The Theodore W. Torrey Papers, 1945-1986, are organized in four series: Professional Materials, Sunday Evening Discussion Group, Speaking Engagements, and Personal Materials. With the exception of the items in Professional Materials, all items were forwarded to the Archives by Biology Professor L.S. McClung in 1983 and 1984.

The Professional Materials consist of two copies of one of his publications and an item from his course in Developmental Anatomy which correlates references in the lab manual to the 2nd and 3rd editions of his textbook and which was probably meant as a handout to students in the class.

The Sunday Evening Discussion Group Materials contain typewritten and handwritten copies of talks Torrey prepared, most probably, according to Professor McClung, for the Sunday Evening Discussion Group, a faculty group which included President Wells and which met in rotation at the members' homes for paper presentations and discussion. The Discussion Group materials, most of which are undated, are arranged by title. Although most of the items are undated, citations and references in a few of the texts give approximate dates of their creation.

Speaking Engagements Materials consist of typed and handwritten copies of speeches he gave and are arranged chronologically.

In Personal Materials are two items: a "Petition" presented to Torrey when he stepped down as chair of the department and "The Torrey Genesis," a genealogy he wrote.