As Miss Peck searched the E. G. White manuscripts and letters for materials on the subject of education, she clearly sensed the need of a better organization of these files. As noted in an early chapter, copies of the letters and manuscripts were taken to Australia in oilcloth bags, and they had served in the preparation of articles and books. Marian Davis was so well acquainted with these that she could quite readily find materials she needed. Not so with the new workers, including Miss Peck. Writing to P. T. Magan on May 23, 1899, W. C. White explained: 4BIO 451.2
About four years ago the word came to her [Mother], “Gather up the fragments, let nothing be lost,” and this has been repeated many times since. But not till Sister Peck came were we able to do more than keep copies of the newly written documents. 4BIO 451.3
For some months Sister Peck has devoted a portion of her time to sorting, filing, reading, and indexing all of Mother's manuscripts within our reach, and Mother has been looking over her old diaries and manuscripts that were never copied on the typewriter. In these she finds many precious things that are being copied, filed, and indexed with the rest.— Ibid., 189. 4BIO 451.4
First, the typewritten copies of manuscripts and letters brought from America and those produced in Australia were sorted out by years. Then the general manuscripts were separated from the letters. Manuscripts were placed in chronological order and numbered serially. Letters were sorted out alphabetically and then numbered in sequence. These were punched at the top and filed in “Shannon” file drawers. This formed the basic E. G. White manuscript file as it stands today. From that time on, as the materials were copied they were given file numbers. This put the letters in chronological order. The record books started by Miss Peck, while valuable and still used occasionally, have been superseded by more comprehensive records that better serve the work of the White Estate. A subject index was made of the manuscripts and letters on four-by-six-inch cards, which serve today, and copies of which serve in the Berrien Springs, Michigan, branch office and the Ellen G. White SDA Research Centers. 4BIO 451.5
These several lines of literary work, together with the relentless correspondence, absorbed the time and strength of the staff working at Sunnyside. 4BIO 452.1