Correspondence, printed material, typescripts, photographs, galley proofs, and other materials document the life of Margaret Cousins, from her high school years through her career as a writer and editor. The material is arranged in three series: Writer, Editor, and Personal, in keeping with Cousins' original arrangement scheme.

Cousins' career as a writer is the focus of the first series, which consists of four subseries: Books, Short Stories and Articles, Poetry, and Writing, General. Typescripts, correspondence, and printed material are grouped together under the title of the book in the first subseries. The titles are presented chronologically by date of publication. Those books ghost written by Cousins, and are included here. The second subseries, Short Stories and Articles, is a relatively large one, consisting primarily of Cousins' contributions to various women's magazines, including and is the most heavily represented, with some fifty-seven of Cousin's contributions to the magazine appearing in her papers. Virtually every file in this subseries represents a particular short story in the form of both a typescript and a printed version. Certain articles appear under pseudonyms, such as those Cousins wrote for under the pseudonym William Masters. At the end of the subseries is a section containing Cousins' unpublished short stories and a file concerning those adapted for radio, television, theater, and film. The third subseries, Poetry, is a rather short one, primarily comprising typescripts of unpublished poetry composed by Cousins in her youth. The fourth and final subseries, Writings, General, contains materials documenting Cousins' association with the Author's Guild of the Author's League of America and a body of literary agent and publisher correspondence. The vast majority of the correspondence consists of letters sent to Cousins by her literary agent, Harold Matson Company. Also present are fan letters and letters from members of the National Magazine Company of London, with which Cousins was associated during World War II.

The second series, Editor, documents Cousins' distinguished editorial career. The series is divided into four subseries: Books and Articles, Magazines, Doubleday Publishing Company, and Public Relations. The first subseries pertains primarily to Cousins' editorial work for Lyndon Baines Johnson, Lady Bird Johnson, and Margaret Truman. Lyndon Johnson's memoirs, is represented by two typescripts. Chapters XI, XII, XIV, XV, XVII, and XXI are missing from the first typescript and Chapters XI, XVII, and XXI from the second. Lady Bird Johnson's and two short articles by Margaret Truman are also represented in typescript.

In the course of her work, Cousins developed personal relationships with the Johnsons and Ms. Truman, as is apparent from the correspondence and printed material present within this subseries. For instance there are files documenting Margaret Truman's wedding in 1956 and the dedication of the LBJ Library in 1970, both of which Cousins attended.

The second subseries, Magazines, is rather small, comprising a mere four folders of primarily printed materials and correspondence pertaining to Cousin's editorial activities at and The third subseries, Doubleday Publishing Company, documents Cousins' activities as senior editor at Doubleday. Present are notes, printed material, and correspondence from various company meetings and special committees. However, the bulk of this subseries is comprised of correspondence and memoranda representing Cousins' day-to-day editorial activities. Also present is a folder of mail Cousins received from well-wishers upon her retirement from Doubleday in 1971 and a folder of correspondence regarding reader's reports Cousins did for Doubleday subsequent to her retirement. The final subseries, Public Relations, contains typescripts, printed materials, and correspondence representing Cousins' support for various writing programs and contests. Also included are copies of speeches Cousins made at the meetings and conferences of literary and educational organizations.

The final series, Personal, evidences how little Cousins' personal life, as she represents it, diverged from her professional one. This series includes several files containing articles about Cousins dating from her high school days through her return to Texas in 1973. Ever conscious of her professional image, Cousins meticulously collected materials relating to her New York residences. Particularly well-represented is her much vaunted, custom built house near Dobbs Ferry, New York. The papers contain everything from blueprints and legal documents to magazine articles on the house. Cousins' personal correspondence is perhaps the most interesting group of materials in the papers. Included are letters from Joan Crawford, Ethel Merman, Margaret Mitchell, Ogden Nash, J.C Penney, Mike Wallace, Herman Wouk, William F. Buckley, and J. Frank Dobie. Also present are five folders of invitations to sundry social events. Two of the more significant occasions, the inauguration of Alan Simpson as president of Vassar College and a dinner in honor of Queen Elizabeth II, are represented in separate folders. Five folders of photographs, several diplomas, and a poetry scrapbook complete the papers.

The Cousins papers provide a fairly thorough retrospective of her life and work. However, it is more than evident that Cousins assembled her papers with an audience in mind. While certainly informative, the numerous explanatory notes Cousins placed throughout the papers and the materials she collected definitely reflect the image of how she wants to be remembered. Regardless, researchers will find these papers a rich source of information regarding the life of an extremely dedicated and highly able writer and editor of popular literature.

Several runs of correspondence in the papers have been indexed. Correspondence with members of the Authors League of America in box 16, incoming correspondence from literary agents and editors in box 17, editorial correspondence from Cousins' years at Doubleday in boxes 25-27, and incoming personal correspondence in boxes 32-36 is indexed at the end of this finding aid.