The Gilbert L. Streeter papers are a collection of Streeter's business and personal papers, including correspondence dealing with the Salem Lyceum. The majority of the Salem Lyceum papers (Folder 1), 1845-1855, contain acceptances or refusals from scholars to speak at the Lyceum lectures. Well-known correspondents include A.B. Alcott, 6/9/1849; R.W. Emerson, 6/11/1849; E. Everett, 8/24/1850; Wm. L. Garrison, 11/28/1850; H. Greely, 9/26/1850, 10/12/1852; O.W. Holmes, 8/20/1852, 11/18/1852; T. Mann, 8/18/1852; W. Phillips, 10/25/1852; S.E. Sewall, 8/14/1850; C. Sumner, 6/5/1849; and G. Ticknor, 10/12/1849. The folders of sermons and lectures (Folders 2 and 3) contain lectures written by Streeter and religious sermons which may have been written by his father, Barzillai Streeter. Of interest are lecture notes discussing the history of the newspaper in Salem and the benefits of separating the sexes in institutions of higher education. Streeter's correspondence (Folder 4), 1851-1897, includes letters from friends and business associates. Also included in the folder are financial accounts and various autographs, one of which is from Daniel Webster.

Rebecca Ives correspondence (Folder 5), 1851-1854, contains letters from Gilbert L. Streeter and other friends and relatives. Miscellaneous papers (Folder 6), 1855-1869, contain poetry written by both Gilbert L. Streeter and Rebecca Streeter. Also included are miscellaneous poems and notes taken on the book of poetry From Homes of the New World which contains poetry by John Greenleaf Whittier, William Lloyd Garrison, James Russell Lowell, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and George Cheevers. Their poems discuss such issues as abolitionism, slavery, capital punishment, and nature. Of interest is a written compliment by L.N. Fowler discussing Streeter's fine moral and intellectual faculties.