The Kathryn Irene Glascock Poetry Prize was established in 1923 by her parents. A young poet, Glascock graduated from Mount Holyoke College in 1922 and died shortly thereafter. In 1924 the contest became an intercollegiate event, with schools across the northeast competing. Students are nominated by faculty members, and then judged by a panel of distinguished poets. Past panelists include Robert Frost, Sylvia Plath, and Adrienne Rich. From its inception through 1938, Professor Ada L. F. Snell directed the contest. Following her retirement, various other members of the English department at Mount Holyoke have organized the contest.

The records include lists of contestants and judges, judges' correspondence and evaluations, copies of poems, photographs, clippings, announcements, Glascock Committee records, and audiotapes made by judges (1964, 1968, 1988, 1989). The correspondence include items from famous poets including James Merrill, John Updike, and William Carlos Williams. Poems include works of Robert Lowell and Winfield Scott. Photographs of various year's judges and contestants are also included. Information concerning each year's finalists, judging staff, funding, and brief biographies of Glascock are also included.