This collection contains the papers of Ruby Bishop West, an educator and local historian from Floyd, Virginia. The papers are divided into five series: Floyd County Churches, Floyd County Education, Floyd County History, Personal Materials and Oversize Materials.

The Floyd County Churches Series includes research notes, maps and printed materials on various churches located in Floyd County, particularly Lutheran, Methodist and Primitive Baptist congregations.

Within the Floyd County Education Series are historical data, printed materials (mostly programs for school events) and photographs of various Floyd County schools. Much of the material centers on Floyd High School, but other schools are represented as well. The series also contains tabulations on county school enrollment, test scores and withdrawals during the 1930s and 1940s.

The Floyd County History Series contains mostly research notes on various topics relating to Floyd County history, particularly the Civil War, genealogy, mining, and postal and telephone service. The series also includes historical sketches and data on the county's settlement and development and materials relating to the celebration of the county's centennial (1931) and sesquicentennial (1981).

Items relating to West's personal life are found in the Personal Materials Series. The series includes West's diplomas, grade reports and other items from Radford Teacher's College, a small early twentieth century photo album, other assorted photos and ephemera, and a sizeable collection of sheet music.

The Oversize Materials series consists of items which were too large to be inter-filed with their respective series. The series includes a large photo of Floyd Academy, a 1960 Floyd High School newspaper and oversized sheet music publications.