The collection comprises personal, academic and professional/research records. The personal records consist mostly of correspondence and files pertaining to Reed’s studies at Harvard University. The academic records pertain to the classes taught by Reed, such as classroom lecture notes, syllabi, tests, newspaper and magazine articles, typescripts, and other classroom items created and collected by him. The professional/research records contain subject files that concern primarily Reed’s engagement as a reporter and author. The bulk of this material consists of a manuscript copy, research files and audio cassette tapes with transcriptions for the biography Faubus: The Life and Times of an American Prodigal. The collection also contains the Looking for Hogeye manuscript, three bound volumes of Southern School News, newspaper clippings, scrapbook, day calendar, photographs, one reel-to-reel audio tape, and one VHS cassette tape.