The arrangement scheme for the collection was imposed during processing in the absence of a usable original order. The collection is arranged into ten series, with one series further arranged into subseries.

Series 1, Published work, 1957-2002

Series 2, Drafts and unpublished work, undated

Series 3, Journals and notebooks, 1981-1997 and undated

Series 4, Professional files, 1950-2007

Series 5, Printed Material, 1968-1993

Series 6, Correspondence, 1957-1999 and undated

               Subseries 1, Personal Correspondence

               Subseries 2, Professional Correspondence

Series 7, Media, 1994, 1999 and undated

Series 8, Personal files

Series 9, Scrapbook

Series 10, Oversize Material

The Bennie Lee Sinclair Papers consist of drafts and unpublished work, journals and notebooks, personal and professional files, correspondence, publicity materials, recordings of interviews and TV appearances, and many books, journals, and literary magazines in which Sinclair’s work is featured.

The published work consists of books, literary journals and magazines in which Sinclair’s work is featured.  Drafts and unpublished material is the largest series and the material is undated. The material in Box 8 was photocopied since the originals were damaged. The bulk of Sinclair’s journals are dated, but the notebooks are undated.

The professional files contain contracts, information on events and appearances that featured Sinclair, reviews of her work, membership in various organizations and their conferences, courses Sinclair taught at Furman University, as well as the activities at the S.C. Governor’s School for the Arts.

The majority of the printed material consists of publications that contain information about Sinclair. The bulk of personal correspondence is to Sinclair and/or her husband, except for a few letters from her father in 1957. Media consists of 5.25 floppy disks, 3.5 disks, VHS, and a tape reel that contains Sinclair’s work files or recordings of interviews and TV appearances.

Personal files includes photographs and negatives, information on awards given to Sinclair including her induction into Phi Beta Kappa in 1989, some family history, and Sinclair’s copy of the book, Miss Suzy (1964) which was her favorite bedtime story. The photographs include publicity photos of Sinclair, a group of photos taken of activities at the S.C. Governor’s School for the Arts, and several photos of Sinclair as a student at Furman University. There are eight negatives taken in 1951 of Sinclair and her mother and brother in Charleston.

The scrapbook belonged to Sinclair’s mother, Bennie (Ward) Sinclair. The contents include newspaper clippings and ephemera regarding her engagement and marriage to Waldo Graham Sinclair on March 10, 1933, as well as several baby pictures of their first child, Waldo Graham Sinclair, Jr. Loose material includes a letter by Ward to her grandmother (1921) and a drawing.

Oversize material includes photographs, posters, publicity, maps, and a print of Sinclair’s poem “South Carolina in 1999” commemorating the inauguration of Jim Hovis Hodges, January 13, 1999.