This series consists of notebooks from Adams's studies in Heidelberg (1874-1876), estate records (1901-1907), financial records (1897-1902), genealogical material, reminiscences, reports from the "Eight O'Clock Reading Club" (1878-1879), newspaper clippings (1873-1901), obituaries and tributes, and four scrapbooks (1851-1894).

The "Eight O'Clock Reading Club" consisted of a group of men and women who met to exchange ideas on literature. Although the reports are not detailed, they do document a literary society during the height of the movement.

Two of the scrapbooks (Box 62 and Boxes 63-65) contain memorabilia from Adams's time at Exeter, Amherst, Williston Seminary, Smith, and the University of Heidelberg. The memorabilia includes report cards, greeting cards, sketches, carte-de-visites of friends and copies of the Amherst student paper. The third scrapbook contains newspaper clippings, c. 1869-1897, and the last is material from the Adjutant General's Office of the Confederate States of America (1862-1864). The CSA material consists of letters of discharge, autographs, and reports from the front, and was sent to Adams by Nicholas Butler, the University librarian, for inclusion in the History Department's Southern History collection.