The Craig Hutchinson papers span the years 1889-1976 (bulk 1915-1966) and encompass 2 linear feet. The collection consists of production and subject files, books, and scrapbooks. The production files include lobby cards for Hutchinson's first Technicolor films. The subject files include correspondence, clippings, publicity, and early materials from the film studio Biograph. The scrapbooks include clippings, family photos, personal photos taken during film production of some of Hutchinson's earlier films including candid shots of Charlie Chaplin, and personal photos of Hutchinson and his wife Beatrice with their friends Mack Sennett, Stan Laurel and Gloria Swanson.

Craig Hutchinson (1891-1976) an early film director, producer, and screenwriter was born in Austin, Minnesota in 1891. His career in film dates back to 1911 when he started the first motion picture gossip column, "Flashes from Filmland" for the "Los Angeles Evening Herald." After a year of writing the column, Hutchinson was hired by early film studio owner Mack Sennett as a scenario editor. He wrote the first four two-reel comedies starring Charles Chaplin, which include HIS MUSICAL CAREER (1914) and HIS PREHISTORIC PAST (1914) and the first five-reel Chaplin comedy TILLIE'S PUNCTURED ROMANCE (1914). By the 1920s he was the president of his own company, Craig Hutchinson Productions. He went on to produce and direct one of the first Technicolor films, IF DREAMS CAME TRUE (1926). After working on more than 115 films, mostly comedies, he retired in 1935. Hutchinson and his wife Beatrice spent the rest of their time with friends, such as Mack Sennett and Stan Laurel, and travelling across Mexico and the Southwest.