The collection of Florence Hamilton (1873-1968) relating to Edwin Markham spans the years 1857-1959, with the bulk of the material dating from 1926 to 1942. The papers are organized in the following series: Correspondence , Poetry , Speeches and Writings , Unpublished Biography , Scrapbooks , Photographs and Prints , Memorabilia , Miscellany , Addition , and Oversize .

The Correspondence consists of letters to and from Edwin Markham, Florence Hamilton, and others. A majority of the letters, however, are written by Markham to Hamilton and concern his lecture tours, stays with Charles R. Walgreen, his health, the poetry of others, and his thanks to Hamilton for her assistance. The correspondence reveals a relationship between the two with some of Markham's letters to Hamilton addressed as "Dear Child" and simply signed as either "A" or "Aprile."

The Poetry series contains poems by Markham and includes his most famous work, "The Man with the Hoe," as well as "Lincoln, the Man of the People," "Ode to Lincoln," "Ballad of the Gallows Bird," and "Our Israfel." His notebooks of poems span the length of his career. Of interest also is the guestbook in which Markham wrote poems when staying at Hamilton's home in Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts, a place he referred to as "The House with the Smiling Face."

The Speeches and Writings file includes articles, speeches, a radio script, and a motion picture script. Many of Markham's works cover social and religious issues as well as poetry. Markham also wrote about individuals including the American realist author and literary critic William Dean Howells.

The Unpublished Biography series consists largely of Hamilton's typescript of " The Man with the Hoe, the Poem, the Poet, and the Problem: The Intellectual Biography of Edwin Markham" that was to have been published in 1936. Included also are biographical sketches of Markham, letters authorizing Hamilton to write his biography, drafts of the work, and a photograph of Markham and Hamilton.

The Scrapbooks series includes clippings, photographs, programs, correspondence, and poems covering the personal lives and writings of Markham and Hamilton. Volumes 3 and 10 pertain mostly to Hamilton and document her poetry, her relationship to Markham, and her life as a poet in New York. Volume 8 contains a copy of Markham's will, while Volume 7 is filled with his obituary notices from 1940. Many of Markham's poems in the scrapbooks have been inscribed to Hamilton.

Other photographs are located in the Photographs and Prints series as well as a print of the painting "The Man with the Hoe" by the French artist Jean-François Millet. The Memorabilia series includes a plaster cast of Markham's hand, a strand of his hair, and horoscopes written for him.

The Miscellany is largely comprised of books inscribed by Markham to Hamilton or annotated by him. Eleven volumes were authored by Markham's friend, Thomas Lake Harris, and others were written or edited by Markham. Of interest among Markham's personal documents is a copyright certificate from the Library of Congress dated 1900 for the poem "Lincoln, the Great Commoner." The printed matter consists of annotated articles, clippings, programs, and prose and poems about and by Markham, many of which seemed to have been collected by Hamilton for her biography of him.

The Addition includes programs, poems, and articles pertaining to Hamilton; some correspondence of Markham's wife, Anna Catherine Markham; and a book of poems by Markham's mother, Elizabeth Markham, published in 1921.

The Oversize is comprised of poems, scrapbooks, photographs, and memorabilia.