The collection includes the personal papers of Edith Doane (Brown) Abbot as well as the papers of additional members of the Brown and Abbot families. Series I. Correspondence contains correspondence to and from the Brown family including information about Edith's time at Bryn Mawr College and the Brown family's international travels from 1887-1927 [bulk 1905-1927]. Included in the Brown Family Correspondence (B1 F1) is an 1887 birth announcement of Edith Doane Brown. A 1912 Voyage Letter Book documents Abbot's travels in Egypt and the Mediterranean. Related material on the voyage can be found in Series III. Scrapbooks in Volume 3. The correspondence regarding the 50th reunion of the Bryn Mawr College Class of 1909 contains the booklet "Phoenix Profiles." A short autobiography of Edith Doane Brown is also included. The photographs contain family photographs from the Brown, Abbot and Zimmerman families from 1886-1961. The childhood photograph of Abbot is noteworthy as it includes the names of her siblings. Many of the envelopes were previously separated from the correspondence; they are contained in Box 3 of the series.

Series II. Scrapbooks contains three volumes of scrapbooks created by Abbot. The scrapbooks all contain information on social, sporting and religious events in Massachusetts and at Bryn Mawr College along with Abbot's detailed annotations. There are many invitations, calling cards, event programs, newspaper clippings and mementos. The second volume of the scrapbook contains Edith's 1904 Salem Classical and High School Valedictorian speech. The third volume of the scrapbook includes photographs of plays and sports teams at Bryn Mawr College and information regarding Abbot's 1912 voyage to Egypt and the Mediterranean.

Series III. Diaries contains continuous diaries from 1889-1925 and one diary for 1948. The series also contains one account book from 1905-1906 detailing Abbot's expenses at Bryn Mawr College. The diaries begin as childhood diaries detailing school and play dates. They later detail social engagements and family matters. The diaries for 1905-1909 detail her time at Bryn Mawr College. The diary for 1907 is labeled by Abbot as "absolutely private."

Series IV. Family Papers contains papers from the Edith Doane (Brown) Abbot collection and additional donations by her daughter, Edith Abbot. They include a two-volume set of the Poems of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow awarded to Sarah H. Brown from Salem High School in 1865. The 1927 album of Mr. and Mrs. Frank A. Brown (parents of Edith Doane Abbot), includes many picture postcards of their Mediterranean and European tour. In Series I. Correspondence there are letters from Mr. and Mrs. Frank A. Brown to Edith from their tour. The papers of Walter Lyle Abbot contain event programs and his obituary. Anne Appleton (Abbot) Willard's papers contain her baby record book begun in 1922 by Abbot. The baby record book also contains some information on Abbot's other daughters, Edith, Caroline, and Madeline, as well as newspaper clippings and a few photographs.