The Margaret Schlosser Wu papers date from 1949 to 2006 and measure 18 linear inches (4 boxes). The Margaret Schlosser Wu papers are arranged in four series: Personal, Professional, Research and publications, and Travel.

The Personal series contains materials related to Wu’s interest in arts and music, including personal drawings and sketches that were most likely created during an art class she took following retirement (2000s); subjects include still lifes and portraits. Wu’s writing includes a few chapters of an incomplete memoir, focusing on her childhood and later pregnancies, and Wu’s reflections on mothers who, like her, worked outside the home. This series also contains records related to Wu’s experience with bipolar disorder.

The Professional series contains material related to Wu’s career as a computer scientist, scholar, writer, and educator. These records include newspaper and magazine clippings related to the field, multiple versions of her CV and relevant documentation such as college transcripts, and materials related to her job search (1957-1967) and employment. Included here are a few letters from students and supervisors in recognition of her teaching.

The Research and publications series is the largest of the collection and includes a number of Wu’s published articles and textbooks, research she conducted for various writing projects, and correspondence and feedback from publishers and readers. She co-authored the textbook, “Systems Analysis and Design” (1994), with her husband, Shih Yen Wu. Several folders relate to unpublished manuscripts she researched and drafted following her retirement from the UI, including “Computers: How They Work” and a proposed children’s book about the history of computers, “From Abacus to PC.” Wu’s research file on computer pioneer Grace Hopper includes copies of two articles published by Hopper, as well as an official biography and a photograph. One folder contains drafted pages for unidentified books; some of these may relate to a textbook on object-oriented analysis that Wu and her husband sent to multiple publishers under different titles. The publisher correspondence contains more information about this book, including a proposal and table of contents. This series also includes a copy of her dissertation, “Hierarchical Protection Systems” (UI, 1980).

The Travel Series holds the bulk of the collection’s correspondence, an extensive collection of letters exchanged between Schlosser and her parents during multiple trips abroad. There are brochures for the art galleries and other sites she visited in cities like London, Denmark, and Zurich. This series also includes travel diaries and notes related to specific trips to Europe in 1958, 1965, and 1988.