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The correspondence spans Ellison's Virginia Union career from 1941 almost until his death in 1979. It is primarily routine correspondence between Ellison and financial contributors, student and job applicants, foundation officers, organizational representatives, alumni and parents. Much of Ellison's correspondence was directed to donors, large and small, especially while fundraising for the Belgian Building.

Ellison kept separate files for certain individuals who were primarily fundraisers first pressed into service for the Belgian Building project. Some worked among African American friends and churches and others were institutional representatives who handled larger sums of money. In the case of Marie Hancock (Mrs. Gordon), she was apparently an employed fund developer for the university, while Miles Connor and C. L. Franklin were active alumni chapter presidents. Because of the distinction of being the first African American president of Virginia Union, Ellison received many pieces of congratulatory correspondence ranging from commercial greeting cards to letters and telegrams. The latter were preservation photocopied.

Ellison's role as college administrator meant that he was involved in every facet of campus business, as well as with many civic, state and national organizations. These subject files demonstrate the multiple hats Ellison wore as president of Virginia Union. Materials such as those in the administrative, Athletics Department and Library files reveal that he was active in the day-to-day business of the campus departments. It was this same intimate involvement that made him so active in personnel and student affairs as exemplified in the application and recommendation letters. (Job applicants often included photographs with their resumes. These snapshots have been removed and housed in PMS-001.)

Ellison led active life off campus as well. He kept an active preaching schedule both locally and across the country. (Frequently, when visiting a distant city on Union business, Reverend and Mrs. Ellison would appear as guest preacher and soloist to help offset the expenses of travel.) He was president of the Richmond Ministers Association and the National Program for the Training of Negro Ministers. He was also a member of Alpha Phi Alpha and the Masons (United Supreme Council).

Ellison wrote several books and religious pamphlets based on his sermons. He also in the years after his presidency, was working on a history of Virginia Union. His drafts and research notes are included here. Most of his books, including his reports written as a sociologist, are available in the library's rare books collection

In preparation for his history of Virginia Union, Ellison collected and duplicated old photos of the Virginia Union and Hartshorn Memorial College faculty and students. The images range from an early Union Football team to faculty events of the 1960's. All but two of the photographs are black and white, and not all of the subjects are identified.

With the active personal and professional life that Ellison led, he participated in and attended many programs during his lifetime. He was frequently a guest speaker at local churches in the Richmond area and especially Northumberland County's Shiloh Baptist Church. The vas array of programs are sorted in chronological order by whether Ellison appeared on the program or not.

There were many awards and recognition memorabilia presented to Ellison, especially as his career wound to a close. The plaques were given by a wide range of admirers, from Union-affiliated groups to churches to national organizations. Ellison received honorary degrees from Virginia Union University (06 June 1950), Morehouse College (07 June 1955) and Virginia State College (30 May 1960).