The bulk of the collection pertains to Ava Williams' career as a musical performer from 1939 to the 1990s, and includes photographs, clippings, programs, and other ephemera relating to Ava Williams and fellow performers, as well as commercial sound recordings and video recordings. The collection also includes family photos, papers, legal documents, memorabilia, and correspondence of family members Joseph A. Williams and Laura Merritt Williams, Martin R. Williams, and J.C. Williams; World War I correspondence of Mort Merritt, and papers and memorabilia relating to Ava's childhood and her marriage to Jorge Carlozzi.