The great majority of the collection consists of correspondence between family members in the period 1820-1874. There are many letters by the following: Nikita Petrovich Panin, diplomat; his wife Sofii︠a︡ Vladimirovna; their sons, Aleksandr Nikitich and Viktor Nikitich, Minister of Justice in 1841-61; and Viktor's daughters Leonilla Komarovskai︠a︡ and Olǵa Levashova. There are also several brief essays by Nikita Panin. Items by non-family members include a photocopy of a letter by Mikhail Golit︠s︡uyn (1714), a letter by Sergeĭ Uvarov, and two letters by Moscow Metropolitan Filaret.

The papers consist of correspondence, manuscripts, documents, subject files, photographs, and printed materials, and chiefly concern the post-1917 emigration; the Rodichevs settled in Switzerland. There is a great deal of family correspondence, including letters from Fedor I. Rodichev to his wife and daughter, letters from their niece Nina Vernadsky (Mrs. George), and from relatives in Soviet Russia in the 1920s and 1930s. There are many letters by Fedor I. Rodichev to Ivan and Anastasii︠a︡ Petrunkevich, and to Natalii︠a︡ Herzen fille. There are also letters to the Rodichevs from such Kadet leaders as Nikolaĭ Astrov, I︠O︡sif Gessen, Vasiliĭ Maklakov, Pavel Mili︠u︡kov, Sofii︠a︡ Panina, and Ivan Petrunkevich, and items by Aleksandr I. Herzen, Nikolaĭ Ogarev, and Ignacy Jan Paderewski. Manuscripts include memoirs and other writings, with many notes and fragments, written by Fedor Rodichev while in exile. There is also Aleksandra Rodicheva's biography of her father, and materials used by Kermit McKenzie to prepare his edition of Fedor Rodichev's memoirs. Subject files concern such topics as the Russian Civil War, the emigration, and the Rodichev and Herzen families. Among the photographs, which are chiefly of the Rodichevs and their friends and relatives, are two portraits of Giuseppe Garibaldi. Printed materials include clippings and offprints of works by Fedor Rodichev, and some books by, or relating to, members of the Herzen family.