The diverse material which makes up the DeHuff Family Papers has been organized into five series. The first, scrapbooks and similar items, reflects Elizabeth"s habit of collecting small items throughout her long life. In addition to the scrapbooks proper, this series also contains several photograph albums and a large number of picture postcards.
In series two, diaries and memoirs, John David takes center stage. His diaries document his life from 1901 to about 1940; the diaries from the Philippines and the manuscript Memories of Orient Seas, which is based on them, are particularly interesting. Elizabeth"s diaries are very incomplete, covering only her travels in 1910 and 1913, the years 1914-15, and 1944. John David"s diaries are therefore the only account we have of this couple's significant years in Santa Fe. The diaries of Elizabeth"s mother, Ann Boyd Wilson Willis, are also included here.
The third series, of DeHuff family manuscripts, is devoted almost entirely to stories, essays, and poems by Elizabeth. Largely undated, several of these manuscripts illustrate differing versions of stories which were later published. The origin of Indian painting is discussed in a number of the manuscripts; cross references in the contents list will help the reader locate them.
Literary and research material, a rather amorphous collection of documents, constitutes the fourth series, with Elizabeth the central figure once again. Highlights include her Indian Detours couriers" bulletins; contracts, reviews, and royalty statements which reflect her career as a writer; more material on the origin of Indian painting, including a statement from Fred Kabotie; illustrations by Quincy Tahoma, Gisella Loeffler, and others for some of Elizabeth"s books; genealogical material; and a large number of clippings and periodical articles, both bound and unbound.
The fifth and final series is devoted to correspondence, almost all of it Elizabeth's. The letters she wrote cover the period from 1903 to 1980, while those she received cover the slightly longer period from 1898 to 1981. These include several letters from Fred Kabotie, and from literary acquaintances like Paul Horgan, Mabel Dodge Luhan, Alice Bullock, Mary Austin, J. Frank Dobie, Witter Bynner, Ernest Thompson Seton, etc. In addition, there is a small amount of DeHuff correspondence, and also some from various members of the Wilson and Willis families.
