The collection consists of records, publications, ephemera, and audiovisual media created or compiled by Cascade AIDS Project, a Portland, Oregon-based organization that provides support services for people with AIDS in Oregon and southwestern Washington. In addition to administrative records, the collection includes materials relating to programs, facilities, and events (including the annual AIDS Walk and art auction fundraisers) run by Cascade AIDS Project; materials on safe sex education; press coverage and publicity about the organization; and remembrances of individuals who died from AIDS. The collection holds a substantial amount of audio and visual recordings, including advertisement spots, interviews, and news coverage.

The collection also contains materials relating to other AIDS activism and gay rights activism that was occurring in the late 1980s and early 1990s, most notably records from the Portland chapter of AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power (ACT UP).