The Woodrow Wilson Collection consists of Wilson holdings which have been acquired by the Princeton University Library Department of Collections gradually over many years by purchase and gifts from many sources. The collection is rich in material prior to Wilson's presidential years, although it is not limited to this period; researchers will find materials documenting both the public and private life of Woodrow Wilson. Various types of information written by or about Wilson are present in the collection, including manuscripts, addresses, articles, correspondence, telegrams, legal documents, booklets, pamphlets, photographs, portraits, cartoons, newspapers and scrapbooks.

The writings include addresses delivered between 1896 and 1910, as well as the transcription of Wilson's first inaugural address, written in 1913 on his own typewriter and with corrections in his own hand. Also included among the writings are notes taken of Wilson's course lectures by undergraduates, some of whom wrote down his words almost verbatim.

There is correspondence between Wilson and his family, friends, and colleagues both in academe and in the political arena. The original letters (and photostats) of the correspondence between Wilson and his first wife, Ellen Louise Axson, covering 1883 until 1913, are included. In addition, there are collections of correspondence assembled by colleagues and friends, such as Thomas Creigh, Garrett Droppers, David F. Houston, Mary A. Hulbert (Mrs. Peck), John Wesley Wescott, Lawrence C. Woods, and Frederic Yates. Also included is the Thackwell collection of correspondence between Woodrow family members and especially between Woodrow Wilson and his cousin, Harriet Woodrow, his first love, as well as photographs of both Woodrow and Wilson relatives.

Noteworthy are the many visual representations of Wilson including portraits in a number of different media, such as photographs alone and with others, pictures of family members, and the G. E. Thompson collection of photographs. The collection also contains collections of documents, memorabilia, and ephemera from throughout Wilson's life, as well as some sound recording and audio-visual material and section of printed matter including newspaper articles and printed speeches.

In the "Papers of Others" series, one finds correspondence by family members and writings about Wilson, as well as accretions to the collection by Wilson Farrand, McMillan Lewis, and Laura S. Turnbull. Included is the Henry L. Bragdon collection of reminiscences covering Wilson's years in academia as a student, professor, and university president. Also, the collection of Charles L. Swem, Wilson's stenographic secretary, of shorthand notebooks, transcriptions of speeches, correspondence, and interviews recorded from 1912-1921, makes a significant contribution to the corpus, as do the shorthand notebooks of Gilbert Close, another secretary, covering the year 1919 when Wilson was in Paris.