This collection of Msgr. McCormick's papers includes personal and professional materials spanning nearly his entire life. While the majority of the collection is his collected correspondence, his academic life is illustrated in the collected publications and lectures. The collection is split into 4 separate series, primarily personal and professional papers. Series 1 is a series of correspondence with a mixed personal and professional purpose. Series 2 is his personal papers, including correspondence, diaries, student papers, photographs, and memorabilia. Series 3 is his professional papers including correspondence, public addresses, speeches, and published articles. Series 4 is an oversized series, housed separately, of his awards and certificates.

While the correspondence of the first two series is of a nature that one would expect of personal letters, mainly letters to and from family and friends, the diaries/datebooks in subseries 2.2 consist of less personal thoughts/opinions than one would expect. The contents of these journals mainly consist of 1-3 line entries listing the days' activities without added commentary or personal opinion. Some of the early diaries are diaries in the sense of housing personal thoughts, but these do not reflect his time as a Catholic University administrator. Unfortunately, Msgr. McCormick's handwriting is hardly legible, thus deciphering the contents is difficult at best. Subseries 2.3, his student papers, is also in similar condition because the papers are in his handwriting. Moreover, these are older papers and journals are showing more signs of deterioration than the rest of the collection, necessitating care when handling. Subseries 2.4 primarily consists of photographs of Msgr. McCormick, alone or with groups of family, friends, or colleagues. Also included are photos of various people and buildings on the grounds of CUA. However, it is difficult to ascertain the subjects of the pictures or who the photographer was except in the case that it was a professional and the name is printed on the back. Series 2.5, memorabilia, is a collection of items that may have resided on Msgr. McCormick's desk, including bound breviary, boxes of fresh copies of his business cards, and a box containing two of his pipes.

Series 3, professional papers, makes up the bulk of the collection, 11 boxes out 19. The series itself consists of a significant amount of professional correspondence, and his public speeches/utterances and academic writings. His professional correspondence encompasses the terms of many rectors of CUA, including Ryan and Corrigan, and his term during the post-war age. It is likely that should any of his professional papers respond to the major changes to CUA of those days-- i.e. the revision of the statutes begun by Ryan and finished by Corrigan, the acceptance of women into graduate studies, and the beginning of the merging of two competing social work/science schools into one-it would be in the subject section, not in the general correspondence section. However, some more in-depth research into the subject section of that subseries could provide some fruitful research into these areas, as a cursory glance through a few of the folders yields some interesting documentation, particularly regarding women at CUA. There also exists some material in the early 1940s of the general professional correspondence that relates to the role of Catholic Schools in the war effort. The public address, sermons, and academic notes and lectures subseries have copies and hand-written notes of these pieces of content. They are organized chronologically, so one must be willing to dig in to have any possibility of finding specific topics. The articles and publications focus on his academic life and his writings about and for catholic education. The clippings subseries consists of news clippings of Msgr. McCormick, and topics relating to the Catholic Church, CUA, and religious education in general.

The final series is an oversized series consisting of his Doctor of Philosophy degree from CUA, various honorary degrees, the decrees appointing him Vice Rector and Rector of CUA, and the papal bull that announced his election as Titular Bishop of Atenia and Auxiliary Bishop of Washington DC.