Doll's bed with bed linens (mattress, sheet, two pillows, two pillowcases, coverlet with crocheted trim)

The Hughes family papers consist of three series: Arley Hughes Sr.; Eli Hughes; and Artifacts and Photographs.

The Arley Hughes Sr. series includes sixty-four letters that he wrote while serving in the Army during World War I. The letters are written to various family members in Kennedy, Alabama. The letters are arranged chronologically and have photocopies in separate folders. Several letters are fairly fragile and have been interleaved for their protection.

The Eli Hughes series includes letters that he wrote from France, 1918-1919. This series also includes Eli's WWI uniform (two blouses and one pair of pants). The letter dated 24 September 1918 (box 3748.001, folder 1) includes a picture of Eli in his World War I uniform.

The Artifacts and Photographs series contains a coverlet made before 1889 by Louisa Thornton Hughes (she spun the wool, dyed it, and wove the coverlet before she married); a half slip she made to wear for her wedding on 12 December 1889; one wax doll; one china doll; and a furniture salesman's sample bed with linens (mattress, two pillows, sheet, pillowcases, and coverlet made by Louise Thornton Hughes) that was used as a doll bed. The dolls were given to Margaret Hughes by Miss Nannie Gregg, who lived next door to the business where Margaret's father worked.

There are also a few photographs (none original). There are two printouts of a scanned photograph of Arley Hughes, and one photograph of James Harvey and Louisa Thornton Hughes with six of their twelve children taken in front of the coverlet. The children are: (top row, L to R) Eli, Ethma, and Arley; and (bottom row, L to R) Naoma, Lela, and Floy.