The Young Women's Christian Association of Rochester and Monroe County Collection is comprised of six series:

The Writers Workshop Collection consists of primarily of photographs taken by James S. Peck. Mr. Peck was formerly the Director of Public Relations for the Graduate School of Management (today the Simon Graduate School of Business). He had also handled public relations and promotional activities for Dean Robert Koch of the University School, which included both the Writers Workshop and the University Summer Theater. The collection also contains the annual flyers or programs for most of the years of the series.

The William Hobart Mitchell Papers are comprised of five series: Correspondence, Music Career, Writings, Personal Papers and Teaching Materials. The largest body of correspondence contains letters written between Mitchell and his first wife, Claramary (Clerky), that document their courtship in the mid 1930s as well as William's time in the Civilian Public Service unit during World War II. The majority of the letters relate to William's musical tours of universities and colleges throughout the United States between the late 1940s and the early 1960s. This group of letters shares William's experiences during his travels as well as documenting Claramary's everyday life in New York City and later in Rye, New York.

The collection consists of secretary's minutes from the Club's founding in 1890. Also included are member biographical information forms, which the organization sent to its membership as part of its centennial celebration, and schedules and announcements of meetings which document the longevity of the Club. Most valuable in this collection are the surviving reading copies of papers presented. The research papers chronicle the opinions of middle and upper-class women related to a variety of topics including travel, disarmament, gender limitations, welfare reform and the domestic arts. Most notable were those read by Alice Wood Wynd, Harriet Steele Rhees, and Rose Alling. Papers presented by guest lecturers are also included in this collection. Correspondence, as well as materials related to the Club's Centennial Celebration, and photographs document the development of the organization.

Photographs of people and homes, and some articles and documents (including copies of contracts for Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester) relating to several generations of the Watson Family of Rochester, New York. Individuals include Don Alonzo Watson (1807-1892) and his wife, Matilda M. Watson, their son James Sibley Watson (1860-1951) and his wife Emily Sibley Watson (1855-1945), and their son James Sibley Watson Jr. (1894-1983) and his wife Hildegard Lasell Watson (1888-1976) and their son Michael Lasell Watson (b. 1918).

This collection, the Ward-Macomber Family Papers, 1829-1974, contains material relating to Levi Alfred Ward's son Levi Frederick Ward (1842-1907) and his family. On October 13, 1864 Levi Frederick Ward married Alice Smith (1844-1913). They had three children. Levi Smith Ward (1864-1926) married Florence Yates (1871-1931) in 1895. They had one son, Levi Yates Ward (b. 1904), who later changed his name to Andrew Lee Yates Ward. Laura Page Ward (1867-1959) married Francis Selden Macomber (1867-1956), a Rochester lawyer, also in 1895. Frederic Kemp Ward (1876-1910) married Hortense Thomas (1878-1909), the daughter of the architect John R. Thomas (1848-1901). Frederic Kemp and Hortense Ward had two children, Frederic Kemp Ward, Jr. (b. 1904) and Caroline Allen Ward (b. 1905). After their parents died, the children lived with their aunt and uncle, Laura Page and Francis Selden Macomber.

The Vernon Kellogg Penny Papers contains a scrapbook, letters written by Penny, newspaper clippings about his death, photographs, and memorabilia. The correspondence gives one soldier's feelings and experiences during World War I.

The collection consists of minutes of meetings of the general Board, the Board of Directors, and the various committees from December,, 1926 to December, 1955; bank and account books from 1924 to 1926; a stock ledger; and minutes of the meetings of the older Local Board of Fire Underwriters from the years 1881-1886. There are also seven scrapbooks containing primarily newspaper clippings and agency newspapers from the year 1927 to the year 1958. Pages from another account book covering the years 1929-1940 can be found at the beginning of the first scrapbook. There is also a carbon copy of a letter written by Mr. Louis Hawes, the Executive Secretary of the Board, to Mr. J. Edgar Hoover, head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Mr. Hoover's reply at the beginning of the fifth scrapbook.

The Superba Cravats Company Papers contain historical, advertising, promotional, and sales information, and additional ephemera about Superba Cravats and its neckties. Historical materials from the original H.C. Cohn & Co. and the early days of Superba Cravats can be found throughout the collection. Also included are a wide variety of photographs; correspondence and ephemera related to the company's anniversary celebrations; and information on the divisions of Superba Cravats. The collection includes a significant amount of printed material, primarily related to Superba Cravats' necktie advertising. There is also a substantial amount of information on the company's Dacron necktie promotions, including newspaper clippings, advertising materials, correspondence with DuPont (the developer of Dacron), and correspondence with Princeton Worsted Mills (Superba Cravats' supplier of Dacron fabric). Finally, the collection contains diverse samples of neckties and color cards, primarily from other companies and competitors of Superba Cravats.

The Papers include ten volumes of accounts, etc., giving an overview of approximately the first seventy-five years of the company. Also included are photographs of the disastrous fire of 1904, several pieces related to the company's finances in the 1950's, and several issues of the employees' paper Tower Talk for 1952-53 containing articles relating to the history of the company.