The Ellen Gates Starr Papers consist of 9.75 linear feet and date from 1659 to 1975. The bulk of the papers range from 1850 to 1970. Types of material include correspondence, writings, artwork, diaries, legal documents, photographs, printed material, memorabilia, biographical and genealogical material. They relate to Starr's personal and professional life, Jane Addams, and Hull House, and the Starr family. Of particular interest is material on Jane Addams including correspondence, photographs and biographical material. Jane Addams material can be found in SERIES I, II, and IV. The bulk of the papers, however, consist of those of Ellen Gates Starr and her family, dating from her grandfather Oliver Starr's family in Deerfield, Massachusetts, in the early 1800s to her grand niece Angela Starr Van Patten in 1971. There are large amounts of correspondence, writings and art relating to her sister, Mary Houghton Starr Blaisdell and her aunt, Eliza Allen Starr, and correspondence of her niece, Josephine Susanna Starr.

Always devoted to the liturgy and history of the church, Starr studied, wrote, and corresponded with the learned and interested, both lay and clerical, and correspondence and writings reflects this long and close devotion and the manner in which she shared it with others. Her socialist activism is illustrated by clippings and articles as well as correspondence concerning the Amalgamated Clothing Workers strike in Chicago in 1915. Letters from Sidney Hillman and Jacob Patofsky, heads of the Clothing Workers, attest to their admiration and appreciation of Starr's contribution to the cause of organized labor.

This collection is organized into four series:

• I. Biographical Materials
• II. Correspondence
• III. Writings and Artwork
• IV. Photographs