This collection contains the research materials Mouser collected while working on his biography of George Coleman Poage (1880-1962) as well as drafts of his book. The collection is organized in three series.

Series 1 contains notecards that are both bibliographic and research notes taken by the author. They are organized in the following categories, by the cities Poage lived in: St. Louis, MO; Chicago, IL; Hannibal, MO; La Crosse, WI; Madison, WI; as well as by subject themes: Music; Odd; and Olympic Games 1904.

Series 2 includes research materials such as: copies of primary sources such as newspaper articles, census data, and correspondences; copies of secondary sources cited in book manuscript; notes; and email correspondence between Mouser, archivists, and other historians who each helped with research and edits.

Series 3 contains drafts edited by various colleagues of Mouser.

Mouser's research on Poage centers on his experiences as an educated, athletic, and gay African American man living in various Midwestern cities at the turn of the 20th century. The research materials in this collection reflect Mouser's focus on Poage's childhood and exceptional educational accomplishments, experience as the first African American Olympic medalist at the 1904 St. Louis Games, his various career paths from a principal and teacher for the St. Louis Public School District to a postal clerk in Chicago, his relationships with prominent African Americans in the Midwest and his family, as well as motives behind each life-changing decision Poage made. Mouser's secondary research materials center on national trends in African American migration, culture, and politics. Mouser also compiled information on gay culture and night life in each of the cities where Poage lived.