The Knight Papers consist of political and personal correspondence, speeches, office claendars, press releases, pamphlets and magazines, information cards, clippings, scrapbooks, condolences, audio-visual materials, photographs, books, memorabilia, legal papers and the manuscript and printed form of a book written by Goodwin Knight as a child, Good's Budget of Stories for Boys (1910). The body of the collection concerns the years 1946-1958 although materials included range from 1910 to 1970.

The political scope of the materials is very broad, touching on such prominent political figures as George Christopher, Earl Warren, Edmund Brown, Richard Nixon, William Knowland and Dwight D. Eisenhower, to mention a few.

The major campaigns covered are: the 1946 and 1950 races for Lieutenant Governor; the gubernatorial race of 1954, and the unsuccessful campaign for U. S. Senate in 1958. Knight ran against Richard Nixon in the Republican primary of 1962 but was forced to retire from the race because of ill health. All campaigns are covered primarily on a statewide basis, although national elections may be highlighted through the printed reference materials.

The personal correspondence mentions many civic, personal and business-oriented organizations to which Knight belonged or by whom he was cited. Some material concerns his early life and education and family matters.

The collection should be of interest to the contemporary historian as it reflects the wake of New Deal politics in California, the impact of “unamericanism” within the state and the nation, and the rise of a new ecological awareness. Many of the issues raised during the Knight years became the foundations of contemporary problems facing not only California, but the United States as a whole. The correspondence gives substantial insight into the social attitudes of the 1950's.

Materials from the second accession of the Goodwin Knight Papers (M0245) have been incorporated into this larger collection (M0244) of Knight materials. These additions have been noted in the series and subseries descriptions where they occur.

Some of the materials in this section overlap Part I (M0244); the majority, however, pertains to the period from 1958 to 1970. Personal and political correspondence have not been separated. "Personality" files dealing with certain important political figures have been intreduced, which include correspondence and related materials.

The tone of this second segment of the Knight Papers is primarily political and often reflects Knight's political clashes within ghe Republican Party. Much of the material here will provide invaluable information to the contemporary politcal scientist and historian.