Correspondence, typescripts, journal and newspaper articles and clippings, photographs, notes, scrapbooks, original artwork, and other materials, the bulk dating from 1908-1938, relating to the life and career of educator, author, poet, and philosopher Hartley Burr Alexander (1873-1939). The bulk of the collection relates to Alexander’s research on the philosophy, culture, traditions, art, and music of Native North Americans, and includes original works by Pueblo and Plains artists, and large-scale photographic reproductions of images from the ledger of artist Amos Bad Heart Bull, which is no longer extant. The collection includes correspondence, photographs, architectural drawings and blueprints, newspaper clippings, and other materials documenting Alexander's non-academic career as "thematic designer" of sculpture, inscriptions, and other ornamentation for large public buildings, including the Nebraska State Capitol, Lincoln, Nebraska; the Los Angeles Public Library; and Rockefeller Center, New York City. The collection also contains typescripts and offprints of journal articles by Alexander on philosophy, music, and the interpretation of symbols in art and architecture, as well as many of Alexander's own literary works, including poetry, plays, pageants, and operas, many based on Native North American themes. Other materials include extensive correspondence files; papers documenting Alexander's teaching careers at the University of Nebraska and at Scripps College; personal papers of the Alexander family and Nathan Kirk Griggs; and photographs, including many of the Turlington W. Harvey family and estate in Syracuse, Nebraska.

All requests for permission to publish must be submitted in writing to Denison Library.

This collection is open for research with permission from Ella Strong Denison Library staff.