The collection consists of a partial memoir of Atkinson's American Civil War experiences. Atkinson served as a Confederate surgeon for the 10th Regiment, Virginia Cavalry, followed by appointments with the 31st Regiment, Virginia Infantry, and the Second Army Corps, Army of Nothern Virginia.

Diary for the year 1862 by William W. Barnett, a private in the 8th Pennsylvania Reserve Volunteer Corps.

This collection contains subject files, clippings, memorabilia and artifacts related to the American Civil War. There are seven series, five of which predominately contain Civil War materials. The other two series in the collection also contains files on other subjects of Billings' historical interests, including aspects of military and United States history.

These are three letters dating October 1st, 8th, and 9th, from Dr. John Shaw Billings in Washington, D.C., to Dr. Willis G. Tucker in Albany, NY. In the letters, Dr. Billings thanks Dr. Shaw for his contribution of medical pamphlets for the Library of the Surgeon General's Office.

The collection contains a bill detailing medical service provided to the family of Rev. William A. Wade by Dr. Harvey Black. The bill includes the cost of services, as well as a note from Black forgiving payment.

This collection contains the papers and artifacts of an interrelated family prominent in Blacksburg's history. It includes the Civil War letters of Confederate surgeon Dr. Harvey Black, the Civil War diary of hospital steward John S. Apperson, cotton books and correspondence of Germanicus Kent, nineteenth-century account books of a Blacksburg general store, 1912 European travel diary, and the political scrapbooks of State Senator and Attorney General Harvey B. Apperson.

The collection consists of receipts, bills, Promissory notes, tax notes, letters, and other various papers created between 1825 and 1912 by members of the Brown, and other related families.

Four letters written by James H. Cronkhite (1827-1873), serving in Company I, 4th Minnesota Infantry during the American Civil War, to wife Jennie in Warsaw (Rice County), Minnesota, from camps and a division hospital in Mississippi.

The Culinary Ephemera Collection was established in 2013. The collection consists of materials in a variety of formats (postcards, menus, children's activities, advertising pamphlets, and more) that relate to food, nutrition, and medicine, dating from the early 19th century to the present.

The Guy Di Carlo, Jr., Civil War Research Papers consist of newsletters, newspapers clippings, photographs, newspapers articles, photocopies from published literature, maps, and calendars, related to American Civil War topics.