He collected a large amount of secondary and primary material on the history of Louisiana. The primary material includes copies of items related to Acadian vigilante committees and the business records of William Wyatt of Vernon, Louisiana. Much of the secondary material was removed from the collection since it duplicated items already cataloged in the Louisiana Room. (A list of the removed items is appended to the inventory.) Fletcher gathered much information on agriculture and industrial development while preparing speeches on these subjects. He gave frequent speeches especially after World War II through the 1950s urging the people of Louisiana to invest in education as the best means to insure the future greatness of their state. The collection also reflects the close relationship between Fletcher, his wife, and their children: Ellen, Florence, Lorraine and Joel, III. The family correspondence contains frequent letters from Fletcher summarizing the events of the week for the benefit of the children who had all left the area. There is also a large number of letters to the parents including letters from Joel, III sent from Europe and the Far East where he served in the U. S. Navy and from Europe where he worked during the 1960s. Included are accounts of the Florence flood of 1966 since Joel lived there when it occurred. Another large portion of the collection illustrates Fletcher's service in civic and religious organizations. He held leadership positions at several levels in groups such as the American Red Cross, Rotary International, and the Federal Reserve Board. He was active at different times in the Lafayette Presbyterian Church, the Episcopal Church of the Ascension; and served on the board of trustees for regional colleges of both denominations. The breadth of the collection reflects the catholic interests of Fletcher. Included in the papers are materials which essentially are official records of the College of Agriculture while Fletcher served as the first dean after it was organized in 1938. In addition to his official correspondence as Dean, the collection contains the correspondence of other faculty in the college. The collection also contains the records of The Southwestern Agriculturist and the Mid-Winter Fair, both of which were pet Fletcher projects. During the New Deal Fletcher served as director of SLI's student employment program, and the papers reflect local involvement in such programs as the ERA, the NYA and the WPA. Among Fletcher's correspondents were Cardinal John A. Cody, Bishop Jules Jeanmard, Senator Styles Bridges, Senator Robert Kerr, Congressman Edwin Willis, Governor Earl K. Long, Governor John McKeithen, Ambassador Jefferson Caffery, and Caroline Dormon. This collection was donated by Joel Lafayette Fletcher, Jr.