The collection consists of Cherkasskii's memoirs of World War I and the Civil War; brief memoirs by his father, Mikhail Alekseevich Cherkasskii, who served in the Imperial central government and as governor of Simbirsk before the 1917 Revolution; and manuscripts by other people, particularly G. N. Odintsov. There are also documents of I. M. Cherkasskii and photographs.

Correspondence, manuscripts, photographs, and printed materials. Cataloged correspondents in the collection include letters from prominent figures, including Mark Aldanov, Mark Vishniak, and others. Among the manuscripts are A. Argunov's, "Iz perezhitogo," on Russian socialists in 1914-1917; a report by Kovarskii read to the Society of Russian Doctors in France, 1940 (Obshechestvo Russkikh Vrachei im. Mechnikova); and items on Soviet themes by Mark Vishniak, dated 1965-67. There is a photograph of Il'ia Fondaminskii, of Aleksandr Kerenskii, and of members of the Russian Constituent Assembly in France, 1922. One subject file concerns the death of Vladimir Zenzinov. Printed materials include catalogs and book lists from "Rodnik."

Correspondence, manuscripts, a photograph and printed materials of Illarion Sergeevich Vasil'chikov. The catalogued materials consist of a copy of a letter to Vasil'chikov from B. E. Nold́e, and a copy of a poem dedicated to Vasil'chikov by A. A. Otsup, i.e., Sergei Gornyi. The manuscripts, all of which are by Vasil'chikov, are autobiographical in nature. They concern his service in the Imperial Senate (including a 1908 senatorial inspection tour of Turkestan), his participation in the Duma, his work with the Red Cross in 1917, and his membership in the All-Russian Orthodox Church Council of 1917. There are also essays about his family genealogy. The collection includes excerpts and clippings from various sources describing the Vasil'chikov family.

The papers consist of correspondence, manuscripts, subject files, photographs, and printed materials. Cataloged correspondents are Mikhail Girs, Robert R. McCormick, Isidor Singer, and Stanley Washburn. Much of the material, including correspondence, reports, and printed materials, concerns German and Russian propaganda in the Japanese War; Russian diplomacy in the first two decades of the century; and Civil War, especially in Siberia. Printed materials include Imperial government publications and also publications of the White government in Omsk.

Mandrazhi's typescript memoirs "Begin at the Beginning" discuss such topics as his military education, the Corps of Pages, the Russo-Japanese War, World War I, the 1917 Revolution, and the Civil War in the South.

Memoirs of the Koshko family, specifically Ivan Frantsevich, his brother Arkadiĭ, his son Boris, and his daughter Olǵa. Almost all of the memoirs are in the hand of Olǵa Koshko. Ivan's memoirs (partially published) touch on his government service in Samara, Novgorod, Penza, and Perḿ and his experiences during the 1917 Revolution and Civil War. The excerpt from Arkadiĭ's memoirs concern the Beilis ritual murder case. Boris Koshko's memoirs concern his experiences as an Imperial and Provisional government official during World War I. Olǵa Koshko's memoirs deal with her father and with life in the emigration in Europe.

The papers comprise correspondence, documents, institutional files, writings, lectures, memoirs, research notes, photographs, third party materials, printed materials, periodicals, microfilms, audio material, and digital files accrued by historian and professor emeritus of Columbia University, Leopold H. Haimson, during his professional life.

Shneerov's typescript memoirs concern his life up to 1921. The longest manuscript is entitled"V pogone za sineĭ ptit︠s︡eĭ" (472 p.), and covers the period from his childhood to his arrival in the United States in 1921; it goes into particular detail on his years as an active revolutionary (1902-1908), and on 1917-1920. Two shorter manuscripts appear to be largely translated excerpts from the longer work: "When I was young" (80 p.), and "My last arrest and state prison of Kursk" (49 p.). Shneerov joined the Socialist Revolutionary Party in the first years of the 20th century. He was first arrested and exiled in 1903, but escaped and went to Western Europe (Switzerland, Austria, France, England). He came back to Russia in 1905, and continued revolutionary activities until arrested and exiled again to Siberia in 1908. In 1912-1916, he lived in the Far East, in Harbin, Japan, and Shanghai; he lived in San Francisco in 1916-1917, returning to Russia after the February 1917 Revolution. In 1917 he was a minor government official in Tambov, and in 1918 was sent by the government to the Far East on a mission to obtain supplies. He spent 1918 in Vladivostok, Manchuria, and China, and 1918-1920 in Japan. In his memoirs, besides his own experiences, he also discusses minor and major revolutionaries whom he knew, such as Osip Minor, Grigoriĭ Gershuni, and Evno Azef. The Hoover Institution also has copies of these memoirs.

Poggenpohl's diary is in French, and concerns the visits of the German Kaiser Wilhelm II and the French President Felix Faure to Russia in July and August, 1897. There is also a typed transcription of the diary.

Mel'nikov's manuscripts include his memoirs, "19 let na zemskoi sluzhbe: avtobiograficheskie nabroski i vospominaniia" (371 p.), describing in detail his service in governmental posts. Several other manuscripts in the collection discuss general problems of Russian developments and also his views on a future, non-Soviet Russia.