The series contains records used and created by Philip Cantelon in preparation of his history of MCI titled, The History of MCI: 1968-1988, The Early Years, and records from the office of the MCI Corporate Archivist Adam Gruen. It is arranged into ten subseries, each is organized alphabetically.

Advertisements subseries

Contains photographs of print ads and stills from television commercials taken between 1970 and 1985. There is also one photograph of MCI’s first trade booth in 1970.

Buildings and facilities subseries

These photographs and slides are of MCI’s network switch called Dallas One, exteriors of MCI Headquarters in Washington D.C., interiors and equipment from the Perryman Data Centers, and various MCI towers. There are photographs of the construction of the MCI Moscow Global Communications Center. These images date from 1981 to 1991.

Events subseries

Contains photographs, negatives and contact sheets from press conferences, ground breakings, grand openings, and an exhibition presumably at the British Telecom Museum in London. There are images from the AT&T antitrust hearings and a visit from First Lady Nancy Reagan. Additionally there are audio recordings, one of Orville Wright commenting on a draft of a speech, another of a talk given at Robert E. Lee High School, and a set of three tapes labeled “William McGowan” with unknown contents at this time.

History subseries

This subseries consists of photographs which document the early history of MCI. It includes organization charts, slides from RCA Global Communications, and satellite paths and coverage maps. There is a copy of Telecommunications Act of 1996 and the letter thanking Bert Robert for his support of President Clinton’s Technology Literacy Challenge program, both sent to Bert Roberts from the White House. These materials date from 1970 to 1997.

Oral history project subseries

Philip L. Cantelon conducted interviews with MCI employees for his book The History of MCI: 1968-1988, The Early Years, 1993. There are over 200 audiocassettes with interview recordings which contain valuable information on many aspects of MCI history. There are also digital files which were stored on floppy diskettes. The digital files are textual documents containing biographies of the individuals interviewed, transcripts of the interview, and cover pages for the transcripts. These files have been removed from the disks and converted from Word Perfect files to Microsoft Word files. PDF/A copies of these files are available for access. There were two disks which were unreadable, therefore there is not a biography and transcript available for every interview. The interviews date from 1987 through 1995.

People subseries

This subseries are portraits of executives and employees taken in the 1980s and 1990s. The images are photographs and slides.

Press releases subseries

Photographs and negatives of executives or technology which would be used to appear in a press release. These images were taken in 1989 and 1991.

Sales promotions subseries

This subseries includes photographs, transparencies, and slides used for various promotions. There are images of a golf tournament, MCI logos, building exteriors, employees, and a trade show. There are slides of stills from television commercials, annual meetings, buildings, microwave towers, and various equipment. The materials date from 1970 to 1984.

Sites subseries

This subseries is primarily slides of the construction of a MCI microwave networks from the 1980s and early 1990s. There are two photographs of the foundation of a facility at Bridgewater, Michigan around 1973.

Technology subseries

Contains photographs, negatives, and contact sheets of construction, wires, cable installation, fiber optics, satellites, and microwave towers. There is a CD-Rom called “Financial the Future: An MCI Living Case Study” which includes various financial data about MCI. Materials date from 1973 through 1994.