The Mary A. Livermore Collection was formed by combining two separately acquired groups of material. The "Writings by Mary A. Livermore and Others" file group consists of autograph notes, drafts, typescripts, and reprints of several lectures, articles and short stories by or pertaining to Mary Livermore together with manuscripts of poetry by Hezekiah Butterworth and Lillie J. Davis.

Materials collected by Adelaide Witherington Boynton, a family member of Livermore, include correspondence (to, from, and about Mary Livermore, together with letters of the Witherington family), two memoranda books belonging to Mary Livermore, financial records, and other miscellaneous documents. The majority of the material in this part of the collection, however, consists of early or finished autograph drafts of Livermore's lectures and addresses on various historical topics, woman's suffrage, temperance, religion, and anthropology. Also included are some periodicals, pamphlets, and clippings pertaining to, written and/or collected by Livermore, as well as photographs and glass plate negatives of family portraits and pictures from Livermore's European travels.