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The Mike Gold (Irwin Granich)/Mike Folsom Papers date from about 1901 to 1990, and measure about thirteen linear feet. They are divided into twelve series: Correspondence (1901-1990 and undated); Writings (1904-1989 and undated); Biographical Materials (1954-1969 and undated); Individual Files (1905-1978 and undated); Periodicals (1913-1958 and undated); Newspaper Clippings (1924-1980s and undated); Events and Activities (1935 1972 and undated); Notes and Journals (1906-1962 and undated); Personal (1930s-1967 and undated); Miscellaneous (1935-1970s and undated); and Visual Materials (1923-1960s and undated).

The first series, Correspondence, contains items dating from 1901-1990, and measures 1.5 linear feet. It includes correspondence materials from both Mike Gold and Mike Folsom, as well as some materials written between two other outside parties which it seems that Folsom used in his research and writing. It also includes letters to and from Gold and his wife, Elizabeth, as well as their sons, Carl and Nick. There are a variety of prominent figures included in the correspondence, including such persons as Theodore Dreiser, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, Joseph Freeman, Ernest Hemmingway, Walter Lowenfels, Lewis Mumford, and Upton Sinclair, along with a host of others. Of particular interest is the early correspondence between Sinclair and Gold, the H.L Mencken correspondence (on microfilm), Folsom's correspondence with Gold and other literary figures and writers in the 1960s and 1970s, and the topical folders on Gold's application for a Guggenheim fellowship in 1928-1929 and 1935-1936, and on the Estate and Papers of Mike Gold, which provides some insight into the history of the papers themselves. It should be noted that in particular during the 1960s it is often difficult to distinguish between the correspondences of Gold and of Folsom because many letters are simply addressed, "Dear Mike".

The second series, Writings (1904-1989 and undated) is the largest series at about 7 linear feet. It primarily contains manuscript and published materials by Mike Gold, including books (no manuscripts), fiction (including many manuscripts), drama (including manuscripts), poetry (including many manuscripts), song lyrics (mostly published), columns and articles (mostly published, also including some manuscripts), and other writings (some manuscripts and some published materials). Also included in the series are the writings of Mike Folsom (including manuscripts and published materials), and the writings of other people (including his wife), such as dissertations, published articles, and a number of manuscripts.

The third series, Biographical Materials (1954-1969 and undated) includes about 0.75 linear feet of materials. There are some of Gold's manuscripts for the autobiography/memoir book he was working on towards the end of his life, as well as transcripts from interviews with Mike Folsom and some notes, and a few published items relating to Gold's life. Most of the items in this series seem to have been produced by Gold and Folsom during the time they were working together on Gold's autobiography/memoir, although a few items dated earlier suggest that Gold had been working on and off on the project himself for some time before collaborating with Folsom.

The fourth series, Individual Files (1905-1978 and undated) measures about 0.25 linear feet. This series is composed of folders relating to a specific individual, including a number of prominent people as well as some lesser-known figures. The materials included in the series are mostly notes and articles, although in some cases there are other items such as pamphlets and images included in the folders. Most of the people included in the series figured prominently into Gold's life (either personally, professionally, or both), or into Folsom's own research on Gold or other proletarian writers.

The fifth series, Periodicals (1913-1958 and undated) also measures about 0.25 linear feet. It includes mostly small collections of such titles as The Flame, The Liberator, The Masses, The New Masses, The Oakland Post Enquirer, and The Scarsdale Inquirer, for which Gold wrote over a period of years or months. These contain published versions of Gold's writings (some under the name Irwin Granich) and give an idea of how his writings appeared to readers at the time of their original publication.

The sixth series, News Clippings (1924-1980s and undated) includes 0.5 linear feet of folders containing dated and undated news clippings. These appear to be items clipped by Gold (to 1967) and Folsom, sometimes used for research or to write an article, or for personal interest. A few of the folders are somewhat topical within a time frame, such as pertaining to the H-bomb and McCarthyism, but most contain articles on a variety of subjects.

The seventh series, Events and Activities (1935-1972 and undated) is about 0.25 linear feet in size. It includes materials from events Mike Gold attended as well as a number of events held in his honor, and materials from his national speaking tour in 1954 in honor of his sixtieth birthday, including manuscripts.

The eighth series, Notes and Journals (1906-1962 and undated) contains both 0.75 linear feet of foldered materials and two boxes of card files. There are a large number of Gold's notebooks and notes, a diary, as well as some address books and address and business cards, and a childhood autograph book. Also included are Folsom's loose and topical notes (although Folsom's notes, where possible, have been kept with the materials with which they were found in the papers) and a notecard file housed in two small shoebox-sized boxes. Most notebooks and notes are not labeled or dated, making it difficult to distinguish what they are about and when they were written.

The ninth series, Personal (1930s-1967 and undated) is the smallest series at about 0.1 linear feet. It contains folders on such subjects as Gold's family, medical and financial information (mostly social security), and his death, including articles and obituaries.

The tenth series, Miscellaneous (1935-1970s and undated) measures about 0.65 linear feet. It includes some topical files on subjects, a variety of items on various social, political, and scholarly interests, and some folders relating to Folsom's own interests and activities, particularly after Gold's death, and general materials which did not fit in elsewhere in the papers.

The eleventh, Visual Materials (1923-1960s and undated), measures about 0.5 linear feet and is housed in a separate smaller box. It includes photographs, microfilm, and a few illustrations. Most of the items are undated, except the microfilm. The photographs date from Gold's childhood to the end of his life, but most appear to be from the 1920s through the 1940s. A number of photographs are from Gold's visit to Ernest Hemingway's home in Florida, where Gold vacationed and went fishing in about 1929- 1930. There are also some unlabeled and unidentified photographs, and some photographs which have been removed from other items in the collection (such as correspondence) for preservation purposes.

The twelfth and final series, FBI File, measures about .75 linear ft. In 1978 Mike Folsom requested Mike Gold's FBI file under the Freedom of Information Act. He received photocopies of the documents in Gold's file with some information blacked out by the FBI to protect the privacy of informants and other individuals. In 2002 Nick Granich offered the Labadie copies of his copies of Mike Gold's file. Since the Labadie's copies are at least third generation some information is obscured, but for the most part the documents are legible. The documents were left in the order in which the Labadie received them. The organizational scheme is primarily topical and chronological. If any records did seem out of place, they were left as is to preserve the original order. The FBI reports cover the years 1941 to 1967 with additional correspondence between Mike Folsom and the FBI in 1978.

William Reuben is an investigative reporter and author who wrote, most notably, about the Rosenberg espionage case and the Alger Hiss-Whitaker Chambers libel and perjury trials. The Collection includes correspondence, research and interview notes, drafts of books and articles, published and unpublished, on the trials of the "Trenton Six," Morton Sobell and Robert Soblen, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, and Alger Hiss, with much research on Whittaker Chambers.

In general, most of the series consist of similar kinds of material: Reuben's research notes, drafts of his writings, correspondence, clippings, and reviews of other writings about the case or individual. Some of the series have further value because they include Reuben's collection of printed material about the case. For example, Reuben was particularly active in the Committee to Secure Justice in the Rosenberg Case, and the Rosenberg series includes some of the printed matter put out by this organization. Reuben also collected correspondence of the Civil Rights Congress, a major organization lobbying on behalf of the Trenton Six.

In many ways, the Reuben papers are an assemblage of secondary material. Reuben had little first-hand dealings with either the Rosenbergs or the Trenton Six. Nevertheless, the files have value for their documentation of the manner in which this one investigative reporter worked. Reuben was a meticulous and persistent researcher, who tracked down a variety of leads in a story, first analyzing the available court transcripts and other official records, then corresponding as much as he was able with the people involved in the case (including other writers like himself), and finally monitoring the amount and kind of press coverage given to the case. Unfortunately, Reuben did not gain as much first-hand contact with the principals in his investigations as he would have liked, and thus the collection is not as substantive as the researcher might like. Reuben 's correspondence, furthermore, is often superficial and anecdotal in character. Another disappointment of the collection are Reuben 's notes and drafts, which because they are fragmentary or unidentified, are difficult to use and of questionable research value.