The collection includes correspondence and writings by Salynn McCollum, as well as newspaper clippings, journal and magazine articles, and photographs. The majority of the material represents McCollum’s participation with the Civil Rights Movement during the first half of the 1960s. Many items were generated while she was a field secretary for the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).

This collection contains the papers of John Seigenthaler, journalist, writer, and longtime editor of The Tennessean. Seigenthaler was a prominent advocate for First Amendment rights and founded the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University. Seigenthaler also worked for Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and was a longtime friend of the Kennedy family.