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This collection is the papers of James Lewis Howe, professor of chemistry at Washington and Lee University (1894-1938), which include his correspondence concerning the Presbyterian Church and foreign missions, the Washington and Lee University chemistry department, the American Chemical Society and philately. Also included are notes on archival material for and typescript of Annals of Washington and Lee University during the administration of George Washington Custis Lee, 1871-1896 and addendum on the administration of William Lyne Wilson (1897-1900) and of acting president Henry St. George Tucker (1900-1901). There are also copies of chemistry class examinations from 1941-1950 and a course outline for chemistry class in 1949-1950.

This collection contains biographical and historical information on various people and places.

The Roscoe Phelps diary is a bound manuscript entitled "Anecdotes of the Year 1900" written by Washington and Lee University student Richard Roscoe Phelps (Class of 1902). Phelps reports on life as an undergraduate student touching on courtship, recreation, hazing, off-campus boarding and regional travel and exploration of such places in Rockbridge County Virginia as House Mountain and "Lover's Leap". Other events covered include the vandalizing of "Old George", the George Washington statue atop Washington Hall on W&L's campus, on Washington's birthday; christening a new boat for the crew team, construction of the grandiose and doomed DeHart Hotel in Lexington; the tenure of W&L president William Lyne Wilson; a local opera house fire; and a detailed description of the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina. This collection also includes a copy of The History of Rockbridge County Virginia, by author Oren Morton which descended in the family of the donor. The book is inscribed by Samual M. Dunlap.

Includes letters from the American Civil War period; correspondence of Wilson while he was Congressman from West Virginia, Postmaster General under Cleveland, and President of Washington and Lee University; 3 bound, indexed volumes (not orginals) of Wilson's official correspondence as Postmaster General; 6 diaries; miscellaneous papers and printed speeches; 38 letters from the University of West Virginia collection (microfilm); photograph; correspondence with Isidor Straus concerning politics and events at Washington and Lee; 4 letters dated 1874-1875 from J.A. Lapham to her sister, Amelia H. Scorah. Includes three manuscript diaries, 1862-1863, which were written while Wilson was serving in the 12th Virginia Cavalry. Also includes reviews of books about Wilson, correspondence about Wilson by his biographers and descendants, genealogy information on Wilson's mother, and eight photocopied letters from Wilson to Waitman Barbe dated 1891-1899.Other correspondents include Edward Atkinson, William Campbell Preston Breckinridge, James B. Bryce, Fitzhugh Lee, Thomas Nelson Page, William E. Russell, Isidor Straus, Henry St. George Tucker.

This collection contains items of Judge William McLaughlin, including letters from Henry D. Campbell and William L. Wilson. Many concern awarding of honorary degrees and elections to the Board of Trustees of Washington and Lee, of which McLaughlin was rector (1888-1898). The collection also contains legal certificates and his papers, including his Confederate Army Commission dated October 7, 1862. Also included is a copy of his death from the minutes of the Board of Trustees of Washington and Lee University, June 13, 1899.