The papers of David Goldstein consist of artifacts, artwork, correspondence, financial records, personal papers, photographs, printed materials, scrapbooks, subject files, and writings. The bulk of the material dates from 1917-1940, the height of his lecture touring years.

Artifacts and artwork include buttons and pins, medals, ribbons, rosaries, sketches and illustrations, and a roll of tickets to Catholic Campaigners for Christ events. Buttons, pins, and medals commemorate union meetings, religious conferences, and political campaigns, in Boston and nationally. Correspondence relates for the most part to Goldstein’s career as a public speaker. Martha Moore Avery is the best represented correspondent; Goldstein also corresponded frequently with Avery’s daughter, Katherine (known as Sister St. Mary Martha after she took vows with the Sisters of Notre Dame de Sion). Individuals and organizations with which Goldstein often discussed the Catholic cause include Peter Collins, Henry Codon, Ben Freedman, Adolph Germer, G. R. Gordon, Frederick Kenkel, the Knights of Columbus, William J. McGinley, and Marius Risley. Other notable correspondents include Pope Pius XI, Pope Pius XII, Theodore Roosevelt and William McKinley, and Prince Ludwig Ferdinand of Bavaria.

Goldstein’s personal papers include his birth certificate and immigration papers. Photographs consist of images of Goldstein, Martha Moore Avery, Katherine Avery, and other friends and family. There are also publicity stills from Goldstein and Avery’s lecture tours. Printed materials comprise advertisements, ephemera, fliers, journals, magazines, newspapers, pamphlets, posters, programs, and tickets that Goldstein did not assign a subject heading; much of the same kind of material can be found in subject files, which contain a wide variety of documents that Goldstein collected and organized alphabetically on topics such as religion, politics, history, and current events. Goldstein also created scrapbooks on subjects of interest like Anti-Socialism, Communism, and Judaism. Other scrapbooks document his lecture tours across North America, his writings, organizations with which he worked, and important anniversaries.

Writings include drafts of Goldstein’s works, notes on particular subjects and people, lecture notes and speeches, and published materials such as newspaper clippings, journal articles, pamphlets, and reprints. There are also a small number of works by other authors.