The Mary Harriman Rumsey collection largely consists of photographic prints and lantern slides documenting the Harriman Expedition to Alaska in summer 1899. These depict members of the expedition and Alaskan scenery and people. The collection also includes scenic photographs of Alaska taken by Dora Keen in 1914 and photographs of Blackfeet, Hopi, Apache, and Suquamish Indians made by Edward Curtis in 1900 and 1903.

These records consist of Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) exhibition files, arranged by exhibition. The files contain varying amounts of information, including itineraries, shipping and insurance papers, press releases, lists of items, correspondence with lenders, and occasional photographs.

The William Trost Richards papers measure 1.8 linear feet and date from 1848-1920. The collection documents Richards' personal life and his career as a landscape and seascape painter. The collection consists of correspondence, writings, business files, printed material, photographs, and other miscellaneous materials.

The papers of painter, printmaker, designer, and teacher, Werner Drewes, measure 15.76 linear feet and date from 1838-2015, with the bulk of the material dating from the 1890s-1990s. The papers document Drewes' life and career through biographical and family material; correspondence with family members, artists, galleries, and art institutions and organizations; scattered teaching notes and writings including a diary; catalogs and inventories of artwork; three scrapbooks; printed material; 38 sketchbooks, loose sketches, and prints; and photographs of Drewes, his family, friends and colleagues, exhibitions, travels, and works of art. Also found are scattered papers of Drewes' second wife, Maria Drewes.

This collection contains photographs was shot circa 1887-1899 by Jesse Hasting Bratley and Horace G. Jennerson while they served as teachers on the Rosebud and Pine Ridge Reservations.

The papers of painter and writer James Britton measure 4.3 linear feet and date from circa 1905-1984, with the bulk of the material dating from circa 1905-1935. The bulk of the papers consist of 49 diaries dating from 1918-1935, plus notebooks of diary excerpts, that chronicle Britton's daily activities and include lists, illustrations, and drafts of correspondence. Additional papers include biographical information compiled by the Britton family; scattered business and financial records; correspondence, including copies of Britton's letters to the editors of the Hartford Courant and the Hartford Times; additional writings and notes that include drafts and manuscripts of an autobiography, drafts of articles for his publication Art Opus, and other writings; sketches and a woodcut print; printed materials, including clippings of his published writings for Art Review International, Book Notes, and Opus; and one photograph of Britton and of works of art. There is a 1.4 linear foot unprocessed addition to this collection donated 2020 that includes correspondence, writings by Britton about art, printed material (some annotated ), lists of works of art by Britton and others, and sketches by Britton.

The collection documents various aspects of railroad companies through pamphlets; trade catalogs; operating and service manuals, especially for railroad equipment; specifications; magazines and reprints; bulletins, and articles.

This collection contains 73 open reel tapes, made by Eric H. Davidson between 1958-1984, featuring the traditional music of Southern Appalachia.

Sam DeVincent loved music and art and began collecting sheet music with lithographs at an early age. Series 10: Sacred Music and Religious Themes contains approximately 4,000 pieces of sheet music, much of which is traditional Christian music, but also documents popular attitudes towards religion in the United States. An overview to the entire DeVincent collection is available here: Sam DeVincent Collection of Illustrated American Sheet Music.

This collection contains a U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs report written by Lucile Hamner (1901-1997) documenting the housing conditions in the Lovelock Indian Colony Reservation region in Nevada in 1935.