The papers of Elswyth Thane date from 1943 to 1963 and are comprised of three linear feet of literary manuscripts and research material. The first five books in her "Williamsburg" series are represented with holograph notebooks containing her first drafts. There are also printer's copies and correspondence for some of the novels. The writing of Potomac Squire, Thane's biography of George Washington, is documented with a holograph notebook of draft one, working typescripts, an author's index, and audiotapes of Thane reading letters at Mount Vernon.