A writers' colony, located in Marshall, Illinois, opened in 1950 by Lowney and Harry Handy and best-selling novelist James Jones. It supported numerous young writers, many of whose stories and novels were published. The colony dissolved with the death of Lowney Handy in 1964.

The collection includes: by-laws, minutes, correspondence, membership, and financial records of the colony regarding its founding, organization, finances, philosophy, and teaching methods; approximately 2,000 letters written by  Lowney Handy, Harry Handy, James Jones, colony members, relatives, publishers, editors, friends, and fans; military records, and other personal papers of James Jones; commonplace books, memorabilia, and other papers of Lowney Handy; class  notes, journals, and poetry of colony member Charles Robb; an extensive clipping file concerning the colony and Jones's career; photographs and negatives of the Handys, Jones, the colony and its members.

Also included are about 100 published and unpublished manuscripts of  Lowney Handy, and colony writers, including Rex Bollin, Tom T. Chamales, Edwin Daly, William Duhart, Edward Kurtz, Jere Peacock, Charles Robb,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 includes an extensive collection of  notes,  manuscript drafts, and galleys of James Jones's 1951 novel From Here to Eternity, as well as some of his early essays, short  stories, and his first, unpublished novel, "They Shall Inherit the Laughter."