Two of only three 19th-century letters are addressed to members of the MacRae family. One of these, 1837, gives details of its author's travels through Macon, Ga., and Mobile and Montgomery, Ala., relaying news of several murders, lynchings, and a thwarted attempt to burn a bridge and subsequently "plunder" the town of Macon. A handwritten partial transcript of this letter, begun by Duncan MacRae Jr. (1921- ) in 2001, is included. Most of the items dated after 1900 are general updates from family and friends written to Duncan MacRae Sr. (1891-1980) while he attended the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C., worked as an instructor at the Academy of Richmond County military school in Augusta, Ga., and began his studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Several letters, mainly from siblings, were written in reaction to the death of Duncan MacRae Sr.'s mother in 1912.

Duncan MacRae Sr.'s professional work as a chemist and research laboratory manager figures into several items, including collegial exchanges on theory and practice, and letters arranging changes in employment. Moving into the early 1930s, the bulk of letters are more personal in nature, largely dealing with the financial and health troubles of two of MacRae's siblings, brother Theodore and widowed sister Elizabeth MacRae Lilly. Letters show brothers John, James (Jimmie), and Cameron MacRae working with Duncan Sr. to help the two satisfy their creditors, even while the Depression strained their own finances. Duncan Sr.'s side of the correspondence, where included, is represented in handwritten copies and typewriter carbons. During 1938-1941, frequent letters from Rebecca Kyle MacRae to son Duncan Jr. at Johns Hopkins University update him on family news and offer motherly advice. After Duncan Jr.'s enrollment in Harvard University in 1942, his letters to his family become more frequent and detailed. A major concern at this time was the question of where and how he would be involved in the war effort, finally resulting in work at the M.I.T. Radiation Laboratory. Duncan Jr.'s letters then begin to speak of plans to move into the social sciences and detail his reasons for the shift.

Letters from Duncan MacRae Jr. to his parents in early 1949 show him considering options for future employment. November 1949 marked the beginning of his courtship of Edith Krugelis. Their frequent letters range from plans for weekend meetings to philosophies of love and politics, and include his proposal to her on 17 March 1950. Explanatory notes and a word-processed transcript of most of the courtship letters, organized by Duncan MacRae Jr. in 2003, are also included. Correspondence remained crucial to the couple while spending their first year of marriage, 1950-1951, apart. From 1951 to 1980, the bulk of correspondence is between the senior MacRaes in Maryland and Duncan Jr., Edith, and daughter Amy. Father and son exchanged thoughts on problems in chemistry and physics, as well as sociology, religion, world events, and economics. Letters from Duncan Jr. and Edith also touch on their professional activities, including teaching, research, publishing, and committee work. During the 1970s, Amy MacRae wrote her grandparents at some length about her education at Concord Academy, Swarthmore College, and UNC. Many of Duncan MacRae Sr.'s letters are in carbon copy form and unsigned. Among his other correspondents was nephew Edmund Lilly, sometimes referred to as "Cousin Edmund." There are occasional letters from and frequent references to Duncan Jr.'s sister Anne, her husband Harry Bouton, and their seven children, as well as Edith's sisters Bertha (Bertie) and Eleanor (Ely), and their husbands Bob Kelner and Jim Heron. Friends from the universities at which Duncan Jr. and Edith had worked also sent news as the couple moved from place to place.

Coming after the 1980 deaths of Duncan Sr. and Rebecca Kyle MacRae, this subseries for the most part lacks the presence of a profuse, two-sided correspondence. Amy MacRae emerges as the most frequent writer, updating her parents while in graduate school in South Carolina and Georgia; doing postdoctoral work in Riverside, Calif., and Columbia, Mo.; and teaching in Saint Louis, Mo. Occasional letters from Duncan Jr. and Edith MacRae's siblings, nieces, and nephews, as well as brother-in-law Bob Kelner, are also included. Beginning in 1985, unsigned copies of word-processed letters from Edith MacRae to her daughter, the Boutons, and other family members appear. According to Duncan MacRae Jr., some of the dates on these letters may have been altered during file conversion. Printouts of emails from Edith MacRae's account consist largely of brief messages passed between her and Amy MacRae. Christmas updates from friends around the world constitute a large portion of the materials from certain years, particularly 1994.

Amy MacRae again emerges as the principal correspondent, writing her father from Saint Louis, Mo. Her letters contain updates on her professional and personal life, seek advice on scholarly papers and grant proposals, and reference plans to commemorate her mother's life by writing or commissioning a biography. Several of Amy's later letters to her father are also addressed to his second wife, Jane Sharp, whom she sometimes refers to as "Mama Jane." General updates from other family members and friends make up most of the remaining materials from this period.

Correspondents and topics among the undated letters largely mirror those of the dated group. There are several letters to Duncan MacRae Sr. from his sister Elizabeth MacRae Lilly and her daughter Frances, likely dating from the early 1930s, while he was helping them through financial troubles. A letter written to Duncan MacRae Sr. from another niece, author Frances Gray Patton, expresses gratitude for the encouragement he had extended to her throughout her life. A small number of letter fragments hold portions of intellectual discussions between Duncan Jr. and his father, and also brother-in-law Bob Kelner. Other items chiefly contain news from family and friends.

Arrangement: chronological.

Slightly more than half of the letters in this series were written before Edith Krugelis's marriage to Duncan MacRae Jr. A large number, 1940-1944, were sent to her at Columbia University from friends she had made at Bates College. Materials from the first half of 1945 consist chiefly of letters from a friend who was then teaching at a military school in Lakeland, Fla. Some were meant jointly for Edith, her sister Eleanor (Ely), and their roommate Gaby Dickinson, and are therefore addressed to either "G.E.E." or "Dickinson Krugelis." Ely appears as a frequent correspondent in 1946, while Edith was teaching at Vassar College. There are no letters reflecting the period of Edith's postdoctoral fellowship at Carlsberg Laboratory in Copenhagen, Denmark, 1947-1949. Invitations to her wedding, 1950, drew a number of responses from friends and family. Correspondence is largely scattered after this point, as Edith's life and letters became entwined with the MacRaes. See Series 1.3 and 1.4 for correspondence involving Edith and other members of the MacRae family, beginning in 1949 with the courtship letters she exchanged with Duncan Jr. Items that are filed here include updates from former associates at the University of Illinois School of Medicine; letters from sisters Ely and Bertha (Bertie), many from the 1970s regarding care of their elderly mother; and emails exchanged with a UNC colleague, 1990-1995, some containing early drafts for a planned histology dictionary they were writing together.

The bulk of materials in this series come from a group of files kept by Edith Krugelis under the collective label of "Thesis." Individual file contents have been maintained and include drafts of her Columbia University doctoral thesis; data sets; papers she had written on related topics; and comments from the editor of The Biological Bulletin, the journal that published her thesis. Miscellaneous items include her 1932 diploma from B. W. Tinker Grammar School in Waterbury, Conn.; a series of handwritten compositions, including an autobiography, from Krugelis's first semester at Bates College, 1936; and her undated Graduate Record Examination scores.

Various papers collected by Edith Krugelis MacRae in relation to her teaching and research. The majority of materials come from files she kept while at the UNC School of Medicine and include manuscripts submitted to scientific journals; reprints of her published articles; subject files on topics in histology; and curriculum statements and syllabi, 1994-1995, for the "3000 by 2000" program, which sought to encourage minorities to pursue medical careers. When known, original file labels and groupings have been maintained. Miscellaneous items include scattered receipts and a salary statement from Vassar College, 1946, and a handwritten list detailing, according to its title, "Immaturity and lack of independence of students," 1978-1979.

A looseleaf journal, 1940, entitled "Thoughts in Solitude," follows Edith Krugelis through her first three months of graduate school at Columbia University. See also Series 5 for travel journals with entries by Edith and her husband Duncan MacRae Jr. Among the poems collected here are a small number of handwritten, often humorous examples. Another group of poems, later compiled and annotated by Duncan Jr. and Amy MacRae, were written by Edith in the early 1990s on topics such as family, the passage of time, and travel impressions. Several thought pieces, 1951-1955, focus on politics, social reform, and utopias. While most are the work of Edith alone, a few contain notes and responses contributed by Duncan Jr.

Restriction: CLOSED until 2015.

Various papers related to the execution of Edith MacRae's estate, including her will, 1985, and subsequent additions, 1988 and 1990; statements from various estate accounts; tax documents; inventories; and papers related to Duncan MacRae Jr.'s role as executor.

Among the papers in this series are a number of poems and song lyrics collected by Edith Krugelis MacRae; items related to the planning of her wedding, including "The Bride's Book," which gives advice on everything from telling one's parents of an engagement to the type of honeymoon to choose; a file on friend Tony Levy with clippings about his death in a mountain-climbing accident; health-related clippings and scattered paperwork from hospital visits; and drafts of the eulogy she gave at the funeral of brother-in-law Jim Heron, 1980. Miscellaneous items include a small Vassar College publication with cartoon illustrations, 1946. The booklet, entitled "Everything Correlates," offers a humorous take on the female college experience.

Photographs of Edith Krugelis MacRae, her Krugelis relatives, and friends, primarily in the years before her 1950 marriage to Duncan MacRae Jr. The two chronological file groupings, 1932-1946 and 1946-1947, have been maintained according to MacRae's own organization. The first group covers scenes from Edith's youth in Waterbury, Conn., and at Bates College and Columbia University. The second group shows her in the midst of professional and leisure activities while a postdoctoral fellow at Carlsberg Laboratory in Copenhagen, Denmark. Later images include photographs of MacRae teaching at the University of Illinois. Individual snapshots of her appear to have been taken in the 1940s to the 1990s. Miscellaneous photographs are of unidentified individuals and locations.