The Ethel E. Murrell Papers document the activities of the National Woman's Party (NWP) under her leadership from 1952-53. The files include correspondence, newsletters and other materials with other women's organizations including the General Federation of Women's Clubs, the World Woman's Party, the American Woman's Foundation, and the American Woman's Council. The papers document the cooperative efforts of these groups in working for the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment, including articles written from 1938 to 1953 publicizing the Amendment.

Charters, minutes, speeches, press releases, resolutions, and correspondence dated 1946-53 detail Murrell's efforts as a lawyer, writer and political organizer. The files also highlight NWP attempts to promote its agenda. The papers are significant as a record of activity during the 1940's and 1950's, years considered by many as a period of decline between the two larger feminist movements of the early twentieth century and the 1960's. The records also include references to cold war anticommunism. One letter of resignation, for example, dated June 17, 1953 expressed a sentiment characteristic of several members: "...I wondered...if the 'pinkos' had not taken over. I certainly do not want to be connected with any organization that does not stand for good Americanism."