Stanley Diamond's papers document his work as scholar, author, researcher, teacher, editor, poet and university administrator. Materials include ethnographic fieldwork, syllabi and lecture notes, conference materials, typescripts and offprints of writings authored by Diamond, as well as by colleagues, as well as his work as founder and editor of the journal, Dialectical Anthropology. Correspondence in the collection represents Diamond's deep engagement with an international circle of colleagues. The papers also document Diamond's activities as a progressive intellectual and activist for indigenous rights and nuclear disarmament, and his work promoting anthropologists who, like himself, were poets.

The collection is organized into nine series:

Series I. Biographical and personal, consists of just a few files relating to Diamond's life outside of his professional and academic pursuits. Other personal correspondence may be found in Series III. Correspondence and subject files.

Series II. Conferences and public seminars, includes Diamond's correspondence with conference organizers pertaining to his participation as organizer and presenter, as well as invitations, schedules, programs, and other printed material.

Series III. Correspondence and subject files, is primarily comprised of communications with colleagues, academic associates, professional organizations, journal editors and publishers. Files sometimes include manuscripts by colleagues--these will also be found in Series IX Writings by others,

Series IV. New School for Social Research, includes materials relating to Diamond's administrative role as chair of the New School Anthropology Department, 1971-1985, and his involvement with issues related to the Graduate Faculty of Political and Social Science, more generally.

Series V. Poetry book project and related activities, primarily documents Diamond's efforts to publish an anthology of poetry by himself and anthropologist colleagues.

Series VI. Research, consists predominantly of material collected and created in connection with Diamond's research on Africa--in particular Nigeria and Biafra--as well as work on the Seneca Nation of Indians in the Allegany Indian Territories, and on kibbutzim and residents of a neighboring Arab town in Israel.

Series VII. Teaching, consists of material Diamond generated in preparation for his classes, spanning almost the entirety of his teaching career, including courses at the New School, Syracuse University, and Bard College.

Series VIII. Writings by Diamond, presents a range of Diamond's writings, from his dissertation on the African Kingdom of Dahomey to his late work on poetry and anthropology, as well as his own poetry. Included are typescript drafts, many with handwritten revisions and comments, as well as correspondence, contracts, and memoranda regarding the publication of articles, monographs, conference proceedings, and edited anthologies.

Series IX. Writings by others, consists largely of materials from the 1970s and 1980s amassed during Diamond's tenure as editer of Dialectical Anthropology, with mansucripts, revisions and final drafts of papers published by the journal, as well as correspondence with authors.