n.records created or collected by a group of individuals closely related by ancestry and relating to their personal and private affairsDuniway 1961, 55Habits of keeping diaries, of recording finances, of saving mementos, class notes, papers, and even stories composed for one’s own amusement, also start early. Materials such as these are the records of a man’s beginning—commonplace, but basic to biographical study. They are personal archives in the hands of the man, and I believe we agree that they become family papers or manuscripts.Rundell 1967, 547For nearly half a century the Adams family papers remained virtually inaccessible to public inspection and research, largely because the family did not know how to make them available.Haller 1985, 405The Morgan family papers include many more records of William and Jean Morgan as well as records of other family members; however, the examples already presented are sufficient to demonstrate the process.Weideman 2006, 279For the first accession of Brooks Family Papers, a typical family papers collection donated in 1998 comprising fourteen linear feet, we created a minimal box listing and catalog record and closed the collection to researchers because it included many letters in envelopes, loose photographs, and a large amount of unsorted material.
