The Shattuck Papers offer a window onto the eclectic life of artist, dog breeder, and Spiritualist Louise Shattuck and onto the equally eclectic Spiritualist community of Lake Pleasant, Mass. Organized into five series, the collection documents Louise's life from her childhood until her death, with an emphasis upon her connections to her community. Her diverse interests interweave throughout the collection, appearing in correspondence and writings, newspaper clippings and photographs, and in her voluminous diaries, kept sporadically between 1928 and the mid-1970s and regularly from then until 2005.

Of particular note in the collection are a small, but rich assortment of materials relating to Spiritualism. Among the photographs, pamphlets, and realia are items reflecting both Louise's Spiritualist practices and her interest in the history of Spiritualism and the Lake Pleasant community. A Lake Pleasant photograph album, along with a few publications and objects provide sketchy, but intriguing documentation of the Independent Order of Scalpers, a fraternal club in the village, but the collection also includes extensive samples of Louise's automatic writing, transcripts of Ouija board sessions, and four excellent examples of spirit slates with chalk inscriptions, dating from the time of Louise's grandmother (ca.1900-1910). Also included in a small assortment of Spiritualist pamphlets published by the Star Publishing Co. of Springfield, Mass., is H. A. Budington's History of the New England Campmeeting Association at Lake Pleasant.