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The memoirs cover Smirnov's singing career, including his childhood in Russia, the early part of his career in Moscow and St. Petersburg (he made his debut in 1904), and his performances and travels in Western Europe, North and South America, and Russia and the Soviet Union.

The collection consists largely of letters to Gunst from other Russian emigre musicians, including Nikolaĭ Cherepnin, Aleksandr Glazunov, Aleksandr Grechaninov, Nikolaĭ Medtner, and Sergeĭ Rakhmaninov. Other items include a photograph of Aleksandr Skri︠a︡bin's funeral procession, performance programs, and printed material relating to the Russian conservatory in Paris.

The collection includes correspondence (1940-1960), manuscripts by Shumilin, photographs, subject files, drawings and printed materials. Shumilin's major manuscripts concern the history of the Soviet educational system and include: "Kratkiĭ ocherk narodnogo obrazovanii︠a︡ v Rossii do olti︠a︡brśkoĭ revoli︠u︡t︠s︡ii," "O politekhnicheskom obrazovanii v SSSR," and "Vysshai︠a︡ sovet︠s︡kai︠a︡ shkola." Among the shorter manuscripts are: "Dve ti︠u︡rḿy," "Iz vospominaniĭ o sovet︠s︡kom teatre," "Obzor literatury O Chekhove," "O dukhovnom oblike russkoĭ zhenschiny," "Starai︠a︡ Varshava" and "Tragedi︠a︡ sovet︠s︡koĭ molodezhi." There are photographs of Shumilin taken in 1960. The subject files reflect Shumilin's major interests during the years he lived in Germany and the United States: church affairs, organizing recitals of religious music and music therapy. There are several folders of clippings, a number of pamphlets containing articles written by Shumilin and a number of copies of Shumilin's "Polytechnic Education in the USSR." Several of the manuscripts in the collection were published during the 1950-1965 period. These include: "O dukhovnom oblike russkoĭ zhenshchiny" (New York, 1957), "Soviet Higher Education" (Munich, 1962) and "Tragedii︠a︡ sovet︠s︡koĭ molodezhi" (Munich, 1961).

Papers and memorabilia of Schillinger, including a group of rare Russian concert posters, programs, music compositions, published writings about Schillinger, and a notebook containing the outlines of courses and lectures given in Russia and in New York.

The collection contains correspondence, manuscripts, clippings, books and periodicals. There are two letters from Aleksandr Glazunov and one each from Aleksandr Grechaninov and Nikolaĭ Metner. The manuscripts deal with both cultural affairs and the Russian Revolution. Among the cultural topics are essays on music, Isadora Duncan, Maksim Gorḱiĭ and literary affairs. There are articles about general aspects of the Revolution and about such individuals as Lenin, Stalin, Chicherin, Dzerzhinskiĭ and Kamenev. Many of the articles are memoiristic in nature, particularly those about life in Moscow and in the provinces during the Revolution, Dzerzhinskiĭ and Kamenev. There are clippings of articles written by Sabaneev and a number of books and periodicals either written by Sabaneev or containing articles by him.

These memoirs, in three notebooks(163 p.), were apparently the manuscript of the second part of her memoirs"Moĭ put ́s pesneĭ" (1930); they cover pages 7-98 of that work, from 1909 to World War I. The manuscript is in an unidentified hand, with extensive corrections and additions in, apparently, two other hands.