The Edward Allen Fay Papers consist of correspondence and personal papers of Edward Allen Fay, who taught Latin, French and German at Gallaudet College from 1866 to 1920. The collection, which includes approximately 1,700 pages of manuscript, dates from 1869 to 1952. The bulk of the collection falls into the period when Fay was editor of the American Annals of the Deaf, specifically 1870 to 1920. Included in this series are articles submitted to the Annals, checkbooks, receipts and expenditures, subscription appeals and general correspondence.

While editor of the Annals, Edward Allen Fay contributed nearly 150 articles. His best known publications are Histories of American Schools for the Deaf (1893) and Marriages of the Deaf in America (1898). Checklists of married deaf and statistical data forms related to this publication are also found in this series. Also included in the Edward Allen Fay collection is correspondence to and from Alexander Graham Bell during the years 1883 to 1916. The correspondence is concerned with the statistics and procedures involved in Fay’s publication, Marriages of the Deaf in America and various other articles presented in the Annals. Edward Allen Fay was at Gallaudet in the capacity of professor for 50 years. During that period, he corresponded with Mary Bradshaw (who was his fiancée at the time). These letters have been edited by his daughter, Helen Fay.

During 1869, Fay traveled to Europe. While he was travelling, he kept a journal. The original journal can be found in this collection. Also included in this series are two lawsuits, lectures, notes and speeches given during his tenure as professor and Vice President of Gallaudet College. Among Edward Allen Fay’s correspondents were: Alexander Graham Bell, Mary Bradshaw, C. O. Dantzer, Leonard Elstad, Angie Fuller Fischer, Sarah Fuller, Edward Miner Gallaudet, Rev. Thomas Gallaudet, D. W. George, Frieda Meagher, Frederick Meagher, Elmer Peters, Stanley Robinson, M. C. Rugg, Harris Taylor, William Vernon, and Clayton Wyand.