Scope and arrangement
Miscellaneous American Letters and Papers (MALP) is an artificial assortment of paper-based, non-photographic materials consisting of one to two folders for each collection. The topics covered include the arts, politics, literature, education, family, the military, business, and real estate. MALP is primarily organized in alphabetical order, with two large subject series, Slavery and Abolition, and the West Indies.
The Miscellaneous American Letters and Papers (MALP) is arranged in eleven series:
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This series contains materials that document slavery and abolition in the United States of America. Items of note include last wills and testaments, estate inventories, bills of sale, manumission documents, and documents and correspondence from abolitionists.
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This series primarily contains correspondence, plantation records, estate inventories, and other documents reflecting the period of slavery, amelioration, and emancipation in the West Indies. There are a small number of 20th century items such as a passport from Barbados, documents regarding the 1981 invasion of Grenada, and a 1979 letter from the youth wing of Guyana's Working People's Alliance.