This collection contains the records of the Handy Writer’s Colony of Robinson, Illinois. It includes: by-laws, minutes, correspondence, membership, and financial records of the colony regarding its founding, organization, finances, philosophy, and teaching methods; approximately two thousand letters written by Lowney Handy, Harry Handy, James Jones, colony members, relatives, publishers, editors, and friends; military records, and other personal papers of James Jones; commonplace books, memorabilia, and other papers of Lowney Handy; newspaper and magazine articles concerning the colony and Jones's career; photographs and negatives of the Handys, Jones, the Colony and its members; and a large number of published and unpublished manuscripts of Lowney Handy and colony writers, including James Jones, Rex Bollin, Tom T. Chamales, Edwin Daly, William Duhart, Edward Kurtz, Jere Peacock, Charles Robb, Jerry Tschappat ("Gerald Tesch"), Charles Stevenson Wright, and others.

The collection is divided into six series: Business Records, Correspondence, Written Works, Photographs, Personal Papers, and Articles and Publicity.

Series I: Business Records, 1951-1964, contains the administrative, financial, and legal records of the Colony. Materials include articles of incorporation, by-laws, meeting minutes, membership certificates, documents relating to taxes and audits, correspondence with the Colony lawyer Kenneth B. Hawkins, and financial records. Arranged alphabetically.

Series II: Correspondence, 1933-1964, contains approximately two thousand letters written by Lowney Handy, Harry Handy, James Jones, colony members, relatives, publishers, editors, and friends. It is divided into four sub-series: Jones-Handy Correspondence, Jones Correspondence, Handy Correspondence, and General Correspondence.

Series II, Sub-series A: Jones-Handy Correspondence, 1947-1962, consists of correspondence between James Jones, Lowney Handy, and/or Harry Handy. There are occasionally letters to other people that were enclosed within letters between these three, including an original 1830 letter from Harry's ancestor George Handy enclosed in a letter dated March 11, 1953 from Lowney to Harry. Arranged chronologically.

Series II, Sub-series B: Jones Correspondence, 1946-1956, contains correspondence between James Jones and people other than the Handys. Included in this sub-series is Jones' correspondence with editors and publishers including Maxwell Perkins and Burroughs Mitchell, Mary Ann Jones (Jones' sister), and Charles E. Jones (Jones' uncle). Materials that arrived filed according to correspondent are placed alphabetically at the beginning of the sub-series; subsequent files are arranged chronologically.

Series II, Sub-series C: Handy Correspondence, 1930-1964, contains the correspondence between Lowney Handy or Harry Handy and persons other than James Jones. Correspondents include Jeff Jones (James Jones' brother), Upton Sinclair, Olivia de Havilland, and Lt. Fred P. DePalma and Captain Eugene A. Mailloux regarding Jones' 1944 discharge from the army. Much of this sub-series consists of Lowney's correspondence with her students, family, and friends. Materials that arrived filed according to correspondent are placed alphabetically at the beginning of the sub-series; subsequent files are arranged chronologically by year and alphabetically within each year.

Series II, Sub-series D: General Correspondence, 1936-1955, contains a small amount of correspondence involving persons other than Jones or the Handys. Included are reproductions of correspondence involving Maxwell Aley, John Hall Wheelock, and Maxwell Perkins; also scattered correspondence of Colony writers who are not represented in Series III (Manuscripts) or Series IV (Personal Papers). Materials that arrived filed according to correspondent are placed alphabetically at the beginning of the sub-series; subsequent files are arranged chronologically.

Series III: Written Works, 1936-1963, primarily contains manuscripts of writers who worked at the Colony, as well as a small amount of personal papers of members who are not represented in Series V. The series is arranged alphabetically by author’s last name; each author’s works are ordered roughly chronologically, but many manuscripts were not labeled with their date. Manuscripts were attached labels of ‘Draft 1,’ ‘Draft 2,’ etc. for the purpose of differentiating them from each other, but because manuscripts were typically undated, these draft numbers do not necessarily reflect the order the drafts were written in.

Series IV: Photographs, 1936-1960, contains both color and black-and-white photographs of Lowney Handy, Harry Handy, James Jones, the Colony, Colony writers, and vacation spots in Florida and Arizona. It includes many of the photographs used in the 1951 ‘Life,’ magazine article of Jones and Lowney. Arranged chronologically.

Series V: Personal Papers, 1886-1964, contains the personal papers of Lowney Handy, Harry Handy, James Jones, and a small amount of material originating from others. It is divided into three series: Harry and Lowney Handy, James Jones, and Others.

Series V, Sub-series A: Harry and Lowney Handy, 1886-1964, contains the personal papers of Harry and Lowney Handy including address books, identification and credit cards, annotations made by Lowney in books and magazines, notes, commonplace books kept by Lowney, material relating to Harry’s job at the Ohio Oil Company, and material relating to the Handy’s 1958 vacation in Spain, and related materials. Arranged alphabetically.

Series V, Sub-series B: James Jones, 1928-1956, contains personal papers of James Jones including an address book which also contains some notes on characters in ‘From Here to Eternity,’ army documents, two books by D.H. Lawrence with annotations believed to be written by Jones, his acceptance speech for the 1952 National Book Award, a 1951 will, and related materials. Arranged alphabetically.

Series V, Sub-series C: Others, 1905-1959, contains a small amount of personal papers primarily originating from family members of Lowney and Harry Handy. Arranged alphabetically by last name.

Series VI: Articles and Publicity, 1934-1962, contains newspaper and magazine articles on James Jones, Lowney Handy, Harry Handy, the Colony, and Colony members including Tom Chamales, Jerry Tschappat, Charles Wright, William Duhart, and Jere Peacock, as well as a small amount of promotional material for the ‘From Here to Eternity,’ movie. Arranged chronologically.