The Randall Mills Papers largely consist of correspondence, manuscripts, research material and notecards, printed material, and scrapbooks pertaining to transportation in the Pacific Northwest, and folklore.

The correspondence, 1937-1976, is arranged chronologically and relates mainly to Mills’ interest in railroads and steamboats. he letters written after his death in 1952 are to his wife, Hazel. Many are letters of sympathy and others relate to business matters. Major correspondents include Verne Bright, Alice Henson Ernst, Sterling Hayden, Lewis A. McArthur, Richard L. Neuberger and Alfred Powers.

The manuscripts section contains book and article length material. The book length material includes drafts of his two published books, Stern-Wheelers up Columbia and Railroads Down the Valleys, as well as an unpublished book entitled Bowies and Bullets. The article length manuscripts contain both published and unpublished materials, some of which were written during his college years for class assignments. Topics include various authors, genres, social types and sociological aspects of literature, folklore, dialects, covered bridges, and different modes of transportation. Also included in the manuscript section are book reviews by Mills of others’ work and several untitled speeches. Both book and article length manuscripts are arranged alphabetically by title. Photo proofs for Stern-Wheelers up Columbia have been transferred to the Photograph Collection (PH 008).

Research material covers five main areas: covered bridges, folklore (including dialects, proverbs and place names), literature, railroads, and steamships. Types of material include printed articles, clippings, transcriptions by Mills of works by others, and notes. The notecard section, though separate due to its physical nature, can also be considered research material. The cards are arranged by subject, each containing useful details which eventually were incorporated into Mills’ writing or class work. Subjects covered include dialects, general folklore, proverbs, railroads, steamboats, and bibliographic notes.

Notes and outlines used in classes taught by Mills largely constitute the series of University of Oregon material. Mills received grant monies for research on articles he wrote and that information can also be found in this section. English course assignments and English department committee notes are filed here as well. (Note: A taped lecture about Oregon dialects and linguistics which was presented to the University of Oregon library is part of the collection.)

Articles Mills wrote, reprints of articles written by his friends and colleagues, and newspaper clippings used for research purposes comprise the series of printed material. The scrapbooks are an indication of the degree to which Mills pursued his interest in steamboats; documents ranging from vessel ownership to transport vouchers as well as photographs of steamboat captains appear in them. A box of miscellaneous material, including material from H. E. Mills and Della Mills is located at the end of the collection.

A selected name index to the correspondence in the collection is located at the end of the inventory.

Four of the original six scrapbooks have been transferred to the Photograph Collection (PH 008) to protect the photographs of steamboats, steamboat captains, and late nineteenth century buildings and churches in the Portland area. A large collection of additional photographs and negatives have also been removed from the Papers and transferred to the Photograph Collection. A partial index to Mills negatives can be found in the Manuscripts card catalog, railroads and covered bridges being the subjects.