The papers of Norman Hapgood (1868-1937) and Elizabeth Reynolds Hapgood (1894-1974), span the period 1824-1977. The collection is organized into the following series: Family Papers, Special Correspondence, General Correspondence, Subject File, Speeches and Writings File, Miscellany, and Addition. Some of the letters to Elizabeth Hapgood are written in Russian, German, and French.

Correspondence comprises the bulk of the papers. Early letters from Norman and Elizabeth Hapgood to members of their family, as well as letters between various members of the Hapgood and Reynolds families, make up the correspondence in the Family Papers. This correspondence is dated from 1824 to 1974. There is also a considerable amount of correspondence between Elizabeth and her mother, Margaret T. Reynolds, before and during her marriage to Norman Hapgood.

Elizabeth Hapgood was a well known translator, and especially fluent in Russian. The Special Correspondence includes letters to her from friends in Africa, Europe, Russia, and the United States. The Special Correspondence also contain letters to Norman Hapgood from Newton Diehl Baker, Louis Dembitz Brandeis, Edward Mandell House, T. G. Masaryk, William Gibbs McAdoo, George Foster Peabody, Frank L. Polk, and the White House. Norman Hapgood's correspondence dates from 1896 to 1937 and relates to politics and contemporary affairs.

The Subject File contains copies of diplomatic dispatches from April to December 1919, as well as miscellaneous material concerning Hapgood's service as United States minister to Denmark. The Speeches and Writings File and the Miscellany series include galley proofs of Hapgood's magazine and newspaper articles, 1917-1918; reprints and typescripts of speeches by members of the Hapgood family and others; clippings; and printed matter and miscellaneous documents. The final series, Addition, consists chiefly of personal and general correspondence of Norman Hapgood and Elizabeth Reynolds Hapgood.