The Personal series (0.5 linear feet) encapsulates material offering an insight into Madgett's personal history (not otherwise well documented in the collection), as well as material of special significance or rarity, or of particular use in gaining an overview of Madgett's life and career. Together with the Writings series, this series provides a glimpse into Madgett's childhood and adolescence. Comprising this material are correspondence, ephemera, interviews, photocopies (both of published material and manuscript documents), and several detailed statements that Madgett herself composed on various subjects (some of which are embedded in correspondence whose presence might be obscured if placed in the General Correspondence series). The largest subseries under the Personal series is the Biographical, which contains information about Madgett's family (primarily her father, grandfather, and brother), biographical and autobiographical summaries, interviews conducted with Madgett, and formal statements about Madgett by other writers.
The Journal Entries subseries includes a small sample of photocopied pages from Madgett's manuscript diaries from both her years at college (1944-1945) and the early 1960s. (The diaries from the early 1940s reside in the collection of Madgett's papers at Fisk University.) This materials is of a personal and narrative nature; photocopies of poems from her journals can be found in the Writings series.
In the Early Years subseries are school yearbooks, a literary magazine, and news clippings from Madgett's childhood and adolescence (1937-1945).
The Professional Activity subseries documents significant moments in Madgett's career as an educator and literary figure, covers activities not otherwise documented in the collection (see the Workshops and Events series), and includes a few recent annual summaries of Madgett's publications and public appearances.
Topical Files contain ephemera and other material on people and subjects in which Madgett had a special interest or to which she had a significant connection, including Gwendolyn Brooks, Langston Hughes, and Boone House (a circle of Detroit-area writers who gathered for informal workshops in the 1960s).
The final subseries in the Personal series, Citations and Awards, contains certificates given Madgett by various organizations in recognition of her achievements as a poet and editor. More detailed information about Madgett's many honors can be found in the Workshops and Events series.
