The papers of Ralph Ellison (1914-1994) span the years 1890-2005, with the bulk of the material dating from 1930 to 1994. The collection documenting Ellison's career as author and educator is organized into two parts. Part I is arranged in nine series: Family Papers ; General Correspondence ; Organizations File ; Writings File ; Speeches, Lectures, and Interviews ; Reference File ; Miscellany ; Closed ; and Oversize . Part II is arranged in nine series: Family Papers ; General Correspondence ; Organizations File ; Writings File ; Reference File ; Miscellany ; 2009 Addition ; 2024 Addition ; and Oversize . The papers are in English.

Part I

Part I of the Ellison Papers spans the years 1890-1996, with most of the papers concentrated between 1933 and 1990.

The Family Papers contain personal material pertaining to Ellison, his wife Fanny McConnell Ellison, and their parents, siblings, former spouses, and other relatives. A substantial file relating to Ellison's employment includes material from his many teaching appointments. Of particular interest are the notes and reports he compiled for the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Fanny's employment papers document her work for the American Medical Center for Burma (now Myanmar) through the Harold L. Oram, Inc., fundraising agency and her contribution as one of the founders of the Negro People's Theatre in Chicago. Also noteworthy are her drawings pertaining to the history of costume executed as a WPA project for the Chicago Board of Education. Household papers contain material on the Ellisons' property in New York, Key West, Florida, and Plainfield, Massachusetts. The latter includes insurance records of the fire that destroyed the first drafts of Ellison's unpublished Hickman novel. Other material in the family papers consists of biographical information, financial, legal, and medical records, school and military records, newspaper and magazine articles about Ellison, travel documents, notes, and printed matter.

The General Correspondence series contains Ralph and Fanny Ellison's incoming and outgoing letters to friends and business associates. Correspondents include institutions and businesses as well as individuals. Chief among them are Saul Bellow, John Cheever, John Ciardi, Kenneth Bancroft Clark, William Dawson, Paul Engle, Langston Hughes, Stanley Edgar Hyman, Shirley Jackson, Albert Murray, Robert Penn Warren, and Richard Wright. Several of Ellison's letters to friends and acquaintances such as Harry Brooks, Harold Calicutt, and Henry B. O. Davis contain reminiscences of his childhood, college years, and early adulthood.

The Organizations File concerns a wide range of cultural, educational, and charitable institutions in which Ellison participated as an officer, advisor, or trustee. For example, he served on the governing boards of Bennington College, the Carnegie Commission on Educational Television, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the Museum of the City of New York, the New School for Social Research, and Wake Forest University. Material in the file consists primarily of correspondence and reports.

The Writings File contains drafts, notes, and production material for Ellison's literary works. The material in an essays and essay collections file, arranged alphabetically by title, appeared as journal articles or chapters published in compilations by others. Material pertaining to Ellison's own essay collections, Shadow and Act and Going to the Territory , is also included in this section. Many of his essays were reworked and republished several times. Ellison also wrote poetry, reviews of books, films, and recordings, short stories, and forewords, introductions, and endorsements for literary works of others. There is evidence that Ellison wrote book reviews in the 1940s under the pseudonym David Wilson. An incomplete draft of his memoirs also contains notes and outlines. Dates in parentheses in the container list refer to the publication date; other dates refer to the creation and span of the material in each folder.

Material relating to Ellison's novels makes up the bulk of the Writings File . In order to show Ellison's approach to writing, his system of filing drafts alphabetically by title of episode rather than final story sequence has been maintained. Quotation marks are used to indicate episode titles devised by Ellison. A section relating to Invisible Man includes production material, publicity items, reviews, opera and film proposals, correspondence with publishers regarding various editions, foreign rights and translations, and the comments and criticism of others. A miscellany section in the Writings File contains bibliographies and literary criticisms of Ellison's works, plot ideas, notes, royalty statements, and information regarding copyrights, permissions, and reprints.

The Speeches, Lectures, and Interviews series demonstrates Ellison's popularity as a speaker at special events, club meetings, and university seminars. His customary subjects were literary but also included music and art. During his fellowship at the American Academy in Rome, Ellison lectured at several European seminars. Ellison also held numerous teaching positions ranging from one semester as a visiting professor to appointments lasting several years. Courses included the contemporary American novel and Russian literature. He was frequently interviewed for radio programs, magazines, and newspapers. Among his interviewers were Michael S. Harper, Irving Howe, and Robert Penn Warren. The three sections of this series, containing texts, correspondence, notes, and printed matter, are arranged chronologically.

The Reference File includes newspaper and magazine articles and other printed matter on subjects ranging from music, art, and literature to sports, politics, and civil rights. A large biographical section includes material on individuals whom Ellison either knew or considered interesting.

The Miscellany series contains address books, appointment calendars, invitations, programs, and ephemera. Also included are papers relating to the awards, citations, and honorary degrees awarded to Ellison. The Closed series consists primarily of correspondence, writings, and drawings which are too fragile for handling. Photocopies of each item have been placed where the original would have appeared in the collection. Material too large for the document boxes has been moved to the Oversize series.

Part II

Part II of the Ellison Papers spans the years 1896-2005, with most of the papers concentrated between 1930 and 1995.

The Family Papers contain biographical information, correspondence between family members, employment, financial, household, legal, medical and school records, newspaper clippings, and notes. Among the household papers for Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, is a 1933 receipt for the cornet Ellison bought with hopes of launching a music career. There is also a file on the funeral and many tributes paid to Ellison upon his death in 1994.

A substantial section of the Family Papers pertains to Fanny McConnell before her marriage to Ellison. Correspondence between her mother, grandmother, and stepfather document employment and living conditions for African Americans in Chicago from the 1930s through the 1960s, including detailed descriptions of the family's move to a housing project in 1959. McConnell's social, educational, and professional life is revealed through correspondence with her friends, colleagues, and mentors. The latter group includes James Weldon Johnson. McConnell's employment records document her involvement with the Namkham Hospital in northern Burma as part of her work at the Harold L. Oram, Inc., fundraising agency. Correspondence with Gordon Stifler Seagrave, the “Burma Surgeon,” and Tun Shein, head and administrator of the hospital respectively, describes daily activities and the nationalization of the hospital in 1965.

The General Correspondence series contains Ralph and Fanny Ellison's incoming and outgoing letters to friends and business associates. Chief correspondents include Romare Bearden, Michel Fabre, Michael S. Harper, John Hersey, Langston Hughes, Phoebe Hyman (second wife of Stanley Edgar Hyman), James Alan McPherson, Joseph F. Newhall, Myron Donald Olmanson, and Nathan A. Scott.

The Organizations File documents Ellison's involvement in cultural, educational, and charitable institutions as an officer, advisor, or trustee. Most of the material consists of correspondence and reports.

The Writings File contains drafts, notes, and production material for Ellison's literary works, speaking engagements, and interviews. The material in an essays and essay collections file, arranged alphabetically by title, appeared as journal articles or chapters published in compilations by others. Material pertaining to Ellison's own collected writings, Shadow and Act and Going to the Territory , is also included in this section. Other files concern Invisible Man and Juneteenth , edited by John F. Callahan; drafts of the Hickman novel; and shorter works, such as poetry, short stories, book reviews, and forewords and introductions to the writings of others. Typescripts of Ellison's memoirs are accompanied by notes and outlines. Speeches, lectures, and interviews in the series are arranged chronologically.

The Reference File includes newspaper and magazine articles and other printed matter on subjects ranging from music, art, and literature to sports, politics, and civil rights. A large biographical section includes material on individuals whom Ellison either knew or considered interesting.

The Miscellany series contains address books, appointment calendars, invitations, programs, and ephemera. Also included are papers relating to the awards, citations, and honorary degrees awarded to Ellison. Two additions, in 2009 and 2024, contain Ellison's notes for a 1964 lecture, Fanny McConnel Ellison's 1951 appointment calendar, and a family history notebook compiled by Muriel Morisey, Ralph Ellison's cousin. Material too large for the document boxes has been moved to the Oversize series.