The Charlotte Elizabeth and Mary Ann Caroline Ely Papers consist of primary and secondary materials chiefly relating to their lives as missionaries and teachers in Turkey from 1868-1915. Of particular importance in this collection are letters written by the Elys between 1881-1915. These documents describe their work at the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in Bitlis, their travels in the region, the activities of other missionaries and social and political events in Turkey, including attacks on Armenians from the 1890s through the early years of World War I. An autobiographical sketch written by one or both of the Elys provides a summary of their lives through about 1902. These sources are complemented by a report concerning orphans in Bitlis, written by Charlotte Ely in 1899; letters and publications issued by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions between 1914-1916; extensive biographical information concerning the Elys; published and unpublished material about events in Turkey in 1877 and between 1912-1917; and a small amount of memorabilia. The collection also includes photographs of the Elys and of people, buildings, scenes and historic sites in Turkey, England and Europe. The writers of letters and articles in this collection include a number of Mount Holyoke alumnae: Anna C. Edwards, Class of 1859, Anna Hunt Knapp, Class of 1886 and Grace H. Knapp, Class of 1893. Charlotte Ely's association with Mount Holyoke is also reflected by a notebook that she kept for history, English composition and "stenography" (shorthand) courses in 1861. Other documents in the collection concern or were written by Edwin St. John Ward (husband of Charlotte Allen Ward, Class of 1903), George Perkins Knapp and, particularly, Mary D. Uline.

This collection is organized into eight series:

• Correspondence
• Writings
• Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, Bitlis Records
• American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions Records
• Biographical Information
• Information about Turkey
• Memorabilia
• Photographs