Correspondence with libraries related to Dobney project of collecting photocopies of Will Clayton papers in other repositories. Completed survey formsand response letters from various libraries document their Clayton holdings and the process of acquiring photocopies of them.

The Clayton collection, covering the years 1897 to 1966, consists of ninety-nine boxes of originals and photocopies of business and personal correspondence, speeches, reports, photographs, memorabilia, and some oversize material such as certificates of appointment, which document the personal and professional life of Will Clayton and to a lesser degree, the Clayton family. Original materials in the collection relate to Clayton's personal and family life, including family correspondence and photographs, and oral histories by Clayton's daughter, Ellen Clayton Garwood, relating to her father's legacy. This original material is located in Series VI through XI.

The bulk of the collection, in Series II (boxes 2-86), is comprised of photocopies of Clayton correspondence gleaned from numerous other institutions. The photocopied materials in this series were identified, ordered, and purchased by Frederick J. Dobney, Editor, Public Papers of William L. Clayton, Rice University, in the year 1967. The resulting compilation of materials was in 1971 as "Selected Papers of Will Clayton," published by Johns Hopkins University, edited by Dobney. While these materials are not original, they are convenient as a Clayton research collection, especially when used in coordination with the cardfile index which provides author / recipient name access to the chronologically arranged correspondence.