This collection includes nine letters of Ralph Waldo Emerson as well as letters of Louis Agassiz, Amos Bronson Alcott, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, James Russell Lowell, John Lothrop Motley, Charles Sumner, and John Greenleaf Whittier. In addition, there are two incomplete manuscripts by Emerson and one document from the Liverpool Custom-house signed by Nathaniel Hawthorne as Consul for the United States. The collection also includes the corrected typescript, index, and page and galley proofs for Thomas Franklin Currier, A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES (New York, 1953) which was edited by Professor Tilton. Also, some early correspondence and photographs of the Tilton family and friends. There are letters from the actors Annie Louise Ames, Richard J. Dillon, and Hans L. Meery to Tilton's grandfather, Bernard Paul Verne, as well as photographs, tintypes, and daguerreotypes of the Verne family and friends.

The papers consist of correspondence, manuscripts, documents, subject files, newspaper clippings, printed materials, photographs, and drawings. Most of the correspondence concerns Bilyi's activities as Ataman, and the journal "Kazak"; other correspondence is personal or relates to the activities of anti-Communist groups (such as the Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations - ABN). The manuscripts include articles, reminiscences, drafts of appeals and proclamations, and speeches mostly concerning the Cossack movement, Cossack history, and the anti-Communist movement. The documents mostly concern KNOD and related organizations for the period ca.1955-1970; a few relate to the Cossacks in 1919-1945. The subject files contain newspaper clippings, printed materials, notes, and correspondence relating to KNOD, ABN, "Kazak", Ukrainian-Cossack relations, and the Vlasov Movement. The newspaper clippings are mostly from Russian and Ukrainian emigre publications. Printed materials include a set of "Kazak" and ephemera of KNOD, ABN, and similar organizations. There are a few photographs showing Bilyi in Cossack dress and also various Cossack emigre organization activities. The paintings and drawings include portraits of Bilyi and his wife, Tatiana Iurievna Bilyi, in national dress (his Cossack, hers Czech), other Cossack leaders, Cossack heraldry, and a map of "Cossackia."

Correspondence, manuscripts, documents, subject files, maps, and clippings of Volkonskiĭ. The correspondence dates from 1905-1946 and chiefly concerns religious matters. There are letters from Russians at the Vatican, for emample, and some concerning Volkonskiĭ's financial affairs in emigration. The manuscripts are almost exclusively in the form of notes on church history. Volkonskiĭ was particularly interested in the possible merging of the Orthodox and Catholic churches. The documents include accounts and contracts. One subject files concerns a World War I field hospital, and another has extensive materials on the Ukraine during the period of the revolution and civil war (1917-1920).

The Shih-hui Hsiung (Shihui Xiong) papers consist of materials documenting Hsiung's life and political career from 1907 to 1974. The highlights of the papers are the manuscripts, which include six volumes of Hsiung's memoir, seven volumes of diaries over 43 years, and approximately 440 original handwritten speech scripts. The photographs and political and military affairs related documents focus on Hsiung's active involvement in the northeast region and abroad from 1930 to 1948. The papers overall consist of correspondence, calligraphy scrolls, diaries, a diploma, documents, letter books, manuscripts of published and unpublished works, maps, newspaper clippings, notes, oversize military notices, poems, photographs, photograph albums, reports, and other materials.

The Ta-Chun Hsu papers (徐大春檔案) document his personal life and provide a glimpse of his career in China and in the United States. The bulk of the papers consist of correspondence related to his family and his personal life as a Chinese-American and an immigrant living in New York. The correspondence also highlights his relation to a prominent Chinese educator and philosopher, Hu Shih (胡適) and his family. There are also materials related to his father, Hsu Singloh (徐新六), who was a major finance and banking leader during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Also included are immigration and travel documents of T.C. Hsu. Other materials also include news clippings, articles, financial records, printed materials, portraits and photographs, maps and postcards.

The collection contains correspondence, manuscripts by Marchenko and others, documents, photographs, printed materials, notebooks, notes, and subject files. Correspondence consists of Marchenko's personal correspondence and the correspondence of the Kronstadt Group, an anti-communist emigre organization. Manuscripts consist mostly of articles by Marchenko on the economy of the Soviet Union, many of them published. Printed materials include mimeographed materials, pamphlets, clippings, maps, and copies of several anti-Communist periodicals. Marchenko's notes and notebooks cover topics on economics, the Soviet Union and the Russian language. Subject files include information on the Institute for the Study of the U.S.S.R. (Munich) and the Kronstadt Group.

The V. K. Wellington Koo papers document the diplomatic legacy of Wellington Koo as a Chinese statesman and diplomat of the 20th Century. The papers primarily consist of materials collected during Koo's diplomatic career, relating to the Lytton Commission, 1932-1933; the League of Nations, 1931-1940; the United Nations, 1944-1946; his ambassadorships to France, 1932-1941; to Britain, 1941-1946; to the United States, 1946-1956; as the Senior Advisor to the Republic of China from 1956; and as the Judge on the International Court of Justice, 1957-1966. The materials include correspondence, diaries, memoranda, manuscripts, documents, notes, speeches, maps, photographs, printed material, and audio visual material. The bulk of the materials emphasizes China's domestic and foreign affairs, such as the Sino-Japanese conflict, World War II and the Cold War in the Far East region, as well as the League of Nations and the United Nations.