This collection spans a century and a half and four generations of the Hardaway and Loflin families. The ante-bellum period is represented by cotton plantation records and detailed diaries of various Hardaways of eastern Alabama and western Georgia. The Civil War is seen through the battle field diaries of Robert A. Hardaway, and his voluminous autobiographical writings. The post-bellum period is represented by the business, family and academic records of Robert A. Hardaway and his son, Robert Early Hardaway, whose business activities are broadly represented in textual and photographic media. The lives of his son, Robert E. Hardaway and his daughter, Jane Hardaway Loflin, are well documented in the 20th century portion of the papers. Additionally the personal, social and business activities of the latter two are augmented with letters, genealogical materials, photographs, correspondence, scrapbooks and publications from Jane H. Loflin's husband, Robert L. Loflin and his brother, William F. Loflin, Jr., accountants and businessmen in Columbus,Georgia in the mid-twentieth century.