This collection consists primarily of letters to Anna O’Neill Johnson in her capacity as chair of the Boston Committee for the Fatherless Children of France charity during the World War I era, for which she solicited letters, manuscripts, and artworks from well-known persons to be sold at auction as a fundraiser. The collection also contains some of Johnson's personal correspondence documenting her political interests and her work arranging lectures. Please note that secretaries often answered for their employers, especially in the case of aristocracy. When these secretaries did not sign their names, or their signature was illegible, the correspondence is listed under the name of the original addressee.

An auction catalog for the sale of the materials in 1921, and related clippings, give the correspondence further context. Manuscripts by authors, politicians, and notable figures such as Arthur Conan Doyle, Lord Dunsany, Robert Frost, Thomas Hardy, Robert Herrick, Alfred Noyes, Robert Service, and W. B. Yeats also form part of the collection. A small number of these manuscripts are listed in the auction catalog, but the majority are not.

Johnson's papers also contain materials related to Edwin Markham, an American writer (poetry and prose), lecturer, and critic. The bulk of the collection is composed of forty-two letters to Anna O’Neil Johnson, handwritten or typed by Edwin Markham. The letters primarily discuss social engagements, lectures to be given, and the work Markham was involved in. The papers also include letters from Markham's wife Anna Catherine, as well as his son and his secretary, to Johnson. There are also a selection of printed and autographed poems written by Markham and a couple of photographs of him.