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The extensive collection documents the life and work of Richmond-born photographer and educator Louis Draper (1935–2002). Manuscript and photographic materials document Draper's experience and work as an African American photographer, including his recognition of his photography as a form of "engaged resistance" that not only bore witness to leaders of the civil rights movement, but also offered a richer and more diverse perspective of African American life than provided by the mainstream media. In 1963, he was a founding member of the Kamoinge Workshop, a collective of African American photographers, and the collection includes significant materials from the early years of the Kamoinge Workshop and document his perspective on the professional challenges that he and the collective confronted in the process of finding publications that would publish photographs of African Americans made by African Americans. His photographs of significant 20th-century artists, writers, musicians, and performers reflect the wide array of personal connections that Draper made after moving to New York from Richmond, Virginia in 1957. Printed photographs and contact sheets in Draper's archive show a broad view of city life and the everyday interactions between people and also offer a unique vision of African American neighborhoods in the 1960s and 1970s.

The collection documents various photographs from World War II, the Vietnam War, and the Civil Rights Era. Although there are many photographers involved in this collection, most notable are Paul Almasy, Leonard Freed, Dmitri Baltermants, and Horst Tappe. The focus of this collection is on what life looked like around the world during this period and the various hardships that were endured during wartime.

The collection contains ephemera collected by photographer Shawn Walker, documenting his own career and those of other 20th-century African American artists.

Victorian photo album (with exterior of faded dark burgundy cloth and tarnished gold-toned bas-relief ornaments) with built-in music box containing cartes-de-visites, cabinet cards, postcards, tintypes, and two negatives. Includes individual and family group portraits. Subjects of photographs are unidentified, except for postcard portrait of Pastor J.O. Patterson of Main Street Church of Christ in Elkins, West Virginia. Photographers are identified on some of the card mounts, including Loar and Company of Grafton; Von Allmen of Elkins; Nestor of Elkins; Arcade Studio of Akron, Ohio; Fad Foto Company of Gallipolis, Ohio; and Stanton Photo Company of Springfield, Ohio. The collection also includes the calling card of Jackson J. Triplett and two gift tags illustrated with roses and doves. Digital material includes recordings of the music box.