This series is comprised of personal material including; awards and recognitions that Fowler received, newspaper articles focusing on his work, and material created by him for the classes he taught on history. The series also contains course syllabi and lecture notes for his classes, and the prepared questions for an interview with Fowler on local radio station WMTR.

In his capacity as local historian and author Mr. Fowler wrote to the state and municipal organizations requesting information on properties. He also had a great deal of mail from individuals requesting his services and letters expressing gratitude for the work that he provided either investigating their house or family history. This series contains professional and personal correspondence between Alex Fowler and these individuals. There are also letters from Mr. Fowler to his son describing, with some detail, the Fowler family history. In addition Mr. Fowler carried out a lengthy correspondence with Phillip Wendall Smith, a prominent New Jersey businessman who was heavily involved in many regional historical societies. Those letters received by Mr. Fowler are in this collection. There are no copies of the letters written by him to Mr. Smith. There is also a file folder of letters received by Mrs. Fowler from individuals expressing their sympathy at Mr. Fowler's death in 1984.

In addition to his book, Splinters From the Past, Alex Fowler wrote many papers on local issues. Some of these papers are present in this collection. They cover a rather broad range of material to include Boonton's first female physician as well as the story of a Mountain Lakes Rain Road station, the one time property of a former slave. There is also one report written by Fowler in his capacity as an engineer with AT and T. Mr. Fowler wrote other papers that are also found in this collection, specifically in reference to houses he has studied, however these were placed within Series IV, with the appropriate subject matter.

While writing his book Mr. Fowler collected a great deal of research material. This is represented in this series through the written notes and collected information that Alex Fowler used. In addition there is material from many other houses in Morris County that Mr. Fowler has taken an interest in but did not include in his book. Some of the collected information includes copies of deeds and wills, short essays on the houses written by Fowler, surveys, diagrams of lands, transcribed as well as original correspondence from property owners, photographs and negatives, and cemetery records. The series is arranged alphabetically by township and within the townships the properties are further arranged by the name of the original owners. The townships' boundaries and names have changed often over the years and the material is arranged by the names that Mr. Fowler used. These townships include Old Boonton, Boonton, Chatham, Denville, Dover, Halseytown, Hanover, Harding, Hiawatha, Ironia, Jefferson, Kinnelon, Lincoln Park, Madison, Mendham, Meriden, Montville, Morris County, Morris Plains, Morris Township, Morristown, Mountain lakes, Parsiappany-Troy Hills, Pequannock, Pompton Plains, Riverdale, Rockaway Valley, Stony Brook, Vreeland, Washington, and Whippany. Many of the structures that Fowler studied were either accepted or proposed as historic landmarks under the federal government's Historic American Buildings Survey and the application for acceptance is present in many of the folders. Fowler wrote an extensive history of Montville for the Morris County Historical Society that has been placed in this series as well.

Alex Fowler was instrumental in the Morris County Historical Society's early years and was heavily involved in many of the Historical Society's community endeavors including the Historic Tours, in which county residents toured local houses with historic value. The Historical Society depended upon Mr. Fowler for a great deal of research. He was a member of the Historical Society's Historic Sites and Buildings Committee. The Society also requested that he become a member of its governing board in the early 1980's though he declined.

The series contains some of the Historical Society's records, including Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws, a proposed constitution, Treasurer reports, membership lists and directories, as well as one copy of the Society's newsletter Gazette. Alex Fowler's records are also present, including note books utilized for research, his notes and documents from the Annual Pilgrimage of Historic Houses. This series does not represent a complete accounting of Mr. Fowler's activities with the Historical Society though it does illuminate the depth of his participation and commitment to local history.

By extension of interests in writing and studying Mr. Fowler was naturally interested in ensuring the continued existence of many of these fine houses. By cooperating with municipal, county, state, and federal efforts Mr. Fowler was able to protect many of these houses from destruction. The federal program, the Historic American Buildings Survey, or HABS. As a sub series a few of the houses were eligible for a Morris County Historic Marker and these have been placed here.

Mr. Fowler provided genealogical services for many Morristown residents and he kept most of his notes. This series is arranged alphabetically. Get what types of documents are in his records. There are two sub series which include the original documents as well as the written records of Alex Fowler of two prominent local families, the DeCamps and the Kingslands. Both sub series contain diaries (in the case of the DeCamps both original copies and ones transcribed by Fowler), business records and wills, correspondence. In some cases digitized copies were made of the more fragile items. There are also some records from William Scott. The Scott family was related to the DeCamps by marriage. These items have not been removed from the collection but researchers are not permitted to handle them. This series also contains a box with paintings and oversized photographs of the DeCamp and Kingsland families. The Hilers and Hylers are the same family, though they have different homes.

This series contains state and county journals to include "The New Jersey Heritage" bulletin for December 1962, incomplete and "The County Circular" March 1977-June 1982, incomplete, The Times Bulletin Suburban Trends Magazine, 1977, incomplete, The Victorian Newsletter, and a listing of Morris County newspapers that had originally been placed at the County Clerk's office.

Mr. Fowler collected papers and studies completed by other authors and genealogists, that included genealogical studies, architectural history studies, and geographic histories. Some of these reports were published in journals and magazines while others are bound articles. These reports complemented his own research attempts and they represent a diverse group of authors with broad interests.

This series contains a great deal of information concerning local history events as well as some of the information that Mr. Fowler used to complete his work as a local historian. Several local history clubs are represented in this series, facsimiles of local and Trenton deeds and wills, collections of significant local events, records from various churches and cemeteries, maps, originals and facsimiles, studies of Morris County's roads, and a transcribed autobiography of an early Morris County resident.

As an emeritus member of the Morris County Historical Society, Alex Fowler prepared nomination forms for acceptance by both the National Register of Historical Places and the New Jersey Historic Preservation Group. This series, arranged alphabetically according to town and township, is evidence of both the work he performed for various historical preservation groups and the work of others that he accumulated for his records. Included in this series are the national government forms that continue the survey initiated by the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) of 1936, Fowler's own research reports, photographs, negatives, correspondence and maps and informational forms completed by the Morris County Historical Society. Also included in this series is information on the Morris Canal.