Series 2: Subject Files, Subseries 1: General (1868-1995) is distinguished by its breadth, embracing, as it does, the wide array of subjects -- and the even greater range of individuals and groups -- with which the AAIA has been associated over the years. It contains a diverse assortment of correspondence, running the gamut from official circulars to informal notes, as well as articles, brochures, reports, and clippings. Some files are notable for their fullness, attesting to the salience of a particular topic or the productivity of a particular individual, while others provide only the most general of glosses. This subseries also represents an interesting mix of the personal and the impersonal: from the reflections of Executive Director La Verne Madigan on Native American nationalism -- "our democracy is impure to the extent that the people we conquered do not accept it as their democracy" -- to an Acting Deputy Commissioner of Indian Affairs' memorandum on the cancellation of reimbursable charges "pursuant to the Indian Financing Act of 1974." Broadly speaking, this subseries can be divided into three categories: people; corporate bodies, both governmental and nongovernmental; and issues.

Subseries 4B: Honorary Degree Recipients, consists of more than 200 biographical files on honorary degree recipients and correspondence between the recipient and the University with regard to logistics and academic regalia. In some cases there is correspondence from individuals who support and/or object to the nominee.