Collection consists of a significant number of photographs collected from the exhibit "Washington's Italian Community 1890-Present" developed and sponsored by the Washington Area Studies Department that was held in November 1984; negatives of all materials collected; obituaries; news articles; research notes; correspondence; clippings; and copies of the exhibit flyer and the article Alan Kraut and Howard Gillette did for the "Journal of American Ethnic History."

Collection includes materials on the history of the greater Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The collection documents the history of DC communities, focusing on community structure, organizations, politics, events, transportation and difficulties, such as crime and includes paper articles, brochures, pamphlets and letters.