Correspondence, diaries, reports, memoranda, manuscripts of articles, speeches, and books, and other papers. Papers of J.B. Harrison include his correspondence with William W. Norvell relating to national and Virginia politics during the administration of Andrew Jackson, Harrison's travels in Europe (1829-1831), and his notes on conversations with James Madison. Papers of Burton Norvell Harrison include letters written as private secretary to Jefferson Davis during the Civil War, afterward as a prisoner at Fort Delaware, and later as a lawyer in New York, N.Y. Papers of Mrs. Burton Harrison (formerly Constance Cary) document her literary career and the family's social prominence in New York City. Papers of Fairfax Harrison reflect his role as an executive with Southern Railway and include correspondence with his brother, Francis Burton Harrison, while the latter was governor general of the Philippines. Francis Burton Harrison's papers document his advocacy for Philippine independence and diplomatic affairs during the presidential administration of Woodrow Wilson. The collection also includes letters to Samuel Jordan Harrison from Thomas Jefferson relating to Harrison's purchase of a tract of land in Bedford County, Va., part of Jefferson's Poplar Forest estate.

Correspondents include Charles Francis Adams, Matthew Arnold, G.T. Beauregard, James Gillespie Blaine, Andrew Carnegie, Salmon P. Chase, Henry Clay, Frances Folsom Cleveland, Grover Cleveland, Austin Craig, Charles A. Dana, Varina Davis, Chauncey M. Depew, Lord Byron and Lady Mary Falkland, Stephen Johnson Field, Lindley M. Garrison, Ralph Randolph Gurley, Joel Chandler Harris, Benjamin Harrison, Oliver Wendell Holmes, William Dean Howells, Robert E. Lee, Camilo Osias, Sergio Osmeña, Gifford Pinchot, T.H. Pardo de Tavera, Manuel Luis Quezon, Alexander Hamilton Stephens, Jeb Stuart, Walt Whitman, and Woodrow Wilson.