Sandra Kitt Papers

The Sandra Kitt papers document Kitt's multidisciplinary careers and endeavors as a romance novelist, librarian, and visual artist. Materials related to Kitt’s career in romance literature comprise the majority of the collection; however, Kitt’s artwork, library materials, and personal journals are also well represented.

The first five series pertain to Kitt's career as a romance novelist. The Literary Writing series consists of proposals, synopses, manuscripts (edited and unedited), and/or galleys for romance novels, short stories published in anthologies, and other writing by Kitt. These written materials are arranged by the published title of the work, although working titles are noted; short stories published in anthologies are arranged by the title of Kitt’s work within the anthology, although the anthology title is also noted. The following four series pertain to other aspects of Kitt’s literary career, including Literary Correspondence, Literary Promotion, Literary Reviews and Press Features, and Literary Website and Author’s Newsletters.

The following two series are also relevant to Kitt's literary career. The Teaching Materials series consists of printed materials, handwritten notes, and other ephemera that Kitt created and/or used when teaching writing as an Adjunct Instructor at the County College of Morris in Dover, New Jersey. The General Literary Career series consists of bibliographies of Kitt's work, printed guidelines for social media promotion for writers, materials pertaining to literary organizations like the Romance Writers of America (RWA) and Kitt's roles therein, materials pertaining to literary awards, and miscellaneous literary resources.

The following two series represent multiple facets of Kitt’s professional and personal life, including but not limited to her literary career. The Scrapbooks series consists of binders of press clippings, event fliers, photographs, and other ephemera; much of this content documents Kitt's literary career, but it also documents Kitt's library career and personal life. The ninth series, Miscellaneous Writing, consists of short essays and articles written by Kitt, including first-person accounts of romance authorship; it also includes published works that are unrelated to the romance field, like letters to the editor.

The Library Career series consists of materials from Kitt's career as a Librarian at the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, New York. This includes correspondence, event ephemera, library-related writing by Kitt, and other materials that are relevant only to her work in librarianship.

The following three series include materials from Kitt’s personal and professional lives that may or may not have relevance to her literary and/or library careers. General Correspondence includes correspondence with friends, colleagues, and associates who are not exclusively associated with Kitt’s literary and library careers; however, some individuals represented in this series may have some relevance to these disciplines. The Personal Papers series includes materials collected by Kitt that were not written by Kitt and do not have immediate relevance to her literary and library careers. The Journals series consists of written diaries or logs pertinent to Kitt’s personal life. Some may discuss Kitt’s professional endeavors, but they are not exclusively dedicated to such information. These journals include dream journals and one journal dedicated to Kitt’s brother in the final stages of his life.

The following seven series consist of photographs, stored either in folders or in sleeves in 3-ring binder boxes; these photographs organized into series that are relevant to Kitt’s literary and library careers as well as her personal life. The Headshots and Professional Portraits series consists of photographs that were used in Kitt’s literary career but may include portraits that were not specifically intended for use in literary promotion. The Literary Photographs series consists of event photographs (such as book signings and RWA events) and photographs of Kitt’s colleagues and friends from the literary community. Other series consist of travel photographs from Kitt’s library career and personal life.

The Realia series consists of three-dimensional objects from Kitt’s literary career and personal life. This includes promotional objects for Kitt’s own literary publications as well as promotional objects from other writers or literary organizations. These materials are stored according to size and weight; fragile materials have been securely wrapped and should be returned to their wrapping by an archivist after they have been viewed.

The multimedia series consists of floppy disks, audio cassettes, and one video cassette with multimedia content related to Kitt’s literary and library careers. Most of the items in this series are floppy disks containing drafts and other documentation of Kitt’s literary writing, although these floppy disks include non-literary files, as well.

The following four series consist of artwork created by Kitt. The Holiday/Greeting Cards and Related Artwork series consists of handmade greeting cards, including holiday cards created for UNICEF and greeting cards created for friends and family; this series also includes handmade holiday ornaments created by Kitt. The Sketchbook series includes Kitt’s personal sketchbooks, including figure drawing, life drawing, and more; these are arranged according to size and weight. The Drawings, Paintings, and Prints series consists of titled and untitled artwork created by Kitt in a variety of media; these materials are also arranged according to size and weight, accounting for chronology when possible.