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The Historical Photograph Collection is largely comprised of materials created by or for the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association. Some of the earliest photographs of the estate were created and sold to visitors by the Association as a means of income. Those efforts helped to establish an important collection of 19th century views. The collection spans the 1850s to 2000s and includes over 140 linear feet of analog material providing a visual history of the Mansion, outbuildings, tombs, grounds, events, visitors, collection objects, personnel, and changes throughout the estate.

This collection includes correspondence between John Augustine Washington III and his mother and wife, as well as other family members, mostly dealing with family matters and running Mount Vernon.

The Richard T. Goodwyn papers consist of 18 pencil and ink drawings by Goodwyn and one letter (dated March 28, 1896) from VMI Superintendent Scott Shipp to Goodwyn.

The Richard Wright collection, compiled by Richard Wright and orginally referred to by Wright as "The Richard Wright collection of Graphic Images of African Americans," focuses on the evolution of the Black American image in print media, cartoons and comics. Wright organized his own historical timeline titled "Good Clean Fun: Blacks in Comics," also referred to as "Clean Fun: Blacks in Comics," in a series of binders with artist biographies and time period summaries. Item titles have been retained from the original labels.

This collection consists of the papers (30 items) of Robert E. B. Stewart. The collection includes a notebook containing orations delivered before VMI cadet debating societies, drawings completed as class assignments at VMI, and a few clippings concerning his life after he left the Institute.

This collection contains clippings, drawings, and other material related to the guide book In and Around Williamsburg With Children written by Sarah R. Houghland, as well as clippings and correspondence concerning Houghland's work with the League of Women Voters in organizing the 1976 Presidential Debate between Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Illustration by Robert Armstrong of the poem, "Song for Virginia," which he wrote at the Williamsburg Inn in 1968 about the landing at Jamestown, Virginia.

This collection contains six composition books of sketches created by Thomas Elston Thorne, a faculty member in the Fine Arts Department at the College of William and Mary. Most of the sketches are of human models but there are drawings of still life as well. One of the sketchbooks also contains notes about composition taken by Thorne.

The William M. Jerdone papers (26 items) consist of Jerdone's handwritten mathematics examination essay (64 pages) submitted to Professor James W. Massie on December 28, 1868. The topic of this essay is "Analysis of Analytical Geometry." The papers also include 25 drawings completed as class assignments at VMI.