This collection consists mainly of papers of Joseph Coy Green (Princeton Class of 1908) relating to his government positions: as an official in the Department of State including his appointment as special representative to the International Institute of Agriculture in Rome (1931), chairman of the Armaments Commission (1944-1946), member of the U.S. Mission to observe the elections in Greece (1946), director of the Foreign Service Board of Examiners, and ambassador to Jordan (1952-1953). Among other subjects covered in the papers are World War I Belgium relief, American neutrality policy (1935-1939), the Alger Hiss case, and American policy during the Spanish Civil War. Included are correspondence, journals, scrapbooks, diaries, reports, notes, and printed matter.

In addition, there are files of papers, lectures, and grade books from Green's student years and, later, as assistant and associate professor of history and politics (1920-1930) at Princeton; papers concerning his service in the army in World War I; articles, correspondence, and card files as special editor (1929-1935) of American Indian terms for Webster's New International Dictionary; and correspondence (1906-1952) with his brothers, Matthew and Robert Green.