Among several topics represented in this collection, the Cameron Family Papers provides a fair amount of documentation of Princeton University from the perspective of faculty and students during the second half of the 19th century. The collection consists primarily of the papers of Princeton University professors and alumni Henry C. Cameron and his son A. Guyot Cameron, including personal and professional correspondence; writings, such as essays, articles, manuscripts, and lectures that date from their time as students and professionals; and various documents relating to the university, such as ephemera, administrative and committee records, class materials, as well as an impressive amount of biographical information about the Princeton Class of 1886. Also included are a significant number of photographs of family and friends, and some personal papers, such as financial items, ephemera, and printed matter.

Swiss geologist, geographer, and Princeton professor Arnold Henry Guyot is also represented in the collection through maps Guyot created for his classes, correspondence, and printed articles and lectures by and about Guyot, as is Henry C. Cameron's wife, Mina Chollet Cameron, mostly through correspondence.

While most of the collection is in English, a fair number of letters, particularly those of Mina Chollet Cameron and Arnold Henry Guyot, are in French.