The collection, 1943-1969, consists primarily of the private business files of Creed Black as a newspaperman and editor. It includes correspondence, newspaper clippings, office memoranda, printed and near-print material, notebooks, scrapbooks, and miscellaneous items. The files are arranged alphabetically by subject, retaining the folder titles used by Black. Material within folders is arranged chronologically by day where possible and practical, although items of a non-correspondence nature have usually been segregated to the backs of the folders. Much of the collection consists of inter-office memoranda concerned with technical and professional aspects of journalism such as editorial policy, and reporting and writing techniques. Of particular interest are the files on Black's resignation from the Wilmington papers, notebooks from his trip to Russia with the American Society of Newspaper Editors, and notes and interviews relating to his trip to the Middle East in 1958. Also of note are six scrapbooks of his editorial clippings from the Nashville Tennessean from 1950 to 1956.

Selected List of Significant Correspondents:

The correspondents listed below are to be found in the “General Correspondence” section (Box 3, folder 3-5) and in the “Fat File” (Box 2, folder 6) unless otherwise noted.