The Aaron W. Berry Papers consist of business, shipping, and personal papers, and some miscellaneous materials for this Salem, Massachusetts ship master and shipping agent. The collection is divided into four series.

Series I. Business Correspondence and Receipts contains material largely associated with Berry's service as agent on the West Coast of Africa for Matthew Bartlett and Charles H. Miller. The Bartlett collection is extensive and includes letters from Bartlett and his clerk, John F. Brooks, covering the years 1859 to early 1864. The Miller correspondence covers the remainder of 1864. This material contains information largely related to trade matters such as prices, business conditions, etc. Of interest is a nearly constant reiteration of his business philosophy by Matthew Bartlett. There is some discussion of the Civil War and its impact on business and trade conditions as well as a smattering of local (Salem) news and gossip. Few letters from Berry exist in this series. Bills and receipts for the period 1860-1864 are for goods and services on the West Coast of Africa, which include gold and palm oil, hospital and medical care, board and lodging, provisions, water, hardware and services rendered.

Series II. Ships' Papers contains merchant to master instructions, cargo invoices and bills of lading, receipts for cargo discharged and loaded, customs clearance certificates, a customs health certificate, ship's expenses, etc., for the following vessels: brig Vintage, bark Isabella, bark Catherine, brig Said Bin Sultan, brig Robert Wing, brig Anglo Saxon, bark Manchester, bark D. Godfrey, steamship Cleopatra, bark Kedar, schooner Black Hawk, bark Tidal Wave, and ship Darwin, 1850-1864.

Series III. Personal Papers includes a collection of miscellaneous bills and receipts, etc., of a largely personal nature, for the period 1860-1865. These include: food, household goods and furnishings, house repairs, clothing, advertisements, a recommendation for a domestic from Mrs. Berry, a dog license, city tax bill, pew tax from the Tabernacle Society of Salem, meeting notices of the Salem Marine Society, Essex Lodge of Masons, and Washington Chapter of Royal Arch Masons. In addition there is a contract for the construction of his house on Skerry Street, Salem, an insurance policy on that property, transferred to their house on Emerson Street, Melrose, in 1864, and a small collection of a West African newspaper, The West African Herald, between May 1860 and January 1861.

Series IV. Miscellaneous Materials contains materials associated with Captain Berry, as well as material with no obvious association. Included are several Seaman's Protection Certificates issued by the U.S. Customs Service, including Captain Berry's (1854); a West African court summons dated April 18, 1860; memoranda, etc., for gold bullion deposited at the Philadelphia Mint, 1859-1862; a congressional constituent communication dated Philadelphia, 30 May 1798, outlining congressional action aimed at stemming hostile French actions against American shipping; a letter to Secretary of State William Marcy dated 21 August 1854; and a letter, in Portuguese, between C. Nobre and J. Morgan dated 8 April 1858 - these last three pieces appear to have no direct connection to A. W. Berry.