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This collection contains the autograph album of Dolores Ann Smith, an African American student from Roanoke, Virginia. The album's cover is embossed with "My School-Day Autobiography" in gilt letters. Two black and white photographs of young African American children are at the front of the album, one pasted and the other tipped in. The names of Dolores's teachers up to the eighth grade are identified on the "My Teachers" listing and a list of classmates. Seven autographs with associated greetings dedicated to Dolores appear throughout the album from classmates and family. These autographs range in date from December 1944 to November 1948. One page near the end of the album is written as a diary entry by Dolores from 1945. The end page, contains the address and the date August 14, 1948.

This collection contains a carte de visite of Fannie Virginia Casseopia Lawrence, a formerly enslaved child. The caption states "A Redeemed Slave Child, 5 years of Age. Redeemed in Virginia by Catherine S. Lawrence; baptized in Brooklyn, at Plymouth Church by Henry Ward Beecher in May 1963. Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1863, by C. S. Lawrence, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the Southern District of New York." Photographed by the Kellogg Brothers, Hartford, Connecticut.

This collection features seventeen merit reward cards given to girls and women in the late nineteenth century. These cards are printed on one side and have "Reward of Merit" printed at the top, accompanied by a decorative illustration, the handwritten student's name, and the teacher's signature. Six cards are addressed to Martha Warren, three to Nelly Whitenack, two to Florence Pomery, and other cards are addressed to presented to Cynthia Williams, Elizabeth Brookholder, Ida Meckly, Beatie Allen, and Ella Solm. Another card is illegible except for the first name Electa. Two of the cards are dated. The cards vary in illustration and typography.

This collection contains one handmade and illustrated memoir of Hazel Dorothea Christopher, a child from Brooklyn, New York, from the late 1930s. The book is told in the third person and has four chapters: "A Look Backward", "Childhood", "School Days", and "The Future." "A Look backward" explores her parents and grandparents, particularly the youthful seafaring exploits of her Norwegian grandfather. "Childhood" starts with Hazel's birth and her very early life to the age of six. "School Days" reflects on her experience at grammar and public school. The final chapter, "The Future," looks to high school and after, considering possible careers for the author as a nurse or teacher.

The University of Virginia Collection on the History of Childhood, Parenting, and Family Building is an artificial collection and periodic additions are expected.