Lafayette Gilbert M. Fletcher Jr. was born 24 March 1883 on his family's farm near Mankato. His father, Lafayette G. M. Fletcher Sr., was a prominent Mankato businessman, and his mother, Susan Dyer Fletcher, was one of the first instructors at the Mankato State Normal School.

Fletcher's training in art began after he left Mankato to attend the Minneapolis Art School in 1908. He would later study at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, and the Institute of Design in New York City. His occupational focus was on commercial art. He contributed to the New York Tribune, and Times, the Saturday Evening Post, and the Philadelphia Record.

Fletcher's most memorable work of art is his "The Ship and Wave Crest", which is part of the Metropolitan Museum of New York City's permanent collection. This is an example of the wood and linoleum block printing on paper that Fletcher developed in 1921.

In 1922, Fletcher became the art editor for the New York Herald, and remained in this position until he joined the New York Tribune.

Fletcher moved out of New York City, and to Towners, New York, where he remodeled an old gristmill and used it as his studio until 1928. Ill health forced Fletcher to move to New Mexico. He died of tuberculosis at the Southwestern Presbyterian Hospital in Albuquerque on 30 October 1933.

Biographical information from the Mankato Free Press, 3 November 1933.

Series One - Artwork, undated and 1932-1933: This series contains artwork created by Gilbert Fletcher. Included are block prints, sketches, and illustrated letters written by Fletcher. Two of the items in this series, the textile block prints "Men with Spears" and "Crossroads," are stored separately from the rest of the collection.

Series Two - Published Items, 1911-1953: This portion of the collection contains items written by or about Fletcher that were published. Included are magazines and books that Fletcher did illustrations for, newspaper and magazine articles by or about Fletcher, and newspaper clippings about him.

Series Three - Unpublished Items, 1904-1975: The third portion of the collection is made up of items by or about Gilbert Fletcher that were not published. Personal correspondence, manuscripts, genealogical information, and a biography of Gilbert Fletcher compiled by his sister, May Fletcher are included in this portion of the collection.