The Personal and Family Series consists of personal correspondence, biographical information and genealogical materials relating to John F. Stevens and the rest of the Stevens Family. A considerable amount of material by Harriett O'Brien Stevens, including many letters to her son, Eugene Stevens while he was in College, are included in this series. Also included in this series are correspondence and ephemera relating to Stevens receipt of the John Fritz Medal (1925), the Herbert Hoover Medal (1939), and an award from the Czechoslovak and Japanese governments. U.S. Postage stamps for the Canal Zone honoring John F. Stevens are also in this series.
The Subjects Series is primarily made up of groups of correspondence and reports relating to various projects with which Stevens was associated during his career, almost all from after his work in Panama. The only material from Panama are two bound petitions from workers on Canal project asking Stevens to withdraw his resignation. Materials from his work in East Asia are particularly interesting, including plans for the Chinese Eastern Railway and letters Stevens wrote to the U.S. Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes about Stevens work on the Interallied Technical Board. Later materials mainly involve Stevens work as a consultant on various railroad and other civil engineering projects elsewhere in the United States including the Mississippi River Flood Control Project, The Eldorado & Santa Fe Railway, the Oregon Railway, the Boston & Maine Railway, a Nicaragua Canal Survey, the Boulder Dam, the Transbay Bridge in San Francisco and the Aerocete Corporation.
The Manuscripts Series mainly contains diaries and manuscripts by John F. Stevens. The diaries date from his time in East Asia, but references are mainly to weather conditions and travel arrangements. Among the manuscripts are several copies of an autobiography and a few speeches by Stevens. A few manuscripts by other members of the Stevens and O'Brien Families are also in this series.
The Printed Materials Series contains a wide variety of printed material including Stevens' maps of the United States, tourism pamphlets and postcards he collected in East Asia and elsewhere, numerous magazine issues and newspaper clippings which contain articles by or about Stevens and his projects, and scrapbooks containing correspondence, clippings and photographs.
The Photographs Series contains photographs collected by Stevens and his family from about 1850 to 1950. Among the contents are photos of Stevens and his family, Panama, East Asia and the statue dedicated to Stevens and Marias Pass in Montana. Some of the photos of East Asia bear witness to skirmishes in Siberia between Revolutionary factions, showing the bodies of casualties and funeral processions.
The Books Series primarily consists of books collected by John F. Stevens, Jr. and are mainly novels and non-fiction books on the Panama Canal, East Asia and the American Northwest, almost all of which have references to John F. Stevens, Sr.
The Oversize Materials Series includes maps, photographs, newspapers and ledgers in three oversize containers. Among these are photos of Stevens in Panama (c.1930), maps of East Asia and the American West and medals and awards received by Stevens, including the Hoover Medal and the John Fritz Medal.
The Map Case Series consists of extra large maps and plans housed in Special Collections map cases (labeled "Box 13" in the finding aid). Among these are numerous maps of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway and older Russian maps of Siberia showing railroads.