These materials consist of monographs, newspaper and magazine articles, dissertations, unpublished papers, and publications issued by boards and other organizations that supported missionary work. Many of these works, such as articles published in (1912), the (1937), and the (1987) and a study of by Amanda Porterfield of concern Mount Holyoke alumnae missionaries. There are also newspaper and magazine articles about the 1908 dedication of a plaque in the College's library that honors these women. Writings that examine missionary work more broadly include Dana L. Robert's book, (1996) and a dissertation by Thomas Arthur Russell concerning (1999). In addition, the collection contains a two-volume (1891) by Edwin Munsell Bliss and a (1925) by the Institute of Social and Religious Research. Materials for missionary organizations include ABCFM booklets and lists of missionaries (circa 1880s-1916); annual reports of the Woman's Board of Missions for the Pacific Islands (1896-1898, 1901) describing missionary work in Hawaii, China, and Japan; and reports, leaflets, newsletters, and pamphlets (1920-1923) issued by the Women's Union Christian Colleges in the Orient. There are also reports of the Hampshire County (Massachusetts) Woman's Board of Missions (1891, 1896, 1915) and programs for meetings of the Connecticut Valley Student Missionary Conference (1904, 1911).

These materials concern Mount Holyoke alumnae missionaries. Many of the documents reflect research into the College's missionary history by Bertha E. Blakely (1893), the director of Mount Holyoke's library from 1901-1936 who organized of the College History Collection (now Archives and Special Collections). Part of her work relates to a plaque installed in the College's library in 1908 that honors these women. Other documents consist of lists (1980-1997) of Vermont-born alumnae missionaries, missionaries who served in particularly countries, and those who worked for various Presbyterian Church boards.

Most of the material in this series relates to the activities of Mount Holyoke alumnae missionaries in Africa, China, Hawaii, India, Japan, Turkey, and the United States. There are also materials concerning missionary work in Albania, Arabia, Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burma, Ceylon, Chile, Colombia, Egypt, Greece, Korea, Labrador, Mexico, Micronesia, Persia, the Philippine Islands, Siam, Singapore, Spain, Syria, and Yugoslavia.

These materials consist of reports, correspondence, articles, a dissertation, a student paper, notes, historical sketches, biographical information about and lists of alumnae missionaries, and photographs of missionaries and mission stations. Some of the notes were compiled by Anna C. Edwards (1859), who devoted many years to collecting information about alumnae missionaries and the many schools these women established. Data sheets compiled by Mount Holyoke students as part of a Winter Term project in 1979 record details about the service of many alumnae missionaries. Two booklets contain printed copies of letters written by alumna in China in 1919 and 1931. Materials about alumnae missionaries in the United States consist of lists of these women, notes about their work, and notes and an article by Ronald E. Butchart concerning the work of missionaries with Freedmen in the South from 1861-1875. Correspondence includes information about these women and references to collections of their papers at other repositories.

The collection also contains publications and other materials about the missionary work of others. These items include annual reports of the Hawaiian Mission Children's Society (1881-1890); an describing the Jaffna College and Medical Missions in North Ceylon (1893); ABCFM booklets, reports, and newsletters about the work of the Japan Mission (1891-1935) and the Foochow Mission in China (1897-1926); a copy of the Board's for 1900-1902; a report called S (1906); and a pamphlet about issued by the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society in 1924. A dissertation by Charlotte Dennett Staelin concerns (1977). In materials about mission work with African Americans there is a copy of from 1928 as well as pamphlets from 1934-1935 about the Avery Institute in Charleston, South Carolina, the Cotton Valley School in Fort Davis Alabama, and Trinity School in Athens, Alabama. Another pamphlet from 1924 contains excerpts from the diaries of women college undergraduates who worked with immigrants, migrant workers, and African Americans at missionary stations in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware. A student paper by Janna Bauer Sibley (Hampshire College) is entitled (1985). Photographs are primarily of mission schools, stations, and non-alumnae missionaries or residents of other countries.

These records document the financial support that Mount Holyoke administrators, teachers, and students provided to alumnae missionaries and others. These notebooks and lists record the names of individual donors and the amount of money they pledges to support missionary work. Many records show the totals of contributions for foreign and home (United States) mission work and the work of particular missionary organizations. The notebook of contributions for 1871-1890 also includes annual summaries of the of Mount Holyoke during that period.

The song (1847) consists of words and music for a work called According to a note in the Mount Holyoke Journal Notebook for September 28, 1859, this work was sung by a small choir of students at a meeting of returning missionaries held at Mount Holyoke on June 30, 1859.

This volume is entitled It contains signatures of the individuals who attended these meetings as well as other visitors to the school. Other autographs were clipped from letters and pasted into this album. Sometimes a signer wrote the name of the country in which he or she served as a missionary; on occasion, signers also wrote short verses. The album includes signatures of Rufus Anderson, William Cullen Bryant, George Washington Cable, Thomas Chubbuck, Henry Drummond, Cyrus Hamlin, Justin Perkins, John Greenleaf Whittier, Frances E. Willard, and many Mount Holyoke trustees and alumnae.