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This collection consists of the history of Hugh Carr, an African American born in enslavement in 1843 and his family who lived on a tract of land (River View Farm) that Carr and his wife Texie Mae Hawkins bought in 1870 after emancipation. He became one of the largest African American landowners in Albemarle County, where he raised several generations of his family in the Union Ridge Hydraulic Mills community, until his death in 1914.

This collection concerns the inheritance, maintenance, and sale of the Mount Vernon estate by its last private owner, John Augustine Washington III. A large majority of the collection is correspondence to or from John Augustine Washington III with a significant portion relating to the purchase of the estate by the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association. Three diaries kept by John Augustine are also included and contain important information about his slaves, agricultural practices, and finances. Other types of material in the collection include legal documents, receipts, photographs, and ephemera. Photocopies were made for most of the manuscripts and can be viewed as surrogates to the originals.

The John L. Nau III Civil War History Collection (1806-1988, bulk 1861-1865; 133 cubic feet) contains Civil War-era correspondence, service records, pension records, artifacts, photographs, military records (including orders, requisitions, and correspondence), currency, newspapers, and other print materials.