Organizational records are often the only existing documentation of individual African-American women. The informational content of organizational records differs greatly from the personal papers of individuals. Organizational records do not usually document the opinions, beliefs, or actions of individuals but rather, they reflect systems of beliefs and collective actions. While organizational records may contain membership lists which identify individual actors in the group, the heart and soul of these materials is generally reflected in the minutes, administrative correspondence, publications, and project files of the group. For example, the minute book of the Freedman's Bureau reveals the internal workings of the organizations and serves to illustrate what white women thought would help blacks during Reconstruction, what they could do to meet those needs, and to what extent African-American women and men worked with them or participated in their activities.
Organizational publications serve as a group's primary tool of communication.
Newsletters, brochures, flyers, and magazines often supply neat encapsulations or factual summaries of specific activities, organizational structure, phiolosophy, and agenda. Because publications represent how the group want to be seen by others, they can also be interpreted as literary or artistic works. For instance, the Black Panther publications in the Milo Guthrie Papers graphically depict the political sentiments of the organization. Articles, illustrations, and layout reflect group's philosophy of the role of African-American women in the Revolution. As with a personal papers, organizational records should be utilized with a view towards their agendas, both implicite and explicite.