This collection consists of audio sound recordings, textual and promotional materials, photographs, and other creative works and publications by or about folklorist, scholar, and producer Nick Spitzer. In September 2005, after Hurricane Katrina, American Routes creator and host, Nick Spitzer, along with staff of the national public radio program, relocated to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Seven radio broadcast episodes of "After the Storm" were produced in Lafayette with local public radio station KRVS on the UL Lafayette campus. Edith Garland Dupré Library provided office facilities and support to American Routes staff. The recordings, along with most of the textual materials in the American Routes "After the Storm" series were donated by Nick Spitzer.

Nick Spitzer was the 2016 recipient of the Festival of the Arts, SPARK Lifetime Achievement Award sponsored by the University of Louisiana at Lafayette College of the Arts. The "Zydeco, La-La, Ya-Ya" concert was held on March 19 as part of the March 11-26, 2016 celebration and events. In collaboration with the College of the Arts, the Cajun and Creole Music Collection and Special Collections of Edith Garland Dupré Library honored Spitzer with an exhibit highlighting many of his career works and accomplishments. The Folk Masters periodicals and several photographs in digital format were donated by Nick Spitzer in 2016.