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The Philomathean Society was one of two major literary societies on campus. It was founded in 1831 and was last listed in the university catalogue in 1893. This collection primarily consists of programs for the group's annual Spring Exhibition with a fairly complete run between 1844 and 1886. Also included in the collection is a series of published speeches and one partial constitution.

General meetings of the Indiana University faculty began in 1835, to discuss the industriousness of its students, calling student rolls, and hearing reports on the work and standing of each of the students. Disciplinary measures, dismissals, and exams for students were also discussed during many of the meetings throughout the nineteenth century. By the 1920s, the faculty had grown to such a point that it was necessary to create a representative body of the faculty, but the faculty as a whole continued to meet with some regularity. Today the faculty body rarely meet, but may be convened by the IU president, the Secretary of the University Faculty Council, or on petition signed by voting faculty members numbering no less than 5% of all voting faculty members.

William Daily was a Methodist minister, and served as president of Indiana University, 1853-1859. The collection includes correspondence, speeches, financial records, administrative records relating to his presidency at Indiana University; most prominent are records relating to charges brought against Daily during his presidency.

Jacob Ammen (1806-1894) was a professor and military officer for the Union army during the American Civil War. After graduating from West Point and serving in the military, he taught at various institutions of higher education, including Indiana University, where he served as professor and chair of the Mathematics Department from 1840 to 1843. Following his teaching career, he returned to military service after the outbreak of the Civil War, attaining to the rank of Brigadier General. This collection consists of correspondences, personal writings, and military artifacts kept by Ammen throughout his academic and military career from 1835 through 1865.

The Indiana University Trustees serve as the governing board of the university. Created in 1820, the current Board meets six times per year. Among the Board's powers are their capacity to possess all the real and personal property of the university; to expend the income of the university; and to all bylaws necessary to carry these powers into effect. The minutes in this collection include official acts, resolutions, policies, agreements, and other business pertaining to the governance of Indiana University between 1838-1859 and 1883-2017.

Indiana family headed by Joseph Kirkman, who served as sheriff of Gibson County for several years. Collection includes correspondence, indentures, receipts, land deeds, and newspaper clippings of Joseph Kirkman, daughter Irene Kirkman Coolidge, and granddaughter Mary Coolidge Kingston. Also included is a series titled Unknown authors, consisting of items of unknown origins but that were deposited with the collection.

Joseph Bradford began acquiring land in Martinsville, Indiana, in the mid-1800s. The Bradford Sand Mining Company was founded by Joseph's son, Perry Bradford, in 1877 in Morgan County, Indiana. The family business was passed on to Albert and John Bradford in the early 1900s. It remained in the family until 1938 when John Bradford deeded 900 acres of the Bradford property to Indiana University. This property is currently known as the Bradford Woods. The Bradford family papers span 1831-1941 and consist of various financial and business records related to their property, as well as documentation of family history and family correspondence. The correspondence primarily dates from 1898 and consists largely of letters written to the Bradfords by Eliza (Bradford) and husband Dr. Grant Monical from Camp George in Georgia and later Cuba where Grant was a Captain in the Spanish-American War.

The Ketcham and Piercy families were prominent in Indiana politics, journalism, and education during the 19th and 20th centuries. This collection consists of photographs, correspondence, journals, diaries, publications, speeches, legal documents, genealogical materials, and academic regalia from the Ketcham and Piercy families. Family members represented in this collection include: Colonel John Ketcham, John Lewis Ketcham, Reverend John H. Ketcham, Martha S. Ketcham, Charles B. Ketcham, Mary Ketcham Piercy, her husband, journalist and Indiana University faculty member Joseph W. Piercy, and Indiana University faculty member Josephine K. Piercy.

William Lowe Bryan was an Indiana University alumnus, professor, and president. This collection includes correspondence, genealogical information, notes, a single journal from 1886, and published and unpublished writings and speeches. Correspondents include family and friends as well as numerous well-known political figures such as Winston Churchill, U.S. Senator Homer Capehart and Eleanor Roosevelt. Frequent correspondents include brother Enoch Albert Bryan, Frank and Sara S. Elliott, Evangeline Lewis, Ruth McNutt, and Herman B Wells.

One of the two chief literary societies on campus, the Athenian Society was founded at Indiana University in 1830. Literary societies gave students practice in speaking and writing through regular orations, essays, and debates, as well as filling a social role. Collection consists of minutes, correspondence, publications, addresses, and announcements. The Publication series includes copies of the Athenian, a monthly periodical of writings submitted by members of the Athenian Society that were of "a high literary character," including what the editors considered "chaste and elevated literature." These span December 1845 through November 1846. Most prominent in the collection are the minutes from the weekly meeting of the Society.