The collection consists of correspondence, writings, photographs, personal papers, printed material, audiovisual material, memorabilia, and artwork that document the life and work of author J. D. McClatchy from his youth to the 2010s. Correspondence is both personal and professional and includes letters from Anthony Hecht, James Merrill, Robert Penn Warren, and Richard Wilbur, among many other prominent figures of twentieth- and twenty-first-century American literature, as well as correspondence relating to the publication of the Yale Review. Writings include drafts, proofs, and other material documenting the works of J. D. McClatchy, as well as journals and travel notebooks. Personal papers include documents, and diaries of Mary Jane McClatchy, mother of J. D. McClatchy.