Arrangement
Organized in five series, divided to reflect Summerville's two primary careers as music educator and religious leader. Series 1, Education Materials, has two subseries: Sub-series 1, Elementary and Secondary School Papers; and Sub-series 2, College and University Papers. Series 1 consists of materials relating to Summerville's career as a music educator. Series 2, Church Papers, relates to his career as a religious leader in the Canaan Baptist Church. Series 3, Scores and Sheet Music has six sub-series arranged topically, suggesting the context in which the music was used: Sub-series 1, General Music; Sub-series 2, Pedagogical Music; Sub-series 3, Sacred Music; and Sub-series 4, Hymnals; Subseries 5, Shape-note Gospel Song Books; Subseries 6, Workshop Music and Programs. Series 4, Audio-Visual Recordings, has three sub-series: Sub-series 1, Education Audio-Visual Recordings; Sub-series 2: Church Audio-Visual Recordings; Sub-series 3: Commercial Recordings. Series 5: Personal and Family Papers and Photographs, includes four sub-series: Sub-series 1, Personal and Family Papers and Photographs; Sub-series 2, Personal Education Materials; Sub-series 3, Personal Study Books and Materials; Sub-series 4, Valerian A. Summerville's Personal Papers.