The Virginia Apgar Papers consist of diaries, correspondence, course records and training records, Aqualumni records, Director of Anesthesiology records, writings, Apgar Score material, material relating to speaking engagements and meetings attended and to radio and television appearances, a scrapbook, financial records, notebooks, an index to scientific publications, memorabilia, Charles E. Apgar material, biographical information, a sound recording and photographs. This material chiefly concerns Apgar's education and professional life between 1925-1974. Much of the collection relates to her work for the National Foundation (later the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation) from 1959-1974. Material concerning her activities on behalf of that organization consists of diaries, extensive correspondence relating to speaking engagements, meetings attended, and radio and televison appearances, her writings about prenatal care and birth defects, articles about her work, and numerous photographs. Other diaries, correspondence, reports, notebooks, financial records, a scrapbook and photographs concern her education and training at Mount Holyoke College (1925-1929), Columbia University and Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center (1929-1935), the University of Wisconsin (1936-1937) and Johns Hopkins University (1959), and her work as an anesthesiologist, administrator, and professor at Columbia-Presbyterian (1938-1958) and Johns Hopkins (1972-1973). This material includes documents relating to her association with the Aqualumni, a group of anesthesiologists trained by Dr. Ralph M. Waters at the University of Wisconsin, and to the Apgar Score that she developed for evaluating the health of newborn infants. Other material in the collection consists of financial records containing information about her income and expenses between 1925-1942; several notebooks from the 1940s-ca.1969 that include lists, notes, and more details about her finances; a card index of scientific publications in the library of Dr. K. B. Warren which appears to have prepared ca. 1960; diplomas, certificates, two medical bags, and other memorabilia; and a sound recording from a television appearance that she made ca. 1960. Her papers also include two documents by her father Charles E. Apgar: a letter that he wrote describing his life as a student at Centenary Collegiate Institute in Hackettstown, New Jersey in 1880 and an article about his family's home in Westfield, New Jersey that was published in February 1906 issue of "The Suburbanite, A Monthly Magazine For Those Who Are and Those Who Ought To Be Interested In Suburban Homes."

Arranged in 18 series: Series 1. Diaries, 1937-1941, 1949-1974. Series 2. Correspondence, 1925-1974. Series. 3. Course Records/Training Information, 1926-1973. Series 4. Aqualumni Records, 1938-1948. Series 5. Director of Anesthesiology Records, 1939-1946, 1948. Series 6. Writings, 1941-1975. Series 7. Apgar Score Material, 1959-1974. Series 8. Speaking Engagements/Meetings Attended, 1959-1974. Series 9. Radio/Television Appearances, 1963-1974. Series 10. Scrapbook, 1925-1929. Series 11. Financial Records, 1925-1942. Series 12. Notebooks, 1949, 1957, 1958, ca. 1969. Series 13. Index to Scientific Publications from Warren Library, ca. 1960. Series 14. Memorabilia, ca. 1918-1974. Series 15. Charles E. Apgar Material, 1880, 1906. Series 16. Sound Records, ca. 1960. Series 17. Biographical Information, 1938-1975. Series 18. Photographs, ca. 1912-1974.