The collection consists of papers and photographs of the related Bancroft, Nunn, and Trevett families. Correspondence in the collection includes the letters of A. A. Bancroft and his wife, Lucy D. Bancroft; the letters of their children Albert Little Bancroft, Hubert Howe Bancroft, Mary Melissa Trevett, and Emily Palmer; and the letters of Mary Melissa Trevett's husband, Theodore Brooks Trevett. Diaries in the collection were written by Theodore B. Trevett, Mary Melissa Trevett, and their daughters, Katherine Lucy Trevett and Emily B. Nunn. Theodore B. Trevett's diaries includes entries from his sea voyage from Massachusetts to California in 1849 and his time at Fort Simcoe, Washington Territory; Mary Melissa Trevett's diaries also include her time living at Fort Simcoe, where her father worked as an Indian agent. Other written materials include a guestbook, notes, and certificates. Several written items are partially or fully in German, and one diploma is in French. In addition to loose family photographs, there are four photograph albums in the collection: One is an album of cartes de visite kept by the Trevett family; one is an album kept by the Nunn family in the early 20th century; and two are albums compiled by Richard T. Trevett, consisting of photographs in and around Baden-in-Aargau, Switzerland, where he worked.