The Frances M. Parsons Papers consist of articles, clippings, diaries, letters, reports, resumes and a scrapbook. Ms. Parsons is presently a lecturer of Art History at Gallaudet University where she has taught since 1973. Professor Parsons is known as an "ambassador" to the deaf world where she has been traveling around to spread the Total Communication to the deaf people.

The collection, which consists of approximately 2,500 pages, dates from 1939 1986. The bulk of the collection consists of diaries, articles and clippings. Ms. Parsons wrote her diaries about her trips between 1974 and 1977. Also, there are some materials in this collection related to the Peace Corps in which Ms. Parsons participated. In the collection are two tapes of interviews while she was in South Africa and Australia in 1976. Ms. Parsons wrote several articles on her trips and also on Total Communication. One interesting item in this collection is a clipping about Parsons' escapade from Tahiti to San Francisco in 1941.