Organized into two series, "Bayard Putnam Papers" and "Putnam Family Papers," this collection consists of correspondence as well as diaries of field notes, legal documents, bills and receipts, and ephemera relating to Bayard Taylor Putnam (1854-1886). Most of the materials are professional in nature and document Putnam's work with the United States Geological Survey (U.S.G.S.). They also relate to Putnam's combined protractor and chart holder, specifically his attempts to manufacture and market the device. Professional correspondence and field notes document Putnam's time in Michigan as well as northern New Jersey and surrounding areas of New York and Pennsylvania as Expert Special Agent for the Tenth U.S. Census as well as his time surveying mines in Montana for the Northern Transcontinental Survey.

Bayard T. Putnam's immediate family members, particularly his wife, Grace Haven Putnam (1855-1900) as well as his daughter, Dr. Mary Putnam (b. 1887), are also represented primarily through personal correspondence. Other materials include some legal documents, ephemera, receipts, and a few glass plate negatives.

Correspondence relating to Grace helps shed light on her life and that of her children after Putnam's death. Most are letters from her close friend, Bishop Henry Codman Potter (1834-1908), seventh Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New York. Letters to and from Mary Putnam, circa 1931 to 1934, are of particular interest as they document a contentious period within the history of the Putnam family and G.P. Putnam's Sons. Discussing the family's stock in and ownership of the publishing company, the correspondence relates to the recent merger of G.P. Putnam's Sons with Minton, Balch & Co., (1930) whereupon the owners of the latter became the majority stockholders.