The collection primarily consists of unpublished manuscripts by Shavelśkiĭ. There are also letters from Shavelśkiĭ to his daughter (Marii︠a︡ Novit︠s︡kai︠a︡), several photographs of Shavelśkiĭ, clippings and miscellaneous printed items. Shavelśkiĭ's manuscripts include his memoirs (1920) which describe church affairs in Russia, World War I, the Imperial family and the 1917 Revolution; "Nabroski s natury" (1947), a series of brief essays and stories; "Pokhod protiv Rasputina" (n.d.); "Russkai︠a︡ t︠s︡erkov ́pred revoli︠u︡t︠s︡ieĭ" (1937); and "V dobrovolćheskoĭ armii" (1943), which describes Shavelśkiĭ's service as an army chaplain. Other manuscripts include brief sketches of Shavelśkiĭ by Feodor Bokach and N.N. Glubokovskiĭ.

The papers, which primarily concern Shmelev, consist of correspondence, manuscripts, photographs, and printed materials. The correspondence includes photocopies of letters from Petr Struve to Ivan Shmelev, and of letters from Shmelev to one Aleksandr Ivanovich. Manuscripts consist of Kutyrina's memoirs and essays about Shmelev; these draw heavily on correspondence of Shmelev, Ivan Bunin, Konstantin Balḿont, and Thomas Mann. Also included are Kutyrina's memoirs about the October 1917 Revolution in Moscow. Printed materials consist of books by Kutyrina's husband, the writer Ivan Novgorod-Severskiĭ.

Correspondence, manuscripts, photographs, and printed materials of Toporkov. Much of the collection consists of materials Toporkov collected and used for a three-volume history of the Fifth Hussar Regiment (Pi︠a︡tĭ gusarskiĭ aleksandri ĭskiĭ polk), of which he had been a member. There are also materials concerning members of the regiment who emigrated after the 1917 Revolution. The correspondence (1919-1952) includes letters to and from members of several emigre military organizations. the manuscripts include essays and memoirs about the regiment during World War I and the Civil War (including several by Toporkov himself) as well as Toporkov's three-volume history of his regiment from the eighteenth century through 1929, the regiment museum, individual members of the regiment, regiment celebrations (1926-1935), the Court of Honor, and regiment financial affairs (1925-1948). Among the printed materials are clippings and materials relating to a number of emigre organizations.

The bulk of the papers consists of Klementév's manuscript memoirs (250 p.), which deal with such topics as the Civil War, Boris Savinkov and the Soi︠u︡z Zashchity from the 1920s, Flegont Klepikov and Leonid Shesheni︠a︡ (with a photograph of the latter); and a volume of essays on the Soviet secret police, entitled "Che-Ka" published by the Russian Socialist Revolutionaries in 1922.