At the time of Devere Allen's sudden death in 1955, his papers were stored at his office in Wilton, Connecticut. His widow, Marie Allen, retired soon after his death, so that the papers were unused until 1961, when historian Charles Chatfield was granted permission by Marie Allen to organize them. He visited Wilton in the summer of 1961, at which time he put the papers in a preliminary order, following essentially the same organizational structure in which he found them. Since Allen had been a member of the Advisory Council of the Swarthmore College Peace Collection, it was natural that the papers would be deposited at Swarthmore.

The bulk of the papers was sent to Swarthmore in the fall of 1961 (accession 61-80) containing approximately 150 linear feet. Chatfield provided a preliminary checklist. The materials were transferred to acid-free boxes and given temporary labels. Three small accessions were received in 1975, 1981 and 1985.

Processing of the Devere Allen Papers was begun in 1995. Chatfield had not been able to organize all materials during his 1961 visit, so that about 75 linear feet remained to be sorted among various series.

The series arrangement devised by Chatfield (based on the arrangement in which he found the papers) was retained, except that sub series were added to Series C.

It is important for the researcher to understand that even though there is one main correspondence series (Series C), correspondence may also be found in every series except series E. Series C also contains background information, filed with the correspondence by Allen and his assistants, to keep like topics together.