The Ellwanger and Barry Papers includes the records of Ellwanger and Barry Nursery to 1918, including correspondence, order books, sketchbooks, stock record books, catalogs, price lists, inventories, and account books; records of Ellwanger and Barry Realty Company to 1963, including financial and legal papers, account books, payroll records, and blueprints for houses on the Ellwanger and Barry tract. Also business and personal correspondence, account books, and financial records of Patrick Barry, Charles P. and Julia Wald Barry, Bernard and Harriet Barry Liesching, and Arthur A. Barry, including much information about Rochester banks and civic organizations. Also family photographs and scrapbooks; memorabilia; diaries of Patrick Barry, 1857-72; and record of soldiers' bounties, 1862-1863.

The collection includes the constitutions, membership lists, minutes of board of trustees, catalogs of books, treasurer's accounts, and other papers of a subscription library in Wheatland, N.Y.

The collection consists of advertising materials for the manufacturers and retailers in the clothing industry, mainly of Rochester, NY. Men's, women's, and children's fashions and accessories from the turn of the century to the 1960s are represented. A wide variety of materials are found in the collection, including style model books, posters, photographs, brochures, catalogs, circulars, and sample fabrics. Box 1 contains the materials of several clothing manufacturers, primarily Michaels-Stern & Co. (and its associated Australian retailer) and Levy Bros. & Adler-Rochester, Inc. Large advertising poster boards for these two Rochester firms can also be found in Box 3. Also of interest in Box 1 are photographs and display posters for a manufacturing facility in France, showing the differences between clothing manufacturing in the United States and France. Box 2 contains a broad range of advertisement materials for many clothing retailers located in Rochester and other locations. A significant amount of this material concerns women's fashions. Also included in this box are miscellaneous materials relating to laundering, sewing, and fabric use. Box 4 contains lithographic prints advertising men's clothing made by Adler-Rochester.