Special Collections houses and maintains over 700 manuscript collections of primary research material. A manuscript collection contains a variety of materials and may include letters, journals, publications, writings, or business papers. Collections may be centered around an individual (James Hampton Kirkland), an organization (Vanderbilt Aid Society), or a specialized topic (Voices of Peabody). While the term “manuscript” technically refers to handwritten material, a collection may contain a variety of different formats including handwritten letters, typed articles or manuscripts, photographs, film reels, audio cassettes, reel-to-reel recordings, VHS cassettes or DVDs, floppy disks, and other material. Highlights of some of these collections include the papers of: Delbert Mann, director of hundreds of film and television productions; Francis Robinson, director of the Metropolitan Opera; Kelly Miller Smith, Divinity School assistant dean and civil rights activist; and William Giles Harding, Civil War general and founder of the Belle Meade Plantation.
Since many of these collections are quite substantial, access is provided through indexes called Guides to Collections which provide both an overview of the collection, as well as a box-by-box listing of what the collection contains. These guides can be invaluable in helping researchers narrow the focus of their research for large collections which may consist of several hundred boxes of material.
Special Collections manuscript collections are listed in the library catalog. Special Collections also maintains both an Alphabetical List as well as a Subject Guide of all the collections. Researchers can use the Search This Site box in the top left column to search the web site by keyword. Subject-based research guides can also be found on the Research Guides page.