The Avondale Mills Records consist of 22 linear feet of financial records, primarily in the form of large, ledger-type books. Some information on all ten of Avondale's mills in operation between 1897 and 1944 can be found, including the accounts of some mills before they were aquired by Avondale (Cowikee, Pell City, Bevelle, Sycamore, and Central Mills). The finacial records of various trusts and estates established upon the death of Avondale's founder, B.B. Comer, are in the collection, including business accounts of the Comer's 30000-acre Eufaula plantation. The collection was recieved as a jumbled assortment of 121 ledger-type books and loose documents gathered from Avondale's Sylacauga headquarters. Those books which were titled often were done so inconsistently -- the information in one book titled "Journal" is not necessarily the same type of data found in another book similarly titled. This was taken into account when the collection was catalogued so that the title assigned to each volume reflects its contents and, thus, may not agree with that found on the binding. Arrangeing the collection was further complicated because some volumes included accounts for a number of different mills, while others had accounts for only one mill -- and often this one mill was not identified. Thus, all the accounts dealing a particular mill could not be grouped together, although this was done as far as practicable within the chronological arrangement. The collection is divided into 4 series. Series I: Stock Issues consists of Avondale Mills Annual Reports, 1969-1982 and the redeemed/cancelled stock certificates and stock transfer journals of Avondale, Central, Sycamore, Alex City, and Pell City Mills (items 1-20). Series II: Mill Accounts make up the bulk of the collection (items 21-121). These ledger-type volumes are arranged in chronological order (loosely, because of overlapping dates) by decades, beginning with the 1890s and going into the 1940s. Within these chronological divisions the volumes are seperated into 6 groups by the type of data they contain. Account Books contain simple debit/credit entries for suppliers and customers of the mills, although some also include payroll and operating costs from various Avondale accounts while Journal have transactions by date. Ledgers have transactions by account (Repair Acct.", "Payroll", etc.) in day-by-day detail. Cash Book list money paid out from each Avondale account for "sundries, supplies, expenses, freight, steam, coal", etc. Trial Balances are monthly summaries of Ledger entries -- a debit/credit listing by month for each account. Production/Sales Records vary from detailed cost of production listings to tabulations of cloth and yarn sales, to accounts of raw cotton purchases. Series III: Estates include accounts for a variety of trusts and estates established after B.B. Comer's death. They include accounts for the Eufaula Plantation and cover the years 1929 to 1953 (items 122-127). Series IV: General Accounts is a miscellaney of production data, insurance information, and tax returns spanning the years 1908 to 1944. The value of this mass of financial information on Avondale Mills is limited by the lack of supporting documentation which could help n determining the completness of the records and their utility to Avondale Mills. Because dates of volumes overlap, because the type of data contained in the volumes is inconsistent from year to year, and because it is often difficult to tell to which mills the records refer, one cannot trace the operations of Avondale Mills over an extended length of time with any precision. However, for selected years, certain records give an in depth look at Avondale's operations. The Trial Balance books are particularly valuable for monthly summaries of transactions, often for each mill in the Avondale system. They run from 1898 to 1931, but their completeness is not assured. A Property Evaluation Record (item 113), although only for 1935, lists depreciation and value of all property in land buildings, village residences, schools, and equipment for the Birmingham and Sylacauga mills. Avondale Financial Statements: 1917-1933 (item 130) and Tax Returns: 1908, 1913-1928 (item 131) are similarly valuable as summary accounts. For the operations of the Comer Plantation in Eufaula, including sharecroppers' accounts, the Estate books, 1929-1953, are excellent sources (items 122-127).