The papers of Jacob Avshalomov consist of correspondence, clippings, programs, musical scores, certificates, memoir books, photographs, and publications relating mostly to his musical career, as well as those of his sons, David and Daniel, and his Russian-born father, Aaron. Also included are programs, reviews, and photographs of the Portland Junior Symphony (later the Portland Youth Philharmonic), which he led from 1954 to 1995.

The collection consists of narratives written by David Dexter Clarke concerning his professional experiences and personal history, along with notes and some items of correspondence. Clarke (1844-1923) emigrated to Oregon in 1864, and worked as a surveyor and civil engineer in the Pacific Northwest for 53 years. From 1893 until his retirement in 1917, he worked for the water bureau in Portland, Oregon, serving as the head of the department for most of that time.

Writings by Euphemia Dimick (1877-1967) of Oregon, including diary entries and a memoir titled "Through the Wilderness." The writings relate to Dimick's experiences raising her daughter, Ruth Elizabeth Dimick (1916-1974). Ruth Dimick had athetoid cerebral palsy, a condition marked by difficulty with motor skills, which was not well understood or accommodated in the early 20th century.

Biographies, memoir, obituaries, and photographs relating to the lives of Felix Albert Pelletier (1915-1981) and Bertha Hickman Pelletier (1913-1993), who were husband and wife. Felix Albert Pelletier was born in Canada and worked in the logging and lumber industries in Yamhill County and Albany, Oregon. Bertha Hickman Pelletier was born in Yamhill County, Oregon.

Memoir of Frances Toyooka, typed by and with an introduction by her daughter, Janet Thibault. Toyooka, a second-generation Japanese American woman, was living in Troutdale, Oregon, when the United States entered World War II. The memoir primarily concerns her experience being incarcerated by the U.S. government at Minidoka, and then living at the Twin Falls Labor Camp, but also discusses living in Vanport, Oregon, and then northeastern Portland, Oregon, following the war.

Oral memoir by Ruth L. Van Beber recorded from October 12, 1992 to May 7, 1993. Van Beber recounts her life story, including her childhood; experience in a Salvation Army Home for Wayward Girls; hitchhiking across the country during the Depression; homesteading in Oregon; running cafes; and the 1964 earthquake in Alaska.