This collection consists of a volume of bound letters of tribute to I. D. (Irl Donaker) Wilson, a Virginia Poltechnic Institute (today Virginia Tech) professor of biology, written by students, colleagues, and friends upon Wilson's retirement in 1958. (Although the volume bears the embossed title "Letters to I. D. Wilson, 1958," the letters were all written in 1957.) Inserted into the bound volume are a poem, "The Ballad of I. D. Wilson," by VPI Dean of Agriculture L. B. Dietrick; a copy of Wilson's obituary and an article about his death; and a studio portrait photograph of Merle Strickler Chilton, VPI class of 1933.