Juliette (Gordon) Low and the Girl Scouts; George Arthur Gordon; other members of the family; household receipted bills; Gordon business companies; Gordon real estate; Kinzie; Chicago; genealogies; scrapbooks; photographs; large documents, etc.
There is some overlapping of information in the various groups, e.g., family correspondence and the publications of Wau-Bunand The Chicago Massacrein the Kinzie group; some business correspondence and family correspondence, etc. There are also letters (including some of Juliette (Gordon) Low), invitations and other memorabilia in the scrapbooks. One should read carefully the itemized list for full coverage on a person or a subject.
Juliette (Gordon) Low's papers are divided into four categories: personal matters; financial matters; property, will, and estate; Girl Scout matters. The first category, personal matters, consists mainly of personal correspondence, 1874-1926. A portion of the personal correspondence is made up of incomplete and/or undated letters; some of the undated material has been tentatively dated through internal evidence. Also included in personal matters are writings by and about Juliette (Gordon) Low; poetry by or collected by Juliette (Gordon) Low; newspaper clippings, mostly about English friends, collected by Juliette (Gordon) Low; a horoscope and other miscellaneous material. The box containing financial matters holds financial correspondence to and from and concerning Juliette (Gordon) Low; receipts; cancelled checks; and records of accounts and investments. The third category: property, will, and estate, includes legal documents and a few pieces of correspondence relating to these documents. This material is concerned with the property settlement between William Mackay Low and Juliette Gordon Low, property that came to Juliette (Gordon) Low, and papers relating to the dispersal of the estate of Juliette (Gordon) Low. The fourth category, Girl Scout matters, includes Girl Scout correspondence, 1912-1926 and undated; speeches relating to Girl Scouts; history of the Girl Scouts; legal documents relating to the Girl Scouts; Girl Scout merit badges and other insignia; and miscellaneous material relating to the Girl Scouts.
All papers in these categories have been counted and are included in the total count, but only the personal and Girl Scout matters have been itemized. There are some letters which contain persona, Girl Scout, and financial information all together. In most cases the subject matter discussed at greatest length in the letter determines the category in which it is placed, but some letters, particularly those which contain both person and Girl Scout information, could be placed in either category.
The collection includes one roll of microfilm, consisting of Gordon family letters, 1862-1864, of which the originals are in the Southern Historical Collection, #2235 at the University of North Carolina.
The collection also contains a number of addenda. Addendum 1, located in Box 42, contains additional letters photostats of manuscripts, and other documents relating to Ambrose Gordon, the Gordons in New Jersey, and other members of the Gordon family. Addenda 2-4 and 6-7 are all housed in Box 43 of the collection. Addendum 2 includes Girl Scout scrapbooks and clippings relating to George Arthur Gordon, Jr. Addendum 3 is comprised of family letters. Addendum 4 consists of letters, 1913-1932, historical essays, maps, photographs, and an inventory and service record of W.W. Gordon, Jr., during the Spanish-American War, 1902. Addendum 5, interfiled into Box 1, Folder 2, consists of two letters from Sarah Anderson (Stites) Gordon to her husband William Washington Gordon I, concerning family news and whether or not Mr. Gordon would return from the Georgia Senate in Milledgeville in time for Christmas. Addendum 6 contains additional letters and papers, 1717-1925 and undated. Addendum 7 consists of Low family photographs. Addendum 8 has been interfiled into Box 1, Folders 5-9; it consists of correspondence from four individuals: Sarah Anderson Stites Gordon, William Washington Gordon II, Eleanor "Nelly" Lytle Kinzie Gordon, and Juliette Augusta Magill Kinzie. The dates of the letters range from 1861 to 1864 and the content is often directly related to the Civil War.
