The Nicholson Family Collection consists primarily of papers and items belonging to Samuel Edgar Nicholson and his wife Rhoda Elma Nicholson (nee Parker). There is personal correspondence between the couple, their three children, and other family and friends, of which the majority dates to the 1910s-1930s. There are newspaper clippings and correspondence related to Samuel Edgar's tenure in the Indiana state legislature (from 1895-1897) and his later work with the Anti-Saloon League. The collection also includes some letters and papers from the parents and grandparents of both Samuel Edgar and Rhoda Elma (various members of the Parker, Holiday, Woodard, McCracken, and Arnold families). And there are three boxes of clothing and hats belonging to generations of the Nicholson family. The collection provides an insight into the life and social activism of a Quaker family around the turn of the 20th century. It was organized for donation by Samuel Edgar and Rhoda Elma's granddaughter, Frances Nicholson Beer.