Alinda Burnham Couper studied harmonic analysis with Nadia Boulanger and taught and composed music, becoming one of the pioneer composers of handbell music and developing a new technique called "four-in-hand." Couper remained friends with Boulanger and exchanged letters for years after studying with her. The Alinda B. Couper papers contain manuscripts and published scores composed by Couper, as well as her notes, composition journals, papers, and photos.

Brick Fleagle and Luther Henderson were jazz musicians and arrangers who were business partners and close friends. The Brick Fleagle and Luther Henderson papers and collection of jazz recordings contain manuscript and published scores of Fleagle's and Henderson's compositions and arrangements, personal papers of Brick Fleagle, photographs, and recordings.

Frank Willis was a classical pianist and composer who attended Peabody Conservatory and was a composer and conductor for the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra. His papers include manuscript and published scores and some contextual material.

Franz Carl Bornschein (1879-1948) was a composer of more than 200 works, primarily vocal music, and a professor of violin and composition at the Peabody Conservatory. His papers include scrapbooks, clippings, correspondence, photographs, personal papers, manuscript and printed scores, and the personal papers of his wife, Hazel Knox Bornschein.

Jean Eichelberger Ivey (1923-2010) was a composer, pianist, electronic musician, professor, and the founder of the Peabody Conservatory Electronic Music Studio, which she directed from 1969 until her retirement from Peabody in 1997. The Jean Eichelberger Ivey papers contain scores and recordings of Ivey's musical works, writings and notes by Ivey, personal and professional correspondence, programs and clippings, photographs, and other personal and professional papers.

Joseph Schillinger was a theorist and composer famous for developing the Schillinger System, a method of deconstructing music using geometric phase relationships. The collection contains correspondence, recordings, scrapbooks, photographs, artwork, manuscript scores, and other documents related to his professional and personal life.

The Marion Rosette papers contain scores, working documents, personal papers, and recordings from Rosette’s career as a composer and arranger of children's music.

Mihály Virizlay (1931-2008) was a Hungarian-born cellist who had a successful international career as a concerto and recital soloist, was principal cello of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra for 40 years, and taught at the Peabody Institute. The Mihály Virizlay papers contain published and manuscript musical scores, chiefly for cello, including Virizlay’s own compositions and arrangements. The collection also includes recordings, concert programs, newspaper clippings, and correspondence.

Paul Vacek was a violinist, pianist, and composer (using the pen name Paul Vazkén) who studied at the Peabody Conservatory of Music from 1946 to 1949. His papers contain manuscript scores of his compositions and arrangements, drafts and fragments of manuscript scores, and personal papers.

The collection consists primarily of writings with additional family papers, photographs, and correspondence. The materials range in date from 1726 to 1972. The content is mostly related to the lives of Leolyn Louise Everett Spelman and Timothy Mather Spelman.