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This series chiefly consists of letters that Downer wrote between 1918-1986. Many of the documents are copies of letters that Downer wrote for the Woman's American Baptist Foreign Mission Society and sent to her Mount Holyoke College classmate, Ruth Sonn Fritts ("Sonny"), and two Mount Holyoke faculty members, Mildred Allen and Margaret Ball. The collection also includes several personal letters that she sent to Fritts and Ball. These describe her life as a missionary and professor at the West China Union University in Chengdu where she taught music, physics, astronomy and English and served as "housemother, nurse, policeman" and supervisor. She also mentions church-related activities and musical events. She describes the effect that the tumultuous politics of China had on the University, the threat of raids, the Japanese invasion of China during the Sino-Japanese conflict, the effects of propaganda on the students, the bombing of campus in 1939, independence day in China in 1942, the Communist government's influence on the University's rules and regulations, inflation, and a particularly hard year in 1949 in which tuition was paid with rice. Evidence of the extreme political situation can also be seen in a sheet of paper included in a letter dated August 6, 1941, outlining a secret code to use in letters. She describes her travels in China to Deer Mountain and down the Yangtze River and an airplane flight from Chongqing to Chengdu in 1935. She also discusses her travels to Cairo, Athens, Italy, Switzerland, Paris and London on her way back to the United States in 1951. Most of the letters to Downer were written by Mary E. Woolley, President of Mount Holyoke College, from 1919-1946. These documents describe Woolley's trip to China and Japan in 1921 and mention events at Mount Holyoke such as the Rockefeller Hall fire, the building of Clapp Laboratories and the Physical and Chemical Laboratories, and the enlargement of the library. She responds to Downer's political experiences in China with remarks of her own about United States-China relations, the Sino-Japanese conflict, and World War II. Woolley also describes her retirement and her concern that a woman succeed her as President of the College.

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Downer's writings consist of a short article published in "Popular Astronomy" in 1918, two laboratory manuals written in Chinese and published in 1930, and an informational brochure, ca. 1949, about the West China Union University Women's College which contains a map of the College, and information about the institution's history, enrollment, and goals.

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The two scrapbooks in this series were compiled by Downer to celebrate Mary E. Woolley's life and her work as President of Mount Holyoke College from 1901-1937. The first volume includes a biography and photograph of Woolley and prayers from chapel services appended in Woolley's handwriting. This scrapbook also includes excerpts and paraphrases of several of Woolley's speeches: "The Gift of Days" given to incoming students; "A Welcome to Mount Holyoke" outlining Woolley's view of the what students should gain by coming to the College including physical fitness, concentration and "a scientific way of thinking;" "Manners;" "Four Things to Be Remembered"; and "Courtesy." The second scrapbook is a collection of newspaper and magazine clippings by and about Woolley. The article by Robert E. Rogers, "The Feminization of Our Schools," is included with an article containing Woolley's critical response. Other articles describe Woolley's participation in an international disarmament conference in 1932 and her inclusion on "Good Housekeeping" list of America's twelve greatest living women in 1930.

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This series contains notes and articles dating from ca. 1922-1964 that describe Downer's work as a missionary as well as notice of her death dated 1988.

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This series chiefly consists of snapshots relating to Downer's life and work in China, and most photographs date from the 1930s to 1951. The photographs are of the Fine Arts faculty of West China Union University and of Downer's "adopted" Loh family. They show views of the campus and buildings of the Women's College of West China Union, the students of the West China Union Class of 1930, and fellow missionaries. There is also a photograph of Downer at Spelman College, 1951-1955, and negatives of several formal photographs of her, probably dating from the 1950s.