This collection contains photographs, correspondence, newspaper clippings, short stories, and articles related to or written by Donald Barthelme and his brothers, Rick, Steve, and Peter Barthelme, as well as notes by Helen Barthelme. This collection contains research that Helen Barthelme gathered in order to write a biography on Donald Barthelme Jr., Donald Barthelme: The Genesis of a Cool Sound. This collection encompasses his early life and career both as a writer and as director of the Contemporary Arts Association, up until his death in 1989.