This collection houses correspondence between Philander P. Claxton and educators throughout the United States. Much of the material documents the establishment of public county high schools in Tennessee by levying a county tax for the purpose. Researchers should note, however, that only those counties that did not have a public high school prior to 1910 are discussed in these letters. Other materials concern the establishment of public high schools for African-American students in Tennessee.

Notable correspondents in this collection include State Superintendent R. L. Jones, State High School Inspector P. L. Harned, Secretary of the Rockefeller Fund Wallace Buttnick, and Alabama State Superintendent Harry C. Gunnels.