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The article presents information about the Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP), which has, in the past two years, significantly added to already existing archival collections with the addition of several important groups of labor-related materials. In 1986 due to the expansion of its present office structure and the creation of an in-house computer center, the Rochester and Pittsburgh (R&P) Coal Co. donated many of its corporate archives to IUP. This collection, consisting of 420 linear feet, constitutes one of the most complete groups of coal company records in the East. Probably the most significant group of papers consists of the presidential files of R&P and of its several predecessor companies. Lucius Waterman Robinson left papers rich in labor history and the industrial heritage of Western Pennsylvania. B.M. Clark and his son, Heath S. Clark, both served as president during periods of industrial expansion and labor-management strife, and these are reflected in their surviving correspondence. The R&P collection also contains a unique group of early financial ledgers which document the founding of the company's 17 mining towns, beginning with the parent company's incorporation in 1881.

Renowned labor activist and socialist Eugene V. Debs was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, where he resided throughout his life except for two periods when he was incarcerated for his labor and antiwar activities. After his death, Marguerite Debs Cooper, the sole surviving family member left in Terre Haute came into possession of Eugene's and her father's private papers, including family and other correspondence. In 1962 the Eugene V. Debs Foundation had been founded with the primary goals of historic preservation of the Debs Home and its utilization as a museum open to the public. Many charter members of the Foundation were professors at Indiana State University at Terre Haute, whose campus now surrounds the Debs Home. Having faculty as members of the Foundation helped ensure from the start close and productive ties with Cunningham Memorial Library, where the Debs Collection is now located in the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections. The initial gift establishing the Debs Collection contained 3800 letters, 6000 speeches, 220 telegrams, 170 typescripts, 60 manuscripts, and 300 other items, including campaign memorabilia and photographs. A gift of particular significance came to the Collection through the efforts of J. Robert Constantine, a member of the university's Department of History, who for many years was Secretary of the Debs Foundation and was instrumental in the inception of the Debs Collection.