The Ethel Eyre Valentine Dreier Papers include correspondence, writings, miscellaneous clippings, pamphlets, and publications. The material documents Ethel Dreier's life from the time of her marriage to H.Edward Dreier in 1901.

The personal correspondence consists primarily of letters to her husband, H. Edward Dreier, from 1902-38. The early letters describe the daily household activities and concerns of an upper class homemaker, while the later letters describe in limited detail Ethel's work for various social causes. Other correspondence includes letters (1924-55) to Ethel Dreier from Jane Addams, Carrie Chapman Catt, Eleanor Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt, and Alfred E. Smith among others.

Personal papers and writings include manuscript drafts of speeches, reports and meeting agendas, notes, and a description of her solo car trip through 17 states in the summer of 1941. There are also notebooks listing wedding gifts received, and describing gardens at her Long Island home, "Sunken Meadow." Appointment books from 1939-57 briefly note daily activities, as does the travel diary from a European tour with her husband in 1901.

The bulk of professional papers relate to records of the New York state campaign for woman suffrage (1912-17), and records of activities of the Women's City Club of New York (1919-65). Included in the suffrage papers are newspaper clippings, pamphlets, and committee reports on the progress of the woman suffrage movement through the work of the National and New York State Woman Suffrage Associations. Women's City Club of New York records include club calendars, programs, and lists of members. The remainder of the professional papers document Ethel Dreier's work with the Brooklyn Garden Apartments (low cost housing development); the 1937 Fusion Mayoral Campaign to re-elect Fiorello H. LaGuardia; the Garden Club of America; King's Park Central School of Long Island; and Black Mountain College of North Carolina. Included is a scrapbook of newspaper clippings relating to her various social and civic activities.

Remaining records document biographical information such as Ethel Dreier's work for her alma mater, Packer Collegiate Institute; and an 80th birthday celebration folder contains congratulatory correspondence and a biographical sketch written by her children.