The papers consists of correspondence, photographs, clippings, publications, awards, certificates and medals, speeches and various other materials documenting the life and work of Dr. John O. Brown, first African American Ophthalmologist in Florida and the first African American President of the American Medical  Association. The collection also includes clippings, sermons, speeches and photos of African American folklorist, Rev. William Faulkner.

The William Calhoun “Bill” Baggs Papers includes thirty-one boxes of correspondence, memoranda, clippings, photographs, diaries and other materials relating to the professional career of Baggs, a newspaper journalist, editor, and political commentator from the 1940s until his death in 1969. As a columnist and editor for the Miami Daily News, Baggs developed relationships with many prominent figures. The Baggs Papers, arranged in six series, totals thirteen cubic feet of materials. In addition to incoming correspondence, the files include hundreds of carbon copies of outgoing correspondence from Baggs to a variety of local, regional, state, national, and international politicians, journalists, and others.