This collection of Oswald West's papers contains a small amount of material relating to his term as Oregon governor, 1911-1915; general personal correspondence from 1940 to 1960; and clippings, documents, ephemera, and other materials documenting West's career, Oregon history, and political and personal matters. Letters include correspondence with or about Oregon governors, including George E. Chamberlain, Mark O. Hatfield, Charles H. Martin, Douglas McKay, Ben W. Olcott, Paul L. Patterson, Walter M. Pierce, Elmo Smith, Earl Snell, and Charles A. Sprague. Also included is correspondence with various national, state, and local political and civic leaders, writers and educators, including: Homer D. Angell, Clyde B. Atchison, Curt Brown Barker, Orson R. Bean, R. A. Booth, William A. Bowes, Ralph L. Carr, Marshall N. Dana, Stanley W. Earl, James A. Farley, Guy Gordon, Ernest Haycox, Rufus Holman, Ben Hur Lampman, Dorothy McCullough Lee, Tom Mahoney, Tom McCall, Charles A. Moores, Wayne Morse, Maurine Neuberger and Richard L. Neuberger, Frank Branch Riley, Robert W. Sawyer, Leslie W. Scott, Omar C. Spencer, A. L. Strand, Robert Y. Thornton, and William S. U'Ren.

Materials in the collection that relate to West's research and writing include correspondence with the Oregon Historical Society and various state agencies; correspondence and other materials about the Columbia Valley Authority and other reclamation and dam projects; a report on the Oregon workmen's compensation law; and clippings and other data on various subjects.