One letter, manuscripts, and printed materials of Aleksei Fedorovich Girs and of his wife, Liubov' Aleksandrovna Girs. The letter, dated 1914, when Girs was governor of Minsk, is addressed to N. A. Maklakov. Aleksei Gir's memoirs cover such topics as his service in Estland; Petr Stolypin; the "Jewish question;" Tsar Nicholas II; and independent Estonia, where he lived in 1918-1924. There are also two reports by Girs from the time of his service in Minsk. ́Liubov Girs is represented chiefly by diaries from 1901-1918, particularly on Odessa in 1905-1906; Stolypin's murder in 1911; and Nizhny Novgorod in 1917. Among the printed materials are announcements of Gir's accession to the Minsk governorship in 1914-1915.

The papers consist of correspondence and notes. The correspondence is made up of letters to I︠A︡khontov concerning his memoirs about the Council of Ministers from pre-revolutionary officials, including Vladimir Kokovt︠s︡ev, Pavel Ignatév, and Vsevolod Shakhovskoĭ. The notes are minutes taken at the meetings of the Council of Ministers; these exist as both the original handwritten notes and as typed copies. Finally, there is a brief memoir by I︠A︡khontov concerning World War I, and a printed copy of the announcement by Nicholas II that World War I had been declared.

Correspondence, manuscripts, photographs and subject files of Witte. The correspondents include Ivan S. Aksakov, Tsar Aleksander III, Tsar Nicholas II, Konstantin P. Pobedonost︠s︡ev, I︠U︡riĭ Samarin, Lev N. Tolstoĭ and Kaiser Wilhelm II. The manuscripts, which constitute over half of the collection, consist of Witte's memoirs and of his work on the Russo-Japanese War, and include a signed typescript essay by Lev N. Tolstoĭ. The photographs depict the signing of the Portsmouth Treaty ending the Russo-Japanese War (Portsmouth, N.H.). The subject files, which are primarily typescript copies of documents, refer to such topics as the various assassination attempts on the tsars, questions of agrarian reform, relations with Germany, and the siege of Port Arthur. There is also a framed pen and ink drawing depicting an event in Witte's public career.