This collection contains materials assembled by Beverly Carper Powley in the course of writing a biographical article on Nancy Byrd Turner, a Virginia poet, editor, and lecturer. The collection contains pieces of Turner's correspondence--including a few letters written to Powley and photocopies of letters and postcards sent to others--as well as some newsclippings and samples of Turner's poetry.

The collection also contains Powley's correspondence relating to the research project, as well as related correspondence of Mary Balazs, a VMI English professor who worked in tandem with Powley on gathering materials about Turner (included in Balazs' correspondence is a typescript draft of her paper, "Miss Nancy Byrd Turner: a Reconsideration"). Several drafts of Powley's article, "To Honor Nancy Byrd Turner: a Poet Laureate of Virginia," together with the published version (which appeared in the Spring 1988 issue of the Richmond Quarterly), complete the collection.