Harriet Sue Gilliam was an Assistant and later Associate Professor of English at Northwestern University from 1971 until her death in 1993. The Harriet Gilliam Papers fill twenty-seven boxes and span the years from 1962 through 1993. They are organized into six main categories: biographical material, correspondence, files relating to Carlo Maria Giulini, educational files, teaching and research files, and writings.

After attending the University of Washington for one year, Jean Summers Smith entered Northwestern University as a sophomore in 1929. A member of Gamma Phi Beta sorority, Smith graduated from Northwestern in 1932 with a B.A. degree in English. The Jean Summers Smith papers date between 1929 and 1932 and fill one box. The papers consist of course materials from Smith's studies at Northwestern.