This collection contains materials collected by George Green Shackelford preparatory to his 1958 article "William Short : Diplomat in Revolutionary France, 1785-1793." Much of this material was copied from the holdings of the Library of Congress.

A large portion of the collection consists of correspondence arising from Short's position as private secretary to Thomas Jefferson, and also as a diplomat holding office with the U. S. government in various parts of Europe. Ranging in date from 1791 to 1813, the correspondence includes letters of Jefferson during his tenure as secretary of state, as well as selected correspondence between Short and such figures as James Monroe, George Tucker, Ben Stoddart and Gen. J. H. Cocke. Apart from the letters themselves, the collection also contains records and summaries, maintained by Short, of his own correspondence.

The collection also contains copies of government documents, dated 1791 to 1792, mostly consisting of statements regarding Dutch and French loans to the United States. Also included is a statement of Short's personal accounts (1799-1803)--mentioning such names as Price, Lively, Haden Terril, Shackleford, Spiers and Reynolds--and sketches of Short's property in Albemarle County, Virginia.

A miscellaneous folder contains copies of various personal items, such as the Short family coat of arms, maps of Spain and Surry County, Virginia, landscape sketches and some printed material, including an excerpt from Sidney Fay's Origins of the World War. These are followed by photographs and negatives of portraits and miniatures of William Short, Peyton Short, Rosalie (wife of Duc de la Rochefoucauld), and Charles IV.

A set of microfilm reels, containing account summaries and Short's correspondence, completes the collection.