The collection contains nearly 1,700 flutes and other wind instruments, statuary, iconography, books, music, trade catalogs, tutors, patents, and other materials mostly related to the flute. It includes flutes from around the world with at least 460 European and American instrument makers represented. Items in the collection date from the 16th to the 20th century.

Articles and essays provide rich information and context about Miller, the instruments, and the iconography in the collection.

Downloadable public domain photographs of flutes and piccolos include special instruments such as: a flute made by Johann Joachim Quantz for King Frederick the Great around 1740; 17 glass flutes by Claude Laurent, including President James Madison's; an ivory flute made in London by flutist-composer Louis Drouet in 1818; a silver alto flute in G by Rudall Carte and Co.; and a cocuswood piccolo in C by George Winfield Haynes from 1888.

The Library of Congress classification number M1.A1 includes music printed or 'copied in manuscript' in the United States or the colonies through 1820. As an early record of musical life in America and the colonies, this classification number holds many interesting popular and topical pieces. Search the collection for "flute" to find pre-1820 scores such as Sonatas by Adalbert Gyrowetz, Sonata no.1 in C major by Ignaz Pleyel, and Minuetto with Eight Variations for Flute and Violoncello by George Edward Saliment.

The LC Commissioned Composers Web Archive contains websites of composers who have been commissioned by Music Division funds. Of note to flute researchers are web archives of commissioned flutist-composers including Valerie Coleman, Robert Dick, Allison Loggins-Hull, and Harvey Sollberger.

The Professional Organizations for Performing Arts Web

Archive contains websites and select social media to document professional networks in the performing arts over time. The collection items are those of professional, labor, and advocacy organizations at regional, national, and international levels. Web archives of interests to flute researchers include the National Flute Association, Inc.; World Flute Society; La Traversière - The French Flute Association; and Nederlands Fluit Genootschap (Dutch Flute Society).

Carol Lynn Ward-Bamford profiles the Dayton C. Miller Collection held at the Library of Congress. Miller was an accomplished scientist and collector whose collection of flutes and related materials is among the world's largest focused on a single instrument. Ward-Bamford is joined by scientist Paul Runci, and they discuss aspects of Miller's collecting processes and expenditures, including how the collection came to the Library of Congress.

Composer Allison Loggins-Hull has been paired with flutist Nathalie Joachim of Flutronix to write a new work for singing flutist and electronics, entitled "Have and Hold."

Composer Erin Rogers was paired with flutist Erin Lesser of the Wet Ink Ensemble to write a new work for solo flute entitled "Hello World," which premiered on June 19, 2020.

he magic of the Laurent crystal flute is explored through historical performance and discussion. The Laurent flute, 1807 to 1848, was the indulgence of American and European aristocracy and was called "Perfection in Flute Making." Grammy-winning flutist Richard Graef brings the glass flute to life. Murray Loew (professor of biomedical engineering at George Washington University), Carol Lynn Ward-Bamford (curator of the flute collection at the Library of Congress) and Lynn Brostoff (senior research chemist at the Library of Congress) peer inside these artifacts.

An introduction to the Library's remarkable Dayton C. Miller Flute Collection: meet a few of the Library's nearly 2,000 instruments in this lecture-recital featuring flutist Lorna McGhee of the Pittsburgh Symphony, pianist Ryo Yanagitani of the S&R Foundation, and musical instrument curator Carol Lynn Ward Bamford. Produced in association with the S&R Foundation.