This series contains Elbert’s personal and professional correspondence. Correspondence is arranged by outgoing and incoming mail and within this arrangement, chronologically. Outgoing mail represented in this collection is from 1928 to 1990, with bulk dates from the 1950-1960s. A majority of the outgoing mail is addressed to Elbert's mother, Ethelind. In letters to his mother are observations on his fieldwork, travels, and everyday life. These letters detail a close relationship that spanned Elbert's life. There is little incoming mail; most incoming letters are from colleagues and friends. Noticeably, Ethelind’s (mother) letters are absent. The third subseries, ʻOther,’ of the correspondence series are letters that were neither created by or addressed to Elbert. All letters were written or received by his immediate family and help contextualize the close relationships he held with sister (Ethelind), mother (Ethelind), uncles, and aunts.