Personal letters written by Phoenix to friends and associates, and letters which Phoenix collected as autograph specimens, ranging in date from 1554 (Melanchthon) to 1933 (Franklin D. Roosevelt). Over half of Phoenix's own letters are addressed to Josiah Collins Pumpelly (1839-1920), many others are to Henry Thayer Drowne (1822-1897). The material is dated from various places in the United States and Europe and contains accounts of Phoenix's travels and comments on yachting, books, the theater, and friends. There is a series of Presidential letters ranging from Washington to Franklin D. Roosevelt. Also, an engraved portrait of Phoenix.

The collection consists of 8 photographs of documents and 2 books. The documents, which include patents (gramoty) and decrees (ukazy), date from 1707-1812. There is also an almanac"Pami︠a︡tnai︠a︡ knizhka" dated 1855; and "Pami︠a︡tnai︠a︡ knizhka Lit︠s︡eĭstov za rubezhom" (Paris, 1929).

The M. Watt Espy papers chronicle the extensive research efforts that led to the creation of the Capital Punishment Research Project and the database known as the Espy File. Espy spent three decades gathering and indexing documentation of legal executions in the United States. His papers contain both primary and secondary sources used to catalog thousands of instances of capital punishment in the United States and its territories since the 1600s. The collection includes material from corrections records, newspapers, county histories, legal proceedings, and books. In addition to the records pertaining specifically to the death penalty, there is also a selection of magazines collected by Espy that cover true crime stories as well as life in the American Old West.

For over six decades, Eugene G. Wanger created or collected the materials about capital punishment that comprise the Eugene G. Wanger and Marilyn M. Wanger Death Penalty Collection. The collection includes a wide range of materials on the death penalty documenting its history, efforts to abolish or reinstate the practice, its psychological impact, compatibility on religious, moral or ethical grounds, and its operation.

Correspondence, manuscripts, documents, photographs, subject files, and printed materials belonging to Russian émigré artist and collector Nikolai Vasil'evich Zaretskii (1876-1959). The collection is a mixture of materials created by or for Zaretskii, and materials collected by him.

Michael A. Mello (1957-2008) was an internationally recognized authority on the death penalty and capital punishment issues. He was a lawyer, professor, and author. Michael Mello served as counsel or informal advisor to many significant cases, including Joseph Robert Crazy Joe Spaziano, Theodore Kaczynski, Theodore Bundy, Rolando Cruz, Alvin Ford, Stephen Todd Booker, and Robert Straight.

Correspondence, manuscripts, notes, photographs, and printed materials concerning the Leĭb-Gvardiĭ Izmaĭlovskiĭ Polk (the Izmaĭlov Regiment of the Imperial Guard), and of its emigre veterans' association, the Soi︠u︡z Izmaĭlovt︠s︡ev (Union of "Izmaĭlovt︠s︡y"). There are materials concerning the War of 1812, the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78, World War I, the Civil War, and the emigration. Most memoirs by veterans of the regiment cover World War I and the Civil War. There are biographical notes on members of the regiment from its formation in the 1700s into the 20th century, and also photographs and engravings. Printed materials include histories of the regiment, the oldest dating from 1830, and 14 bound volumes of the "Izmaĭlovskai︠a︡ Starina" (1930-40).

Lists, subject files, photographs, etchings and printed materials relating to the Pazheskii Korpus (imperial Corps of Pages), a school for the sons of the Russian nobility founded in 1802, and the Soiuz Pazhei (Union of Pages), the emigré alumni organization founded in 1920. The materials were collected by representatives of the Union of Pages. The collection consists chiefly of mimeographed newsletters, books, printed mementoes, such as programs, menus, tickets, and school forms, and of pictorial materials, especially photographs and etchings. The great majority of the materials pertain to the Imperial Corps of Pages and to Russia's imperial family, and include many unusual photographs portraying school life and the life of the family of Nicholas II. There are also old photographs of Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Tsarskoe Selo, printed reports of the State Council for 1894-99, newsletters published by the Union of Pages and miscellaneous Russian and foreign publications, originally part of the library of the museum of the Union of Pages in Paris.

Pamphlets, broadsides, almanacs, books, journals, newspapers, and a manuscript history of the formation of the Troy University in Troy, New York.

Papers of Petr S. Makhrov, consisting primarily of extensive manuscript memoirs. Emigrating to France, he became a leading figure in the "Soviet patriotic" movement during and after World War II. His memoirs, in thousands of pages, discuss all aspects of his career. The papers also include correspondence, documents, photographs, and printed materials. There are orders (prikazy) from World War I and the Civil War, and reports and telegrams from his time in Poland. There is a copy of "Russkie v Gallipoli" autographed by Wrangel, and a photograph album entitled "Russkai︠a︡ armii︠a︡ na Balkanakh." Also included is the 1841 report of the director of the Imperial Military Academy in St. Petersburg, General Sukhozanet.