The collection chiefly consists of Goldenweiser's American legal case files. There are also case files from his German years, and substantial materials on his research into the condition of Russian refugees and refugee problems in general in the 1930s. Much of the correspondence from the late 1930s and early 1940s concerns Jews in Germany and occupied Europe. Correspondents in the collection include Mark Aldanov, Abraham Cahan, Antal Dorati, Georgiĭ Florovskiĭ, Tatʹi︠a︡na Frank, Vladimir and Vera Nabokov, and Mikhail Karpovich; there are 1 or 2 items each from Dwight D. Eisenhower, Eleanor Roosevelt, Herbert Lehman, and Nikolaĭ Losskiĭ. Letters, manuscripts, and documents by Vera Nabokova contain considerable information on her and her husband's lives in Germany and in the United States. Many of the American case files concern (as does much of the Nabokova material) individual claims for reparations from Germany after World War II.

Correspondence, manuscripts, subject files and printed materials of Velḿin. The correspondence includes letters from Mark Aldanov, Mikhail Karpovich, Ekaterina Kuskova, Vasiliĭ Maklakov, Mikhail Taube, and Mark Weĭnbaum. Most of the manuscripts are by Velḿin himself and concern the Russian emigration in Poland, the 1917 Revolution and Civil War, and German concentration camps during World War II. The collection likewise contains Velḿin's diary (handwritten in eleven volumes) covering the 1900-1960 period. There are subject files devoted to Vasiliĭ Maklakov and to the activities of the Russian scouts, and there are numerous publications, such as journals, pamphlets, clippings and books.

The collection consists of correspondence, manuscripts, documents, a photograph, and printed material, primarily from the period 1941-1957. Included are letters from Ivan Bunin, Marc Chagall, Mikhail Karpovich, Vasiliĭ Maklakov, W. Somerset Maugham, Vladimir Nabokov, Ili︠́a︡ Repin, Edmund Wilson, Boris Zaĭt︠s︡ev and many others. Manuscripts of his works include "Istoki""Nachalo kont︠s︡a""Zhivi, kak khochesh"́, and "The Escape" (English translation of "Begstvo"), such shorter tales as "Noch ́v terminale""Povest ́o smerti", and "Ulḿskai︠a︡ noch"́, as well as numerous articles, book reviews and essays. There are financial records for "Novyĭ Zhurnal", which Aldanov helped found, and the clippings are mainly articles about Aldanov. There is one late photograph of Aldanov.